Books I Read in April

Hi friends!
What I loved so much about my book posts was the interaction. Y'all would have read the same books and would tell me your thoughts about them, or you'd say, "if you liked X, you'll LOVE Y," or "have you read Z? I just finished and I want to know what you think?" Last month this post felt pretty silent. What are your thoughts on the books below?
- Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch – I think I’m going to take a break from this series. Just not enough to it to make up for the way he writes women – blech.
- The List by Mick Herron – super fun to spend this short time with these characters
- Performing the Faith: Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence by Stanley Hauerwas – not new, but nonetheless timely, though each chapter was really disconnected from the others, almost like an essay collection. The chapter on liturgy & ethics was fire though. So was the 9/11 stuff.
- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (audio) – jokes all the way down, with a really profound meditation on belief at the end
- The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West – written 13 years ago, could’ve been written today
- Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers (re-read) – an old favourite, full of romance and mystery
- “On Vocation (1) - The Call to Be Oneself” in Open to Judgment: Sermons and Addresses by Rowan Williams – this address was referenced by Fr Simon Robinson, Superior of the Sodality of Mary, Mother of Priests, at the online community gathering this month, and it was such a joy to read it in full. Very worth meditating on in advance of the Renewal of Priestly Vows service in Holy Week. Sadly, I resigned from the Sodality in Easter Week, but I was glad to be introduced to this work.
- Theology of Money by Philip Goodchild – what a thing to read this book as the stock market crashed. A really dense and difficult read – I will not pretend that I understood his modest proposal. But I believed him about the demonic power of money that promises to serve the will of the human, rather than asking the human to serve God’s will, but it’s a trick and a lie and we are caught by Mammon, y’all. Whew!
- Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (re-read) – a cozy favourite, with Chief Inspector Parker and Lady Mary’s love affair, Miss Climpson’s séance, Miss Murchison’s ingenuity, Blindfold Bill’s hymns, and of course, Harriet Vane
- The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett (audio) – I loved this book, so in classic me fashion, listened to it too quickly and was sad when it was over. I did not enjoy this new narrator as much as the other two. But its testimony to a diverse, tolerant society was a balm in these days.
- Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice – this dystopia was quite close to home, but a good reminder the apocalypse has already happened for some communities, and they show us what survival and resilience in the aftermath look like, and how we could start practicing it now without waiting for the cataclysm
- Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ by William Cavanaugh – a difficult but important read that was super helpful at seeing a future when there is a part of the church that has fully given itself to fascist idolatry
- If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I?: Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority by Angela N. Parker – written more for an evangelical or exvangelical audience that needs to be convinced out of biblical inerrancy than I do
- A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear – I had a hard time concentrating on this one, to be honest. It felt disjointed and unclear and I was deeply unsympathetic to Maisie’s coping mechanisms. [spoilers] It’s clear we had to get rid of James for the plot, and that the author wanted to jump ahead to the lead up to WWII. The story suffers for the plot contrivances necessary to get there, which is a shame, because I enjoyed some of the Gibraltarian characters.
- The Truth by Terry Pratchett (audio) – just a fascinating meditation on the value of journalism in an age when most journalism appears to have been destroyed
- Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers (re-read) – probably Sayers’s funniest. Her delight in creating increasingly ridiculous advertising slogans is evident.
- Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie – did not finish. This is not a good book.
- Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao – this one was weirder and ramblier and more political than the first. Reminded me of The Poppy War a lot, which is not a compliment.
- The Thinking Heart: Essays on Israel and Palestine by David Grossman – I’ve been reading a lot of Palestinian poetry lately, so when this book came across my feed, I thought it would be a good idea to read an Israeli. It was a hard read. The chapter on What is Jewish State? especially.
- Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks – I’m just so grateful for bell hooks’s work
- To Woo and to Wed by Martha Waters (audio, re-read) – I remember loving this book last year, but I had a hard time with it this time. I was so frustrated with the artificial obstacles Sophie and West kept throwing up to their happiness. The ending was satisfying, though.