Tag: Book Recommendations Page 1 of 10

Worth Your Time (May 2025)

On May 7, 2025

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

Hello blog friends!

Here is my sporadic list of book, article, and movie recommendations that are worth your time.

Books:

Leveling Up: Adoptive Parents and Adult Adoptees: Taking Your Relationship to the Next Level by Dr. Christina Reese and Elaine Shenk

This book is a gift to adoptive parents. Certainly, launching children into the adult world isn’t easy on any parent, but adoption brings unique challenges to this stage of life. Leveling Up is written by two adoptive moms (whose children gave their blessing to the book) and is full of practical advice and personal stories. Strengthening your relationship with your kids is the top priority, and because of that, this book is full of hope. It was a wonderful encouragement to me.

The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

This delightful book for kids is entertaining and thought-provoking for adults too! It’s an animal story, but these animals are quite philosophical, and Eggers is brilliantly talented in giving them a voice. Few books have made me literally laugh out loud…but this one did. I read it myself and am now reading it to Johnny, who is thirteen. Great for all ages – note it does have an interesting spiritual component that could provoke some good discussions with older kids.

The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues by Patrick Lencioni

I read this one with my work team, since our job is to bring new missionaries into ReachGlobal. Lencioni identified three virtues–humble, hungry, and smart–that every great team member must possess. His insight is super valuable, but I especially enjoyed that he wrote this book as a novel, making it a quick and engaging read.

Re-Making the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West by Andrew Wilson

Whoa–this was fascinating. Wilson documents key events in 1776 that transformed our world forever. This is one of those books that actually changed the way I think, because it caused me to consider world events, moral standards, and worldviews through the lens of how the world metamorphosed in such a short period of time, less than 300 years ago.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

This novel has it all – brilliant writing, engaging characters, unique plot, satisfying ending. Though it takes place during a dark time in Russian history, Towles’s ability to write in a light-hearted, captivating way means that the story doesn’t feel despairing. It’s redemptive, fun, educational, and clean (although a bit of innuendo).

Movies:

Lars and the Real Girl This is one of those movies that has a weird premise, but stick with it and find yourself surprisingly moved. At its heart, it’s about a community loving a broken young man into wholeness. Kids will be bored by it, teenagers will think it’s too weird, but young adults (or actual adults) who give it a chance may love it – as I did.

In fact, I was pleased to see that this movie made it onto Brett McCracken’s 50 Most Edifying Films of the 21st Century So Far. I’ve bookmarked this list – just in time for summer!

Articles:

The Evangelical Orphan Movement Grows Up by Jedd Medefind
Christianity Today may give you a paywall for this one, so I hope you can read it. Those of you who have read my blog for many years know that I started out naively supporting this movement until I saw the dark side for myself. I loved this summary of how the orphan movement started and where it is today, because it reflects my journey as well.

Parenting the Stranger in My House by Wendy Kiyomi
I read this one a couple of years ago and recently came upon it again. It’s one of the best, most beautiful, most helpful things on adoption that I’ve encountered. If you have adopted children or love someone who has, please read this.

“Considering adoption through the lens of hospitality anticipates a real encounter with suffering and offers a means of accounting for it. The primary movement of adoption is not away from brokenness but toward it; adoptive parents give it room at the very heart of their homes. Practitioners of biblical hospitality expect to suffer because they continually lay their lives down “in little pieces and small acts of sacrificial love and service,” writes Pohl. This costly calling is compassion, literally “co-suffering,” in which parents begin to bear not only their children’s old pain but also the pain that results from a new configuration of vulnerable, fallen individuals.”

Snapchat is Harming Children at an Industrial Scale by Jonathan Haidt and Zach Rausch
A must-read for every parent.

The Prosperity Gospel We Sometimes All Believe In by Tim Challies
“There is a version of the prosperity gospel that we can all believe in and it goes something like this: “God, I gave my life to you, and in exchange I expect you to make my life easy. I may not need riches or opulence, perfect health or abundant wealth, but I would like ease. And if you take that ease from me, I may just assume that your feelings for me have altered or your love for me has waned. I may even regret following you. Please, just keep my life easy.”

Worth Your Time (October 2024)

By Amy Medina

On October 4, 2024

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

I haven’t been consistent in posting these, and it’s been a few months since I’ve done one. But here are a few recommendations for you!

Articles:

The Meaning of ‘Weird’ by Jake Meador

If the other side of the political spectrum seems “weird” to you, this article helps to explain how both sides interpret the meaning of that word differently. I once wrote, “People act in a way that makes sense to them. Find out why it makes sense.” Read this.

Confessions of a Loner by Sophia Lee. I hope you can access this piece–such a poignant exploration of the loss of community and how to find it. I resonated with much of what she wrote.

The Dutiful Introvert by Tim Challies “A dutiful introvert is one who….will not allow his personality to excuse any failure to fulfill the opportunities God presents to him.”

Emptying the Nest in Hope, Not Fear by Gretchen Ronnevik, who is rapidly becoming my favorite parenting writer.

“After launching two of our six kids into adulthood, I’ve been astounded at the things other adult Christians have said to my children as they left our house to pursue the vocations God had prepared for them. There’s a consistent theme of fear and discouragement: If you go to that college or move to this place or aren’t super careful, you’ll lose your faith.

These statements come from a place of genuine and justified concern. Many young Christians go to college and never return to church. We’ve all heard of a young person who’s moved out of the house, begun dating an unbeliever, and rejected their faith to live a different life. We know the data. We know the stories. And we are filled with fear. So we impress that fear on our children, urging them to draw their apologetic swords. But however good the intent, these warnings communicated something more to my kids: Have fear, not hope. Your faith is delicate. It’s fragile. It’s glass. At any moment, it could shatter forever. Talking with my kids, I found I had to push back on that implicit teaching—because it pushed them toward a false and lesser understanding of God, his mission for each of them, and his role in preserving their faith.”

Movies:

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things on Amazon video. Grace and I watched this movie recently and found ourselves surprisingly moved by it. It starts out seeming to be a teen version of Groundhog Day, but ends with a meaningful twist that had both of us crying happy tears. Great movie for older teens.

The Pod Generation. I watched this on the plane to Tanzania but looks like it’s available on Hulu. It’s a super thought-provoking movie on what it means to be human and turns out to be (probably unintentionally) quite pro-life. I found this so ironic since the female lead (Emilia Clarke) also stars in Me Before You, which is the most (deceptively) pro-death film I’ve seen. I don’t think there’s anything objectionable in this one, but since I watched it on a Muslim airline, I could have seen an edited version. This movie would be another great discussion starter for older teens.

Books:

God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World by Andrew Wilson

I love how this delightful, fascinating book helped me to see God in all sorts of ordinary things.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

I may write more about this one at some point, but for now I’ll just say that this is a must-read for everyone who interacts with children, which is, probably, just about everyone.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I wrote about this one here. If you’ve never read it and you are looking for a riveting but also thought-provoking novel, you’ll want to pick this one up.

The Waiting: The True Story of a Lost Child, a Lifetime of Longing, and a Miracle for a Mother Who Never Gave Up by Cathy LaGrow

The subtitle tells it all–and doesn’t disappoint. If you want a heartbreaking but redemptive, extraordinary story, this one is for you.

Seeing Myself in The Poisonwood Bible

By Amy Medina

On August 8, 2024

In Book Recommendations, Living Like a Missionary

I knew that The Poisonwood Bible was a best-selling novel about a missionary family to Africa, so why did it take me 25 years to finally read it? Honestly, I think I was scared of it. I knew that it painted an ugly picture of missionaries, and I feared it would make me question my calling.

Well, that’s a stupid reason to avoid reading a book, so when I read it this summer, I regretted waiting so long. I was instantly captivated. Barbara Kingsolver weaves a riveting story of the fictional Nathan Price and his family into the horrifying history of Congo in the 1960’s. Like many other reviewers, I loved the first two-thirds of the book and was bored by the last third (which is essentially an extended epilogue) – but the point is, I still loved it. I would argue that it should be required reading for any cross-cultural worker.

Yes, Nathan Price is a terrible missionary. On his first night in the village, when his hosts welcome him with a feast and dancing, the first words out of his mouth are raging criticism for their lack of clothing. It all goes downhill from there. For example, he can’t understand why no one wants to be baptized in the river until someone reveals that the villagers assume he wants to feed them to the crocodiles.

Nathan speaks very little of the local language, and even his feeble attempts are misinterpreted:

“TATA JESUS IS BÄNGALA!” declares the Reverend every Sunday at the end of his sermon. More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in Kikongo. He throws back his head and shouts these words to the sky, while his lambs sit scratching themselves in wonder. Bangala means something precious and dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the poisonwood tree. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, my friends! for Jesus will make you itch like nobody’s business.”

He asks no questions. He makes no attempts to understand. He is never willing to admit he is wrong. He is never willing to acknowledge that the villagers could be right. He thinks he is defending God’s reputation. He refuses to see that his pride and foolishness are actually doing the opposite.

I’ve never met a missionary this bad, though certainly, any honest, self-reflecting missionary winces to realize that they see a little of themselves in Nathan Price.

But is this just about missionaries?

Isn’t every Christian living in a culture that is, in a sense, foreign?

Worth Your Time (April 2024)

By Amy Medina

On April 30, 2024

In Worth Your Time

It’s that time of year when school is at its craziest! Maybe you’ve got a moment or two to read some good stuff. Here are my recommendations from this month.

Articles:

Why Do You Do What You Do? (And Not Something Else)? By Tim Challies

I love asking people good questions, and this is one I hadn’t thought of before. “When I ask others why they do what they do, I’m often blessed to hear them describe their love for things I’ve never considered lovable: crafting beautiful smiles from misaligned teeth, bringing order from numerical chaos, instructing children in the basic skills of life. As I listen and ask follow-up questions, I learn—I learn to appreciate what I have often never considered before and even what doesn’t especially enthuse me.”

Human Adoption is Like and Unlike God’s Adoption by Duke Dillard

I used to be an enthusiastic teacher of how human adoption mirrors God’s adoption of us. As I’ve raised my children and come to know the complexity of their experience, I am much more careful to say this. This article by an adoptee explains it well. “We look at the Bible’s picture of God adopting us and are grateful. Adoption as a theological truth is glorious. But we ought to be careful to not overplay the parallel with human adoption. There are important, inglorious differences that hinge on the experience of the adoptee.”

Gretchen Ronnevik with more wise advise to parenting teens: “Your teen is mad at something they can’t even put words to yet. And you know what? You actually weren’t a perfect parent. Forgiven in Christ, you are free to admit that.”

The Pain of Being Single; the Love that Holds Me Fast by Olivia Davis. This is beautiful and heart-wrenching and may help us who are married to see into the hearts of our single friends.

Are you WEIRDER? 68 question by Nicholas McDonald

This book was already on my list to read, but after reading this article, it’s moved higher on the list!

“After the test was finished, most of these students agreed that they’d checked over 90% of the above statements.

Then I unveiled the big shocker (spoiler ahead!) from Wilson’s chapter: every single one of these statements would NOT have been true for almost everyone before 1776.

So, I told them, “You’re WEIRDER. You’re Western, Educated, Industrialized, Democratic, Ex-Christian and Romantic. And that means your thoughts, assumptions, values and experiences are far more culturally specific than you realize.”

A Book:

The Gospel Comes with a Housekey by Rosaria Butterfield

I wish this wasn’t as radical as it feels in America, because really, radical hospitality is the way we were created to live. This engaging book left me encouraged and inspired.

Our Home Group went on a weekend retreat together…we rented the biggest AirBnb we could find for the cheapest price we could find…which meant we ended up out in the middle of nowhere. But it was awesome!

Worth Your Time (March 2024)

By Amy Medina

On March 27, 2024

In Book Recommendations, Worth Your Time

Hey readers,

Here’s my recent round-up of books and articles to read. If you do, let me know what you think!

Keep Complaining to God. Just Don’t Ignore Him by Drew Dyck

“What explains why some leave while others stay? Sometimes the only difference I could see is what they did with their trials. The first group ran away from God while the second ran toward him. Instead of letting doubt and disappointment fester in darkness, they dragged it into the light. They joined the great biblical tradition of prophets who expressed their grievances to God, often in harsh and accusatory language.”

Make Your Life Count: 12 Rules for Teens by John Piper

7 Parenting Errors That Can Influence Adult Children to Leave the Faith by Q. O. Helet

“I can easily identify many things we did—or did not do—that may have contributed to our sons’ departure from the faith. I hope to see others avoid such an outcome. In that light, here are seven parenting errors that can influence adult children to turn their back on Christ.”

The State of the Culture, 2024: Or a glimpse into post-entertainment society (it’s not pretty) by Ted Gioia

Whoa, this is fascinating and scary and super important: “The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction. Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity. The key is that each stimulus only lasts a few seconds, and must be repeated.

It’s a huge business, and will soon be larger than arts and entertainment combined. Everything is getting turned into TikTok—an aptly named platform for a business based on stimuli that must be repeated after only a few ticks of the clock.”

Who Would I Be If I Was Happy? By Trevin Wax

“We live in a time of self-creation. The traditional markers of identity that once came from outside ourselves—from our family or friends or community or past—are viewed as subpar, even repressive. We’re supposed to chart our own course, to look deep inside to discover our desires and define ourselves as we determine.

This way of life sounds exhilarating at first, but the result is fragility. What happens when we adopt the therapeutic assumptions of our age, when we look into our hearts and find only failures and frailty? Many of us begin to define ourselves by our maladies, to base our identities in suffering.”

Books:

What White Adoptive Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption by Melissa Guida-Richards

This was such a helpful, insightful book–it really is a must-read for anyone who has adopted transracially (or is thinking about it).

Being Elisabeth Elliot: Elisabeth’s Later Years by Ellen Vaughn

I wrote about Part 1 of this biography a couple of years ago here at A Life Overseas. Part 2 did not disappoint. What a fascinating look into what was going on in Elisabeth’s life during the time she wrote the books that influenced me so much.

My garden has started blooming. Happy Spring to you all!