Katie's Bay View

Summer Reading

I like to have a reading list for the summer. It doesn’t mean it’s all gonna get read, but for me it’s an annual plan for summer reading where my books don’t have to have anything to do with what I’m preaching. This year I’m a bit behind on creating my stack, but here’s what I’m thinking right now.

I’ve got Al Gore’s new book The Assault on Reason, a discussion of the political environment which is a bit of a change from Gore’s past book about the earth’s environment. It may end up influencing my fall preaching nevertheless.

Then I’ll have to lighten up, so I’ll probably read Paula Deen’s book It Ain’t All About the Cooking. She’s a great southern home cook whose show on the Food Network makes you want to eat her food and sit at her counter. In the book she writes about her life and her cooking.

Since this year’s list is short, I think I’ll go back and re-read something that my daughter read for school. The favorite on her list this past year was Catcher in the Rye. It was a long time ago when I read it the first time; it seems only fair to reread, remember what it was like to be a teen in all of its painful alienation, and then have a lemonade and a chat with my daughter.

I’d love to hear what it is that you are planning on reading this summer, or what you’ve just read — please share. And when you do, I’ll publish it in the August Flaming Chalice.

I’ll be taking my annual vacation at the usual time, 13 July through 13 August. During my absence, if you have a pastoral emergency, please call Meg Jurich, our incoming president; she’ll have numbers where I can be reached, as well as local pastoral help. Other than my vacation time, I will be in the pulpit, in the office, and working from home, so please contact me if you need me.

Happy Summer!

Love, Katie

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