A Saturday afternoon grab bag:
If you like books and book reviews, you’ll want to bookmark the Englewood Review of Books website. Every Tuesday and Friday, a thoughtful variety of book reviews are posted, along with an occasional poem or music review. Browse the site to give yourself a sense of the breadth of the sorts of books covered there. Both Bill and I began reviewing for the site earlier this year. (You can search for our reviews by typing our names in the search box.) One of my ERB reviews even got picked up by the Christianity Today her.meneutics blog. I love that ERB is an outworking of an Indy-area church that seems to have some very wise convictions about who they’re called to be.
We have no shortage of ethnic groceries in Chicago, and whenever I shop at one, I’ve tried to make it a practice to buy something that I’ve never tasted before. (Sometimes, I don’t know what I’m buying because I can’t read Polish or Korean or Arabic.) This morning, I headed to Mitsuwa, and came home with this nearly-incomprehensible haul of sauces and seasonings. Dinner tonight should be interesting.
6 weeks from today is our son Ben’s wedding. 6 weeks and one day from today, we’ll be on a plane to Israel. Our plane will take off just as the Lost finale hits the airwaves. When the show first came on the air, I figured it was Gilligan’s Island for the new millenium. A coworker at the Trinity Bookstore kept insisting I’d love the show, and I eventually watched the pilot episode. I was instantly hooked. The events taking place in 6 weeks – and 6 weeks and one day from now are the kinds of high points and fireworks full of celebration and joy. But as that plane is taxiing down the runway on May 23 at 7 PM, I will be clutching the armrest of my seat and/or my husband’s arm (nervous flyer) and wondering just how it’s all going to end on Lost.
I got a free copy of John Ortberg’s newest release, The Me I Want To Be at a recent Catalyst/Christ Together event in conjunction with his monvee rollout. I’ve read and enjoyed a few Ortberg titles before, but this one is a home run. He makes the sometimes heady, other times contemplative topic of spiritual formation accessible, joyful and simple without being silly, pandering or simplistic. This is the mark of a truly great teacher – and one of the most freeing books I’ve read in the last several years.
Wouldja look at that? I just snuck in another book review.
Michelle —
Thanks for the kind plug. And for your delightful reviews!
Shalom,
Chris Smith
Editor
Englewood Review of Books