Rapture Ready by Daniel Radosh - No, this is not a book about preparing for the supposed "Rapture" of the Church. Actually, it is a book by a non-Christian about his investigation into Christian subculture. He starts with a trip to to a Christian music festival and explored Christian bookstores, The Holy Land Experience, passion plays, Christian children's activities, and even Christian wrestling.
This book was often entertaining, but at times disturbing. I wasn't always proud to be a part of this subculture. As Christians, we often put up with poor quality entertainment just because it's Christian. We even accept questionable theology because it is, overall, Christian. Radosh was open about things that bothered him - and they often bothered me, too. For example, a pro-life booth at a Christian music festival had pamphlets that stated that children born by in-vitro fertilization are just commodities. Radosh's children were conceived using this method, and he, quite understandably, took offense at the pamphlet. This is a very helpful book for those of us in the Christian subculture. We sometimes need to see from another perspective. I hope it will also give us an idea of how we can better impact the world around us. I highly recommend this book. A
The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory - Ms. Gregory's newest book deals with the years that Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I of England. The book is told from the points of view of Queen Mary, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and Countess Bess Shrewsbury. I very much enjoyed the book, but I do have to say that I've been reading lots of historical novels about the Tudor family. The book, though, did motivate me to do some further reading on the houses of Bess Shrewsbury and the circumstances surrounding the execution of Queen Mary. I recommend this book if you are interested in historical fiction. B
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