Books and books and books!

General complaint of yesterday… WHY DID NO ONE HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL ME THAT A TALE OF TWO CITIES WAS SUCH A GOOD BOOK!?  Friends, I finished it.  Wow, the last 25 pages I was reading as quickly as I could (partly because the library was closing in 15 minutes) and trying to figure out what was going to happen.  I understand now.  I understand why Dickens's works are classics.  Because I love you, I will tell you, READ IT.  If you hate it a third of the way through, fine, but give it a shot.   

Moving on, I found The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse on the shelf at the library.  Once upon a time, many many many years ago, there was a place called Xanga, and there lived a blogger there who loved PG Wodehouse.  I'd never read anything by him, but I remembered her ravings, and picked it up.  I started it this afternoon.  Classic witty British writing, and I love it already.

Book number 3 is the most practical one on the nightstand at the moment.  Student Ministry and the Supremacy of Christ by Richard Ross.  Dr. Ross just happens to be the professor of the online class I'm taking this semester.  And he wrote the book.  Cool.  I'm 100 pages in and it's already a favorite.  It's a combination of practical "this is how you train and support youth volunteers" and theological truths like the reason that youth ministry matters is because Jesus is King and calls everyone to get on board with His adventures. 

It's a perfect read for where I am right now - trying to figure out what youth ministry is, how to do it, and where to start.  Ross argues that youth ministries are falling flat or losing kids after high school graduation because they aren't giving them Jesus.  They're giving them activities or a small version of Jesus that could fix daily problems and fit in your pocket, not the Jesus who overcame death and is seated at the Father's right hand calling us to follow Him with everything. 

I also picked up a collection of short stories by W. Somerset Maugham.  Never read him, but he had such a fabulous name, I couldn't help myself. 

Props to my roommate who made nests of coconut and sugar and cherries tonight.  Deeeeelicious.

Off to read, of course!

If you have book recommendations, just leave a comment.  Has anyone read any Solzhenitzyn?  Pardon my faulty Russian spelling. 

LMS