Literacy Conclusion

Here's a post that is far overdue! I have failed in reporting to those of you who are curious, but I did not fail in my personal literacy challenge. This blog should have been written in December, however, in December I was moving and could not locate the books I had read. Actually, I still can't locate all of those books I read. I missed several months of reporting near the end of the year (Apparently, September- December... no big deal, just a quarter of the year), and honestly, I am struggling to remember all of the books I read during the last 3 months of the year. The reason? I was in school. School that happens in 8 week spurts. School that requires at least a chapter of textbook reading a week.

I know that in September I read The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, Song Yet Sung by James McBride, Small Steps by Louis Sachar, and No Quick Fix by Keith Phillips. Sometime in October through December, I also read Helpless by Barbara Gowdy, The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie, and at least 2 other books that I cannot remember no matter how I try.

The Golden Compass- Not really my cup of tea. This surprised me, but there it is. It drew me in, and then made me hang around and wait a really long time for it to end. It was dark. It had some interesting religious elements in it that did not bother me, but I would warn parents of preteens and early teens to be aware of before handing to their young readers. Would I suggest it to someone else? Not really. It wasn't poorly written, I just didn't enjoy it.

Song Yet Sung- A story about a runaway slave, slave hunters, and their surrounding world. The slave continually receives visions of modern day America throughout the book, and it baffles and terrifies her. I really enjoyed this book. It's one of those books that I gulped down fast because I couldn't get enough of it, and when it was done, I lamented not savoring it better. Would I recommend this book? Yes!

Small Steps- This book is a follow up book to Holes, but it really has little do with Holes content. It follows Theodore (Armpit) after he gets out of Camp Greenlake. Theodore works hard to turn over a new leaf, and grows an elderly brother fondness for the neighbor girl, who is often picked on because she is physically disabled. It was an interesting book, a sweet, teenagery story, and I enjoyed it, but it is entirely outside of the genre I expected it to be. Would I suggest this book? Yes, but it's not one that I would suggest someone rush out and find it to read it right now.

No Quick Fix is a collection of stories put together to share the reasoning of Dr. Phillips' approach to ministering to the inner-city. It was an informative read, and even interesting. If you are interested in the working of the inner-city and effective forms of ministry within it, pick this one up: yes.

Helpless- This book is about a young Canadian girl who gets kidnapped. It is told from multiple sides, including the kidnapper's side. The kidnapper is a man with pedophilic tendencies (something I had not known when I started the book) who is determined not to act on them. I curse the book for drawing me in, because honestly, it gave me the creeps. It was not poorly written (definitely not), it was just really disturbing (though never graphic). The disturbing factor was not because of physical activities, but mental activities. To put it plainly, I don't want to be able to think like the book leads you to think. Would I suggest this book? No! It disturbed me too much!

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side- this is the first Agatha Christie I have ever finished (not the first one I have started, though). I have never been an appreciator of mystery novels. Recently, however, I seem to have turned over a partially new leaf. I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to picking up another Agatha Christie sometime. Yes, I would suggest this book.

Wow, this is a really long post.... I feel like it needs photos. I have no photos at the moment.

As for the Literacy Challenge, in it's entirety, I enjoyed it. There were a few months where I was very stressed in trying to pull off my personal reading, but I succeeded every time. Most months, I succeeded in reading multiple books.

The grand total of fun books for 2011 is........28!

As I think back over the year, my favorite reads were: Song Yet Sung, Parrot and Olivier in America, Unshaken, and Beezuz and Ramona.

As for 2012, I haven't continued the Literacy Challenge, simply because life has been so very busy. Honestly, I miss it. I miss being immersed in literature of all levels. I have a book I have been casually reading. It's huge. Who knows how long it will take me to finish it.

2012 aside, I'm pretty proud of Literacy Challenge, 2011. Would I suggest it? Yes.

Wowza, Literacy, 4

So, I have been putting off this update on my literacy challenge for April mainly because I do not want to type this much.  The number looks pretty impressive, until you realize that 3 of the books were books I got for my cousin Keira, who will be 7 this months, and 2 of the books were easy-but interesting- reads from the Young Adult section.  All tallied, I finished 9 books this month, which definitely breaks my record of 3. Of those 9 books, 2 were old favorites, and 6 were new to me, one was... a hover book.

We've got a lot of books to run through, so let's get this party started, in order of being finished, first to last.

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey- This is a book I found in Costco. I am a fan of Costco's book section, because while the rest of the world is selling this book for $16, I got it for $8.  This book tells the story of two different men, one-Olivier- a young, born and bred French aristocrat, fleeing from yet another revolution in France. The second man-Parrot- an old, seasoned servant, born and English man, but well traveled. Olivier is sent by his mother to America, post Revolutionary war, pre Civil war. Parrot is sent as his manservant to protect Olivier, and to spy on his doings and report back to Olivier's mother.  While it takes a long time for the story to even get both characters in America, the story really seems to be a reflection of what America as a new country means to the two different classes.  For Olivier, raised in a life only below that of royalty, America means stepping down in class.  Because there really is no aristocracy in America yet, suddenly, he finds high-end middle class men (farmers turned bankers and such)approaching him as an equal.  Parrot, on the other hand, being a servant who has managed to get an education, has the opportunity to step from the bottom rung of society to the middle.  The story is told in chapters alternating between the narratives of Parrot and Olivier, which is often entertaining to hear both character's honest and opposite perspectives of the same situations.  The story also starts in each of the men's boyhoods, gradually working up to the "present" story of the men as adults, making us understand the reason the men think and behave as they do, which really makes us close to both characters.  Peter Carey writes in such a style that there were times I could have sworn Parrot and Olivier was written 100-200 years ago. It feels like a classic. The prose is beautiful. I had to stop and look up 5 words I did not know(that's a good number, enough to make me feel like I'm getting educated, but not enough for me to get irritated about having to find the dictionary again).  The place where it veers from its classic vibe is in its sexual references: they are a little more brazen that Charles Dickens might have stated.  Because of this, I would not recommend this book for a teenager. They are not elicit, however, there is enough detail to let one's imagination finish the picture. As far as sexual references are found in adult literature, this is probably as tactful as a non-Christian, modern author gets.  With all of this stated, I truly enjoyed this book, the story was interesting and vivid, the plot twists just enough, and the end is bittersweet.  Would I recommend this book?  For readers older than 20, yes.

Next up!
Out of Ashes by Keith Phillips.  This book is a look at the deeper cause of the LA riots, but even more than that, it is a call to care about our inner cities.  It tells true stories about people who grew up in some of the most dangerous parts of the inner city.  It explains why pulling oneself up by the bootstraps is not often available to the people the expression is applied to. It also gives a few examples of the different perspectives that people have depending on where they live, and why.  Dr. Keith Phillips has been working in LA since the Watts riots. He is the founder of World Impact and in this book he also explains why certain tactics of ministry work and why others fail.  For those of you involved in Compassion International ministries, you may find this book interesting, as they hold many of the same ministry beliefs.  This book is a good combination of stories (I nearly cried during some) and strategies, leaving the reader not only understanding the problem, which many books do, but also offering ideas towards solution (which I find many "call to action" books forget).  This book is well worth the read, and yes, I would recommend it! (And it is a quick read)

Holes by Louis Sachar- This book is a book that was popular when I was "too old" to be reading it, meaning early teens, but the kids 9 years younger than myself where required to read it in 4-6th grade, and were raving about it.  I have always told myself, one day I'll snag it from one of my siblings or their friends, but I never managed to do it.  Lately, I have been searching for it, because I really enjoyed the movie.  When I found it on sale at Borders, I snagged it. It was enjoyable. The movie followed the story pretty closely. For those of you who don't know the story: Young outcast, Stanley Yelnats always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  This is so when he is found to be in possession of stolen property.  He is given the option of juvenile hall or Camp Greenlakes. He chooses Camp Greenlakes, where the boys spend their entire stay digging holes.  None of this would have happened it if weren't for Stanley's No-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather, who according to family legend, brought down a curse on the heads of all the men in the family. Stanley doesn't really believe in the curse, but its good to have somebody to blame for all the bad luck he has, occasionally.  During his time at Camp Greenlakes, Stanley, often picked on at school, learns to toughen up, builds muscles, builds social skills, and gains friends.  The story is quite an entertaining one, a good read for anybody.  For parents with boys who are reluctant to read, this would be a good book, because it is not really girlie, and it has boy jokes, and even an old western story woven in. Recommended reading(even for adults)? Yes.

Elephant Run by Roland Smith- This book caught my attention in the independent readers section with its black and green cover, followed by an intriguing name.  It is about am adolescent English boy named Nick during WWII, whose mother sends him away from England because of the frequent bombings. She sends him to his father's tea plantation in Burma. When he gets there, it turns out, Burma is not any safer, as almost as soon as he gets there, the Japanese invade. His father's plantation is taken over, and he and his recently made friends are forced into servitude at the plantation, while his father is sent to a Prisoner of War camp, with the threat that if he attempts an escape, harm will come to Nick.  Nick realizes that with his own well being being held hostage against his father, it is up to Nick to escape and rescue his father. With the help of an elephant, and his Burmese friends, a dangerous plan is attempted.  This story was an interesting one. There were very few times where the story slowed too much. It was good read, with just enough sweet romance to make any preteen girl sigh, but only enough to just satisfy the girls, there is not enough to make a boy throw the book away.  The book was contracted, the publisher is Disney, this adult reader found that was evident in the tone of the book the entire time. However, just because it was there does not mean the book was a dud. It is like watching a "made-for-tv-movie" you understand from the beginning that it is of a different caliber.  With that understanding, I still enjoyed it, and I think it would be a good read for teenagers, as it does have quite a few educational tidbits in it, but I do not think this book will ever reach "classic literature" status, as Holes has (they came from the same bookshelf, by the way). Ten years down the road, I don't think I'll ever hear anyone say, "Gasp! You never read Elephant Run?!" However, while it is not necessarily a must read, it passed my time pleasurably, and if someone asked me for a light read, Yes, I would suggest Elephant Run.

Bottled Up by Jaye Murray- This is a Goodwill bookstore find, and not a bad one, I might add. It was well worth the 75 cents that caused it to be mine. Phillip, who prefers to be called Pip, is, at first glance, the typical pot head in high school.  He skips classes constantly, has a defiant and careless attitude, and really, just goes to school to avoid trouble at home.  Pip has a 5 year old brother-Mikey, and while he doesn't want to see Mikey destroyed by their alcoholic father, or start using drugs and alcohol, Pip really resents the fact that because his father is a lunatic, and his nothing of a mother, it falls to "Pip the pothead" to be the most responsible parent available to Mikey. Pip just wants to be left alone, to live in the numbness of marijuana, when a teacher finally loses patience with him and sends him to the principal's office for what turns out to be the last straw.  The principal intends to expel Pip, but as the principal reaches to call Pip's parents, sheer terror seizes Pip at the thought of what his father will do to him.  He works out a deal with the principal. Pip can stay in school, so long as he shows up to all of his classes, does not get sent back to the principal's office, and attends counseling.  When he gets to counseling, he finds out that there is a weekly urine test, and a 3 strike rule, 3 bad tests, and you are out, no more counseling. For Pip, no more counseling means no more school, which means unthinkable trouble at home.  The story is mainly about Pip's gradual returning from his haze to face his life, even though it sucks, and understanding that even though Mikey is not his son, and should not be his responsibility, Mikey is his brother, and Pip should care.  It is really a good story. This story contains some harsh language, as well as some abusive scenes, but I feel that without the language and the scenes, the story would not have been honest.  I am only putting the warning in for any readers looking for something for their teenagers. Honestly, I think, for this book, it really depends on the teenager, however, the language may be a cut off line for most parental guidelines.  Every sentence is not laden with foul language. In fact, it is sparsely used, but it is there. If it were a movie, it would probably be rated PG-13. If I were rating the book, I might rate it at PG-16 or 17.  With all of that said, I really appreciate this book. It is heart wrenching, and good, having a semi-satisfying ending that was definitely not written by Hallmark.  Yes, it was good read.

Whew!  Hang in there, blogfriends, that's 5 books down! If you have made it this far, you deserve a reward. You should buy yourself some chocolate! I am going to leave the next three books(all childrens books): Beezus and Ramona, Good Job, Kanani!, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for a later, and much shorter journal.  As it turns out, I have already written about the 9th book, in this blog post!

So, you are now free to go find yourself some chocolate! Thanks for reading!

Best hi-jack, ever.

It all started a few Sundays ago. I was on my way to my church when my mom told Melody to text me and let me know that it was mission Sunday at their church. Mission Sunday is one of my favorite days of the year, and my parents' church(the one I spent my teen years in), usually invites a missionary to give the sermon.  I was running late for my own church service, and my parents' church was much closer, and if I changed route right then, I could also pick up a cup of coffee...something I desperately wanted.

The speaker was great. Afterward there was a luncheon held by the high school group to support their upcoming mission trip to Guatemala.  I enjoyed socializing with the people I used to see every Sunday.  During one of the conversations, Joy(a person I am quite fond of) asked me about my own mission plans. I explained that my plans had basically been dashed and all I really knew was that God was in charge, and I wanted to follow him where ever that was. I mentioned I had been researching a few organizations.  Her husband, Jason (pastor of adult ministries) piped up that there was a conference coming up with World Impact, an organization I had been researching, and that they were having amazing speakers, it was about church planting, and I should come.  I gave a non-committal answer. It was interesting, but the phrase "church-planting" had intimidated me.

Later, I was at Joy and Jason's house, and Jason asked if I had checked into that weekend. I mentioned that I was free that weekend, but I hadn't yet registered or decided to go.

Later, I was in the car with a friend when I got a phone call. It was Jason, he told me he was signing his wife up for the conference, and since it was already set up in front of him, he could just add me in if I liked.  That sounds nice and passive, doesn't it?  Tone says a lot. For example, by his tone, I had realized he was going to sign me up, and this was my phone call to let me know.  I actually had suspected he had already signed me up, but I was not in the mood to prove it, and what could a conference hurt, anyway?

On the day of the conference, I showed up, pleased to be able to hop into the carpool going up to The Oaks. The drive there was beautiful.

The conference was amazing! First of all, when you walk in to register, you got your name tag, and then a bag, and in that goody bag were two books.  Not just any two books: The Making of a Disciple by Dr. Keith Phillips, and Madness by Jossy Chacko.  These two books had both recently been mentioned to me and they had caught my interest. I had intended, after finishing a few more books out of my room, to track these two books down. Here at the conference, 5 minutes after my morning coffee, they had been placed in my hand, and I didn't even have to wait for Amazon to load.  This alone could have dubbed the weekend "happy" for me.

I looked at the schedule for the day.(Yes, I had managed to show up at a conference without knowing who would be speaking.) The speakers were: Jossy Chako, Bryan Cullison, Keith Phillips, and Francis Chan.   If there were pineapple soft serve ice cream at the snack table, it would have been Disneyland!

Jossy Chacko is from India, and he has been working in the unreached areas of India. He discussed that church planting is more about witnessing to people, who in turn witness to people, and pretty soon, you have a huge number of new believers who need a church!  The stories he shared were amazing!  His organization is called Empart and the work God does through this organization is incredible. They train local believers to reach out, to be scripturally sound, they help start social services such as educational help and health education.  They basically go into a community as an indigenous Christian, and respond to the individual communities needs.

Keith Phillips, founder of World Impact an organization that focuses on ministering in the most dangerous parts of inner-cities in America, discussed  The Urban Institute, a school set up by World Impact to help train pastors from the community so that they know their doctrine.  The problem with seminaries is that it is expensive to attend them, and so inner city pastors who want to be better educated for their congregation often do not get the opportunity.  This is the reason The Urban Ministries Institute was set up. It provides an education equal to seminary, minus the Greek and Hebrew classes, and it is affordable, and open to any one (pastor or not) who wants to minister to the urban poor.  They even set up satellite schools where they are wanted and have set up multiple satellites in prison, because there are inmates who are Christians who want to be better leaders.  The prisons are a captive mission field, and there are Christians in there who could reach them, if given the proper training.

Bryan Cullison spoke next about the history and mechanics of social movements. It was incredibly interesting, but mostly statistics, which makes a summary hard to give.  Even with the studies, strategies, statistics and history, he stressed that most importantly that for there to be a Christian movement, it must be with the Holy Spirit. There are no strategies that can fill the Holy Spirit's place.

Then Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love spoke. I was excited to hear him, because I have heard him speak on youtube.  After this, however, I feel I definitely need to put Crazy Love on my reading list. Wow.  His speech was titled "His Burden is Light?" and he talked about how often, we take the light burden Christ gives us, and we over think it, we try to take too much control back, and by having that tug of war with God, we make our own burdens heavier than they should be.  We try to manipulate the uncomfortable scriptures, and make them say that we really don't have to do that extreme command.  Rather than changing ourselves, too often we change our theology, when we should be submitting to God and his word.  "We put the burden on ourselves, because we think we're failing. We're not letting God run it by taking that pressure on ourselves, by worrying ourselves. Guys... God's not worried!"  Make sure your ministry is not about you. Serve out of thanksgiving, love, joy, and peace, not out of guilt or debt.  Jesus' burden is light. Our burden weighs a lot more.

Here are some other quotes that stuck with me from that day:

"Let us quit chasing vanity and smoke! Let us live for eternity." -Jossy Chacko

"I said, 'Don't go, they'll kill you.' And he said to me, 'Did Jesus know what would happen when he came? He still came.'" Jossy Chacko (He was talking to a friend who had converted from Hinduism, had to go into hiding to be saved from his previous friends, and then after studying, decided to go back to his tribe to witness to them.  They killed his wife, but he still stayed and witnessed, and finally the tribe came to Jesus. This man was not just flinging words around lightly)

"The success of the church is raising up indigenous disciples." Dr. Keith Phillips

"Satan is unwilling to concede a single inch! Why are we?"- Bryan Cullison (Talking about unreached peoples, noting that even if we had reached 99% of the current unreached peoples, with the 1% remaining, we still have no right to quit)

"I hear in other parts of the world, they actually take this book literally!" -Francis Chan, about the Bible

"You guys... just read the Bible!"- Francis Chan

"God's not sitting in heaven thinking, 'Oh! I hope they build me a temple!'  God does not need us. We are not the givers. HE is the giver! We just get to be a part of his awesome plans."-Francis Chan

And those are just the summaries of 4 speeches exceeding an hour each.  There was a worship service between each speech.  It was amazing. It was great!  It was overwhelming.  Here I am, 4 days later, and I am still processing. It was so good for me. I am glad I got the opportunity to be there.

By the way, I was talking to Joy that day, and she confessed that Jason had signed me up before he called me.  In Jason's defense, Joy had told him that I needed to be there, and he needed to convince me to go.  However, Joy did have to advise Jason after he signed me up that he probably should tell me I was going, hence the phone call.  That whole thing still makes me laugh.  I am glad I have such pushy people who care for me. Left to my own devices, I likely would have missed this amazing event in exchange for doing absolutely nothing that Saturday.  I could just see in my mind what might have happened if Jason had decided not to warn me. There would have been a doorbell at 6 am, and a "You've got 15 minutes to be in the car."  I wouldn't put it past Jason to pull a hi-jacking rather than give me opportunity to come up with excuses.

I have been hi-jacked often in my life: into babysitting, hard labor, dates, long road trips, and all sorts of situations. So far, I think I enjoyed this "hi-jacking" the most!

This is a short, entertaining clip by Francis Chan. This was not from the conference I sat in. Francis Chan had a lot of serious stuff to say, but he had his equally funny moments.  Enjoy!