My interest in this book came from reading another one by Dan B. Allender earlier this year. I have a lot of respect for his biblical approach to sensitive topics that require compassion and wisdom. When Lifeway gave me a coupon for their website, his name was the first I searched.
Though the entire book is about God’s perspective on sex, Allender and Longman unpack it with two approaches. In half the chapters, they give a careful commentary and history lesson on Song of Songs; in between each of those chapters, we read a fictional diary of a new Christian who’s studying the book in a varied group from all different stages of life. At first, I cringed at the idea of unwrapping this topic in a fictional way (though I adore fiction, clearly), as it seemed like a cheap tactic, but I found myself unwillingly compelled by the character.
Sex is complicated, and the church’s response has been prudish, historically speaking. There’s a church tradition that Song of Songs is not about sex but is instead an allegory about God’s love for the church. This book addresses how and why that idea came about and subsequently shows its error. It’s a pervasive idea. I even heard it as a kid. This idea robs us of a much needed celebration of sex as God intended it, and it assigns physical or sensual things to a place below spiritual, as though they should and could be separated.
So, in a world that either idolizes sex or trivializes it and never speaks of it or speaks of it too openly, it was instructive to read an open discussion on the topic and even see a biblical model for finding that balance.
Before I got married, I sat down with Song of Songs, a big commentary, and a journal. I highly recommend any engaged person do the same. The commentary I used argued that the entire book was telling one story, but Allender and Longman believe it’s a series of individual poems, related only in topic and some repeated themes. From my inexperienced exegesis, I think both have valid arguments, and neither approach needs to harm the point of the book.
The authors do not force any aspects of sex into Song of Songs that aren’t there. They unpack what the Bible says without trying to drag it into any modern debates. They do, thankfully, spend some time on desire, beauty, sexual play, and rest, and then they use some of the struggles within Song of Songs to unpack the way our cultures and our families can make intimacy a struggle.
I would recommend this book to any person wanting a healthy, biblical approach to sex, but I would caution those not ready to have sex to wait until an appropriate time. As the Beloved says to the daughters of Jerusalem:
In the last month, I have read six books. I didn’t realize that until I checked to see which book I’d write about in my new review. Well, what a good summer so far!
Since I’m that behind, I’m gonna do a review dump again. It’s probably unfair to most of these books, especially the brilliance of Severance and the trash of Shades of Milk and Honey, but I’ll try to be more consistent with the next book I read.
So, here they are in the order I read them:
Oathbringerby Brandon Sanderson This third installment of Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive is the longest book I read this year. Whereas Moby Dick was 206,052, this chunky boy was 454,440. I only attempted it because I knew I’d be sitting on a beach for a week, and I could knock it out without setting back my reading challenge. I’m glad I did. Even after reading enough to worry about eye strain, I wanted more. Sanderson’s worlds are always compelling and his endings so satisfying. I will admit that I doubted him at one point. The obstacles and debacles seemed hopeless, and I worried I’d wasted days for a book that end with a promise of fixing it all in the next book. The ending blew my mind. Sanderson, after all this time consuming your novels, I’m so sorry I doubted you.
Shades of Milk and Honeyby Mary Robinette Kowal I hated this book, but I really didn’t want to. A friend had recommended as “Jane Austen but with fantasy.” Since the same friend also strongly recommended Oathbringer, I still trust her taste. A lot of the Goodreads reviews had warned that this was nothing like Jane Austen. Well, I don’t expect anyone to be as good as Austen except the mastermind herself. The problem, however, is when an author herself is trying to model her writing after Austen. In both style and plot, Kowal’s writing felt like a fanfiction crossover of all Austen’s novels and a vague magic system that served more as an excuse for writing the novel than anything worthwhile. Where as Sense & Sensibility‘s Elinor Dashwood is an example of a big heart ruled by wisdom and restraint, this novel’s character (whose name is Jane, because of course it is) is ruled by self-pity and occasionally petty envy of her prettier younger sister. I did not want her have her happy ending.
The Signal and the Noiseby Nate Silver In Logan’s list of books that shaped who he is, this non-fiction work is in the top five. So, I started reading it last year to understand why it was so important. It took me six months to finish, and even then, I decided not to read the last two chapters when I found out he didn’t read them either. Don’t let this take away from the 4 out of 5 stars I’d give it. He just suffers from the John Piper Syndrome of making your point too many times. The first half of the book analyzes our modern problem of Big Data, how all the noise sometimes drowns out the signal, and the tendency of some industries (looking at you, housing bubbles) to abuse the system. Halfway through the book, he introduces a philosophy of educated guesses. The second half of the book, then, is observing a variety of forecasters that already incorporate (knowingly or not) this philosophy.
Homesicknessby Jesse Donaldson Part-memoir and part prose-poems, this memoir is a meditation on Kentucky and nostalgia. Donaldson uses an entry for each of Kentucky’s 120 counties to tell a story of his love for this state but also the love for his wife which compels him to stay in Washington. I enjoyed reading of a relationship with my home that resonated in surprising ways. Does everyone miss their home state like this when they leave it? I grew up feeling restrained by these bluegrass hills, but after calling another state home for a brief time, I came home to Kentucky with the same affection and fondness Donaldson describes as a lifelong state of being. I recommend this to anyone with a connection to Kentucky.
Bad Therapistby Evan Wright So many trigger warnings should precede this book. Wright’s exposé of Chris Bathum will haunt me for a long time, as well it should. Bathum’s crimes, including insurance fraud in the millions and licentious, evil treatment of the patients who idolized him, were made possible by loopholes in our system that still exist. The bravery of Rose Stahl, his patient and employee, in exposing him and cracking open the case will also serve as a shining example of doing the right thing even if it puts your life at risk. I listened to it slowly as an audiobook, and I’d recommend the same for anyone who might need to take a break from this dark story of wickedness and villainy.
SeverancebyLing Ma Of all these books, Ma’s debut novel is most deserving of its own post, especially as it’s hard to describe succinctly. The journey of Candace Chen, an average millennial and child of immigrants, is told in chapters alternating between her arrival to New York after college and also in a future time after the end of the world. The apocalypse comes as a zombie-esque virus, but these zombies aren’t the brain-eating type. They are merely stuck in routines, performing the same rites and duties and jobs without sleeping, flinching, seeing, or speaking. As Candace herself is prone to routines and reliving the past, the line between the “fevered” and the narrator is blurred. Ma’s prose is perfectly paced so that it never felt rushed and never dragged, never too heart-racing and yet hard to put down. She critiques capitalism and American industry without verging getting political. As a girl who works in an office and lives in a city, I found this narrative to be more terrifying than any other post-apocalyptic story I’ve read. It’s the new The Road.
Logan & Tori Read 