Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

(review by Deanna) (see review by Julie here)

I read Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ as part of a publisher's program I'm trying out.  I don't think I would have normally chosen it because having "manifesto" in the title makes it sound too uni-bomber-like, but I got some good content out of the book.

The authors believe that the true meaning of the Good News of Jesus has been left by the wayside for the sake of things that are fine, but not the point.  They point out that Christians are missing the truth and power of Christianity because we are following a set of ideas, a code of ethics, right vs. wrong, happiness or any number of other things when what we really need to follow and seek is a person, Jesus Christ.  They contrast the religion of Christianity with the indwelling of the person of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 

I will say that the book was organized and written a little oddly.  The introduction was reactive and even a little defensive.  It seemed like the first chapter had the main content and then the next couple didn't really have anything to say (although, by the last half of the book they had warmed back up and were covering some more ground).  Also, they do something that is very common and accepted but I find upsetting: all references, not just references to other materials but also every scripture reference, is in the footnotes in the back.  I would much prefer "As Paul stated in 1 Cor 1:9," to just a footnote.  Or just put the reference in parentheses.  I spent half my time flipping to the back of the book.  I believe this method is intended to seem scholarly and improve the flow of reading.  For me, it seems like it obscures the scripture references and destroys the flow of reading.  Finally, the authors state in the introduction that they intend to write in an "ancient devotional tone" because it's respectful and serious.  They proceed to do so... about 75% of the time.  The rest of the time they are inserting facebook posts or making semi-jokey puns or making veiled (or not veiled) criticisms of contemporary items they disagree with, such as "WWJD", A Purpose Driven Life, etc.  The jumping back and forth in tone was a little disorienting at times, however I didn't find it to obscure the point of the book.

Overall, the book was consistent with Biblical truths and both wise and relevant in some of their points.  I found it personally relevant and helpful in several ways.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not encouraged or required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Jesus Manifesto By Sweet & Viola

(review by Julie) (see review by Deanna here)
In Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ, Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola aim to bring our Christian focus back to Christ from where we have wandered, looking for our leadership style, our personal talents and our church's mission statements.

Sweet and Viola spend a considerable amount of Chapter 2 in the book of Colossians.  So, it might be a good companion to a more thorough study of that book of the Bible.

While I like the basic concepts of the book, there were a few things I found annoying.  First and foremost, the cute cliches like, "Some preachers need a travel agent to handle all the guilt trips they put on God's people" (p.25) were a distracting contrast to the "ancient devotional tone" (p.xx) the authors sought. They would flip back and forth between talking about inspirational Christians from 1000AD to retorting to a facebook post in such a way that kept me feeling a little off balance.

Also, unfortunately, as the authors seem to admit, a whole book about how we need nothing but Christ, will inevitably get repetitive. The authors might have avoided this by fleshing out more of their metaphors or explaining how their examples relate back to their central theme,

In the end, when I set Jesus Manifesto down, I find myself drawn toward scripture; I feel a greater desire to spend more time with God's word.  So, maybe Sweet and Viola would call their book a success.

--------------------------------
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of a book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt

(review by Deanna)
A friend recommended this book to me and it was very enjoyable.  The first half is about the value of incorporating reading into the family's live and some ideas of how to do so.  The second half is a recommended book list by type and age.  In content and conclusion, it is very much like The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, which I reviewed here.  In tone, it is more gentle and poignant.  Both are excellent and worth reading and following.

Honey for a Child's Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life reads like a kind mother or teacher speaking, giving advice that has stood the test of time.  Hunt describes the delight and wonder that good books can bring us and our children and how sharing that delight deepens and strengthens our relationships. 

What do books bring a child? ... a big world with all its possibilities - people to know and understand, places to imagine, eyes to see beyond the obvious, words to stretch the mind and heart, and a lasting stewardship of language used in the right way.

The author emphasizes respect and empathy for children and advocates using books as timeless ways of sharing universal truth and joy without moralizing or lecturing.  It is written from a Christian perspective, though I think anyone would take the points she makes to heart.  She includes a chapter on reading the Bible and the special bonds created by doing so.  She also give some workable ways of making that happen from her own experience and family heritage.  She addresses specific question of whether fantasy literature is too unreal for children and how good books handle difficult subjects.

If you are planning to choose either the Trelease book or this one, start with the tone you prefer -   Trelease is more academic and results-based, whereas Hunt is more relationship and character based. Both come to the same conclusion: it is an invaluable gift to your family to enjoy reading together and for a lifetime.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

(review by Deanna)

Artisan Bread is a cookbook that teaches you to bake bread on a daily basis with minimal effort.

The method is really great.  It works and the results are delicious - like the table bread from a nice restaurant. When the weather was cool, I was baking bread with several meals a week and had no complaints.  It really does take only five minutes a day.  Even the "twenty minute" setup day for making the dough is easy, probably taking even less than twenty minutes. There is something really delightful about being able to bake restaurant quality bread using a manageable routine. 

If there are any "catches" with the method, they are the waiting times.  On dough making day, you need to be able to leave the dough out for two to five hours, then refrigerate it.  On baking days, the dough needs to rest at room temperature for around an hour before baking so even though the involvement time is only five minutes, you have to start a little early.  These don't make it at all difficult, they just create a scheduling requirement. 

This is a cookbook I actually read cover to cover.  I'm not sure why, as it was extremely repetitive.  My only complaint about the book itself is that while the method is the same for each bread, all the details are repeated in each recipe.  It makes it difficult to scan for any variations to the basic method from one recipe to the next. 

Although I'll be taking a break from daily baking over the summer, I will use it periodically and go back to several times a week in the fall. This is quite a good cookbook and I recommend it.

Nurtureshock by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman

(review by Julie)
Over the last few months, my sister has been relaying snippets of Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children to me- things like how sleep loss plays a role in childhood obesity and makes it harder to remember positive thoughts and how praising a child for being smart can cause them to NOT be willing to put forth effort. Those little jewels were so fascinating to me that I had to read the book myself. When I found out it was written by Po Bronson, I was even more excited. I loved his book What Should I Do With My Life . Now that I've read Nurtureshock, I've been going back through the book to take notes on some of the applications I don't want to forget. I'm struggling to keep the notes short enough to be useful.

Bronson and Merryman have researched numerous studies (the "Selected Sources and References section alone is 62 pages long!) from all corners of the globe and complied them into ten chapters about children. Each chapter offers new insights and applications for how we understand kids. These insights are largely a "restoration of common sense," (p. 7) yet they were often contrary to popular opinion. I found myself constantly vowing to change my own actions with children while wondering why I ever believed any different. For example, when we tell kids "Don't tattle," we're setting up patterns of withholding information from adults which can encourage kids to be less than honest about other things. Instead, when a child tattles, we should help him develop coping mechanisms for what's bothering him by suggesting another way for him to handle the situation. So, I could say something like, "Did you ask him not to poke you? Perhaps you'd like to find a different friend to play with."

From their ten chapters, Bronson and Merryman see a two pronged pattern. First, kids are fundamentally different from adults in ways we never understood before. For example, kids spend ten times as much of their night in short-wave sleep than an adult, which makes sleep loss affect their weight and their learning more intensely than it would in an adult. Second, what's good for a child isn't always the opposite of whats bad for them. For example, lying is bad and should be discouraged, but it's also a developmental milestone for a kid to understand the truth vs. a lie enough to formulate a lie and control what the say enough to pull off the lie.

The first two chapters were the most interesting to me and, while the rest of the book was worth reading, I wasn't compelled to re-read it all to my husband. There were a few chapters that seemed to drag a little bit, so I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5. I have to admit that this might have been because I have young children (2yr and 3mo) and those slower chapters seemed to deal more with older kids and teens. I'd really like a copy for myself, but read the library's instead.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

(review by Julie) (see Outliers review by Deanna here)
I recently read Outliers; The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. I enjoyed this book even more than Gladwell's other books, The Tipping Point and Blink, which is really saying a lot. Gladwell is a journalist by trade, writing for the New Yorker magazine since 1996 and a reporter for the Washington post before that. I think this background gives him a writing style that makes it easy for me to become fully engaged; I end up loosing myself in his writing. As a result, I find that I read through his books quickly, unwilling to set them aside for a time, like I am with many other non-fiction books.

Outliers is all about how successful people are made. It dispels the myth that success is all about luck or even about being extraordinarily smart. Instead, Gladwell shows, success is a combination of opportunity and practice. Gladwell also points out that our heritage plays a significant role in our abilities. However, if we acknowledge our heritage, we can overcome its potential pitfalls rise above it.

Throughout the book, Gladwell looks at well know figures' (like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and The Beatles) paths toward success alongside people I'd never heard of including a group of genius kids, a school girl from the Bronx, and Korean pilots.

After reflecting on this book for a few weeks, I am left with a few nuggets that I'll take with me:
1. Success is a combination of opportunity and hard work. Neither alone is enough.
2. If you want to be truly good at something, do it for 10,000 hours.
3. Be careful not to underestimate how much your heritage / cultural legacy impacts you. Instead, know thyself- understand what your negative tendencies are and learn to correct for them.

In the end, I am a fan of Malcolm Gladwell and look forward to his next book.