A Resolution Kept

I am not usually one to make New Year's resolutions.

I have only made two that I kept for the entire year. One year I decided to go to one new restaurant a month, and it couldn't be one of the national chain restaurants. That was the year I discovered Smokehouse Barbeque, which until this year, was my favorite barbeque restaurant.

This year I resolved that I would read one book a month by an author I had not previously read. I work in a library. How hard could it be? Well, as it turns out, it was fairly difficult. Over the years I have seen books by very popular authors on the shelves. Why are they so popular, are they interesting? I was curious.

I am not going to mention every new (to me) author that I read. A few really stood out, and I will mention those later. Of the "popular" authors I did read or started to read, I was not impressed. The story or characters did not interest me, the language was too foul, the subject matter was better left unwritten - for whatever reason, I doubt I will read books by those authors again. Thankfully, there are many more authors out there to sample.

The first book I read that really stood out was The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I had put it on hold at the library and then when it came in, I couldn't remember why I wanted to read it. A friend told me it was on the bestseller list, so I decided to give it a try. It was a good read and caused me to think about a painful and unjust period in our nation's history.

The second book that made an impact was Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb. It is about the hunt for Adolph Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal. What an eye-opener this book was in terms of who helped Nazis escape after the war. And no, the United States is not innocent.

The third book I would recommend is Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. It is a biography of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who was a noted theologian. He was also a spy and involved in a plot to kill Hitler. The meatier theological aspects of this book were hard to absorb at times, but it really caused me to think about what part one's nationality can play in how the Christian life is lived.

The last book I want to mention is Faithful by Kim Cash Tate. It is a book about four friends, who each ponder what it means to be faithful. It is written by an African-American woman and that only adds to the take-away value as it is a perspective that I need to acquire that as a follower of Christ.

Now I'm reading Muslims, Christians, and Jesus by Carl Medearis. I've already learned a lot, and I've barely started the book. I think I'll try to make this seeking out new authors a habit rather than just a resolution.