Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism – Interesting look at “Liberal” politics. Makes the argument that it is actually the Liberals that are the Fascists, not Conservatives. I personally think it is a commitment to the State that is the road to fascistic governments, and this commitment can be present in both Liberals and Conservatives.

Orson Scott Card, The Lost Gate – The first book in a new series by Orson Scott Card. I haven’t really read much by Card, but really enjoyed this book. In it he provides an interesting background for the varied mythological systems that have developed.

Russell Moore, Adopted for Life (reread) – First off, I love this book. I said it was the best book I read in 2009. It may be the best book I read in 2011 as well. We are not looking into adoption, but this book is food for the soul. It provides a wonderful look at the work of the Gospel in a believer’s life. If you are looking at adoption, READ THIS BOOK. If you are not, READ THIS BOOK. It will give you a framework through which to view adoption, and provide you with a wealth of inspiration for prayer (whether for your family or for friends & family as they are going through the adoption process).

David McCullough, 1776 – A popular look at a pivotal year in the history of the United States. Enjoyable read.

Douglas Wilson, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning (reread) – In June, Rebecca and I joined the Board of the school our children attend. Part of the preliminaries for joining was the reading of a couple of books on education by Douglas Wilson. I had read them several years ago, but appreciated rereading them.

Douglas Wilson, Excused Absence (reread) – Same as above.

Eoin Colfer, Airman – I read Airman because it has a strong chance of being Joel’s favorite novel. He has read it 4 or 5 times (could be more than that for all I know). After reading it, I can see why he likes it so much. It has aspects of numerous classic adventure stories. Stocked with memorable characters, thrilling feats of daring, and enough humor to keep things lively.

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (reread) – I read this one out loud to Rebecca at bedtime. She usually would fall asleep within 5 to 10 minutes (something about my voice puts her to sleep J). Clarke’s alternate history (or would parallel be a better word?) is still fascinating the second time through. She combines a lot of good stuff into one book.

Paul Johnson, Humorists – This book is part of a series of books Johnson has been putting out over the last decade. He takes a category and then writes about significant figures that fit in that category (Intellectuals, Heroes, Creators, etc.). This one sees him tackling Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Johnson, Charles Dickens, GK Chesterton, WC Fields, Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Brothers, James Thurber, and Laurel & Hardy to name about half of them. I actually enjoyed this book a great deal. Most of the subjects put more effort in their humor than most people put into being serious.

N.D. Wilson, 100 Cupboards Series – 100 Cupboards (reread), Dandelion Fire, The Chestnut King – Joel read the 100 Cupboard series, so I decided to get back to it and read it too. I had read the first book, 100 Cupboards, and enjoyed it, but hadn’t ever gotten back to it once the second and third books came out. Anyway, this is a wonderful series. It has adventure, peril, humor, … Pretty much everything needed to make a good series.

Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games Series – The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay – Fun series. Looking forward to the movies. Yes it has some ethical questions that aren’t really addressed in an acceptable way, but for an escapist read they are pretty good stuff.

Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet – Sherlock Holmes! Not much more to say.

Bernhard Schlink, The Reader – Saw the movie. Read the book. Liked the book better. Some interesting thoughts on how a country’s memories of its history impact its actions in the present.

George Marsden, A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards – I read Marsden’s big biography of Edwards a few years ago. This shorter book is not just an abridgement, but actually tries to explore some aspects of Edwards’ life that were only mentioned in passing in the larger work. By periodically comparing Edwards and Benjamin Franklin, Marsden puts Edwards and the New England Calvinists in the context of pre-Revolutionary U.S. history that is sometimes overlooked. Good read.

Then there are a few that I didn’t finish this year. I’ll complete the first two. I’m not so sure about the second two.

Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (~50%) – Good overview of the early church era. Looking forward to finishing.

Bruce Gordon, Calvin (~40%) – Really good biography of Calvin. Actually reading this one to Rebecca at bedtime (she’s sleeping through some good stuff).

Jim Butcher, Storm Front (~30%) – First book of the Harry Dresden novels. Not too bad, but don’t know if I want to start a series with 12 books (and more to come)!

Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad (~50%) – I guess it isn’t too bad for a personal finance book. I may finish it, but don’t really know how much of it I would feel comfortable putting into action. Guess that’s why I don’t have much chance of being a “Rich dad”.

The concept of Beauty falls on hard times in the 20th century. Artists & art critics, by and large, are not very happy with the category of Beauty. The problem is, from their perspective, Beauty sweeps too much under the carpet. Beauty sweeps Auschwitz under the carpet. It sweeps Rwanda, and genocide, and rape, and all the other atrocities of the past century under the carpet. And so if art is to be honest then art needs to be brutal. It needs to be brutally honest. And I think there’s a real insight there.

I don’t think a Christian vision of Beauty should be one that just plugs its ears and closes its eyes to the horrors of the world. But there is a sense in which a Christian understanding of Beauty is eschatological, and similarly where a Christian conception of Humanity is eschatological. That is, we look forward to the promised completion of all things and say that is the reality, actually. What we see around us is a twisting and a misshaping of the reality that God intends. By faith we live toward and do our best to enact the eschatological reality that God has promised. …

So there is a wonderful paradox about our humanity. Just looking at the Psalms, it talks about humanity being just a little below the angels and being crowned with glory and honor. The Psalms also say that we’re dust. And so the great paradox and wonder of humanity is that we are dust, but dust made to be filled with the glory of God. So our position is both a very humble one and a very exalted one.

- Steven Guthrie, Mars Hill Audio, vol 109.

O LORD God of heaven,

The great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant that I now pray before You day and night for my children. Grant them continual patience and forbearance to live with me, a wicked parent. For I have sinned against You; I have acted very corruptly against You by forsaking my responsibility to lead them in righteousness and the fear of You; I have not kept Your commandments, Your statutes, or the rules that You commanded Your servant Moses.

Prevent them from following my old self—when I am unfaithful to Your Word, when I neglect prayer, fail to redeem the time, speak carelessly, walk foolishly, fail to hope in You, seek great things for myself, become anxious about tomorrow. Protect them from my own indwelling sin—when I am beset with the fear of man, the cares of the world, or the love of money. May they never lose confidence that, in spite of my many iniquities and shortcomings, I am Your servant whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant. May they delight to fear Your name, and give success to them today, and grant them mercy.

(based on Nehemiah 1)

– Andrew Case, Setting Their Hope in God: Biblical Intercession for Your Children, p.26

Hiked to the Pratt Lodge on the McKittrick Canyon Trail with family & dad today. I walked with Nathanael. He did really well for being 4. Everyone else would get ahead of us, then they would wait. Then they would get ahead, and I would carry him to catch up. Then Rebecca, Joel & Elia got ahead and didn’t wait for us, but my dad and Caitlyn did. Gradually, I was carrying him more. When we were almost to the Lodge, my dad carried him across an arroyo and up a hill. Then we were basically there!!!

We all took a break for a bit. The park service had allowed a couple of professors and their students into the Lodge for measurements and pictures. So since we were there we got to take a look too. My dad has been there 8 or 9 times and this was the first time the cabin has been open.

After a brief excursis to let Nathanael potty like a bear (how I explained why he was using the restroom outdoors), it was time to split the party. My dad, Rebecca, Joel, and Caitlyn continued along the trail to the Grotto (another mile farther). Nathanael, Elia, and I started the trek back to the Ranger’s station (and the van).

Heading back, Nathanael did great at walking and keeping up with Elia. Elia would walk, and get about 10-15 yards ahead (depended on how far she could go before I said to wait). For the first mile and a half back, I only carried Nathanael a couple of times. However, after we crossed the stream crossing (1 mile back to van ), he was pretty well finished walking. So I’d carry him a hundred yards, he’d walk 50, repeat. Finally he gave up completely. He layed his head on my shoulder, which I didn’t mind at first because it made it easier to carry him. But fairly quickly I realized that he was asleep. So what is a father supposed to do? The only thing I could do! I carried him the rest of the way back to the van (hard to make it 3/4 of a mile, up and down hills on rocks and gravel without jostling him too much).

Anyway, we made it back to the van, got some snacks and water, and are now waiting on the others to return. Nathanael is still asleep in his car seat. Elia is playing in some gravel in front of the van. And I am relaxing in the driver’s seat while typing this and keeping an eye on Elia.

When’s dinner?

Genesis Redux on Vimeo

Don’t Watch the News – LibertarianChristians.com

So here they are in chronological order:

• C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Reread this one for the OKC chapter of the C.S. Lewis & the Inklings Society meeting in January (that I missed).
• C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man – Reread this for a CSL&IS meeting in the Spring.
• Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series – I ended up reading the five books in the Percy Jackson series because Joel was reading them.  They blended Greek mythology and an adventure story well.  Caitlyn ended up reading them as well.  One of the downsides to having read the books was that we thought they butchered the story when they made the movie.
• Diana Pavlac Glyer, The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community – Read this for a CSL&IS meeting in the Spring as well.  This one was an interesting look at the way the Inklings interaction with each other impacted their work.
• Michael Ward, Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis – Another CSL&IS book.  Dr. Ward has a very interesting theory about the structure and makeup of the Narnia books.  In April, ended up going to some lectures by Dr. Ward at OKC University on the Planet Narnia premise.  Joel & Caitlyn went with me and enjoyed them as well (they even took notes!).
• Max Brooks, World War Z – Actually started this one at the end of 2009, but got pulled away from it for a while.  Anyway, when I finally got back to it I was very pleased with it. It is surprisingly gripping for a story told in the form of interviews with numerous characters.  Just found out that the audio book is done with a full cast.  Might have to check it out from the library for a listen.
• C.S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy – The best surprise for the year was CSL’s Space Trilogy.  I had heard about them for years.  Owned them for about as long. But for some reason had never read them.  Was I ever missing out on a treat.
• Paul Johnson, Churchill – A short biography of Winston Churchill. Johnson is unashamedly a fan of Churchill so at times it was a bit like hero worship, but he would regain his composure and get back to showing Churchill as an actual person (mistakes and all).
• Neil Gaiman, Odd & the Frost Giants – Gaiman’s take on some Norse mythology. I really enjoyed this one. Based on some of his tweets, it sounds like he may be writing more Odd tales.  :)
• Tim Keller, The Prodigal God – I really like to listen to Keller’s sermons, so I’m surprised it took me this long to read this little book. Vintage Keller. I plan on reading a few more of Keller’s books in 2011.
• J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters from Father Christmas – A final entry from the CSL&IS for 2010. The December meeting was to discuss these letters and drawings that Tolkien wrote to his four children from 1920 to 1943. It was fun to see how he expanded on the tales from the North Pole as the years went by.  It was also a bit bittersweet to see how he handled each of the children “outgrowing” the annual Father Christmas letters. I ended up enjoying these a good deal more than I expected.

Well, that wraps up my list for 2010. It was longer than 2009, but shorter than I had hoped it would be.  I guess I should be happy though since I’m still working crazy hours most months.