Book 9: Homosexuality and Christian Faith: Questions of Conscience for the Churches

Well, here it is. Grasping the spirit of this book group we now turn to one of the most controversial issues of today. Whether you are sympathetic to the Christian faith or not, this is certainly an issue that has dominated politics, religion, and relationships, and is one that demands further investigation and discussion. Whatever one's perspective, this book promises to inform and to challenge, and to inspire as many questions as it answers.

Book 8: The Promise

The sequel to The Chosen.

"Young Reuven Malter is unsure of himself and his place in life. An unconventional scholar, he struggles for recognition from his teachers. With his old friend Danny Saunders--who himself had abandoned the legacy as the chosen heir to his father's rabbinical dynasty for the uncertain life of a healer--Reuvan battles to save a sensitive boy imprisoned by his genius and rage. Painfully, triumphantly, Reuven's understanding of himself changes as he starts to approach the peace he has long sought."

Book 7: The Chosen

"Few stories offer more warmth, wisdom, or generosity than this tale of two boys, their fathers, their friendship, and the chaotic times in which they live. Though on the surface it explores religious faith--the intellectually committed as well as the passionately observant--the struggles addressed in The Chosen are familiar to families of all faiths and in all nations.

In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Despite their differences (Reuven is a Modern Orthodox Jew with an intellectual, Zionist father; Danny is the brilliant son and rightful heir to a Hasidic rebbe), the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood. The intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between each son and his own father, and between the two young men, provide a unique backdrop for this exploration of fathers, sons, faith, loyalty, and, ultimately, the power of love."

Book 6: The Shack

"Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!" 

Book 5: A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple's Trial by Trail

In honor of our friend Nick Brown--who has challenged my Western tendencies towards consumerism and comfort by embarking on the Pacific Crest Trail (a trail from Mexico to Canada along some of the Western U.S.'s highest points)--and in honor of some of our summer backpacking trips to many of the national parks, I'd like to offer "A Blistered Kind of Love", a story about a couple who traveled the Pacific Crest Trail before they got married, and the insights and hijinks they encountered along the way.

Alternating chapters, the Ballards describe their arduous 2,655-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, which zigzags its way from Mexico to Canada, crossing three states, three national monuments, seven national parks, 24 national forests, and 33 federally mandated wildernesses. Grappling with thirst, fear, and pain, they completed the trail in 132 days. In addition to providing detailed information on pretrip planning (meal preparation, gear, medicines), they also relate many amusing anecdotes about the characters they met along the way, including one pair whose goal was hiking 1 percent of the trail while intoxicated (they were successful). In between breathtaking descriptions of the many scenic vistas, which they viewed very briefly because of their manic devotion to covering a set amount of miles per day, the couple speak insightfully about their dynamics, which sometimes deteriorated into fights over the size of each other's steps. Although many of the couples they encountered on the trail had broken up by the end, the Ballards got married. This delightful title has appeal beyond hard-core backpackers.

Book 4: The Giver

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.

Book 3: The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream

Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Chew on this quote from the novel:

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."

Hmmmmm...