Books Completed in 2014

My favorite books are underlined.

Books with a single asterisk indicates ones previously read.

Books with a double asterisk indicates over 75% of book was read.

1.   Four Portraits, One Jesus - By Mark L. Strauss

2.   The Great Divorce - By C.S. Lewis*

3.   And the Mountains Echoed - By Khaled Hosseini

4.   Note to Self - By Joe Thorn

5.   The Kite Runner - By Khaled Hosseini*

6.   The Camel - By Kevin Greeson
7.   The One and Only Ivan - By Katherine Applegate
8.   Adha in the Injeel - By Fouad Masri
9.   The Hobbit - By J.R.R. Tolkien  
10. The Twits - By Roald Dahl
11. Wonder - By R.J. Palacio
12. Turkish Fairy Tales - By Eleanor Brockett
13. Ramona's World - By Beverly Cleary
14. Journey to the Cross - By Kendal Haug & Will Walker
15. How to Train Your Dragon - By Cressida Cowell
16. A Blossom in the Desert - Compiled & Edited by Miriam Huffman Rockness*
17. The Pooh Story Book - By A.A. Milne
18. The Pilgrim's Regress - By C.S. Lewis
19. The Explicit Gospel - By Matt Chandler*
20. Expectations and Burnout - By Sue Eenigenburg and Robynn Bliss
21. The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict - By Trenton Lee Stewart
22. Frindle - By Andrew Clements
23. Taking Flight - By Elisabeth Elliot*
24. Fluent in 3 Months - By Benny Lewis
25. Trusting Soul - By Brian Andreas
26. In Insanity of God - By Nik Ripken
27. The Midwife - By Jolina Petersheim
28. A Study in Scarlet - By Arthur Conan Doyle
29. The Magician's Nephew - By C.S. Lewis*
30. Your Story - By Paul Bramsden
31. Under the Banner of Heaven - By Jon Krakauer
32. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - By C.S. Lewis*
33. A Muslim's Heart - By Edward Hoskins
34. A Horse and His Boy - By C.S. Lewis*
35. Prince Caspian - By C.S. Lewis*
36. Looking for a Better Country blog
37. Out of the Crescent Shadows - By Caner brothers
38. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - By C.S. Lewis*
39. The Rookery - By Amanda Hill
40. Is Life So Dear? - By Brother Andrew
41. The Fiddler's Gun - By A.S. Peterson
42. Howl's Moving Castle - By Diana Wynne Jones
43. The Silver Chair - By C.S. Lewis*
44. Foreign to Familiar - By Sarah A. Lanier
45. House of Many Ways - By Diana Wynne Jones
46. A Vision of the Possible - By Daniel Sinclair
47. Castle in the Air - By Diana Wynne Jones
48. The Dawning of Indestructible Joy - By John Piper
49. The Last Battle - By C.S. Lewis*

Short Kids' Books read:
The Best Joke Book for Kids #3 - By Joan Eckstein and Joyce Gleit
Duck! Rabbit! - By Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld
Dinosaur vs. Bedtime - By Bob Shea
Tikki Tikki Tembo - Retold by Arlene Mosel
Squirrel at the Beach - By Melanie Watt
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! - By Mo Willems 
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - By Judith Viorst
Knuffle Bunny Free - By Mo Willems
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile - By Bernard Waber
The Velveteen Rabbit - By Margery Williams
Bark, George - By Jukes Feiffer
Where the Wild Things Are - By Maurice Sendak
Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? - By Shel Silverstein
Nutty Neighbors - By Michael Dahl
The House in the Night - By Susan Marie Swanson
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - By Judi Barrett
Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great - By Bob Shea
Interrupting Chicken - By David Ezra Stein
The Napping House - By Audrey Wood
Ducks Don't Wear Socks - By John Nedwidek
An Awesome Book - By Dallas Clayton
Giggle Giggle Quack - By Doreen Cronin
The Secret Life of Walter Kitty - By Barbara Jean Hicks
Sheep in a Jeep - By Nancy Shaw
Billy Blackberry - By Giles Reed
The Enormous Crocodile - By Roald Dahl
Gimme Cracked Corn & I Will Share - By Kevin O'malley
Animal Crackers Fly the Coop - By Kevin O'malley
Swamp Angel - By Anne Isaacs
I Need My Own Country - By Rick Walton
The Tale of Three Trees - Retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

The Kite Runner

I just relived the story of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini through the beauty of an audiobook.  Hosseini’s second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is one of my all-time favorites but for some reason my memories of The Kite Runner were not that great.  I have really enjoyed it this second time around.  I decided to check out the audio version from the library after remembering my favorite part from the book and wanting to understand the context of that scene a little better.  I will share my favorite scene and why I love it here.  I warn ahead of time about spoilers and some unhappy content below.

This book takes place in Afghanistan beginning several years before the country underwent several years of military coups, Taliban takeover, and the war with our country.  The story is told from the perspective of a little boy named Amir.  Amir’s mother died giving birth to him so he lived solely with his father.  His father was a wealthy man and had servants.  Amir grew up playing with Hassan, a servant’s son.  While reading of the friendship of the two boys, it is obvious that they are the best of friends but because of their different classes, Amir is often condescending to Hassan and would never admit they were friends.  Hassan is often embarrassingly loyal to Amir as his servant.  

Before the wars, kite flying was a favored past time in Afghanistan.  Afghani kite flying is not what we picture in America of seeing how high we can fly the kite.  Instead, the boys took longs spoils of string and rolled it in tar and glass.  On the day of the tournament, they used the glassy tarred string to cut down the other kites.  The last kite in the air was the winner and hero of the day.  The second hero was the kite runner who chased down the last falling kite and retrieved it.  

In this story, Amir participates in the kite tournament with his sidekick Hassan aiding him.  Amir ends up winning the tournament which gives him hope that his dad would finally be proud of him.  After Amir cuts down the last kite, Hassan, who was one of the best kite runners, heads out to run the last kite and bring it to Amir, making Amir the ultimate champion that day.  After Amir is congratulated by his father, he heads off to find Hassan.  He eventually finds that Hassan had retrieved the final kite.  He also realizes from a distance that the neighborhood bullies have cornered Hassan.  Amir chooses to keep his distance, sealing his fate as a coward.  The biggest bully raped Hassan while Amir looked on in safety.  This event drove a wedge between the two boys.  Hassan, as usual, continues to be loyal to Amir and strives to restore their friendship.  Amir, riddled with guilt and shame, becomes distant and is mean to Hassan.  

Eventually Amir decides to ask Hassan to go with him to their favorite spot underneath the pomegranate tree.  Once there, Amir, riddled with guilt and anger, picks up a pomegranate and asks what Hassan would do if he threw it at him.  He proceeds to throw it at Hassan and asked him to hit him back.  Amir continued to pepper him with pomegranates until it the juice made it look like Hassan was covered in blood.  Amir’s pomegranate throwing indicated that he hoped Hassan would finally retaliate and punish him for being a coward, atoning for his sins.  Hassan eventually picked up a pomegranate and crushed it on his own forehead, asking Amir if he was finally satisfied.  

The story continues from there but I have explained enough for my purposes.  I love that scene because it reminds me of Jesus.  What I failed to mention above was that the bullies gave Hassan the option to either give up the kite or be raped.  Hassan, always loyal to Amir, intended on giving the kite to Amir.  Hassan chose to retain the kite and face the awful consequences.  This story reminds me that Jesus took the punishment for the sins that I deserved.  I’m not saying that Amir deserved to be raped but I am pointing out that Hassan chose to endure a punishment to show love to his beloved friend as Jesus chose to endure the cross to show love to us.  Amir chose to hide in his shame and cowardice rather than bring things to light through confession.  Then when given a chance to repent of his actions and receive the reward of a restored friendship, he instead pelted pomegranates at Hassan hoping to face Hassan’s wrath at his transgression.  Instead, Hassan endured the scorn and proved his unending loyalty by smashing a pomegranate on his own head just as Jesus took our sins upon Himself.  He paid for our transgressions so we can be free.  Oh how humanity follows Amir’s pattern of shirking from what is right and then wallowing in guilt rather than finding the forgiveness of Jesus.  Oh how we, like Amir, try to find a way to pay for our own sins so that we will be loved by God.  Like Hassan smashing the pomegranate on his own head, Jesus tells us that we can never pay for our sins, they are too many.  We turn mean and hurl insults at Jesus and all the while Jesus quietly pleads with us telling us our sins have been paid for and expresses that he would willingly take those nails in his wrists again if only we would embrace his unending love.  We are loved, honored, and valued by God because of Jesus' sacrifice. 

This story comes to mind often as I celebrate Christ’s death through communion.  The communions where I feel the most guilty and want to wallow in my guilt or be punished for my sins, I find Jesus quietly pleading, smashing pomegranates on his forehead.  As he does so, he tells me he has taken my punishment, telling me that I am clean, I am forgiven, I can move forward in victory because he was victorious.  May you find hope in his death and raised life.    

Click here to see the pomegranate scene from the movie version.  

My Favorites - Edition 4

All Time Favorite Devotionals that Changed my life

In order of when I first discovered the goodness...

1.  Hymnals

I developed a love for Hymns in my teenage years.  This love was fostered in two ways.  The first was from my piano teacher.  Part of my lessons included learning various ways to play hymns.  He would occasionally point out the meanings of the hymns.  The second way was through boredom in church.  As a teenager, when I would check out of the sermon, I decided to start reading through the hymnal.  Often I was encouraged and strengthened in my faith more so through the hymns than the sermon.  There is a reason that many of these old songs have endured several hundred years.  The ancient songs are rich in theology, Christology, hope, and encouragement.  These days, my goal is to read/play/sing through a hymn a day but in reality it only happens about once a week.    

2.  The Valley of Vision - Edited by Arthur Bennett

This book is a collection of Puritan prayers.  I came across one of these prayers within another book I was reading many years ago.  I loved it so much I went online to find it’s origination.  When I discovered it was part of a larger volume of similar prayers, I purchased the book.  I have been through it several times and find that it is rich in theology and stirs my affections for Jesus.  I’ll give you a taste of the first prayer in the book:

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty
thy glory in my valley.    

3.  The Diary of an Old Soul - By George MacDonald

I discovered this book on the shelf of my former roommate.  It is a collection of poetry by MacDonald.  My first time through the book was a bit frustrating.  The book is broken up into 365 daily excerpts from his poetry but there are no indicators where one poem ends and another begins.  Having this in mind helped me navigate a little better through the book the second time.  In spite of the confusion, the book is a rich tapestry of MacDonald’s insight into the Word and Christian life.  One of my favorite excerpts from this book is: 

Too eager I must not be to understand.

How should the work the master goes about

Fit the vague sketch my compasses have planned?

I am his house -- for him to go in and out.

He builds me now--and if I cannot see

At any time what he is doing with me,

‘Tis that he makes the house for me too grand.

4.  The Jesus Storybook Bible - By Sally Lloyd-Jones

This book was created as a children’s Bible but I find that it is relevant to kids of all ages including adults.  It tells the story of the Bible but also shows how “every story whispers his name” and points to Jesus.  In addition to the thought provoking writing, the book is filled with beautifully colorful artwork. 

5.  A Blossom in the Desert - Edited by Miriam Huffman Rockness


A sweet friend of mine found this book and said it reminded her of me so she bought me a copy.  I’m glad she did because it has been a treasure.  It covers the life of Lilias Trotter who lived and labored among Algerians in the 1800s.  She was an accomplished artist and could have made a nice living selling her work but chose instead to labor in Algeria.  The book is made up of images of Trotter’s artwork as well as excerpts from her journal.  She had a gift for seeing the hand of God and life lessons in every day life.  Below is some images from the book: