It’s another joint production between Christ Church, Lincoln and EmCh, Cumberland, Bookapalooza 2008! Well, not really, it’s just a book study, but it promises to be good, and slightly different from the ones we’ve done in the past few months. The idea is that we read one book a month, and get together at the end of the month to discuss it. To recap. Read. Gather. Discuss.
In June, we’ll read Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I know it came out six years ago, but it’s timely because believe it or not, things haven’t gotten better for those who are just barely making ends meet. As a matter of fact, there are more of us who are getting closer to that poverty line, so this book might give us some new eyes as we look at our economy heading into an important election cycle. We’ll discuss this book on Wednesday, June 25 at Christ Church, Lincoln from 7 PM through 8:30 PM.
In July, the book will be The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwen. I read this a few years ago and it changed the way I hear that story. Nouwen is such a spiritual giant that you can read one page, ONE PAGE, and get something out of it. Luckily, there’s more than one page to this book, so there’s lots of rich material to mine. We’ll discuss this book on Wednesday, July 30 at Emmanuel, Cumberland from 7 PM through 8:30 PM.
Finally, in August, we’ll look at A.J. Jacobs’ brilliant book, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. I ordered this book when it came out after reading a few excerpts here and there. Right away, my wife read it; shortly thereafter, I lent it to a friend who loved it. If the subtitle is too confusing for you, it’s the thoughts of a guy living in New York City, who tries to follow ALL the rules in the Bible, even the ones that contradict each other. How does one make sense of it all? While much fun is poked at the insanity of taking the Bible literally, Jacobs has a number of epiphanies on God and religion. We’ll discuss this book on August 27 at Christ Church, Lincoln from 7 PM through 8:30 PM.
You can click on the titles to order from Amazon, but I am hoping to have a few copies on sale after worship on Sundays. No need to register, but you do need to read the books. And again, it’s the last Wednesday of each month, at Christ Church in June and August, and at Emmanuel in July. On behalf of Scott, I hope you’ll join us.
