End of summer reading

I've been enjoying a couple of good books lately. One is Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner. Here's a summary of its contents from the inside flap: "The child of a Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, Lauren F. Winner chose to become an Orthodox Jew. But even as she was observing Sabbath rituals and studying Jewish law, Lauren was increasingly drawn to Christianity. Courageously leaving what she loved, she eventually converted. In Girl Meets God, this appealing woman takes us through a year in her Christian life as she attempts to reconcile both sides of her religious identity."

It's been an interesting read. I love the connections she draws, the knowledge that I'm gaining from her experience.

I'm also reading The Christian Culture Survival Guide by Matthew Paul Turner, former editor of CCM Magazine. The book is at times a bit cynical, and it's probably tough to understand its humor if you're not at least on the fringe of the wacky Christian subculture. But Turner has some good insights, and there were a few stories that made me laugh out loud on the airplane ride to California.

One of my favorite chapters was on dating. He said the worst way to dump someone is to say that Jesus is your new boyfriend. After a second girl tried that line on him, he said, "Really, Jesus is your boyfriend? Then I think you and him need to have a DTR because the last I heard he was still dating my last girlfriend!" (DTR="defining-the-relationship talk")

You can find out more about this book by going to http://www.relevantbooks.com/ and clicking on the book's icon.