Hello and welcome to ex libris (“from the library”), my monthly roundup of book discussion and recommendations. This work will be better with your contributions, so please feel free to chime in below if you’d like!
The Books That Made Me: An Occasional Series
I once heard John Piper say “If you’ve read one of my books, you’ve read them all,” meaning that he says the same thing in every book. To some degree this is true, I think. Desiring God is his seminal work and the themes appear everywhere else in his writing.
However, I’ve always held a place in my heart for the book Future Grace.
As the title indicates, instead of looking backward, this book is directed ahead. In these pages, Piper makes the case that too many Christians try to live obediently out of gratitude for past provision, rather than in faith and hope for the road ahead. He states that the Bible doesn’t teach this “debtor’s ethic” as motivation for a holy life:
Gratitude is not set forth in the Bible as a prominent motive for Christian living. Gratitude is a beautiful thing. There is no Christianity without it. It is at the heart of worship. It should fill the heart of every believer. But when it comes to spelling out the spiritual dynamics of how practical Christian obedience happens, the Bible does not say that it comes from gratitude, but that it comes from the profoundly and pervasively future-oriented gaze of faith.
As you’d expect, he then proceeds to unfold this case from the pages of Scripture, from Christian writings through history, from confessions. He pulls at threads of right and wrong thinking, drawing them to conclusions in the unique way that he always does.
I remember reading this book for the first time and feeling that physical feeling1 that comes with trying to wrap your arms around a new way of thinking about something. I had questions and needed to chew on it for a bit. This is a good one to revisit in different seasons, too. Future grace for my forties looks different than future grace for my twenties.
This volume is one of what people tend to call Piper’s “Big Books.” — meaning it’s on the longer side. However, it’s broken up into thirty-one chapters, each of which is just a few pages. In this way, it’s actually a devotional, meant to serve the reader each day for a month.
This month’s book stack:
We Gather Together, Denise Kiernan. This is a brief history of Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who tirelessly campaigned to make Thanksgiving an annual holiday. Hale’s history overlaps briefly with Abraham Lincoln, though she always hearkened back to Washington’s desire for a day of Thanks. There is also a chapter on our modern interpretations of the holiday, for better or worse.
Unreasonable Hospitality, Will Guidara. This is the story of how a small team of people built Eleven Madison Park from a two-star restaurant to three stars, to four stars, to one of the best restaurants in the world. It’s a management book at its heart, but it’s got more — great stories of the process, how they pleased the customers, and the challenges they overcame. I really enjoyed it. (If you think I read this because Richie read it in The Bear, you are absolutely right. Some of the details from the show are lifted right out of its pages.)
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan. Shortlisted for last year’s Booker Prize, this book is a treasure. One of the endorsements says “Every word is the right word in the right place,” and that’s exactly how I felt while reading it. This little book will be a Christmas gift for some people on my list this year.
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told, Harrison Scott Key. I devoured this book. It’s wildly funny and very dark, recounting the story of Key and his wife attempting to rebuild their marriage after an affair. I laughed out loud, cried a bit, and resonated deeply with the last few chapters. There’s even a chapter from Key’s wife. “This is the joke and the surprise of marriage. You promise the impossible and then have the audacity to attempt it.”
A note on purchase links: I’m a happy supporter of independent bookshops, so the links I provide will almost always go to my affiliate link at bookshop.org. For my local readers, I heartily recommend you buy them through our favorite, Goldberry Books, but you might have a shop closer to you. Of course, you can always find these selections on That Big Website That Ships Quickly, But Not As Quickly as It Used To, and Remember How They Sucked Us All In By Being a Bookstore to Begin With? I’m also a big fan of saving money and patronizing your local library. Happy reading!
only me? Does your brain do this on occasion?
Cannot wait to ready Key's book. I've only heard VERY good things.
Keegan's book is masterful. Completely agree. Side note: she has a collection of short stories called So Late in the Day coming out next month.
I have not read Unreasonable Hospitality but it may end up being a Christmas gift for my husband... we have found The Bear really compelling.
Future Grace was my initial source of inspiration in my spiritual journey.