January 29, 2007
By Kent d Curry

 

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
A recovering alcoholic/drug addict, Lamott had a genuine experience with God that she still lives. That her church is unconventional, her politics distinctly liberal, and her neuroses sometimes hair-raising allows these fascinating, witty essays to deeply exhale the grace of God and deflate a sacred cow or two.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
If you’re a sci-fi / fantasy geek at heart or want to risk nearly non-stop space hilarity, read this book. See, it all starts when the Earth is destroyed to make way for a Super Space Highway, but then the funding is cancelled, so the only surviving Earthling…

 

Manga

Not a title, but a genre. Today’s hottest reading trend for teenage girls is manga, Japanese comic books in digest form. Covering everything from high school romance to horror to space adventure to sports, girls are gobbling manga up in record numbers. (This is evidenced by the long rows of titles in your local bookstore.) See what’s grabbing up today’s teens, but be careful--Japanese social morays are quite different from what we’re used to in our comics. (Anything labeled 16+ may include nudity and/or unusual violence.)

 

Making Love Last Forever by Gary Smalley
Not your typical marriage book. Smalley details “unresolved anger,” the deeper resentment that many Christians don’t even understand is causing problems in their marriages. Whatever the cause of the initial hurts (be it childhood, friends, family, or co-workers), unresolved anger distances friends, splits marriages, and limits our Christian walk. Smalley also delineates “forever-love” principles (superior communication, understanding spousal personality types, and gaining intimacy through conflict) that are sound.

 

Will in the World by Robert Greenblatt
Part detective novel, part historical analysis, part literary criticism, this is the only book you’ll have to read on “William Shakespeare the man” to get a grasp of everything. It’s said that a new book on Shakespeare is published daily. If true, ignore the other 364 and snatch this one up. It’s that fascinating.

 

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Ó 2007, Kent d Curry
 
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Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com.