Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson. This account by a brilliant lawyer is riveting reading. My husband currently works in the criminal justice system and I am part of a team who visits our local jail monthly to bring hope and encouragement to local inmates , so I have a keen interest in those who are battling to bring justice to a group our society prefers to forget. I could not put this book down and will never be the same after having read it. Throughout the book, Stevenson weaves the story of his long battle to get an innocent man off death row with account after account of other victims he has defended, some taken as far as the Supreme Court. His work has brought about change in laws and many prison practices. Lives have been redeemed, but even his growing organization of those equally committed to bringing justice, has barely scratched the surface of the desperate need for reform. Stevenson’s work changed his own heart and has made a difference in many otherwise hopeless lives. If you say you love your neighbor, you need to read this book.

Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller. I always appreciate Keller’s ability to cover a topic from every possible angle so that when you finish reading his books you feel fully satisfied that you have been fair to it. The problem of suffering is as long as human life, and we cannot escape it. Keller shares common attitudes, theological perspectives, and many, many real-life accounts of those who have suffered enormous pain and loss with their faith intact. Don’t avoid this book because of the subject, for one reason because we can’t avoid encountering pain and suffering in our lives, but most importantly because you will be greatly encouraged and even find yourself rejoicing by book’s end at the confidence we can have in a God who suffers with us and is greater than any of our greatest fears.

Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard. The title sums up the subject matter and, as usual, this superior biographer has wrought a highly readable and informative narrative of the history making Churchill in his young and ambitious early days. It’s pretty exciting, so make sure you have time to read once you begin.

Coming Up for Air by George Orwell. The beauty of novel reading is that we enter into a life unlike our own. Not only does this increase our understanding of our world, but it increases the size of our heart. I have no natural interest in the musings of a middle-aged man of limited aspirations and accomplishments, but when I listened to George’s reflections, I was captured by pre-World War I England’s lower-middle class’s plights and prospects. I have to admit that most of the books I have read of the Edwardian era are from the perspective of the aristocracy. It was eye-opening to see how the radically changing world of the early twentieth century was affected by the Great War. Of course, Orwell is a superb writer and so easily drew me into George Bowling’s childhood memories and the supposed progress his world was making that propelled such insignificant men from one devastating world war into the next. Orwell makes me pause to consider how many Georges’ destinies  are as hopelessly being decided today. What a contrast this fictional character was to the story of Churchill I was reading concurrently.

For the joy of reading,

Liz