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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, 2015

This is the true story of a young boy, William Kamkwamba, who was born in 1987 in a tiny village near Wimbe, Malawi. He is enthralled with science and just wants to go to school and learn about science. He is the only boy with 6 sisters. His Mother and Father are subsistence farmers. They grow Maize, which Malawians eat at every meal in a dish called nsima. When he is an adolescent, a terrible famine comes due to a new (bad) government that did not provide farmers with any fertilizer followed by a drought. It is horrible and painful to read. I’ve never felt so deeply the acute need, and our ability to help and wanting to help someone so badly. All they needed was a little food, a little money for fertilizer, a little help – just like Lazarus under the table of the rich man begging for just a crumb. And here we have so much – excess – everywhere in this country.

Everyone is slowly starving to death in Malawi, including William and his family. His has to watch his beloved doggie, Khamba, slowly starve to death – eventually he has to tie him to a tree and leave him. It’s heartbreaking! Miraculously, they survive, though, because they live long enough (20 more days!) to harvest their maize. William goes on to harness the wind! Even though he desperately wants to go to secondary school and learn about science, his father cannot afford to pay his fees so he is expelled. There is a tiny library in the elementary school near his village. When he is not working in the fields with his father, he studies books he finds in that little library. He learns all about electricity and decides to build his own windmill. He scavenges used parts from a junk yard near the school that expelled him. The school kids mock and jeer at him and call him crazy. He needs his Father’s broken bicycle to make a part of the windmill and his Father is very reluctant to give it to him but William convinces him to do so. His friend, Gilbert, helps him when no one else believes in him. He provides the money for some items that William just can’t scavenge – the dynamo, some copper wire, etc. And lo and behold, William builds his windmill. He provides lights for his home and word gets around. Soon, a professor, Dr. Hartford Mchazime, visits and interviews William. He is impressed with his genius and has him apply to present at a TED conference. William is selected and his world changes as a result. He is able to tell his story, learn, and raise funds to make an even better windmill, then more windmills and help his village. He now runs a nonprofit called Moving Windmills Project. He rebuilt the schools in his area. He dug a borehole for water for his whole village. His father can now grow two crops per year and the storehouse will never be empty again.

Beautiful book, miraculous story!

(more…) “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”

Deacon King Kong

by James McBride, 2020

I LOVED this book! It was the Old Town Library Book Club selection for April 2022. Both Leslie and Mandy picked it. It took me someplace I didn’t want to be – a housing project, the Cause Houses, in NYC – complete with drug pushers, heroin addicts, alcoholics, and criminals. But the main characters, the alcoholic and the drug pusher, are so human, you soon love them and are rooting for them. Deacon King Kong (Sportcoat) is a 70 year-old black man who has been drinking since he was a teenager, when the dentistry school used him to experiment on and gave him whiskey to ease the pain. His beloved wife, Hettie, disappears one night – following the light of God – and her body is found in the harbor by an Italian criminal who runs everything but drugs, Tommy Elefante. Elefante is another intriguing and wonderful character in this book. Along with Potts, an honest NYC cop who is about to retire; Sister Gee, the pastor’s wife who is beautiful and wise; Bunch Moon, an odious drug lord; and Deems Clemens, the promising young baseball player turned drug pusher, whom Sportcoat walks up to and shoots one day in 1969. He doesn’t kill him, just mangles his ear real bad. How everything turns out is a wonderful, wonderful tale. Thank you, James McBride – you are the best! You made ugly and hopeless be blessed and beautiful! Amazing! Thank you! God Bless YOU!

(more…) “Deacon King Kong”

Don’t Stop the Carnival

by Herman Wouk, 1965

Herman Wouk lived on St. Thomas for 6 years while researching and writing books. A real-life New York press agent bought a hotel in the Virgin Islands and told the story of his many mishaps. Norman advised him to write a book, but the press agent “demurred.” However, he encouraged Norman to write the book, and that is how this book came about.

It’s the story of Norman Paperman, a Broadway press agent, who falls in love with a fictional Caribbean island, Amerigo, or Kinja, from how the islanders say “King George.” He buys a tropical hotel, the Gull Reef Club, and dreams of a blissful life with his beloved wife, on this island paradise. However, as soon as he buys the hotel, things go terribly wrong: He loses his number one bartender and manager, Thor, to the former owner (Amy Ball) who buys a boat and steals him away. He faces a water shortage, which is a major disaster. As soon as he manages to avert that crises by paying an exorbitant price for water, it rains and rains and rains. Then he loses another faithful employee, his gondola driver become bartender, because the employment laws of the island forbid him to work as a bartender. All the while, Norman, a happily married man whose wife will be joining him shortly, is falling head over heals in love with Iris Tramm, a former actress, living in one of the cottages of his hotel. They hit it off famously and she is a big help to him in all of his travails.

(more…) “Don’t Stop the Carnival”

Madam, Will You Talk?

by Mary Stewart, 1955

Fun murder mystery set in the south of France. A young beautiful widow goes with her friend to Avignon. She gets involved with a boy and his dog. She ends up saving the day and marrying his father. It’s suspenseful and the settings are so well-described, you feel as if you are there. I just wish I could speak French so I would know how to pronounce all the words: Avignon, Les Baux, Marseilles, etc. There are lots fast cars (a Riley, a Bentley, and a Mercedes) racing along the roads in the south of France. It ends beautifully on the terrace of the Hotel de la Garde with sparkling sea and sparkling champagne and happiness for all the good guys.

Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author

by Herman Wouk, 2016

Short biography by Herman Wouk, the author of The Caine Mutiny, which was one of the best books I ever read. He wrote this short biography in 2016 and he died in 2019 at the age of 103 in Palm Springs, CA. As a youth, he loved Mark Twain, then Dumas. He wrote for the Fred Allen show for many years. He loved being a funny man, a “Gag Man.” Then WWII started and he wanted to join the Navy but they wouldn’t take him (because he was drafted by the Army?) until he got a letter from Fred Allen. He served in the Navy in the Pacific Ocean. That’s where he got the idea for The Caine Mutiny. When he landed after the war, he married the love of his life (he doesn’t tell how they met), Betty Sarah, and spent the rest of his life loving her and writing. They had 3 sons. The first, Abe, died tragically by drowning in a pool in Mexico at the age of 5. He can’t write about it except to say: “This fateful mischance, [From Here to Eternity coming out 2 weeks before The Caine Mutiny] with the arrival in the mansion of a second baby son, unnerved us; we put the mansion on the market and moved to Mexico to reduce expenses. There in a rented house in Cuernavaca, we lost our firstborn son, Abe. The “very lively baby,” grown to a sagacious little boy almost five, lovable and winsome beyond telling, drowned in the swimming pool. I have not written, nor will I, about this catastrophe, from which we never wholly recovered.”

(more…) “Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author”

jewel-never broken: songs are only half the story

by Jewel, 2015

Danette asked me to look for this as a used book. I checked Bizarre Bazaar but no luck. However, our library had it, so I checked it out and read it. It’s very interesting. I had no idea Jewel was like this! I thought that her name was a made-up name but that is her real name – Jewel Kilcher. She was born and raised in Alaska. Lived in Homer and then Anchorage. Her parents were awful. Her Mom left when she was about 10. She and her two brothers lived with their father. He was an abusive drunk. He did teach her to sing – that is how he made a living – singing with her in bars. She first learned to yodel at a very young age, because he told her it wasn’t possible. She practiced and practiced until she got it. 

She got into a prestigious high school in Traverse City, Michigan. After she graduated, she made her way to San Diego and lived on and off with her crazy mother who hung around with people who channeled spirits. She was homeless for awhile and lived in her van. Finally, she got discovered in a coffee shop and made an album and toured. Her Mom took over as her manager, made her fire her current manager. Her Mom spent all of her money – Jewel had no idea she was flat broke. She had to fire her mother and she hasn’t seen her since 2003. She got married to a rodeo guy, Ty Murray (I think that is his last name). She had a hard time getting pregnant – living with stress her whole life – and they took a motorcycle trip for 3 months and she finally got pregnant. Had her baby boy, Kase. She is able to love him dearly even though she never knew love growing up. Her Mom was a narcissistic witch. Her dad only passed on what he grew up with, but has since come to terms and they are very close now. She divorced her husband but they are both committed to their son.

She wrote a lot growing up – it was her therapy. She put her heart and soul into her words. She was dyslexic.

There is lots of human wisdom in the book – being true to yourself, feeling the pain, working through it. She never drank or did drugs – she didn’t want to numb herself because she would lose herself and not be safe. She had her Mom on a pedestal thinking she was the most wonderful, loving mom and letting her take all of her money and spend it on herself and her luxuries. When Jewel found out she was not only broke, but actually in debt, she was heartbroken and devastated and it took a long time for her to recover. Her Mom was just using her.

(more…) “jewel-never broken: songs are only half the story”

Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard

by Arthur Conan Doyle, 18 stories written sometime before 1930 when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died

Appealing, warm-hearted book by the author of Sherlock Holmes. The main character is Etienne Gerard of Napoleon’s army from 1807 to 1821. He loves his Emperor and will do anything for him. There are 18 adventurous tales. They involve secret missions, romances, daring escapes, journeys and battles. He is small but handsome, cocky, proud, loyal, not too bright, but an excellent horseman and swordsman. The adventures take you all over Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. This book was a book-a-day recommendation. Here is what they said:

(more…) “Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard”

Christian Mission in the Modern World

by John Stott, 1975 (Americanization 2008); updated and expanded by Christopher J.H. Wright, 2015

Work by John Stott explaining how a Christian should live in the world; what our lives should look like as far as Mission, Evangelism, Dialogue, Salvation, and Conversion. He wrote it in 1975, Americanized it in 2008, and Christopher J.H. Wright brought it up-to-date in 2015.

They analyze topics thoroughly. John Stott is presented first, followed by an analysis and update on the same topic by Christopher J. H. Wright. John Stott is easy to read and understand and much of what he writes is inspirational. He never strays from the Bible as his guide and the Bible is the Gospel from beginning to end. Christopher Wright gives a lot of information from scholars and conferences.

John Stott wrote 6 pages on the Great Commandment and the modern-day Evangelical Church that state exactly what Wayne sees, feels, and believes. Stott looks only to the Bible for instructions on how to spread the Gospel and this makes him completely credible and relevant no matter the age.

(more…) “Christian Mission in the Modern World”

Moonshine

by Alec Wilkinson, 1985

Captivating book about a revenuer in North Carolina in the 1950s and 1960s, names Garland Bunting. He’s an ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) officer in Halifax County. He is fearless and talented and a brilliant strategist and tireless and a great actor and entertainer and lovable and friendly and a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. He is willing to camp out in chigger-infested woods for days on end in order to capture his man. He is delightful and friendly and beloved by all, even the men he catches. The book is full of dialogue and action. I loved it.

(more…) “Moonshine”

Santa Calls

by William Joyce, 1993

Children’s book recommended on the Book-A-Day calendar from Christie. Here’s what they said:

“North Pole Adventure: In William Joyce’s picture book, Santa Calls, young Art Atchinson Aimesworth–inventor, crime fighter, and all- around whiz kid–is summoned by Santa Claus to the North Pole. There he invents, fights crime, whizzes all around, and comes–at last!–to appreciate his little sister, Esther. It’s a touching, affectionate, big-hearted story, conveyed with enough ebullience to nourish Christmas fantasies for decades to come. It’s very beautiful, too: Joyce’s fabulous pictures lure our imaginations into a happy and transporting world that will enhance the mood in even the merriest holiday household.”

The Radical Disciple

by John Stott, 2010

This was John Stott’s last book. He is writing about what our lives should look like as Christians. Sanctification (being made holy) is purely the work of the Holy Spirit, but in this book he covers 8 aspects of our lives that we have neglected. Wayne’s comment on Dependence (#7 below): “Dependence can be an issue of humility vs. pride; the prideful one wants to be depended upon, and being dependent is a humble station. But mostly, dependence is about acknowledging one’s continual and utter dependence upon God in all things.”

(more…) “The Radical Disciple”

Basic Introduction to the New Testament

by John Stott, 1951, revised by Stephen Motyer, 2017

He covers the books of the New Testament (except Jude), giving the history of the authors, the culture and context in which written, and the message. The message, over and over, is that salvation comes through Jesus, not through works. I started out loving this book but it irritated me when he felt it necessary to state when “scholars” doubted the authorship, especially of John and his letters, and 1 and 2 Peter, and Revelation. Still, it was a good book and I tagged many, many pages. Here are some of the highlights:

(more…) “Basic Introduction to the New Testament”

Basic Christianity

by John R. W. Stott, 1958, 2008

Tim Keller recommended this book in one of his books. It was very good. I flagged just about every single page. It all comes down to the Gospel, again and again. Without Jesus, we are doomed. Each and every day of our lives, we can live joyfully and triumphantly because of Jesus. Rick Warren says everyone should read this book. It’s divided into 5 parts: The Right Approach, Who Christ is, What we need, What Christ has done, and How to respond.

In The Right Approach, he talks about the first four words of the Bible, “In the beginning, God…” which demonstrates that God takes the initiative in ALL things. God created us and came after us. He is not sitting aloof on a distant throne. He got down off His throne, left His glory, and came to us. “Christianity is a religion of Salvation, and the fact is that there is nothing in any of the non-Christian religions to compare with this message of a God who loved, and came after, and died for, a world of lost sinners.” The rest of the book is about our response to that God who loves us. Our first response is to seek Him seriously, humbly, honestly, obediently.

(more…) “Basic Christianity”

Facing Your Giants

by Max Lucado, 2006, 2020

He delves into David’s life from beginning to end as told in 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles (various passages in each), showing that when David trusted in God, walked with God, prayed to and consulted God, good things happened, even miraculous things. But, when David forgot God, bad things happened. The Study Guide looks like a really good one – good questions for small groups to discuss.

(more…) “Facing Your Giants”

Hidden Christmas

by Timothy Keller, 2016

A short, beautiful book examining the familiar Bible passages and carols of Christmas and revealing how mind-blowing the Christmas story actually is. We have become jaded and clouded over but this book helps you see anew the reality that God came to earth to be with us: Immanuel. Our God loves us so much!

Mom read it first, her first Tim Keller book, and she LOVED it! Said it was intellectually and spiritually fulfilling. She wants a copy.

(more…) “Hidden Christmas”

Cider with Rosie

by Laurie Lee, 1959

First of all, Laurie Lee is a male! This is his story of growing up in a Cotswold village in the 1920s. He transports you there. You can feel the summer heat, the icy winter, the mud, the grass, the trees, the cottage he grew up in with his 6 siblings and precious Mom, their delight in the simple pleasures of life: food, community, fun, song, old people, stories of the past, school, outings, and first loves. The “Cider with Rosie” doesn’t occur until almost the end of the book, when a young vixen lures him under her hay wagon with a jug of apple cider.

You really feel what it was like to grow up in an English country village in the 1920s. Life was hard but you were surrounded by the beautiful, satisfying pleasures only God can give. At one point near the end, he and his friends were going to rape a poor girl. But they didn’t, thank God. The temptation was there, though, and he shows how evil is right there with us, but it didn’t win.

Really good book.

This was one of the recommendations on the Book-A-Day calendar for 2021 that Christie gave me. Here is how they described it:

A Cotswold Childhood

In Cider with Rosie, Laurie Lee recounts his coming-of-age in vivid prose. Home life with a brood of siblings, school life with an assortment of fellow students, imaginative life in its wonder, perplexity, and desperate innocence–all pass before us, not just recalled but quickened with a youthful eye and enthusiasm. Lee embellishes his tune of family and village life with lyrical evocations of the fitful energies of adolescence, portraying with care the seasoned existence that would soon vanish from his Cotswold valley as the 20th century took hold of it: “I belonged to that generation which saw, by chance, the end of a thousand years’ life.” In its language and its yearnings, this is among the most beautiful books you’ll ever read.

Counterfeit Gods

The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

by Timothy Keller, 2009

Another EXCELLENT book by Tim Keller! All of us replace loving God first and most with idols like money, sex, and power, but also approval, acceptance, love, success, security, comfort, and control. Worshiping idols rather than God leads to disappointment, addiction, meaninglessness, hopelessness. He wrote this book after the 2008 subprime mortgage debacle when so many lives were ruined by the lust and greed of a powerful few.

He elaborates stories from the Bible: Jacob and his idol, Rachel; Naaman and his idol, power; Abraham NOT making an idol of Isaac; Zacchaeus’s transformation through the grace of Jesus given to him; Nebuchadnezzar’s final acknowledgement and worship of the One, True God; Jonah and how difficult it is to rid ourselves of our idols; Leah trying to win Jacob’s love with son after son; and lastly, Jacob again, wrestling with God and God blessing him.

Here is Wayne’s book report on Counterfeit Gods:

“~ if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world…. CSLewis
~ Communion with God does not come in response to a changed life;
a changed life comes as a result of communion with God — and this, by grace alone. This is the Gospel. …. Tim Keller
~ My story: My life was built on two false premises… That the approval of others was the most important thing in my life, and that I could control people’s opinion/approval of me through my performance. My life had become a never-ending cycle of goals and anxieties, dominated by a constant need to prove myself lest I be exposed as not good enough — a cruel and impossible imperative. At the bottom of a pit of my own making, I began to understand that Jesus fully and permanently met the demands of the impossible imperative — that God happily accepts me as “good enough” because of the gift of Jesus Christ. And so, I am no longer driven by the threat of being found wanting – by God, or men. Instead, I’ve found myself free to entrust the entirety of my life to a God who has proven himself utterly good, present, and loving…. Peace, wide and deep like a river, has become the dominant force in my everyday life.”

(more…) “Counterfeit Gods”

Searching for Sunday

by Rachel Held Evans, 2015

I heard about this author on NPR, Fresh Air (I think), when another author was being interviewed and he mentioned how influential Rachel Held Evans was in his life. She died at the age of 37 on May 4, 2019 from an allergic reaction to medication for an infection that caused her brain to swell. This is eerily similar to how her aunt died, which she describes in this book.

This book is about her disenchantment with the Evangelical church, her decision to leave it, and her return to church eventually–an Episcopalian church. She’s from Tennessee and was raised in a southern Evangelical church. She was on fire for God throughout her youth. She grew angry and began having doubts about her faith first when it said innocent Muslims who died at the hand of suicide bombers were going to hell, and then when her church became political and posted political signs to vote against gay marriage. She and her husband spent a while not going to church, then visiting different churches once a month or so, then starting their own church which failed a year or so later, then finally settling on an Episcopalian church.

The book starts out really well and I thought, I must own this book, but she lost me about halfway through. It’s her story, and it’s good, but the way she organized it, via the sacraments of Baptism, Confession, Holy Orders, Communion, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage, confused me. She did not mention seeking the Lord in prayer throughout her faith crisis. Her focus was on the Church: where faith is practiced, with all its trappings, and how she lost faith in that, but then found it again.

Two main takeaways for me:

  1. Christians cannot do their faith alone.
  2. Accept that the church will never be perfect; forgive it.
(more…) “Searching for Sunday”

Born a Crime

by Trevor Noah, 2016

Fantastic book! Remarkable man! Amazing Mom! This was one of our book selections for the Old Town Library Book Club, 2021-2022 season. Trevor Noah, a famous comedian now, was born under Apartheid in South Africa, to a Xhosa mother and a Swiss father. She never asked to marry his Swiss father (it was illegal, anyway), she just wanted his child. She raised him on her own. She was deeply religious. She took him to 3 churches every Sunday: White church, Mixed church, and Black church.

I learned so much about South Africa and Apartheid through his stories of growing up there and the history he includes in the book.

(more…) “Born a Crime”

Sabrina & Corina

by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, 2019

A group of short stories, each centered around a female Latina or Indigenous or mixed-race and mostly set in Denver or the fictional town of Saguarita in Southwestern Colorado. Beautifully written; powerful sense of place and characters, but oh so sad. All poor, all making decisions that ultimately hurt them. The endings of each story are vague as to the exact outcomes. For example, the title story, Sabrina and Corina, about cousins; beautiful Sabrina becomes a drug addict (I think) and dies of an overdose (I think). The other (Corina), is a makeup artist at a department store and stays clear of addiction, but dearly loves her cousin and watches her deteriorate. She ends up having to make up Sabrina in her coffin, to hide something on her neck.

Each story was moving and as you read, you are there with them. This was the Fort Collins “One Book-One City” selection for 2021. Powerful and sad. She is an excellent writer.