everything that's on my mind

As has been the case for the last several years, I’ve read far less than I wanted to read. In fact, this year got off to the worst start ever when I didn’t even finish my first book until late March. I went through several periods of not reading – lacking either time, desire or both. In the end, I averaged only about one book per month, while I would have liked to have read a minimum of two. I did begin several books and abandon them at different times, but as for finished books, the list is short.

Here are my favorites of the year.

The Unlikely Disciple : A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University – Kevin Roose

After meeting some students from ultra-conservative Liberty University, Roose – an agnostic student at notoriously liberal Brown University – decides to “study abroad” for a semester at the Virginia school founded by preacher/activist Jerry Falwell. He chronicles his semester in this book and it’s a great story, and probably not what you might expect. I posted about it last month, so you can read my full thoughts on it here. This was my favorite book of the year.

When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball – Seth Davis

This was a fun read about the 1979 NCAA championship game, the events leading up to it, the people involved (most notably Larry Bird and Magic Johnson) and how it impacted the game of basketball both at the college and NBA levels. The game itself was one of the catalysts in creating the “March Madness” we all know and love today, and certainly the professional success of Bird & Magic and their role in reviving the faltering NBA is well-documented. It all started here, in a pre-ESPN time when most of the nation was first introduced to Bird & Magic either in the tournament or this very game. Great read, especially if you love college basketball (and if you don’t, you should.)

Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution – Karl Giberson

Giberson, a Christian scientist who subscribes to evolution as the story of our origins, attempts to explain why, and how he reconciles that with his faith. The historical nature of the book is what I found most interesting – Giberson’s own story, Darwin’s story, the advances of science since Darwin’s time, and the history of the debate between creationists and evolutionists (as well as the more recent “intelligent design” crowd.) He didn’t seem to spend much time directly addressing what you would expect from the subtitle (“How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution”), but he did, in my opinion, lay out a foundation one can use to consider that question on their own. A fascinating read.

The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World – A. J. Jacobs

This was as enjoyable as Jacobs’ more recent book The Year of Living Biblically, which I read last year. Jacobs sets out to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica from A to Z, and this is the story of his adventure. Like Biblically, it probably was a little longer than it had to be, but still a lot of fun. Jacobs makes me laugh out loud regularly, and there are a lot of interesting EB facts in there as well. His attempts to interject his new-found knowledge into everyday conversations and his frustration with a know-it-all relative were always hilarious.

And here’s the rest of what I read.

• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life – Donald Miller
  When a couple of directors contacted Miller about making a movie featuring his life, he was concerned he didn’t have much of a life that would interest anyone else. In this book he recounts his search for the story of his life. Didn’t grab me the way his previous books have, but still quite good.
• The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team – Mike Krzyzewski
  This book about the 2008 Olympic basketball team was not quite what I’d hoped. A lot more about team-building than I expected. Would have preferred if it had been entirely focused on the basketball part of the story, but still a good read.
• The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution – Gregory A. Boyd
  Good stuff, but nothing really new. Mostly stuff I’ve read/heard from Boyd or others already.
• Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith – Marcus Borg
  I honestly have little recollection of this book. I must not have been paying attention. I’ll have to try it again.
• The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life As an Experiment – A. J. Jacobs
  Jacobs’ newest, which I did not find to be as good as Biblically or Know-it-all, but it still has plenty of good (and humorous) moments.
• Genesis – Bernard Beckett
  A nice little sci-fi novel (or novelette) set in a post-apocalyptic world with a not-too-surprising twist at the end.
• Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why – Bart D. Ehrman
  Very interesting book about how the Bible came to be and questioning if we actually have what the original authors wrote or copies manipulated by scribes and church officials over time.
• Crazy Love : Overwhelmed by a Relentless God – Francis Chan
  Just labored to finish this one. Maybe I missed something or I’ve just heard it all before, but really didn’t care for it at all.

That’s it. That’s the list.

I picked up six books from the library this week, and I’m halfway through my first. Hopefully, 2010 will get off to a good start and I’ll find time to read more this year. We’ll see…

Every now and then I start reading a book and simply don’t want to stop until I’m done. Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University was one of those books. I’ve complained recently that I’ve had trouble finding time to read, but I managed to make time after the first few pages of this book and finished it in about a week, which is a fast read for me.

In 2006, Roose was a student at Brown University in Rhode Island. He was also working as an assistant for Esquire editor and author A.J. Jacobs. Upon a visit to Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church in Virginia with Jacobs, who was doing research for his book The Year Of Living Biblically, Roose met some students from Falwell’s Liberty University. They engaged in conversation for several minutes, but it was a bit awkward once they realized he was not a Christian. On his way home, he didn’t understand why it was so difficult for them to talk to one another. Sure, he speculates, maybe a liberal agnostic from Brown and a conservative Christian from Liberty aren’t supposed to have much to talk about. But, he asks, why not? Aren’t they all college students, Americans, humans? Was the “God-divide” really that difficult to span?

He decided that he would like to get to know more about this Christian culture with which he was so unfamiliar. While other students at Brown would take a semester to study abroad, he decided to study in a different culture right here at home. He decided to transfer to Liberty for the spring semester of his sophomore year in January of 2007. He basically went undercover as an evangelical Christian – even being coached by a friend who had grown up in an evangelical church in order to get himself up to speed on the language and customs he’d encounter – and spent the next few months at Liberty.

Roose grew up in a liberal Quaker home and didn’t spend any significant time in church. He knew very little about the Bible. His family was technically Christian, but it’s unlikely anyone at Liberty would see it that way. His family was alarmed and concerned when he told them of his intentions. Particularly worried were his lesbian aunt and her partner, well aware of Falwell’s anti-gay and homophobic statements over the years. He tried to assure them that he would remain unchanged during his time at Liberty, though that didn’t seem to diminish their concern for his well-being. And most of his friends just thought he was crazy.

Roose planned to write this book before he set foot on campus at Liberty, but he did not enroll to ridicule or condemn the school or it’s students. He went to Liberty to get to know what it was like to be a conservative evangelical Christian in 21st century America. He did all of the things a normal Liberty student would do – took various classes on religion, went to Bible studies and prayer meetings, went to church, including singing in the Thomas Road choir on Sundays, and even gave up his spring break to go on a mission trip to Daytona Beach.

One of the most interesting stories was his decision to suggest to the school newspaper that an article be written about the head man himself, Jerry Falwell. They thought it was a great idea, and commissioned Roose himself to write the article. It would end up being Falwell’s last print interview, as he died a short time later, during the final week of the semester.

I’ve never thought much of Falwell, having primarily seen his public persona on cable and network news shows, where he often showed an ugly side, usually condemning someone or some group, and he seemed far too political for a supposed man of God. From his time at Liberty and his time interviewing Falwell personally, Roose manages to show another side of Falwell. He was, evidently, a notorious prankster, and Roose even found him likable when he met with him. There was still the ugly side that he and others of us would still object to, but he did manage to reveal some of why so many people loved him as much as they did.

Despite being 300+ pages, the book was too short for me. Not only did I not want to put down this book, I also didn’t want it to end. The stories Roose tells and the characters he introduces us to (including himself) are compelling and I hated to say goodbye to them. You want the story to continue, to know more about where everyone is now more than two years later.

In the end, Roose did, unexpectedly, come away from Liberty a changed man. No, he did not convert to Christianity and remains agnostic. However, as I suggested earlier, Roose went to Liberty with an open mind. He found merit in meeting with a pastor on a weekly basis as a spiritual mentor of sorts, and enjoyed being prayed for by others. He even confesses that he continues to pray today, despite the unlikelihood that anyone is listening.

And then there are the friendships. Over a year after leaving Liberty, he returned to tell his friends the truth about his semester undercover, that he was not an evangelical Christian and that he’d come to Liberty with the intention of writing his book. He wasn’t sure what to expect by way of their reaction, but he had no reason to worry. They had no problem forgiving him. He was even surprised at how quickly and easily they did so, and he remains friends with many of them today. Despite all of their glaring differences, they have much more in common. The “God-divide” is not nearly as large as people on both sides sometimes make it out to be.

The Unlikely Disciple is a fascinating read, the best book I’ve read in several years, and I highly recommend it.