October Reading Log

A 9-day trip to Spain (followed by a solid week of jet lag) slowed down my reading this month, but a solid start and a decent finish meant that there are still a few books to review. Check them out below!



WALTER BENJAMIN AT THE DAIRY QUEEN by Larry McMurtry

In preparation for next month's read of the quintessential Texas classic, Lonesome Dove, I decided to dip my toe in the Larry McMurtry waters with this slim sort-of-memoir, where the author uses his life as a rancher's son, bookseller, and writer to convey truths about the nature of storytelling. Written with customary humility and straightforwardness, McMurtry connects the stories from his boyhood and his lifelong love of reading with the importance of story more broadly. Where literary critic Walter Benjamin once wrote about the demise of oral storytelling in the modern age, McMurtry is doing his part here to fight back that perceived cultural condition.

The book is a little rambling, not in the sense of going too long but in that it doesn't exactly follow a straight line. Nevertheless, the journey is an enjoyable one, and this is not a bad entry point for those unfamiliar with McMurtry's style (it's certainly one of his shortest books!) A worthy read for any Texan.

ON WRITING by Stephen King

This was my "read on trains" book during our family trip to Spain. Since this was a reread, my original review can be found here.



THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's first novel is widely considered his best. It employs the things people know best about him, from his love of bullfighting to his terse prose style, without reveling in them in the caricatured way he did later in his life. It is full of action, yet always feels quite and reflective. Like the best of Hemingway's work, it is emblematic of his "iceberg theory" of minimalist writing: there is much more happening beneath the surface than on the printed page.

The Sun Also Rises is the story of Jake Barnes, Brett Ashley, and other American expatriates living in Europe, stand-ins for the so-called "Lost Generation" which Hemingway himself, alongside other luminaries like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, represented. In their time in France and Spain, they eat and drink and attend the bullfights in Pamplona, even as Jake pines for Lady Ashley while others try to woo her.

Yet the characterization and the prose, not the plot, are what make this novel special. This is the kind of book, at 250 pages of short, simple sentences, that you could easily fly through in a few days, but to do so would rob you of its riches. That's because this is a book that's meant to make you think as you read it, to sit in the tension and ponder what you're missing. In this tale of unrequited love and things left unsaid, it is up to you to fill in the gaps.

This is a deeply sad, aimless book, like the generation for which it spoke. But there is beauty to be found in the wandering, frustrating though it is. The haunting final line of the book puts it aptly, when Brett cries out to Jake that they could have had such a good time together. "Yes," says Jake. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"



ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOL. 7 by Steve Engelhart, Gerry Conway, George Pérez, Sal Buscema

This feels like a bridge volume, as Steve Engelhart's run comes to a close but Jim Shooter's has not yet fully begun. Much time is spent on the odd trio of the Vision, the Scarlet Witch, and the newly resurrected Wonder Man, along with Wondy's evil brother, the Grim Reaper. These tangled, soap operatic relationships are great for internal drama. Indeed, much of the storytelling in these issues is about the team's chemistry, so much so that in one issue Iron Man scolds the team for ignoring a distress call because they're too busy fighting amongst themselves.

The highlight of this mostly forgettable volume is undoubtedly the arrival of George Pérez on art. While it would still be a few issues before the reins were permanently handed to him, his debut issues are found here, and you can already feel the quality of the book rise when the pencil is in his hands. Pérez would go on, both in the 1970s and later in the 1990s, to be regarded as the best artist ever to draw this title.

For the most part, this book is standard Bronze Age fare, and largely inconsequential in terms of the title's lore. Breeze through it quickly, like I did, so you can get to the Jim Shooter-George Pérez issues to come in volumes 8 and 9.

Actually... (Friday Devotional)

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 8:38-39

The other morning, I greeted my 9-year-old son Andrew by stretching out my arms to give him a hug. In the proud tradition of snotty preteens since time immemorial, he ducked under my arms to dodge the hug and keep walking.

I didn’t respond in any way—didn’t say anything, didn’t scowl, didn’t even roll my eyes. Again, he’s a 9-year-old boy, I know that kind of thing is par for the course. But it was interesting what happened next.

He stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Actually…” he said, and he threw his arms around me for a hug. “Good morning, Daddy!”

It occurs to me that our little encounter could be illustrative of the believer’s relationship with their Father in heaven. If we’re honest, we often regard God the way a preteen does his parents—we take him for granted. We know he loves us, we’ve heard it a million times, it’s not something we question or worry about at this point. So it feels permissible, even comfortable, to stiff arm him from time to time. We ignore biblical commands that feel overbearing, we miss a few Sundays because church is starting to feel rote, we speed through prayers or skip them entirely.

But even when our hearts are far from him, the Lord never stops loving us. When you’re too cool, too busy, or too disobedient for faith, he remains steadfast. When you question and doubt, he never wavers in his care. When you’re ready to walk away, he never turns his back.

So maybe today is the day for your “actually” moment. In humility and repentance, turn around and throw your arms around your Father in heaven. Don’t let your confusion or hurt or pride win out over love. Just come home to your Father. After all, he hasn’t gone anywhere, and he’s ready to wrap you in his arms.

What Time It Is (Friday Devotional)

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light…

- Romans 13:11

On Tuesday morning, I woke up in my own bed for the first time in 10 days. Having spent more than a week traveling in Spain with my family, I was really glad to be home and anxious to get back in the swing of things. I’d go to work, the kids would go to school, and everything would go back to normal.

All three kids were awake by 5:15 AM.

That’s right, I hadn’t reckoned with that vicious consequence of international travel: jet lag. Even as bone-tired as we all were when we went to bed the night before, our bodies were still 7 hours ahead—and so while our clocks in Texas said 5:15 AM, our bodies thought it was 12:15 PM. It would take the better part of a week for us all to get fully back on schedule, and for us to truly know what time it was.

In a much broader sense, the Bible gives us a theological understanding of “what time it is.” We live in between the inauguration of the kingdom and its consummation, between Christ’s victory on the cross and the ultimate victory yet to come when he returns. Sin and darkness have already been defeated, but we await the day when faith becomes sight.

So given what time it is, believers are called to cast off the sins of yesterday and to pick up righteousness. We are no longer chained by darkness, and so we are called to live in the light of Christ. Soon and very soon the trials of this present day will be overwhelmed by the joys to come—and so our calling is to live into that future now, as citizens of the kingdom rather than of this world.

We know what time it is—time to wake up and walk into the daylight.

Eyes Wide Open (Friday Devotional)

For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

- 1 Corinthians 13:12

As you read these words, my family and I are enjoying a week in Spain—eating the food, visiting the museums, and soaking up as much of the culture as we can in a week. What a blessing it is to have this time learning about a country with such a rich history!

One figure who looms large over Spanish culture is Pablo Picasso, the famed Cubist painter of works like Guernica and Weeping Woman. In these paintings and others like them, Picasso breaks up his subjects into geometric shapes, then reassembles them abstractly. The result, as we’ve seen, is that when you’re looking at a Picasso painting, you know what you’re seeing, but it looks…off. You almost have to squint to understand what you’re looking at.

The Bible tells us that our life in Christ is kind of like that. For those who know Jesus as Lord, we have received a measure of the life to come. Our salvation is secured, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we know the presence of the Lord.

Yet this is only a shadow of what awaits us in heaven, when we will see the Lord face to face and know him fully, as we are now fully known by him. Knowing the Lord in this life is incomparably better than not knowing him, but it pales in comparison with the joy to come in eternity.

When you squint at the best this God-given world has to offer, you can see the glory of God, but you have to squint. The ultimate blessing still awaits those who know the Lord—and praise God, we will see it with eyes wide open.

Worthy (Friday Devotional)

A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”

- Luke 7:2-7

The other day, my son Andrew was sorting through his baseball cards and asked me a question: which did I think was worth the most? His suspicion was that a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card was the answer, but I thought it was a Sandy Koufax card from the 1960s. We argued pleasantly back and forth and eventually the conversation ended without the perfunctory Google search to see who was right. Even as I write this, I still don’t know which card is worth more.

The gospels tell a story where worthiness—not of cards, but of people—seems to carry a lot of weight. In Luke’s account, an influential Roman officer’s slave is so sick he is near death. Hoping Jesus will be able to heal his slave, the officer sends Jewish delegates to the Lord to ask for help. When they do so, they are quick to explain to Jesus that the centurion is “worthy to have you do this for him,” pointing out that he is a friend to the Jewish people and helped with the construction of their synagogue.

When Jesus arrives at the house, however, the Roman officer sends friends out to meet him with a different message: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He had never intended for Jesus to come to his home, for he trusts that with but a word Jesus can heal his servant. And Jesus, amazed by his faith, does just that.

I think this man’s perspective is enlightening. By all the world’s standards, he is the picture of success: wealthy, powerful, and respected in the community. Indeed, he says, “I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” Yet when faced with a situation he can’t control, he understands what others do not: none of his power or influence makes him worthy of a miracle. Ultimately, Jesus alone is worthy.

That kind of humility and faith is worthy—pun intended—of emulation today. It’s easy to get caught up in society’s markers of success, always trying to climb the next rung up the ladder. Like Andrew with his baseball cards, we want to know what we’re worth.

But the Bible reminds us that our ultimate worth is not found in what we build or buy, but in our relationship with Christ. It is in him that we live and move and have our being, and it is through him that we receive salvation and life with God. Don’t look for worthiness where others do—find it in the presence of Savior.

One-Sided Conversations (Friday Devotional)

"Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway."

- Proverbs 8:34


“Will you eat this if I put it in your lunch?”

“I built a new addition for my terrarium!”

“Mommy, can I ask you a question?”

“Look, I found my hippo!”

It was a normal evening in our kitchen, but based on that string of non-sequitors, I might as well have been standing in Grand Central Station. One person was trying to do a job, others were trying to show off their work, still another was trying to ask something. And everybody was talking at once.

All four members of my family had something to say, and none of them appeared to have a listener. Instead, it was just words thrown out into the wind—questions unanswered, observations unnoticed, announcements unheeded. After all, you don’t just need something to say to have a conversation. You need somebody to listen.

In the Bible, much of what we read about prayer deals with what we say to God. Scripture has much to teach about employing prayer for adoration and intercession and thanksgiving. We know that in faith we can come to God with whatever is on our minds and cast our anxieties upon him, knowing that he cares for us.

But just as we ought to talk to God, so too should we listen to him. Through his Word and through the leading of the Holy Spirit, God teaches us, guides us, and commands us. We have not been left on this earth unaccompanied, but rather have a Lord who is with us always.

Too often prayer is a one-sided affair, where we talk and talk and talk, never even thinking to listen. But if you want to get the most of out of your prayers, don’t stop once you’ve said what you have to say. God has plenty to tell you—are you listening?