Gleanings: Reading at the Intersection of Religion and Culture
Most of what's listed here are my book-review columns in Anglican Theological Review. The title of the column is Gleanings: Reading at the Intersection of Religion and Culture; each one discusses ten or twelve books loosely grouped around a theme. Once in a while I do write stand-alone reviews, and I've posted a few of my favorites; those reviews are identified simply by the title and author of the book I'm reviewing.

 

Consumerism and Christian Community

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 85, no. 3 (Summer 2003), pp. 581-588.
Books Discussed:

Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper.
When the World Breaks Your Heart: Spiritual Ways to Live With Tragedy.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic.
Consuming Desires: Consumption, Culture, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess.
Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions.
The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies.

 

 

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2004), pp. 551-562.
Books Discussed:

Emotional Longevity: What Really Determines How Long You Live.
Looking For Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain.
Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx.
The Commercialization of Intimate Life: Notes from Home and Work.
The Link Between Religion and Health: Psychoneuroimmunology and the Faith Factor.

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 83, no. 3 (Summer 2001), pp. 693-699.
Books Discussed:

Clergy Wellness and Mutual Ministry.
My Soul in Silence Waits: Meditations on Psalm 62.
For Those We Love But See No Longer: Daily Offices for Times of Grief.
Celtic Benediction: Morning and Night Prayer.
Be Still: Designing and Leading Contemplative Retreats.
Still Listening: New Horizons in Spiritual Direction.

Review of Steven Mintz, Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood, published in Christian Century, vol. 118, no. 35 (December 19-26, 2001), p. 31.

 

Life, Death, Poetry, and Pastoral Care

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 84, no. 4 (Fall 2002), pp. 1059-1065.
Books Discussed:

Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper.
When the World Breaks Your Heart: Spiritual Ways to Live With Tragedy.
Inventions of Farewell: A Book of Elegies.
Act of God/Active God: Recovering from Natural Disasters.
Sorrow's Company: Writers on Loss and Grief.
The Healing Companion: Simple and Effective Ways Your Presence Can Help People Heal.
When Suffering Persists: A Theology of Candor.
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith.

Published in Christian Century, vol.118, no. 35 (December 19-26, 2001) p. 31. Review of the first Harry Potter movie.

 

Naked Before God

Review of Bill Williams, Naked Before God: The Return of a Broken Disciple (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1998), published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 84, no. 3 (Summer 1999), pp. 523-524.

 

Resources for Writers

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 83, no. 4 (Fall 2001), pp. 939-946.
Books Discussed:

The St. Martin's Guide to Writing.
The Seminary Student Writes.
Writing Without Teachers.
Revising Prose.
The New St. Martin's Handbook.
Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace.
The Craft of Argument.

Published in Christian Century, vol. 118, no. 21 (July 18-25, 2001), pp. 18-21.

 

Review of Teresa Godwin Phelps, Shattered Voices: Language, Violence, and the Work of Truth Commissions, published in the Anglican Theological Review, 89.1 (Winter 2007):158-159.

 

Talking to Strangers After 9/11

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 84, no. 1 (Winter 2002), pp. 201-208.
Books Discussed:

Visions: The Soul's Path to the Sacred.
Spiritual But Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America.
Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions.
The Truth About God: The Ten Commandments in Christian Life.
Preaching to Skeptics and Seekers.
The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies.
Raising Faith-Filled Kids: Ordinary Opportunities to Nurture Spirituality at Home.
Broken Tablets: Restoring the Ten Commandments and Ourselves. Quantum Change: When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform Ordinary Lives. Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion The Zen Commandments: Ten Suggestions for a Life of Inner Freedom Circle of Grace: Praying With--and for--Your Children

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 83, no. 1 (Winter 2001), pp. 183-188.
Books Discussed:

The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work.
Living on the Border of the Holy: Renewing the Priesthood of All.
Life in the Spirit: Toward A Theology of Work.
In Good Company: The Church as Polis.
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling.
The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home
The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work
My Job My Self.
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life
The Oxford Book of Work
Working: Its Meaning and Its Limits

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 83, no. 2 (Spring 2001), pp. 347-355.
Books Discussed:

Women and the Common Life: Love, Marriage, and Feminism.
The Demoralization of Society: From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values.
One Nation, Two Cultures.
The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially.
Sex In America: A Definitive Survey.
The Social Organization of Sexuality.
God, The Evidence: The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World.
The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History.
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study.
The Divorce Culture.
Life Without Father.
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap.
A World of Their Own Making: Myth, Ritual, and the Quest for Family Values.
More Lasting Unions: Christianity, the Family, and Society.

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 84, no.3 (Summer 2002), pp. 811-817.
Books Discussed:

How the Brain Works.
The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness.
The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind.
Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less.
The Developing Mind: Toward a Neurobiology of Interpersonal Experience.
The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions.

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 86, no. 1 (Winter 2004), pp. 189-202.
Books Discussed:

The Future of the Universe: Chance, Chaos, God?
Against Love Poetry.
Sacred Time and the Search for Meaning.
God: Stories.
Flannery O'Connor: Spiritual Writings.
Dragon's Lair.
Poems to Read: A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology.
Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life.
A Celestial Omnibus: Short Fiction on Faith.

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 87, no.3 (Fall 2005), pp. 529-539.
Books Discussed:

Freedom Evolves.
Seeing with Their Hearts: Chicago Women and the Vision of the Good City, 1871- 1933.
God against the Gods: The History of the War between Monotheism and Polytheism.
Reimagining Christianity: Reconnecting Your Spirit without Disconnecting Your Mind.
The Real State of the Union: From the Best Minds in America, Bold Solutions to the Problems Politicians Dare Not Address.
The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations.
Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture.

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 89.2 (Spring 2007): 341-348.
Books Discussed:

The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger as Your Brain Grows Older.

The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain.

Published in the Anglican Theological Review, vol. 87, no. 1 (Winter 2005), pp. 177-188.
Books Discussed:

Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide.
Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women's Changing Lives.
Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America.
Beyond the Double Bind: Women and Leadership.
The Postmodern Life Cycle: Challenges for Church and Theology.