What book are you reading?

[MaxPC]

Just started this so will post the description attached to the book:

God Is Not Nice: Rejecting Pop Culture Theology and Discovering the God Worth Living For
By Ulrich L. Lehner

Ulrich L. Lehner reintroduces Christians to the true God—not the polite, easygoing, divine therapist who doesn’t ask much of us, but the Almighty God who is unpredictable, awe-inspiring, and demands our entire lives. Stripping away the niceties with a sling blade, Lehner shows that God is more strange and beautiful than we imagine, and wants to know and transform us in the most intimate way.
...
challenges the God of popular culture and many of our churches and reintroduces the God of the Bible and traditional Christianity. As Lehner writes in the book’s introduction, "We all need the vaccine of the true transforming and mysterious character of God: The God who shows up in burning bushes, speaks through donkeys, drives demons into pigs, throws Saul from his horse, and appears to St. Francis. It’s only this God who has the power to challenge us, change us, and make our lives dangerous. He sweeps us into a great adventure that will make us into different people."

[gcdonner]

"The Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Revealed", by John Allegro, one of the original translators of the scrolls. Originally written in 1956, it was updated and revised in 1981. While it is somewhat dated now, it is nevertheless a fascinating look at the finding, buying & selling and work of translating and interpreting the scrolls with most of the original cast of characters involved.
Great History!

The Tower of Babel, by Bodie Hodge. "The cultural history of our Ancestors", is the subtitle. It is interesting reading, but because of the detailed minutiae it gets bogged down in some areas. Done from a biblical perspective and re-affirming the creation of man, the flood and the events that led up to the tower of Babel and the implications for humanity, but especially for us as believers.
More Great History!

[RZehr]

Tonight I read “Prejudice and Pardon”, by Laura Smucker who is my wife sister.

[JimFoxvog]

The 36-Hour Day by Nancy Mace & Peter Rabins. I'd recommend it for anyone who is caring for a family member with dementia.

Next in line is Christian Body: Modesty and the Bible by Aaron Frost. From the back cover:

The Bible has plenty to say about the human body and clothing in ancient times, but modern translations and socially conditioned assumptions have drifted significantly away from ancient cultures and the intent of the earliest texts....

[RZehr]

Just finished reading “The Coddling Of The American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt. How good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure.
It’s about how colleges today are not taking the right path in teaching their students. Talks about three untruths:
The untruth of fragility
The untruth of emotional reasoning
The untruth of us vs them

[Wade]

A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life - William Law

[KingdomBuilder]

"Revivals of Religion" by Charles Finney.
Fantastic series of lectures.

[MaxPC]

Just finished reading “The Coddling Of The American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt. How good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure.
It’s about how colleges today are not taking the right path in teaching their students. Talks about three untruths:
The untruth of fragility
The untruth of emotional reasoning
The untruth of us vs them

The book I'm reading now covers related themes about these issues in popular culture.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
Peterson, Jordan B., Random House Canada

[plain]

East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

Like the story about the Salinas Valley, the families, and the brothers.

[RZehr]

The Earth Moved, on the remarkable achievements of earthworms by Amy Stewart. There is a giant, flower scented worm called the Palouse worm Driloleirus americanus that is native to Oregon and Washington. It hasn't been seen, however, for over twenty years. If you live in Oregon or Washington and are digging in the garden, report a pinkish white, two foot or longer, lily-scented earthworm covered in milky white mucus to the game warden.

I just finished reading this book today. I really learned a lot about worms.
The book is incredibly obnoxious in its fawning over Charles Darwin, especially at the beginning and ending and the middle. I had trouble getting started reading it because it talked as much about Darwin as worms. It wouldn’t have made the book a bit less interesting or educational to leave C.D. out of it. Seems like she couldn’t decide if she was writing a book about worms or a book praising Darwin. So there’s that.

This here is updated information since the book was published in 2004. According to Wikipedia the Oregon giant earthworm (Driloleirus macelfreshi) has been last seen in 2008 and the giant Palouse earthworm or Washington giant earthworm (Driloleirus americanus) has been last seen in 2010. They can get up to 3 feet long.

Talked about invasive worm species, rare unknown and unnamed species. How invasive species can be destructive in temperate deciduous forests.
How worms can ingest pollution unharmed. How DDT was sprayed on leaves, which then fell and were consumed in vast quantities by worms. Worms accumulated high levels of DDT unharmed, but when a bird ate 12 worms, the concentration of DDT would kill the birds.

Has good information if you are a farmer, gardener, environmentalist, or naturalist.

Worms are great.