On Our Bookshelf

FOR THE RECORD On Our Bookshelf

About Success & Failure

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell A classic, instantly quotable book that “debunks rugged individualism.” Invesigating “the story of success,” Gladwell exposes the many influences that amount to a person’s prosperity. Spoiler: it never comes about from hard work alone.

Foreverland

by Heather Havrilesky This perceptive, quick-witted memoir on the highs and lows of marriage begins with this: “Every book about marriage is also a book about mortality, since the success of any marriage is defined not by happiness or good fortune but by death. The assignment, after all, is to stay together until you die. Once one spouse perishes, the marriage has succeeded.” Ha…! For a fresh, funny assessment of an age-old institution, look no further.

Gods, Grades, and Graduation

by Ilana Horwitz A researcher of Evangelical Christianity and higher education, Ilana Horwitz finds that students with “religious restrictions” self-select colleges below what their grades would qualify them for. Are Evangelicals failing to live up to their educational potential, or are they successfully living out their faith’s insistence that status isn’t what makes us happy?

Ready or Not

by Madeline Levine Few things are as certain as the uncertainty of the future. In light of that, Madeline Levine’s Ready or Not explores our deep misvaluation of metricsbased prestige, and points instead to the timeless values that can stabilize us over the long-term, like resilience, compassion, and empathy. This is an excellent follow-up to Levine’s parenting tour-de-force Teach Your Children Well.

The End of Burnout

by Jonathan Malesic “Burnout” has become the go-to word to describe any feeling of work-related exhaustion. But there is more to it. In this personal yet thoroughly researched book, Malesic explores why work can’t be as fulfilling as we’ve been told it should be. And he reveals that Total Work is a demon which no mere time management solutions can exorcize.

Vintage Saints and Sinners

by Karen Marsh What do Søren Kierkegaard, C. S. Lewis, Amanda Berry Smith, and Mother Teresa have in common? They are all “vintage Christians,” as Karen Wright Marsh puts it. In her down-to-earth language, Marsh tells the stories of these “saints and sinners” (along with many others), including their personal struggles and their inspiring leaps of faith.

Very Good Lives

by J.K. Rowling A good commencement speech can be measured by its ability not to inspire but to subvert the occasion with humanity and surprise. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life,” Rowling told Harvard graduates in 2008. “Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations.” This speech, which also praises humility, friendship, and the creative power of imagination, is full of resonant, upsidedown wisdom.

An Ordinary Age

by Rainesford Stauffer Stauffer is painfully aware of the pressures of being a twenty-something. Through the combination of personal stories and those of others, An Ordinary Age creates space for young adults to consider what life has in store besides endless expectations, daunting demands, and fleeting accomplishments.

The Status Game

by Will Storr Surveying human nature from the hunter-gatherers to the culture warriors, Storr argues that we all have (and always have had) a need to win a game we may not even know we’re playing. That is, of course, the status game. This is a major work of psychological and social insight.

Etc.

Godric

by Frederick Buechner How might a medieval saint’s story be told if he could tell it himself? Well, Frederick Buechner attempted to answer that question in this Pulitzer-Prize-nominated novel from 1980, inspired by the life of St. Godric of Finchale. In this hilariously bawdy account, we are both captivated and appalled by the messy, regret-laden life of a geriatric saint—a life nevertheless shot through with the redeeming love of an awesome God.

This Boy We Made

by Taylor Harris This beautifully woven memoir is about the hope that exists within the uncertainties of motherhood. Harris is vulnerable in sharing her experiences with anxiety, unknown diagnoses, and what it means to be a Black mother in the heart of Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Word of the Cross

by Jonathan A. Linebaugh This collection of essays is a treasure trove of Pauline research, reflecting uncommon exegetical acumen and theological depth. For all the ink spilt over the last few decades on the New Perspective on Paul, Linebaugh argues extensively for a Paul beyond the New Perspective while simultaneously vindicating many of Martin Luther's great insights.

The Everlasting People

by Matthew J. Milliner Is there a more unexpected combination of topics than the cross and the thunderbird? Seamlessly, Milliner distills the work of G. K. Chesterton alongside the history of Indigenous Americans and ultimately offers readers a fresh appreciation of both.

The Fullness of Time

by Kara Slade Grand notions of progress permeate how many think of themselves and the world. Whether it be moral claims derived from the theory of evolution or an imagined technological utopia, things are, or should be, getting better all the time; few of us want to appear “backward” or “behind the times.” But Slade offers a different idea: that Christianity configures time around the person and work of Jesus, and that time revolves around God.

The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is

by Justin E. H. Smith This dense (yet short!) and incredibly sharp “philosophy of the internet” reframes the thing that has come to dominate our lives. What is the internet, and what have we become in relation to it? A self-professed Catholic “but in a weird, uncertain way,” Smith gives off a faint whiff of Christian values while exploring a topic that too often proves despairing and/or dehumanizes humanity as data points.

Protons and Fleurons

by Sarah Hinlicky Wilson A collection of 20 short stories across a slew of genres, Protons and Fleurons includes everything from cyberpunk to a gothic mystery to a religious allegory about a talking toad. Hinlicky Wilson is an immersive storyteller with an eye for subtlety and the unexpected.