My Favorite Books

1. Mama Day by Gloria Naylor - My mom gave me this book, and it connects me to her family, since I didn't have the pleasure of meeting her mom.  She died the year before I was born.

2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Tolkien - Dishon and I read this aloud to one another on our date nights.  All 1,000+ pages. 

3. The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling - Dishon and I also read the series aloud to one another on our date nights. She was obviously heavily influenced by Tolkien, and is a fantastic writer. 

4. The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth - I am intrigued by dystopian books, and I like watching the main character navigate the factions of her society, even though she displays an aptitude for more than one, and the fact that there's something happening behind the scenes that we discover with Tris. 

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - some folks told me that they didn't like the book or movie because they felt it supported stereotypes.  I didn't feel that way at all.  I LOVED this book, and I don't know if it was more because I experienced it as an audiobook, and the readers were amazing, but I truly, truly enjoyed this story.  Maybe it reminds me of the cross-cultural connections I made an an undergrad after growing up in a predominantly Black section of Brooklyn.  Everyone has a story, and the interweaving of those stories is powerful.  I love the bravery of the women who told their stories, and Skeeter's courage as she aligned herself with the side of truth and humanity in a society where that perspective was violently discouraged.  Powerful stuff. 

6. Before the Mayflower by Lerone Bennett, Jr. - this was the text of my African American History class in 10th grade, and I learned quite a bit about the contributions of Africans and African Americans - all the things you don't find in traditional texts. 

7. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander - I learned quite a bit about the injustices of our criminal justice system, which really shapes the work I'm doing at Discovering Justice. 

8. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith - I LOVE Mma. Ramotswe and Mma. Makutsi's adventures.  I love learning about Botswana, and I wish that HBO would've continued with the series featuring Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose.  It was wonderful. 

9. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen - this also shapes the work I do with Discovering Justice.  It's so important to teach kids the truth about history so they can really be empowered to be change agents. 

10. Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America by Paul Tough - when I think about my work in education, and even the education of our own children, I enjoy hearing about how communities have been holistically transformed.  My parents grew up in Harlem as well, so it's special to me. 

11. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley - my parents knew Alex Haley, and we have pictures with and autographs by him.  Although I am disappointed about the plagiarized section of Roots, I loved learning about Malcolm X.

12. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd - I loved the connection the main character had with African American women.  Similar to my enjoyment of The Help. 

13. The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer - so many people hate on this series and the movies, but I really enjoyed both, and was definitely on team Jacob.  I did find Bella to be a bit too brooding, but I liked the story, and I like how the author included some elements of Native American culture, which is very underrepresented, and nearly invisible in most mainstream literature. 

14. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory - I'm not really sure why I was so intrigued by this book. I enjoyed it before the movie came out.  Intrigue, drama, history, exploring how a woman works to establish agency in a male-dominated society - all very interesting. 

15. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd - I loved this historical fiction novel which tells the story from the perspective of an enslaved, yet empowered, African-American woman named Handful (I can SO relate to that nickname!) who was connected with Denmark Vesey, and Sarah Grimke, a southern abolitionist who I definitely want to learn more about.  

Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth by Hugh Halter

For many years, I have noticed a major disconnect between the Christian church as Jesus established it, and what Christianity has become, especially in American churches.  It bothers me that so many Christians don't go any further than letting people know what they're against, and viewing Christianity as merely a set of rules to follow.  I longed to come away from legalism, and find true Christ followers who could mentor me as I learned to live like Jesus.

One of the first resources I was blessed to find was The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community by Hugh Halter. After reading this book, I began to understand more fully what it means to be missional and incarnational.  In his most recent book, Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth, Hugh explores how transformational it is to come away from what has become "churchianity," and learn to truly live as Jesus modeled for us.

I enjoyed how Hugh broke down the order of how Jesus came to us and outlined the book in the same way: Incarnation - Reputation - Conversation - Confrontation - Transformation.  He asks in another section: "How does it make you feel to think about a God who longs for you and traded in the life of His Son so that every aspect of your life could be redone, renewed, redeemed?" This is a very different perspective from what I grew up learning about God, and is in line with what the Bible teaches.  I especially appreciated the chapter called Spiritual Vertigo: Reorienting the Spiritually Disoriented.  After being spiritually battered for a long time, what Hugh shares is helping to me to see God as He is, and not through the flawed lens of a religious perspective that bears the name of Jesus, but not His nature.

A little over a month ago, my husband and I started a bi-weekly online Bible Study called Enjoying Christ, which is named as a tribute to another spiritual mentor of ours who first started us on the road of thinking of Christianity differently.  We're planning on reading Flesh with the group because we believe that it will be a blessing to those we fellowship with.  I praise God for how He's using Hugh to remind us about how Jesus intended for us to live.