Books I Love (an eclectic mix, an occasional addition . . .) & Pictures I've Taken

KP8 Photography LLC

Here are some links if anyone would like to explore my landscape prints. When I am not studying, blogging, playing the piano, writing songs, cooking, doing pottery, quilting or sewing, the think I MOST love to do is hold a camera and explore the world God has created and all its beauty. :)

Spring Flowers 2023 Collection: https://kp8photography.pixieset.com/springflowers/

Prints for Sale ('20-'23), scriptures included on many: https://kp8photography.pixieset.com/printsforsalebykp8photography/

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Books I Love

The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett (Collection of Prayers)

This collection of old Puritan prayers is worth reading through several times over, especially when joined with daily devotional reading and prayer. I just finished and will be starting over.

The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit by Matthew Henry (Study)

This is an old book but its truths are taken from God's Holy Word by a man who pursue's righteousness. While it does not feel "preachy," it does not pull any punches about the Christian's responsibility to be ruled by the same meekness Christ demonstrated for us instead of our own passions. I read this in small chunks, taking time to digest it. This weighty little book took me almost six months to get through, not because it was so hard to read or understand (it was not) but because it was so rich and eye-opening to habits and reactions in myself I had not even recognized until reading this. To say I was convicted of my own anger and responses is not enough. Understanding meekness is vital to our walk lest we think like the world around us.

The Language of Sparrows by Rachel Phifer (FICTION)
Rachel Phifer tells a story of a teenager and her mom struggling through the death of a loved one. In the midst of their grief they encounter another broken family, and with God's intervention they struggle through pain, grief, reconciliation, and other themes torn straight from God's Word. This is a powerful novel that demonstrates the healing power of God through his people. This book grabs hold of you and  it just doesn't let go.  

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller
This book is a must read. It speaks truth about a familiar parable, The Prodigal Son, that offers hope and speaks truth from God's word. I can't encourage you enough to pick up this small book!

Crossing the Lines by Richard Doster (FICTION)
This book contains elements of the troubled history of the South during the 50s and 60s from the point of view of a newspaper/magazine writer. Chock full of well-known characters from the South, the novel pulled me in as it developed known facts through a fictional lens. I found myself in the company of the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Flannery O'Connor, Johnny Cash, Elvis,B.B. King, and Harper Lee among others. While heavy, the novel was an enjoyable read, and the familiar elements of the South and the color of its language drew me into the story and resurrected memories long forgotten. I also remembered that King's vision of the civil rights movement was about justice for everyone in society--not just blacks--which is something I've lost somewhere along the way as I've associated the civil rights movement with rights for people of color instead of associating it with King's vision of fellowship. This book was not a quick read, but it was definitely worth the time to revisit history from a different perspective.

Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry (FICTION)
I must say that I picked this book up reluctantly, but once I did, I had a hard time putting it down. Chris Fabry is a fantastic writer who weaves his apparently abundant knowledge of the Bible into his novel in a way that does not seem contrived or awkward. He boldly digs into hard topics others avoid or touch on at a surface level, and the way he phrases words leaves a lasting impression of the sovereignty of God even in the midst of hard things that life brings our way. Maybe he'll forgive me if I quote his character, Billy Allman from Almost Heaven to illustrate:

"Sometimes I wonder if God looks down on us from some parapet in heaven, all us little beings doing everything we can to control our bit of the world. There are times when it feels like all the working and striving is only for us and not for him. All of the wishing and hoping and planning that gets washed away with a big rain or a gust of wind is just for our own comfort or feeling of accomplishment. But then I come back to the fact that he has placed us on earth for a purpose and that is to fulfill whatever mission he has. And I remember that he walked among us, God in flesh and bone, working and sweating and eating and drinking and laughing. When I got down, I'd think of that . . ." (p. 160).

While parables are usually short, fictitious accounts that teach a moral of some sort, Fabry's story almost feels like one at times. Even the name of his main character, Billy Allman, suggests that this story is for all men--that all men encounter the trials of life and have need of a savior. Malachi, the angel assigned to Billy for a time, offers an objective point of view of the events of Billy's life, which gives the story a feeling of completeness that does not come from one point of view. His writing brings Ephesians 6:12 to life--our battle really is not against flesh and blood, but the dark spiritual forces of this world. After finishing this book, I decided that I will be reading his other novels, and I can't wait to get to know his other characters from Dogwood.

June Bug by Chris Fabry (FICTION)
Today I read the second novel in the Dogwood series. Yes, I do realize that I am reading them backwards, but they are delightful nonetheless. The reason I picked up June Bug in the first place was my curiosity to find out how June Bug ended up with her "daddy." After seeing the cover of the book, I was intrigued before I read even a page. The only writing on the cover of the book besides the title and author is a review by Publishers Weekly calling the novel a retelling of Les Miserables, a musical which I recently saw in Chicago. After reading the novel, I have to agree that there are some similarities, but as to what they are, all I can say is you really must read the novel for yourself to discover them because if I tried to make comparisons between the two novels it would be a spoiler. The novel is worth every minute you spend reading, and I guarantee that you will get lost in the tale that Fabry weaves with an economy of words Victor Hugo never knew. Chris Fabry has a way with words that has made him a new addition to my novel of favorite authors.

My Bangs Look Good and Other Lies I Tell Myself  by Susanna Foth Aughtmon (Ladies' Bible Study)
Last summer, I went in pursuit of a good book for a ladies home Bible study for the summer. The book had to have several requirements. First, it had to be doctrinally sound. Second, it had to be easy enough to read that women would choose to do so during a summer break filled with baseball, swimming, vacations, etc. Third, it had to be relevant and applicable to our busy lives. Too tall an order you ask? Not really. As soon as I picked the book up (maybe in spite of its wacky title), I found that the words pierced my spirit and caused me to dig more deeply in God's Word to see where in my life change needed to occur. I expected only a few women gathered in my house for a small study, but  we rotated twenty-three women through a four or five week study, and I believe we were all better for digging into God's Word and seeing our own lives through the mirror that Susanna was willing to hold up for us. The book made me laugh hysterically and cry tears of frustration as she shared her personal stories and challenged me to hold on to God's truth instead of believing the lies the world feeds us on a daily basis. Thanks, Susanna! I loved your book.

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (FICTION)
A few years ago, my daughter had to read The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis for a college interview process. That led to her reading Lewis’s Till We Have Faces last year, which she has been bugging me to read. Honestly, as much of a Lewis fan as I am, I was unfamiliar with this novel, and I am just now getting around to reading it. The novel is Lewis’s last one and was written with his wife Joy Davidman. The front cover of the book makes it clear that this is a variation of Cupid and Psyche’s story, but being rather uninterested for most of my life with all things regarding Greek mythology, I only knew a little about Cupid and really nothing at all about Psyche. Psyche is the Greek word for the soul (and butterfly) and happens to be one of the names of one of the protagonists of the story.

[Disclaimer: Yes. I was an English major without extensive knowledge of Greek mythology. So be it! I chose British and American literature over Greek mythology electives; however, the more I have read and taught AP Literature and Composition and encountered unfamiliar allusions to Greek mythology, the more I’ve had to learn, so now I’m just adding this to my repertoire.]

The narrator, Orual, focuses on her sister Istra, although the people recognize her as Psyche. I learned that when a protagonist’s name is Psyche, the reader should seriously expect some trauma and a few major crises. For the uninitiated (like I was), the Psyche of mythology was the third and most beautiful princess of a Greek king, so beautiful that she was worshipped for her beauty, which got her into a rather tight spot with a jealous god.

When the king (Orual’s father) involves the Oracle at Delphi to seek advice (Is it just me, or does this never turn out well?), the reader must then groan (Think Oedipus . . . that turned out well now, didn’t it?) to know that the advice the king is seeking will have a tremendous price . . . let’s see, it essentially involves dressing his daughter for a party-like funeral, taking her to the mysterious off-limits mountaintop of the god to marry a groom who’s not human in order to appease said god and his priests who say all the bad things in the land are because of her. She becomes the sacrifice—one for all.

Sounds horrible, right? Everyone wails and grieves and carries on before just leaving her tied to a post to die on the mountaintop, but wait . . . there’s more! Plot twist here—she doesn’t really “die” die. Instead her dreams of a magnificent home are fulfilled, and her groom comes to her in the dark of each night, and well, . . . everybody’s happy. Psyche! (I just couldn’t resist that one). Psyche and her mystery groom/god she’s never seen are happy in her dream house (invisible to everyone else’s naked eye), and she gets pregnant, but then her sister comes looking for closure and ends up stirring the pot even more, making Psyche doubt her idyllic life with her inhuman, unseen bridegroom, convincing her that she’s been lying each night with some monster.

The rest of the story, well, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you, but it is told from the oldest sister’s point of view, and it is heavy with regret and full of lessons learned about love. It is a story full of truth and the end is not (at least for me) a neat closure (HEA) that resolves into something you can walk away from. Instead, it pokes and prods at you to get the full meaning. It is difficult and enjoyable and heart-breaking and full of allusions, but it is good.

If Lewis considered this his best work and Tolkien agreed with him, it is worth reading just to see what that looks like.