What do these two have in common?
Nothing really, except that I read both of them over the past couple of months. In between planning a wedding, getting married, and the crazy-wonderful weeks that followed, I managed to squeeze in time for some reading.
Neither of these books, My Ántonia or Wrinkled but Not Ruined, are very long. I finished My Ántonia within a week. Wrinkled but Not Ruined took nearly a month, simply because I began reading it when I became busy with planning+getting married.
My Ántonia
Personal Rating: Must-Read
Willa Cather is a phenomenal author. Her style is direct but engaging; I will not say "simple" because she weaves complex character growth throughout her stories, but she is very straightforward in her approach so as to fit the time-period of the story. The result is a story that I find gripping in its complexities yet engaging in style. My Ántonia is a collection of memoirs from one Jim Burden. Sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska, ten-year-old Jim has his first encounter with Ántonia, a Bohemian girl migrating with her family to the same area. This Bohemian family settles on the farm next to the Burdens, and Jim and Ántonia become friends.
The book follows Jim's growth as an individual in correlation to the growth of his relationship with Ántonia throughout the years. A bittersweet, beautifully gripping tale, set in the sweeping grasslands of Nebraska, My Ántonia is truly timeless. A book that all should read at least once in their lives, My Ántonia catches the reader's heart from the very first chapter and holds it captive through to the very last page.
Favorite Quote: "As I went back alone over that familiar road, I could almost believe that a boy and girl ran along beside me, as our shadows used to do, laughing and whispering to each other in the grass."
Wrinkled but Not Ruined: Counsel for the Elderly
Personal Rating: Must-Read for anyone counseling within a church (because most churches have elderly people in attendance at some point).
Jay Adams is a great resource for anyone preparing to counsel others biblically. With books titled Competent to Counsel and The Christian Counselor's Manual, it is pretty obvious what his goal in writing these books is. Wrinkled but Not Ruined is a small book, a little over 100 pages, that is written specifically for those pastors and congregants who are in regular contact with the aged. My personal interest in this book started when I began attending a Bible Study at one of the local nursing homes. My heart has been burdened lately with bringing the Gospel hope to the elderly as they struggle in the last years of their lives. I really appreciated Adams' approach in Wrinkled but Not Ruined because he applies the Gospel very directly to the different problems faced by the aged. Instead of giving them an easy out, he emphasizes the need for the elderly Christian to still bear fruit in his old age. In every age we must pursue this, Adams says, but we don't get a break once we hit 60. There is still a race to be finished, work to be done; the Gospel still must go forth. And God calls every Christian to spread the Gospel, regardless of age.
I really appreciate the way Adams delves into the different struggles faced by the elderly. As someone not quite a quarter of a century old, I do not face the same physical and mental struggles they do. I have yet to watch most of my friends and family pass away, as many of the elderly do. I have not struggled with significant physical impairments or mental deterioration. This book not only gave me the tools to bring the Gospel into these people's lives, it gave me a burning desire to do so. Where once it was a thought in passing, now these are the people I want to shape my counseling ministry around.
I hope you enjoyed these reviews. I have six more books to write reviews about in the next five months, but if there are books you want me to read/review, please comment and let me know what they are. I am always looking for new reading and blogging material.
Nothing really, except that I read both of them over the past couple of months. In between planning a wedding, getting married, and the crazy-wonderful weeks that followed, I managed to squeeze in time for some reading.
My Ántonia
Personal Rating: Must-Read
Willa Cather is a phenomenal author. Her style is direct but engaging; I will not say "simple" because she weaves complex character growth throughout her stories, but she is very straightforward in her approach so as to fit the time-period of the story. The result is a story that I find gripping in its complexities yet engaging in style. My Ántonia is a collection of memoirs from one Jim Burden. Sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska, ten-year-old Jim has his first encounter with Ántonia, a Bohemian girl migrating with her family to the same area. This Bohemian family settles on the farm next to the Burdens, and Jim and Ántonia become friends.
The book follows Jim's growth as an individual in correlation to the growth of his relationship with Ántonia throughout the years. A bittersweet, beautifully gripping tale, set in the sweeping grasslands of Nebraska, My Ántonia is truly timeless. A book that all should read at least once in their lives, My Ántonia catches the reader's heart from the very first chapter and holds it captive through to the very last page.
Favorite Quote: "As I went back alone over that familiar road, I could almost believe that a boy and girl ran along beside me, as our shadows used to do, laughing and whispering to each other in the grass."
Wrinkled but Not Ruined: Counsel for the Elderly
Personal Rating: Must-Read for anyone counseling within a church (because most churches have elderly people in attendance at some point).
Jay Adams is a great resource for anyone preparing to counsel others biblically. With books titled Competent to Counsel and The Christian Counselor's Manual, it is pretty obvious what his goal in writing these books is. Wrinkled but Not Ruined is a small book, a little over 100 pages, that is written specifically for those pastors and congregants who are in regular contact with the aged. My personal interest in this book started when I began attending a Bible Study at one of the local nursing homes. My heart has been burdened lately with bringing the Gospel hope to the elderly as they struggle in the last years of their lives. I really appreciated Adams' approach in Wrinkled but Not Ruined because he applies the Gospel very directly to the different problems faced by the aged. Instead of giving them an easy out, he emphasizes the need for the elderly Christian to still bear fruit in his old age. In every age we must pursue this, Adams says, but we don't get a break once we hit 60. There is still a race to be finished, work to be done; the Gospel still must go forth. And God calls every Christian to spread the Gospel, regardless of age.
I really appreciate the way Adams delves into the different struggles faced by the elderly. As someone not quite a quarter of a century old, I do not face the same physical and mental struggles they do. I have yet to watch most of my friends and family pass away, as many of the elderly do. I have not struggled with significant physical impairments or mental deterioration. This book not only gave me the tools to bring the Gospel into these people's lives, it gave me a burning desire to do so. Where once it was a thought in passing, now these are the people I want to shape my counseling ministry around.
I hope you enjoyed these reviews. I have six more books to write reviews about in the next five months, but if there are books you want me to read/review, please comment and let me know what they are. I am always looking for new reading and blogging material.
