Soul Survivor - Philip Yancey

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Category: non-fiction Acquired: Borrowed from SPCC church library in Nov 2007. Waaaaay overdue. Read: Dec 2007 - Feb 2008 Briefly: twelve chapter-length tributes to the "unlikely mentors" whom the author claims helped to bring him back from an ultra-legalistic upbringing in a church that just didn't grasp the concept of grace. They include Christian and non-Christian authors, pastors and public figures from the 16th century thru the present.

Comments: Yancey readers are probably familiar with his unfortunate church background, and his journey to find and embrace authentic Christianity - the story is well documented in his other books "The Jesus I Never Knew" and "What's So Amazing About Grace", among others. An autobiographical chapter in this book provides more detail, and helps to explain his search for deeper, more satisfying truths, truths that make a demonstrable difference in peoples lives.

To some extent, I think many of us are on that same odyssey, which makes this book both relevant and useful. Think of it as a primer on "people with whom every Christian should be at least somewhat familiar". For each, you get insights into their background and points of view, a smattering of quotes from their work, comments on why Yancey considers them important, and (best of all) his recommendations for further exploration.

You'll probably put these folks into categories similar to mine:

• Well-known people whose impact I generally under-appreciated:
  Everett Koop, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Ghandi, Martin Luther King.
  
• Names that sounded a little familiar, but that's all:
  GK Chesterton, John Donne, Annie Dillard, Henri Nouwen
  
• Who?
  Paul Brand, Robert Coles, Frederick Buechner, Shusaku Endo.

Thus far, I've been able to read more from one of these authors already (thanks, Betsy!), and have another half-dozen I'm eager to try. So, if you're ever looking for gift ideas for me....

Pilgrim At Tinker Creek - Annie Dillard

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Category: non-fiction Acquired: Gift from Betsy & Todd, Christmas 2007 Read: Feb 2008 Briefly: Articulate meditation on the author's natural surroundings, which consist of the stream, forests and fields around her home. These are not remarkable in themselves, probably not much different from those where you live. What's remarkable is in the author's ability to help you see the beauty, depth and complexity in a single swampy creek bank, and then engage you in ponderings on the deeper questions - why does nature work this way? What did the creator have in mind? What does it all mean?

Comments: First of all, I don't want to hear about how you polished this book off in a couple of evenings, and resonated with the author on every point. I'm just not sure I'd believe you. There's so much here, and so much to think about between the lines that it simply can't be absorbed very quickly. It's one of those books where you get to the end of the page and realize your eyes have been reading the words, but your brain gave up five minutes ago and has been thinking about how the Mariners could really use a good left-handed relief pitcher this year.

I figure I picked up about 25% of the what the author was trying to say. So sue me, and take away my Mensa membership. But of that 25%, there were some truly memorable moments:

-- Dillard (no stranger to biology and other physical sciences), musing about how a "normal" design approach would have been to make organisms complex on the outside, where the complexity can be seen, appreciated and do some good - and then slack off in detail as you get to the inner layers. In reality, she observes that nature's designs exhibit more and more complexity as you look at them more deeply, with each layer peeled back to reveal astounding complexity at the next - right on down to the cellular layer and ultimately the atomic layer. I think the phrase she uses is the "utter extravagance" of detail in the creator's work. (I appreciated her tendency to give credit where credit is due - I perceived that she long ago passed the crossroads where she had to choose between a created nature whose meaning can be sought and known, versus an accidental nature with essentially no meaning at all).

-- Dillard points out the inherent brutality and deadliness of the animal and plant kingdoms. She notes that most organisms produce many times more offspring than needed for survival, because nature's way is for a huge proportion of them to not survive (e.g. become food for someone else, or simply succumb to a hostile, uncaring environment). She struggles with the waste, and notes the remarkable contrast between her own human viewpoint, which tends to value the individual more than the group, versus the creator's apparent viewpoint, which is to value the group more than the individual. Who is right, and who is out of step?

For what it's worth, Dillard has also written some fiction, including a historical novel set in the Pacific NW. I'm going to quit writing here and go add it to my Amazon wish list.

The Orchard Mason Bee - Brian Griffin

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Category: non-fiction Acquired: Gift from Kari & Kyle, Birthday 2007 Read: Jan 2007 Briefly: History, sociology, biology, care and propagation of some very interesting little pollinators.

Comments: This book came as part of a starter kit for raising my own colony of Mason Bees. These guys are my idea of an ideal bee. They stay at home, do their job efficiently, never sting, and live for nine months of the year in little cardboard tubes - half of that time being in your refrigerator. The Bellingham-based author seems to have popularized this species in the Northwest, and now makes a nice retirement out of selling books, supplies and larvae (in little cardboard tubes). It's now late February, so just a few more weeks until I get to take mine out of the refrig and see what happens.

Tales from the Seattle Mariners Dugout - Kirby Arnold

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Category: non-fiction Acquired: Gift from Brenda, Christmas 2007 Read: Jan 2007 Briefly: Nicely-done retrospective of the Seattle Mariners, written by an ex-sports reporter from the Everett Herald.

Comments: Starts back in the early years, when it was by no means certain that Seattle even wanted a major league team, and the Mariners struggled in vain to post a break-even season. Plenty of blame to go around, including some nice digs at George Argyros. But, for those of us who lived through the glory years (1995-2001), the book's recounting of that era brings back all the memories and excitement, and makes for a great (if sadly nostalgic) read. Only one criticism, which Mom Elliott first pointed out - for a book titled "Tales from the dugout", one might expect more of the kinds of insider stories and anecdotes that make sports books fun to read. Many good ones are included, to be sure, but maybe not enough to justify the title.