This Week in Books

I had a Calgary trip on Monday, which meant some uninterrupted reading time on the way down and back. In that time I read 8 Women of Faith by Michael A.G. Haykin. The 8 women are Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Baxter, Anne Dutton, Sarah Edwards (because there's probably some rule that states that if anyone is writing a book about women of faith, they must find a way to include Sarah Edwards), Anne Steele, Esther Edwards Burr (mother of Aaron Burr who famously shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel), Ann Judson, and Jane Austin. It's a good book, and gives a picture of each woman. It piqued my interest in some of them, and I may need to do more reading.

I also started No Little Women by Aimee Byrd. I haven't finished it yet, but I am enjoying it so far. She puts women's ministries/studies squarely in the ministry of the church (and under the guidance of the leaders) where it belongs, rather than relegating it to the fringes, where it so often ends up. Reading about how it gets neglected in some churches makes me more thankful for my elders, who oversee all the aspects of church life, making sure that Scripture is taught, and that we're not given "pink" books that either relegate women's teaching to a handful of verses for women (Proverbs 31, Titus 2, Ruth, and Esther are all women need to know, right?), or lead women to emotions-based rather than Scripture-based theology.

The big news is that I finally finished Ben Hur (spoiler alert: Jesus dies, but then He's resurrected). I'm not sure what I'll talk about with my friend's son after this Sunday, when I can tell him that I finally finished. It's a good story, but there's a lot of description and people on camels in the desert.

I also finished Heidi. It's much preachier than I remembered, but I still really like it.

There are more books that I'm reading and plan to read, but those are the highlights of this week.