Yet Another September Staff Picks Post

September is the month that keeps on giving! As summer drags on and wrestles with autumn for dominion over this fair city the staff at Crux Books continue to work hard to offer the best customer service a little independent discount theological bookstore could possibly offer.

Ed’s pick – Walter Brueggemann’s The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith – is an important book for anyone interested in the theology of Land: in Sabbath, in Promise, and in the Abundant care God shows forth in Creation!

Ed says: I read this book while riding my motorcycle in through Death Valley. The wind was in my luscious hair (or it would have been if I had been silly enough to take off my helmet) and my mind was on the majesty of God’s good Creation. It is important to understand God’s relationship with Creation beyond the New Testament in order to understand the fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ! This book is a must read for all Christians whether they are couch potatoes or avid adventurers like me! I highly recommend it.

(Fictionalized by Rev. H.)

PhD candidate and Cruxian Ryan Reed’s take on our September theme: labour, work, and justice, is along the same lines. His pick is Canadian author and fabulous preacher Mark Buchanan’s The Rest of God.

Ryan says:

While – to a non-PhD candidate – it may sound like this book is about the bits of God that lie beyond our understanding as mere finite creaturely beings, it is really all about rest — rest as Sabbath. The tagline of the book says it all: Restoring your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. Many of us live busy lives in which taking a Sabbath just doesn’t seem practical. I for one spent my summer at a coffee shop where there was no rest. If that sounds like you – if you spend your Mondays as I do breaking down cardboard boxes in the back room and accepting compliments on your amazing fashion sense – don’t hesitate! Pick up your copy of Mark Buchanan’s concise tome and begin to fall into the infinite down comforter of Sabbath. Enjoy the sweet foreshadowing of the Kingdom of Heaven by looking ever forward in anticipation to the true and ultimate rest of being face to face with God. Trust me. I’m very smart.

(fictionalized by Rev. H and Ms. Carolyn.)

And so my dear beloved Cruxians, as this fabulous month comes to a close we hope to see many of you in the store!

Until then – Yours behind the counter,

The Crux Books Team.

 

 

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September Picks Continued

Here are the rest of our Labour, Work, and Justice choices for September:

Dr. Heather: A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions    by Katherine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley

A climate scientist and a pastor (who are married to each other) discuss climate change and choices Christians can make in light of the way our world is changing. We can work for better stewardship of the planet.

Connor: Republic by Plato. Connor picked a used copy that we have on hand, translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford.

Sheila: Radical Gratitude by Mary Jo Leddy.

Sheila says:

This morning as I walked past the construction sites, heard the blaring horns of two SUVs each trying to outdo the other at a 4-way stop, and circled around yet another texter who was not watching where he was walking, I tried to compose the blurb for my pick this month. Now, at the start of this term, sit the time to (re)read this reminder of our vocation to be thankful. Mary Jo Leddy, an author, social activist, and lecturer at Regis College, argues that our insatiable greed for more stems from an attitude of ingratitude that is “ingrained in our economic system.” In keeping with the month’s theme of Justice, I would argue that recognizing our own contribution to the current injustices and (re)cultivating a stance of thankfulness to God are places to start. Leddy’s book will aid its readers in becoming a more joyful people and, out of that joy, work for justice.

September Picks: Labour Day, Work, and Justice

Finally, here are the September Staff Picks. It has been a tiny bit crazy in the store with the textbooks arriving, then leaving, and now arriving again.

With all the textbookishness of the last month or so, we missed out on posting Alain’s final staff pick at Crux. Alain has gone to greener pastures to do his classics doctorate, and leaves us this final book to ponder:

On to September! We chose books related (in our minds) to Justice, Labour, or Work. Here are the choices.

Cindy’s Pick: The Vinedresser’s Notebook by Judith Sutera

This little book is a spiritual wisdom treasure chest. I read it like a small child with an ice cream on a hot summer day, quickly devouring each page. Now I need to return to the book to reread it only slowly, savouring each page and allowing it’s insights to be slowly digested. This is one of those books that after you read it you want all your friends to read it.  This would be a great gift for the “gardener” as the illustrations are drawn from the work of the vinedresser in the vineyard

Carolyn’s Pick: The Economy of Desire by Daniel M. Bell, Jr.

Recognizing that Christianity’s relationship with capitalism is a complex one, Bell tries to go beyond surface comparisons between ideas and beliefs to get at the ways in which capitalism is driven by and shapes our desires. An important text for thinking Christianly about the economy in which we are so deeply embedded.

Rev. Heather’s Pick: Growing Local Food by Mary Lou Shaw

Have you ever wondered about harvesting your own honey, keeping heritage breed cattle, or the many fascinating and fabulous reasons to harvest rainwater? I know I have. Mary Lou Shaw’s Growing Local Food has the answers to many of your how questions when it comes to local food production, but, more importantly, she also delves into the why questions. This is a great starter text for figuring out what this living local phenomenon is all about. What is this urban gardening thing and how can you start to think about the everyday things you can do to make this world a more sustainable place? A fun read as we head into harvest time!