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July 24
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Brent
gave
to:
Animal Farm (Paperback)
by George Orwell
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Brent said:
"This book is a classic for good reason. It is a very powerful and entertaining critique of communism's rise and fall. This story moves quickly and reveals poignant truths about the nature of government, power, revolutions, sociology, manipulation, ...more
This book is a classic for good reason. It is a very powerful and entertaining critique of communism's rise and fall. This story moves quickly and reveals poignant truths about the nature of government, power, revolutions, sociology, manipulation, and propaganda as farm animals overthrow their oppressive human farmer and build their own utopian state eerily similar to that of communist Russia....less
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Brent
gave
to:
The Great Divorce (Paperback)
by C.S. Lewis
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Brent said:
"This book is a creative telling of a group of people that take a bus from hell up to heaven. While in this heaven people from heaven try to encourage people to make the steps of faith, obedience, humility, and more that would allow them to stay in h...more
This book is a creative telling of a group of people that take a bus from hell up to heaven. While in this heaven people from heaven try to encourage people to make the steps of faith, obedience, humility, and more that would allow them to stay in heaven. Yet, despite the glory of heaven practically all choose to return to the dreariness of hell. Each person that chooses to return to hell exemplifies another collection of incorrect choices that keep them from working to enter heaven. In that way this book reminded me of "The Screwtape Letters".
The heaven that the main character explores is very different from the vision of people floating on clouds with harps. This heaven is more tactile and real that either hell of the earth we live on today. In comparison to heaven those that come from hell are wisps of air more like ghosts who are unable to manipulate or effect anything in heaven physically. It is a powerful metaphor and a well told story....less
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July 15
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Brent
gave
to:
Black Students / Middle Class Teachers (Paperback)
by Jawanza Kunjufu
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Brent said:
"I've spent a lot of time working in predominantly minority schools within the last year or so and I had noticed that most of the teachers are white. This inspired me to pick up this book. It is a huge topic for the context that I am in and effects ...more
I've spent a lot of time working in predominantly minority schools within the last year or so and I had noticed that most of the teachers are white. This inspired me to pick up this book. It is a huge topic for the context that I am in and effects me a lot as a white middle-class person working with black youth.
This book is not especially well written, but it is a quick read and has TONS of resources and ideas for improving student performance in predominantly black schools. It is valuable for anyone coming from a middle class background into a low-income black school....less
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July 14
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Brent
gave
to:
To Kill a Mockingbird (Paperback)
by Harper Lee, Nelle Lee
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Brent
gave
to:
Things Fall Apart (Paperback)
by Chinua Achebe
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Brent said:
"This book was assigned a curriculum for a high school classes that I was TAing so I read it along with them. It does an excellent job of showing a native west African culture prior to colonization. As the novel continues it them shows how that cult...more
This book was assigned a curriculum for a high school classes that I was TAing so I read it along with them. It does an excellent job of showing a native west African culture prior to colonization. As the novel continues it them shows how that culture and the characters within it unravel under the pressure of a colonial presence of missionaries and governing officials working to change it. It is interesting to look at the changes that the Europeans brought and critique the changes through different cultural lenses. It was an interesting book, and I LOVED the ending!
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July 04
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Brent
marked as to-read:
New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Todays Church (Paperback)
by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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June 30
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Brent
gave
to:
Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals (Paperback)
by Shane Claiborne
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Brent said:
"Knowing both authors of the book, not a lot in the book was all that new to me. I hate to do so, but I can't resist using to Irresistible Revolution as a reference point. I do not expect this book to draw such a large audience as Irresistible Revol...more
Knowing both authors of the book, not a lot in the book was all that new to me. I hate to do so, but I can't resist using to Irresistible Revolution as a reference point. I do not expect this book to draw such a large audience as Irresistible Revolution, but it still has some well researched and inspiring content.
First of, the most striking thing about this book is its layout. It is visually beautiful. The unique graphic layouts of each page add another dimension to the message of the book.
The book delves a bunch into the political messages that the gospels and other biblical sources contain that would have been obvious to readers of the era, but are generally missed by untrained Western readers. It also looks at the political context of the early church and how it chose to create it's own separate society(kingdom) from that of the power of the day, Rome. The book then shares a number of modern stories of Christ's followers living alternative and separate lives that are intended to give allegiance only to Christ.
I walked away from this book thinking about the tension between those that seek a relevant, "seeker friendly" faith and the vision of this book that calls for a separate and intentionally different community within Christianity.
This is an inspiring book, but to really get into it you have to be interested in the subject matter....less
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Brent
gave
to:
The Screw Tape Letters (Bantam Classics)
by C.S. Lewis
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Brent said:
"I have intended to read this book for probably around a decade. I finally got around to it and it did not disappoint. It is creative, provocative, and convicting. Plus, it is a quick read (though I was sometimes slowed down by its excessively Brit...more
I have intended to read this book for probably around a decade. I finally got around to it and it did not disappoint. It is creative, provocative, and convicting. Plus, it is a quick read (though I was sometimes slowed down by its excessively British language). It is organized as a collection of letters and many of the letters are so packed with thoughts that I feel like I'll have to read this book again in another year.
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June 12
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Brent
marked as to-read:
The Complete Stories (Paperback)
by Flannery O'Connor
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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June 03
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Brent
gave
to:
Freakonomics Rev Ed: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Hardcover)
by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Brent said:
"This uber best selling book analyzes the world through the lens of statistics and finds some interesting and of course controversial conclusions. It is a quick read if you are interested. Still, I don't think it deserves all of the hype it has rece...more
This uber best selling book analyzes the world through the lens of statistics and finds some interesting and of course controversial conclusions. It is a quick read if you are interested. Still, I don't think it deserves all of the hype it has received. ...less
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