I’ve got this? Really??  

I’m desperate here, you know.

Well, here is a reminder of our popular really last minute deal, the do it yourself, make it tonight, simple as can be (and fun as you’d like) Hearts & Minds gift certificate.  Yep, you make it, email us so we can get payment settled and give you a little official number to hand letter on the back and presto.  You’ve got yourself anything from a hostess gift for tomorrow night, a stocking stuffer for Christmas morn, or a huge, one-of-a-kind, let ’em buy a whole library of books big-time gift.  Get the details here.

We also know another way around your last minute goof-up: plead the ‘ol 12 days of Christmas church calendar argument.  We’ve got almost two weeks of this soon-to-be-upon us Christmas season.  Ignore those commercialists who are, I swear, selling Valentine candy now, and savor the real season.  The idea of gift-giving this

time of year comes from the Magi, of course, and they didn’t bring their wise guy gifts until Epiphany.  I hope you sing that song at church (not now, please!) at Epiphany. 

So you can order some special gift now, and teach your loved ones the real nature of Christmas celebrations: that it is a season, capped off by Epiphany.

I’m not making this up.  Although it is a Christian retailers dream, huh? I have another shot at telling you about some random books that just might be nice Christmastime gifts. Or Epiphany gifts.

So, back by popular demand, here’s a PART TWO of a curious listing for hard-to-buy -or book lovers.  PART ONE this year is HERE.  Enjoy.  Happy book giving, and happy reading!

FOR A BIRD LOVER (OR BIRD LOVING-BIBLE SCHOLAR)

Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible  Debbie Blue (Abingdon) $16.99  This ought to win an award for the most attractive paperback book of the year: there are very nice woodcuts in front of each chapter, and a spectacular cover with french flaps — it is very nicely designed, befitting an aesthetically-rich and creative reflections on, yep, birds mentioned in the Bible.  Blue is a great writer, a fabulously colorful preacher (so much so that she is in that rare list of preachers who have had a collection of their sermons published.) This is a must for any bird-lover, but, I truly think anyone who likes outside-of-the-box unusual messages about God’s unusual ways will love this. She’s amazing how she uses the Scriptures, connecting the dots.

FOR ANYBODY NEEDING A VERY COOL GIFT, A GLIMPSE OF REAL LIFE, COLORFUL AND TRUE, IN BOOK & MUSIC. 

CMYK: The Process of Life Together book and/or CD  Justin McRoberts (Justin McRoberts)  book $24.99 CD $10.99  I have raved about this before, this full color, amazingly designed, artful book that offers the backstories of songs Justin has recorded, letters to the people who are in the songs, and ruminations and reflections about the people, stories, and songs, all written in a very honest, insightful, and caring way. (And, also, there are in the book interviews with four edgy visual artists who were commissioned to create original art pieces to enhance all of the above.) This multi-media project , then, is just amazing, and is sure to delight anybody who likes the acoustic singer-songwriter genre of indie rock, and/or anyone who likes this visually-dramatic way of presenting a book.  I hardly know anything like it — and it is so tenderly written, poignant and good and inviting.  We sell all four discs that Justin put out (C, P, Y, and K) but suggest this as a package: get the book and the CD K, which is sort of a greatest hits compilation of the previous three.  His music is strong, his wordsmithyness exceptional, and now we know that beyond being a hip young songwriter and stortyteller, he’s a great author as well.  This is a rare gift that is sure to please.

FOR FANS OF THE HUGELY POPULAR PIONEER WOMAN WEBSITE AND FOOD NETWORK TV SHOW

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays  Ree Drummond (Wm Morrow) $29.99 At almost 400 full color pages, this could be priced much higher and few would mind — it is a spectacular looking cookbook, a wonderful companion to the popular show, a glimpse into Ree Drummond’s coyboy family and her love for the holidays. Most importantly it is a great into to this solid, American cuisine., beautifully shown, especially for anyone who loves to cook throughout the many unique holidays of our land. 

FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS BRIEF, THOUGHTFUL, INTERPRETIVE BIOGRAPHIES

Schaeffer on the Christian Life: Countercultural Spirituality  William Edgar (Crossway)

Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life: From the Cross for the World  Stephen J. Nichols (Crossway) $17.99 each.

If you follow our BookNotes blog or our work, you know that we sponsor a major lectureship in Pittsburgh each summer, hosted by our friends at the CCO, and this past July we booked Bill Edgar to talk bout Schaffer, L’Abrai, and, particularly, the significance of Schaeffer’s book True Spirituality which he explores in this great recent book.  After it was released it was followed by the new work on Bonhoeffer by another writer we admire: Lancaster’s own Steve Nichols.  Steve is a genius at popularizing the best scholarship and is a master of the biography (he’s done several others.) It was great to have him in this “Theologians on the Christian Life” series, providing accessible introductions to the great teachers of the Christian life. Since these have uniform covers, why not allow us to wrap ’em both up for you.  What a neat gift that would be!

FOR A MAP LOVER OR GEOGRAPHY GEEK

Oxford New Concise World Atlas (Oxford University Press) $39.95  There is little doubt that Oxford is one of the world leaders in creating the very best atlases available.  This year saw a new release of the Oxford Atlas of the World, nearly a publishing event, a stunning (and very expensive) new one, considered the best every done in the history of the genre. The New Concise edition, which we have in stock, is a somewhat smaller and more reasonably priced version of that  huge one,. This one, itself, is stunning, with fully digitized maps providing detailed political and topographical information, a great selectin of satellite images and even detailed maps of the ocean floors. There are more world maps than ever before, including entirely new maps covering such areas as Kazakhstan, Egypt, Moroccos, Peru, and Brazil. There is a comprehensive gazateer, a new series of tables and statistics, and an index of over 64,000 items.  THis is so cool, with some of the best cartography done in the modern world.

FOR AN OLD HIPPY OR  YOUNG CHRISTIAN SCHOLAR WHO WANTS TO BE AU COURANT

God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America  Larry Eskridge (Oxford University Press) $35.00  This solid bit of social history is both a study of one stream of the counter-culture of the late 60s and early 70s (The Jesus Movement) but is also an evaluation of the religious nature of these young evangelicals, and the way in which it shaped the later half of the 20th century.  From parachurch organizations to the rise of the religious right and the religious left, from the Contemporary Christian Music industry to the formation of Protestant house-churches and intentional communities even today, the Jesus People movement has been influential, and Eskridge gets it.  By focusing especially on the Chicago-based JPUSA community, the narrative comes alive, more than another overview, but a lively and fabulous, in-depth study.  As William Romanowski (author of Eyes Wide Open and Reforming Hollywood) writes, “Blossoming amidst the fads and frenzy of the youthful counterculture, the Jesus People blurred traditional boundaries between conservative religion and consumer popular culture. With clarity and insight, Larry Eskridge unearths the backstories and central dynamics of this curious phenomenon to show how it left a lasting mark on American evangelicalism. 

Au courant?  This book just won the Book of the Year Award from Christianity Today. Tolle legge, dudes.

FOR A BRENNAN MANNING FAN, OR ONE WHO IS WILLING TO READ A NOVEL WHICH IS A PARABLE

The Prodigal: A Ragamuffin Story  Brennan Manning with Greg Garrett (Zondervan) $15.99  I have blogged about this before; it is the last book dear Brennan was working on when he died. Greg (a very good memoirs, essayist, film critic, and theologian of grace himself) finished it. It is a powerful contemporary retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  The main character is an seemingly successful pastor named Jack Chisholm who falls — and boy, does he. Phyllis Tickle reviewed it saying “What they have created is the Ragamuffin at his best, full of hope, full of love, and finally, full of belief in the goodness of God.”

FOR ONE WHO IS A SERIOUS WRITER, READER, OR INTERESTED IN HIGH CLASS LITERATURE

Words for Readers and Writers: Spirit-Pooled Dialogues Larry Woiwode (Crossway) $19.99  Larry Woiwode rose to high-brow literary fame in the 70s and 80s, writing for The New Yorker, etc. He had a serious conversion to Reformed Christianity and he has continue to write well, teach about literature, and speak about writing.  This collection of over 20 essays by a critically acclaim scholar and writer is a perfect gift for anyone who is serious about the integration of faith and the world of modern letters, and who still believes in the transforming power of words.

I hope you know Larry Woiwode, as he is a very good example of the sort of serious writer that is faithful to faith and considered expert in his craft and field.

FOR A PREACHING, BIBLE STUDENT (OR ANY BIBLE STUDENT)

Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew Volume 1

Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew Volume 2

edited by Cynthia A. Jarvis and E. Elizabeth Johnson (Westminster/John Knox) $40.00 each

These two beautiful, large volumes are the latest installments in the beloved and highly regarded Feasting on the Word project. Just like the lay-out of the earlier ones that follow the lectionary, offering commentary only on the lections (Years A, B, and C) this new series has four reflections, by four different authors, on the entire gospel of Matthew, passage by passage.  There is offered for each text a theological perspective, a pastoral perspective, an exegetical perspective, and a homiletic perspective. The editors invited the sames sorts of mainline scholars and pastors as in the Feasting ones, so you have contributions by renowned preachers such as Barbara Brown Taylor, Tom Long, Sally Brown,  Alan Culpepper, Edith Humphrey, William Willimon. Strong, diverse, helpful.  This would make a great gift — and they are very new.  Volume two arrived just a day or so ago…

FOR ONE WHO IS IN GRIEF AND WANTS A STORY TO KNOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE (OR ONE WHO JUST LIKES TO READ HEART-RENDING, BRILLIANTLY RENDERED MEMOIR BY A THOUGHT CHRISTIAN WRITER)

Stations of the Heart: Parting with a Son  Richard Lischer (Knopf) $25.00  Lischer is a Lutheran pastor and pastoral theologian and in this breath-taking book he tells of the death of their young adult son.  It is a classy and wonderful memoir, funny at times, interesting and curious, and, of course, heart-breaking.  Called a “poignant love story” where a young man teaches his entire family “a new way to die” with wit, candor, and, always, remarkable grace.” The jacket flap promises “This emotionally riveting account probes the heart  without sentimentality or self=pity.” So it is not for everyone.  But you may know someone who will value this, perhaps as the most important gift they receive all year.

FOR A MEDICAL MISSIONARY, ONE INTERESTED IN GLOBAL CONCERNS, OR ANYONE WHO LOVES CHILDREN. OR FOR ONE INTERESTED IN PEACE, OR NEEDS TO FIND HOPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.  OR WANTS TO BE INSPIRED. 

Preemptive Love: Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time Jeremy Courtney (Howard) $24.00  I do so hope you read my longer review of this, and I do hope you give one or two of these away this holiday season.  It is a wonderful, wonderful story, and some of the proceeds supports the Preemptive Love Coalition, which gets necessary heart surgery for kids in Iraq.  There is an epidemic of heart disease among children there, mostly due to radiation we left behind with our radioactive-enhanced weapons and also from the heinous poison gas Hussein used in the North.  The crisis is severe, this fabulous ministry is doing life-saving work, and it is well told in this great, great book. 

A MEMOIR FOR ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN “MOPS” OR WHO NEEDS A REDEMPTIVE STORY OF GOD”S HELP IN HARD TIMES

The Beauty of Broken: My Story and Likely Yours Too Elisa Morgan (Nelson) $15.99

This is a very, very good book  — from the great cover to the honest storytelling to the evangelical faith that redeems her very hard situation. Who knew that the mother of the exceedingly popular and successful MOPS (“Mothers of Preschoolers”) ministry had a background which involved a family struck with alcoholism and drug addiction, teen pregnancy and abortion, infertility and adoption, divorce, loss, grief, sexual confusion and “broken family values” (as she calls their situation.) She offers hope that allows families to grow and thrive. There can be “beauty and hope by facing and dealing iwth the messiness of family life” she says.  Do you know anybody who needs a book that says on the cover “there’s no such thing as a perfect family”?  Very nicely done. 

FOR A STUDENT INTERESTED IN PHILOSOPHY (OR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE IMPLICATIONS OF A KUYPERIAN/REFORMATIONAL WORLDVIEW FOR ACADEMICS)

Christian Philosophy: A Systematic and Narrative Introduction  Craig Bartholomew & Michael Goheen (Baker Academic) $22.99    Bartholomew studied the philosophy of aesthetics under Calvin Seerveld at Toronto’s Institute for Christian Studies, so knows all the Dooyeweerdian and Vollenhovian philosophical stuff.  He and Mike Goheen are also Bible scholars, and together they have offered this lively overview of what they claim is a diminutively Christian perspective on the history of philosophy, hinting at how to create a comprehensive, alternative way of doing the discipline. There is a nice device of a story which unfolds, too: a young man and young woman are at two different colleges and are both taking an intro to philosophy class.  As they literally compare notes, things become a bit clearer.  Very cool, very helpful, and a very good introduction to a significant school of thought, allowing faith to influence even the doing of the history of philosophy. 

FOR ANY WORSHIP LEADER, PASTOR, WORSHIP ARTS DIRECTOR (OR ANYBODY WHO LOVES TO THINK ABOUT WORSHIPPING WELL THROUGHOUT THE CHURCH YEAR)

Story Shaped Worship: Following Patterns From the Bible and History  Robbie Castleman (IVP Academic) $20.00  I wish I had a half an hour just to talk to you about this book.  Or, better, to acquaint you with the amazing woman who wrote it (a professor of both Biblical studies and theology at John Brown University in Arkansas.)  She is a friend of the store, here, and an amazing evangelical leader who has thought through very, very well, how the texture and plot of the very story of God as revealed in the unfolding drama of Scripture can and should shape our worship practices. There are heavy-weight liturgical theologians who rave on the back cover (Simon Chan) and top shelf theologians (Timothy George.) Jeremy Begbie (a brilliant musician, aestheticist, and professor at Duke) has a very nice endorsement, saying why we so badly need books like this “that reorient us to what really matters.” And Luci Shaw, the ever-popular poet even offers her blurb on the back.  This is a serious book, a wondrous bit of scholarly research, offered as gift for the people of God.  Highly recommended.

FOR ANYONE LOOKING FOR A FANTASTIC COFFEE TABLE ART BOOK BY AN ESTEEMED, EXPERT CHRISTIAN ARTIST

Through Your Eyes: Dialogues on the Paints of Bruce Herman Bruce Herman & G. Walter Hansen (Eerdmans) $5000  I have often named this painter as one of my own personal favorites, and have savored his good writing from time to time — an essay here, a piece in a Square Halo book there, a talk given, a chapter written.  But this is a remarkable, thorough, great coffee table book collection of his actual art,  art work done by the very talented and wonderfully thoughtful faith leader at Gordon College.  Here, his mutli-media, slightly modern stylings shines through, and it would make just a perfect gift for anyone who follows Bruce’s work in CIVA or IAM, or who just values solid, evocative, allusive painting, created by a good man, a good friend, a talented Christian leader.  Further, the Biblical scholar, and friend of Bruce’s, Walter Hansen, ha;s his own interactions with the paintings.  What a novel,  interesting idea. This is a great book, and would make a great book to own, or to give for a special occasion. Highly recommended.

FOR A KUYPER GEEK OR ANYONE INTERESTED IN REFORMED THEOLOGY OR A ROBUSTLY CHRISTIAN ENGAGEMENT WITH CULTURE

Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat  James D. Bratt (Eerdmans) $30.00  I’ve raved and raved about this, the biography of Kuyper we’ve long awaited, and have reviewed it affirming Bratt’s great historical acumen, his good writing, and his painstaking detail of this amazing early 20th century Dutch leader.  You know we fancy ourselves Kuyperians, and much of the impetus from how we do our store and why we sell the books we do come from a broad, vague interest in the revival of cultural engagement that emerged from the revival Kuyper lead in Holland.  I think the best evangelical thinkers of our day — from Gabe Lyon to Andy Crouch to James K.A. Smith to Mako Fujimura, from Richard Mouw to Nicholas Wolterstorff to Anthony Bradley (not to mention events like our beloved Jubilee conference in Pittsburgh or Redeemer Presbyterian’s Center for Faith and Word gatherings in NYC) — simply wouldn’t have gotten the traction they did without the legacy of Kuyper the pastor and Prime Minister, his famous Stone Lectures at Princeton, and the movement of “creation-fall-redemption” worldview folks standing on his shoulders and embodying some of his vision in the new millennium.  So, anyway, know anybody into “culture making” or evangeical relevance or thinking about how faith impacts daily life for the common good? Kuyper is the most important mostly unknown figure of the last 500 years of church history.  Give this book to those who care.

FOR A SERIOUS C.S. LEWIS FAN

The Screwtape Letters: Annotated Edition C.S. Lewis (HarperOne) $26.99 Who doesn’t love Screwtape Letters? But what to give the serious Screwtape fan?  In the past we’ve recommended the great audio dramatization.  Now, this year, we have seen the release of the “annotated edition” in a nice, slightly over-sized hardback, handsomely designed with a touch of two color printing. A great Lewis scholar (who has done teaching with our friends at the C.S. Lewis institute in DC) does the annotations, which are helpful notes in the wide margins (printed in a classy red ink.)  Very nicely done.

FOR THE CULTURALLY SOPHISTICATED, POETICALLY INCLINED, ART LOVER

Qu4tets  Makoto Fujimura, Bruce Herman, Christopher Theofanidis with essays by Matthew Milliner,  James McCullough, Jeremy Begbie  (Fujimura Institute ) $29.99  I did a whole BookNotes review of this magnificent, rare volume, a gem of a book which is not widely available, and exclaimed how wonderful it is. It is slightly oversized, and includes visual art pieces and the description of the score of a music piece created about, and inspired by, T.S. Eliot’s  famous poem Four Quartets. Further, besides the art and music inspired by the Quartets, there are also insightful, learned, essays by people of faith who are evaluating this project.  There is, simply, nothing like this in print, and we are honored to stock it.  Magnificent. 

SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO READ UTTERLY CREATIVE PROSE BY AN EXTRAORDINARY VOICE, A WILD WRITER (OR WHO JUST WANTS TO READ WHATEVER JOHN WILSON OF BOOKS & CULTURE ENDORSES AS ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR)

Death By Living: Life is Meant to Be Spent N.D. Wilson (Nelson) $19.99  I absolutely adored his earlier “whirly-gig” of a book, Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl, which pondered the raw experience of living in a real world. There is blood and grass and God and life, and it was stunningly weird, anti-gnostic, and, well, weird.  Some paragraphs made not too much sense, or at least I couldn’t decipher the sense of it.  But the impression was strong, the book was brilliant, and God was pleased, even as Wilson pokes at sentimental evangelicals and secular political correctness, too.  Here, rather than focusing on the goodness of the real created order of things, he is offers his verbose and poetic skills in service of talking about the end of things, the downside, the fall. I don’t think I agree with all of this (heck, I don’t think I understand it all.) But you may know it is a thrill-ride of a book, a long rumination that is funny and beautiful and crazy and, just maybe, life changing.  His bit about story and reading stories to his kids (not to mention the puking episode as they traveled to Rome) is worth the price of admission.  I think I mostly agree with Eric Metaxas who says “Our sad, dark and decaying culture needs more salt, light, and joy from such authors as N.D. Wilson. He reminds me of a young Chesterton.”  I guess you can extrapolate who to give this too.  

TO ANYONE NEEDING TO HEAR TESTIMONY OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN, SAD AND HAPPY AND HURT AND GOOD — RIGHT FROM THE WOMEN THEMSELVES

Talking Taboo: American Christian Women Get Frank About Faith edited by Erin Lane and Enuma Okoro (White Cloud Press) $16.95  I really hope you saw my heartfelt endorsement of this when I reviewed it a month ago — I celebrated the opportunity to read short, well-written, and usually quite entertaining auto-biographical essays by various sorts of women.  There are conservatives and liberals, lesbians and straights, Pentecostals and those in liturgical churches.  Some are up, some down, some happy, some not.  I think many women of faith will find this a great, great comfort, knowing that frank conversations about the good and bad of religion in our culture, especially as it impacted them as girls and women.  Beth and I have a good handful of friends in here, and some are very good writers. Blurbs on the front and back are from Parker Palmer and Rachel Held Evans. You gotta gift this to somebody, eh?  Maybe a woman you know, or maybe a man who would enjoy spending some time in the company of these ladies.  Do it.  Buy it and give it.  

TO ONE WHO LIKES TO READ ABOUT TRAVELING TO THE HOLY LAND (OR WHO READS THE FICTION OF BESTSELLING AUTHOR LYNN AUSTIN)

Pilgrimage: My Journey to a Deeper Faith in the Land Where Jesus Walked Lynn Austin (Bethany House) $14.99  At first, I thought the key selling point of this was that it was written by a well known Christian fiction writer, a lady who is beloved by many of our customers who read her stuff.  She has sold more than a million copies of her books and is an eight-time Christy Award winner!  So you know she is a thoughtufl, talented, wholesome writer.  As you can tell from the sub-title, here she encounters God in ways that deeper her faith and discipleship, kicks her out of her spiritual dry spell, and awakens new desires for God’s Kingdom — all by going on a Holy Land tour.  This really is the real deal, and she tells of her journey (the literal one, and the metaphorical one) in this very, very nice book.  There is gripping honesty and lovely, basic Bible reflections, created while “on location” throughout Israel. 

FOR A HIGH BROW THEOLOGIAN WHO VALUES DEEP, RICH REFLECTION

The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss David Bentley Hart (Yale University Press) $25.00  If you know of anyone who reads First Things or any other serious venue where this Orthodox philosopher shares his thinking, get them this brand new book, and they will be impressed that you could track it down, and knew enough to give it to them. One reviewer from University of Notre Dame says “Writing at a high philosophical level with a sharp sense of humor, Hart argues for an ecumenical Theism. Devastatingly accurate, imaginative, and immensely readable, this is David Bentley Hart’s best book.” It is “stylist and substantial” as one Duke professor put it, and one overseas scholar says it is “nothing less than astounding.” Rowan Williams insists that in this “masterpiece of quiet intellectual and spiritual passion, he magnificently sets the record straight as to what sort of God Christians believe in and why.”

FOR ONE INTERESTED IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT OR WANTS A FIRST CENTURY VIEW OF JESUS (OR WHO VALUES JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE)

Jesus: First Century Rabbi  Rabbi David Zaslow (Paraclete) $23.99  THis book deserves a better, more nuanced review, but for now you can know this: if you want to give a book to one who needs to realize the Jewishness of Jesus, or to one who wants a book not written by a Christian, or who wants a fresh, interesting study of Jesus (but not written to proselytize) this one by a Reformed Rabbi would make a very nice gift. 

The blurbs on the back are from a variety of mainstream scholars (from Princeton Theological Seminary, say) and from several different denominations (from Episcopalian to Presbyterian.) Yet, another Rabbi also exclaims “Rabbi Zaslow has brought Rabbi Jesus home to us so that we may hear him among his own contemporaries whom we honor and learn from.” 

FOR ANY STUDENT OF ANABAPTIST THEOLOGY OR THE WORK OF JOHN HOWARD YODER OR ANYONE INTERESTED IN MISSIONAL THEOLOGY

Theology of Mission: A Believers Church Perspective  John Howard Yoder (IVP Academic) $45.00 Stanely Hauerwas says of this brand new text,  “This is a major work…I suspect in the future it will become one of the crucial books necessary to understand John Howard Yoder.” Mark Thiessen Nation writes, “Of the dozen or so of Yoder’s books that have been published since his death, this book is near the top in terms of importance.” Darrell Guder loves it, too, but listen to Will Willimon: “The discovery and publication of John Howard Yoder’s notes on mission is one of the great events in the history of the church’s missionary impulse.” Wow.  Maybe you should get it for yourself!

FOR ONE WHO VALUED UNCLE TOM’S CABIN OR LOVES HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY

Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life Nancy Koester (Eerdmans) $24.00 It isn’t every book published by a religious publisher that gets a rave endorsement from the likes of Pulitzer Prize winning historian James M. McPherson, but he says Nancy Koester’s lucid narrative and penetrating analysis carry the reader along unfailingly on this fascinating quest.” Debby Applegate, another Pulitzer Prize winner says “It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Harriet Beecher Stow, who was in her lifetime the most famous and influential woman in the United States, bar none.” Even the prestigious Booklist says it is “a top-notch read” “engaging and intelligent.” You have to know somebody who would appreciate this brand new book.

FOR ONE WHO WANTS AN EDGY, HONEST, RAW MEMOIR BY AN EMERGENT PASTOR, UNUSUAL AND PASSIONATE

Pastrix:The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint Nadia Bolz-Webber (Jericho) $22.00  Those of us who follow — approvingly or not — the emerging conversation and the edgy, younger theologians and pastors in that outside-of-the-box, missional movement, have long known of this former brash, hip comedian cum Lutheran pastor with the symbols from the liturgical calendar tatted across her arms and chest. We know that she swears like a sailor (not unlike many un-churched younger adults) and that she is progressive and emergent and fluent in the nuances of liturgy and the Nicene Creed.  This is not the time or place to review this wild book seriously, but mainline folks have loved her, her talk on Krista Tippett’s NPR show got her a huge new following, and even conservative Reformed radio guy Steve Brown has appreciated her, just like he has honored the faith of Sarah Miles, Anne Lamotte, and other deeply committed Christian women who are serious Christ-followers, but very, very unconventional.  Phil Yancey, in a recent column about enjoying her book called her “a sheep in wolf’s clothing” which was kinda funny.  Give it to somebody that doesn’t mind her inclusive GLBTQ theology and her boisterous commitment to Jesus the Christ. Whew.

Do feel free to let us know if you have any special shipping needs — if we are sending it to someone on your behalf, we would be happy to gift wrap it (with our compliments, of course.) Just be sure to let us know if we should put a note in saying the item is from you. You can type instructions into the order form page (unlike some internet sites which are less responsive.)  We are so glad to help this time of year — for these glorious 12 days and beyond.  Thanks for caring about books of all sorts and for supporting our shop.  Merry, Merry Christmas.

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