The Topography of Tears, by Rose-Lynn Fisher

Rose-Lynn Fisher's The Topography of Tears is one of the strangest, oddly beautiful coffee table books I've seen in a while.  The concept is simple: it is "a study of tears photographed through an optical microscope."  The simple, black-and-white extreme close-ups of tears are reminiscent of satellite landscape photos, microscopic photos of leaves or rocks, or ice crystals on a window pain.  Like snow, I guess you can conclude no two tear drops look alike.

She gives commentary or captions to some of the tears, like "Tears for those who yearn for liberation," or "Mom happy tears," or "Catharsis."  But I'm not sure there is any correlation between the look of tears and the kinds of emotions they evoke.

The pictures are oddly captivating, in an abstract art sort of way, but I'm not sure what inspiration or insight one might draw from them.  Maybe all Fisher is going for is to portray in an original way the universally shared experience of emotional tears.  Mission accomplished.  Grab a hanky.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

General Relativity for Babies, by Chris Ferrie

Chris Ferrie has accomplished what, I feel sure, no one else has ever before accomplished.  He has written a baby book that presents a reasonably accurate description of relativity.  General Relativity for Babies introduces the concept of mass, the curvature of space, and black holes.  Using simple illustrations and even simpler sentences, he describes general relativity in a nutshell.

The back cover reads, "It only takes a small spark to ignite a child's mind."  Will this book inspire your newborn to be an astrophysicist?  Maybe not.  But there's not a thing wrong with introducing complex ideas at an early age.  Maybe if my parents had this book to read to me I would be a bit smarter. . . .


Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Little Book of Big Ideas for Dads and Daughters, by Jay Payleitner

Jay Payleitner, father of four boys, had to shift his mode of parenting when his daughter came along.  As any parent knows, daughters are different.  But the father-daughter bond is precious.  To help us dads cultivate that bond, Payleitner has written The Little Book of Big Ideas for Dads and Daughters.

Payleitner has lots of great ideas, some of which you probably can think of yourself.  Date your daughter, pray for her future husband, support her in her sports, art, and academic endeavors.  Participate in her tea parties.  Some of his advice might raise some dads' eyebrows.  Payleitner encourages dads to embrace all of their daughters' interests, taking them to terrible pop music concerts and financing their faddish toy or clothing desires.  I bristled at first to some of these ideas, but he provides convincing rationales.

Here are a couple of nuggets that I found to be especially worth remembering:

• Go ahead and treat her like a princess, telling her she's the most precious and beautiful girl in the world, "but in relationship to every other person on the planet, raise her as a pioneer woman" who takes responsibility for herself.
• Don't be afraid to spoil her a bit, but "in a way that has her best interest in mind."  Sure, some will say she's got you wrapped around her finger, but remember "another way to say, 'She has me wrapped around her little finger' is 'We're holding hands.'"
• "Make your home a comfortable and inviting place for all kids."  If your house is the hang out place, you will get to know her friends and be able to look out for her safety.
• As you pray for her future husband, and as you evaluate potential suitors, keep your expectations high, but "ask yourself if you are living up to those same high expectations right now in your marriage."

Obviously, much of The Little Book can apply to dads and sons and mothers and their children.  His focus, though, is on dads and daughters, and I was challenged, encouraged, and inspired to be a better parent and to take more time to spend with my daughter.  All parents, no matter who they are, can use these reminders and encouragement from time to time.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Giving It All Away . . . and Getting It All Back Again, by David Green

David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby, is one of the richest men in America.  What separates him from most billionaires is the acknowledgement that everything he has belongs to God.  In Giving It All Away . . . and Getting It All Back Again, Green tells his story of giving, and encourages all of us to join him on a journey of generosity.

I love the fact that Green doesn't give because he's wealthy, but he gives because he loves to give.  His parents provided the example.  His father was a pastor, always in very small, rural churches.  When church members brought gifts in kind, such as a basket of produce, his mother would carefully estimate the monetary value of the basket and tithe accordingly.  David and his siblings discovered late in his father's life that he gave much of his salary right back to the church.

As Green's business found more and more success, he heard very clearly from God that the business belongs to God.  Green's goal, then, is to honor God in the way the business is run, and to use the profits to spread the gospel.  He writes, "If we don't use Hobby Lobby's earnings to touch people for the Lord, I really don't see the reason for me to be in business at all."

Green writes about his passion for the business, and it's clear that he delights in making Hobby Lobby profitable, in providing products that people want, and in providing jobs for thousands of people.  But his passion for the gospel is even greater.  He sees every ministry contribution as an investment in eternity.  Anticipating the impact that the works he supports will have, he says, "I think the most satisfied and joyful person in heaven will be Jesus as he looks around at all those who have been saved from a life of misery."

Clearly very few of his readers will ever be able to give like Green and his family can and do.  But whether you are blessed with a fortune or get by week to week, the principles he presents and models are worth emulating.  He gets inspiration from the British missionary C.T. Studd, who had great inherited wealth but gave his money and his life toward the spreading of the gospel.  Studd wrote a famous poem which says, in part, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last."

I'm pretty sure I'll never share a spot with Green on Forbes's billionaire list.  But he and I can stand side by side as stewards of our resources for God's glory.  I appreciate his example and inspiration.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Opening Atlantis, by Harry Turtledove

Harry Turteldove is the master of the "what if" novel.  What if the South won the Civil War?  What if Hitler prevailed in WW2?  What if the Korean War developed into a full-fledged global nuclear war?  Turtledove's 2007 novel Opening Atlantis is built around the question, What if there were a continent called Atlantis between Europe and what we now know as North America?

An English fisherman follows his Breton counterpart and competitor to new fishing grounds, where the cod are larger than any he's ever seen.  The fishing is great, and the land is even greater, fertile and untouched by human habitation.  So begins his quest to settle this new, rich, and wondrous land.  I enjoyed the story of the early settlers as they established towns and adapted the land to suit their needs.  Their independent streak and quest for self-determination parallels our own nation's history.  Their revolt against the English nobleman who decides to make Atlantis a kingdom of his own, their defeat of the pirates who raided the sea trade, and their cooperation with the British navy to defeat the French, resembled U.S. history (with, of course, lots of key differences).

As is always the case with alternative history stories like this, the deeper the divergence from actual history, the more I tend to lose interest.  I enjoyed the early parts of the book more than the latter parts.  I would like to have heard more about what was going on in Terra Nova, the land the the west of Atlantis.  Turtledove alludes to the Spanish, but barely.  I would like to know what happened to Columbus.  The English came to Atlantis decades before Columbus came to the New World.  Did he end up as a trader?  An explorer?  What about the conquistadors?  Perhaps those are novels for another time.

I would also like to know why Atlantis has such unusual flora and fauna.  Turtledove spends a lot of time talking about the unusual animals that are unlike any the settlers have ever seen, and trees and plants that grow larger and look different than any others.  Terra Nova has the same sorts of animals and vegetation that the Europeans are accustomed to, so how did Atlantis develop so differently?  I kept thinking that Turtledove would come up with some explanation, but he leaves this piece of the puzzle hanging.

Turtledove develops memorable characters.  In Opening Atlantis, he follows a couple of families over many generations.  This makes it an enjoyable novel with an epic feel, but I didn't love it.

Natural Wonders of Assateague Island, by Mark Hendricks

If you're like me, you may have heard of this island on the east coast where wild horses run free, but that's about all you know  about it.  My curiosity was piqued when I saw Mark Hendricks's new book, Natural Wonders of Assateague Island.  I learned that there is much more to this little barrier island than I imagined.

Hendricks, a seasoned nature photographer, captures the wide array of flora and fauna on Assateague Island, especially the fauna.  The most well-known feature of the island, the horses, may have been washed up in a shipwreck, but probably are descended from horses brought to the island to graze.  Other non-native species are nevertheless highlights of a visit to the island, like the sika, a small East Asian elk.  As you might expect, the variety shore life and bird species is vast.  Hendricks's love for life on the island comes through in his pictures.  As his narrative explains, many of the photos represent hours or even days of patiently seeking out and waiting for the animals' elusive appearance.  To read about his encounters with a river otter and a snowy owl is to read the joy and passion Hendricks brings to his work.

I couldn't help wanting to pay Assateague Island a visit after reading this book and enjoying Hendricks's photographs.  Maybe the reality is that I wouldn't see many animals; he alludes to crowds and a huge number of visitors to the island.  Hendricks's work is a reminder to slow down, take time to get away from the madding crowd, and patiently find opportunities to look nature in the eye.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Always with Us?, by Liz Theoharis

When Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you," did he mean that poverty will always be an issue no matter what?  According to many Christians from across the ideological and theological spectrum, the answer is yes.  According to Liz Theoharis, the answer is definitively no.  In Always with Us? What Jesus Really Said about the Poor, she argues that Jesus did not teach that poverty was inevitable, and that, in fact, the eradication of poverty is possible.

Her work and life have been built around this hope.  As a pastor and activist, she has worked with and on behalf of poor people, addressing structural poverty and developing solutions for poverty in the U.S.  The stories she tells and hope that she offers are encouraging, inspiring, and challenging.  Her focus is not so much on charity or redistribution of wealth, but on the unacceptability of poverty and the structures of society.  She writes that "God hates poverty and wills it upon no on.  We understand that it is not enough to affirm that God loves the poor, but it is the collective responsibility of Christians and all people of faith and conscience to eliminate poverty."  The elimination of poverty is Theoharis's driving theme.

I had to part ways with Theoharis for much of the book.  She is very clearly a liberation theologian, and embraces all that entails with her view of structural sin.  First of all, she asserts that poverty is a sin.  The existence of a poverty is a result of structural sin in society.  No doubt this is sometimes true, but this view rejects the fact that in a fallen world, poverty is arguably a normal state.  Without labor and organization, all of us would fall into poverty.  Throughout human history, most people have been what we would consider poor.  To Theoharis, the causes of poverty are structural.  She rejects a view of poverty that places its cause on personal volition (or lack thereof).  She spends lots of time with poor people.  Surely she can recognize that poverty in many cases results from the choices that individuals make.  I don't accept her all-in for structural poverty position.  To address the problem of poverty, societal structures and individual choices have to be addressed.

Part of the structure of society that she doesn't spend enough time developing is the market.  The most effective anti-poverty program is a job.  When people can get and keep a job, the way out of poverty is much clearer.  In any given geographical area, the availability of a wide variety of jobs is the best measure of the elimination of gravity.  Again, jobs and a thriving economy alone don't guarantee the elimination of poverty.  But not to focus on the job market is a blind spot in the fight against poverty.

I don't know if poverty can be eliminated.  I agree that when Jesus declared "the poor you will always have with you," he did not mean, in that context, that poverty is inevitable and ineradicable.  I especially admire Theoharis's work among the poor.  She is critical of charity--throwing money at the problem of poverty is no way to eliminate the larger issue--and advocates for people in poor communities banding together to address their communities' larger issues.  Theoharis and I would find plenty to disagree about theologically, politically, and economically, but I appreciated her portrayal of Jesus as one who has a preferential option for the poor, and I enjoyed reading about her work alongside the poor.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!