RELE VAN T RECOMMENDS: BOOK S
A PRAYER JOURNAL FL ANNERY O’CONNOR [FARR AR, STR AUS AND GIROUX]
> Flannery O’Connor once wrote, “I write to discover what I know.” A devout Catholic living and writing in the American South in the 1950s and ’60s, she was known for her piercing wit and gothic style. Her characters represented the best and worst of the faithful and faithless, but faith was a consistent theme throughout her stories. But before O’Connor published any of her most famous works, she was a 21-year-old student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. During this time, O’Connor kept a prayer journal that has, until now, gone unpublished. It reveals great insights into the interior life of a superior writer. She is plain about her desire to succeed, but she is also committed to placing God above personal ambition: “Don’t let me ever think, dear God, that I was anything but the instrument of Your story.” Within this inspiring devotional is a picture of strength and struggle, of one who reveres God and wrestles with Him.
MADDADDAM MARGARET ATWOOD (NAN A. TALESE)
THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS J.M. COETZEE (HARVILL SECKER)
> The third book in Atwood’s dystopian trilogy focused on the Waterless Flood pandemic and its aftermath, Maddaddam brings together characters and storylines from the first two books, Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. Focusing mainly on Zeb and the origins and future of MaddAddam, the book is filled with adventure, romance, and the superior storytelling one expects from Atwood. MaddAddam serves as a thrilling conclusion to this epic series.
> Simón and David are strangers
in a strange land, the latter a young boy in search of his mother, the former an older man determined to help David complete his quest. They have been assigned new identities. Their questions about this new land go mostly unanswered, and their search for David’s mother is viewed with suspicion. Coetzee is famous for his insights into the human condition, and this eerie allegory serves as some of his best work in years.
Engaging faith to engage the world Bridging difference Listening generously Tell i n g Good News
800.264.1839 | www.lpts.edu
Erin Gill | Kansas City, Mo. MAMFT Student
Explore these degrees | Master of Divinity, MA Marriage & Family Therapy, MA (Religion), Doctor of Ministry