Book Review: The Book of Jonah by Joshua Feldman

When I was offered a copy of The Book of Jonah by the publisher for review I was intrigued with the premise that it was a retelling of the Biblical story of Jonah in the form of a modern novel. This is the first novel by the author, Joshua Max Feldman.

Although I didn't expect to find the plot to include a whale that swallowed the protagonist, I did expect that the story would carry a discernible religious theme of the call of God on the life of an individual. However, I was disappointed to find almost no resemblance between the theme of the Biblical story and this novel.

The Jonah of this book is a young, Jewish, ambitious attorney whose career and romance are derailed by strange visions that he decides come from God but that do not bring him a clear message. The visions are erratic and confusing and so are his responses to them. The Biblical Jonah received a very clear message from God that he didn't like and did his best to avoid fulfilling. The Jonah of this book believes the visions are from God but can't interpret them.

After his dramatic termination from his law firm he crosses paths with Judith Bulbrook, a brilliant but deeply disturbed young woman who is also Jewish and whose emotional problems stem from the loss of her parents who were on one of the planes that crashed on 9/11.

Neither of the major characters are particularly sympathetic--but then neither is the character of Jonah in the original Biblical tale. The plot meanders between the two of them and then brings them together in an unbelievable turn of events at the end of the book. It is at this point that the author seems to remember that he intended to strengthen the religious themes of the story and suddenly they are made explicit but don't seem to relate to earlier development of the characters and the plot.

Ordinarily I would quit reading a book that I found unappealing at the halfway point or earlier, but since I had accepted a copy for review I was honor-bound to finish the entire thing. If the themes suddenly brought forward at the end of the novel had been developed throughout the narrative the novel would be much improved.

Book Review: Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Behind the Beautiful Forevers is the most disturbing book I have read in a long time.

Although it reads like a well-written novel, it is the non-fictional account of the lives of several families living in the Annawadi slum at the edge of the Mumbai airport. The slum is located behind a sign that advertises tile flooring with the motto: Beautiful Forever. That's where the title comes from.

The author, Katherine Boo, is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist. She spent three years in Annawadi where she developed relationships with several families and followed their stories. She did extensive interviews and other research for the book which is subtitled "Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity."

Residents of Annawadi are mostly refugees from rural areas who were unable to sustain themselves there and were drawn to the bustling, emergent economy of Mumbai. They literally live on the cast-aways of the more affluent as they pick through garbage daily looking for re-cyclables they can sell. Annawadi itself is likely to be recycled into middle class housing and other projects deemed more appropriate for the area around the international airport by city officials.

The families Boo follows include the good, the corrupt, the selfish, the intelligent, the greedy, the disabled, the beautiful, and the despised. Although the caste system of India is breaking down as it evolves into a modern state, the barriers are still there. Corruption infects every aspect of  their lives in ways that those of us blessed to live in America cannot begin to imagine.

In her concluding chapter, Boo writes "Poor people didn't unite; they competed ferociously amongst themselves for gains as slender as they were provisional...It is easy from a safe distance, to overlook the fact that in under-cities governed by corruption where exhausted people vie on scant terrain for very little, it is blisteringly hard to be good. The astonishment is that some people are good and that many people try to be...." 

This is the message that is so disturbing that at one point in the narrative I set the book aside for a few days. Without providing a spoiler, I will only say that when I returned to finish the book I was relieved to find that my worst fears about the outcome of a tragic situation for one of the families was not realized and a small bit of hope revealed.

Beyond the Beautiful Forevers reveals the hidden and marginalized society living beneath the glittering facade of the new Mumbai. By implication, similar "under-cities" exist wherever the global economy is emerging and changing traditional cultures.

Boo concludes, "If the house is crooked and crumbling, and the land on which it sits uneven, is it possible to make anything straight?"  This is not a hopeful message, but it is an enlightening and important one.

Book Review: Below Stairs by Margaret Powell

This one's for all you Downtown Abbey fans out there!

Below Stairs by Margaret Powell, originally published in 1968, is the classic memoir of a woman who worked her way up in service from kitchen maid to cook before retiring after her marriage to a milkman.

The book has been re-issued (even in e-book format!) because it is one of the sources used by the writers of the popular PBS/BBC series Downton Abbey. And yes, we are big fans Chez QG. Apparently the book was wildly popular in the UK when first published and created something of a sensation.

Margaret Powell vividly illustrates the division in the great houses between the wealthy noble families and their large staffs of servants. The houses themselves were physically divided with front and service stairs so that some servants seldom entered the part of the house used by the family. Class lines were rigid and mutually enforced on both sides.

Margaret was something of a rebel and always tried to make something of herself. She was an avid reader and one of the most poignant passages in the book relates her request to the mistress of the house she worked in to borrow books from its library. "Of course, Margaret," was the reply," but I didn't know that you read!"

Margaret not only read but later in life completed her education and got a college degree. She is a good writer but not always a fluid one. The book is a personal memoir, not an attempt at social history, and succeeds on those terms.

Readers will not find any of the plot lines of the television series but will better understand the world of its "downstairs" characters.

Book Review: The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay

The second week of January is probably too early to pick the best literary novel of the year, but The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay will certainly find a spot high on my personal list by the end of 2012.

This superbly crafted tale of how the child-like faith of mentally disturbed church volunteer Mary Margaret O'Reilly leads to unspeakable tragedy is compelling and profound.

Without spoiling the story, I can only reveal that the when the devout Mary Margaret has an accident while cleaning the crucifix in the chapel of the Sacred Heart church in South London, she believes that she has re-opened the wounds of Christ and that belief drives her to seek redemption which ends in the tragedy. Since the accident and her response to it happened with visitors in the chapel, a sensation ensues which drags the priest struggling with his own faith into the situation.

Although the length of a novel, The Translation of the Bones is so expertly and sparely written that it reads more like a short story. The plot has no loose ends and all of the characters--Mary Margaret, Father Diamond, Mary Margaret's morbidly obese mother Fidelma, and fellow parishioners Stella Morrison and Alice Armitage--are complex and believable.

Francesca Kay is a British author who was won the 2009 Orange Prize for New Writers  for her first novel, An Equal Stillness (not yet published in the US).  This second work is an inspiring story of faith, loneliness and family relationships which prompts the reader to reflect on these themes after finishing the book.

Book Review: The Countertenor Wore Garlic by Mark Schweizer

Just when the circus in Washington DC and the doin's of the PC(USA) were starting to seriously work on my last nerve along came Mark Schweizer's latest Liturgical Mystery: The Countertenor Wore Garlic.

Okay, True Confession, the book didn't just come along, I was hoping it was about time for a new entry in the series (this is number 9) and surfed the net hoping to find  it.  Faithful Readers of QG know I really LOVE this series.

All the craziness of the world drops away from me when I read one of these entertaining mysteries. If you are a church music nerd and spend more than your share of time on vestries, sessions or church committees, you will relate to the adventures of our hero, Hayden Konig, in his role as church organist at St. Barnabus Episcopal Church of St. Germaine, NC, even if you've never been a police chief like he is. 

Countertenor takes place during Halloween. A famous author of vampire novels comes to town for a book signing, attracting teenage vampire fans in addition to the annual influx of fall foliage tours. Meanwhile St. Barnabus is once again between priests and the temporary replacement, Vicar Fearghus MacTavish, a Scottish priest with decidedly Calvinist views, heads toward an inevitable clash with the Congregational Enlivener in one of the funniest scenes in the entire series.

Oh, yes, there is another murder to solve, too, as well as our hero's continuing attempts to write mysteries like Raymond Chandler. Which are scarily getting better rather than worse.

My only criticism of this one is that there was too little MacTavish! I would love to see him take on the Giant Paper Mache' Calvinist Puppets of Doom in addition to the Congregational Enlivener. And Brenda, the Christian Educator character, would be just the type to bring in those puppets.

I bought and  read the Kindle version and will probably read it again as soon as my last nerve is again inflamed. Which will probably be tomorrow.

Book Review: A View From The Back Pew

The subtitle of A View From The Back Pew is "God, Religion & Our Personal Quest for Truth." This is a memoir of the VERY personal quest of Tim O'Donnell, who grew up a Catholic but whose search for faith results in a New Age-y post modern spirituality created by himself

O'Donnell's motivation for writing about his experiences is to keep others from wrestling with the same guilt and fear that he attributes to his Catholic upbringing. It is interesting that although he questions the very foundation of the Catholic Church, he is so convinced that it is the only "true" church that he never takes the next logical step of investigating the theology and practice of any Protestant church. Would his conclusions been different if he read C. S. Lewis or Tim Keller?

Rejecting both the tradition of the Catholic Church and the Protestant emphasis on the authority of scripture, O'Donnell becomes fascinated with the Gnostic Gospels and the writings of Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels. This leads him to reject the orthodox doctrine of the divinity of Christ in favor of the belief that Christ was a human being with a highly-evolved spirituality. He concludes that "if we just have a measure of the faith in our own divinity that Jesus had, we too will exist on a plane where we can transcend time and space." 

The book combines O'Donnell's quest for religious truth with his life story, but the transitions are awkward.

(I received a free Advance Reader's copy of the book from the publisher for review and did not promise to post either a positive or a negative review.)

Book Review: At Home

At 512 pages, Bill Bryson's At Home is not really the "short history of private life" promised in the subtitle. After wrestling the 600+ pages of Heartstone, I was very happy I could read it on my Kindle.

At Home is not easy to classify. I would put it in the "Domestic History" category, if there is such a thing.

Bryson and his family live in a former Church of England rectory built in the 1800's. He takes each room in the house--from the cellar to the attic--as the prompt for a fascinating excursion into why and how that room was used and became part of the house.

It's an eclectic read as Bryson tackles topics as varied as prehistoric private lives, epidemiology (cholera, plague and santitation), the perils of fashion (toxic makeup, corsetry, wigs and heels), the growth of the British empire, the dangers inherent in staircases and old wallpapers and why it is that this rectory has come to be a private residence. And I've left out a lot!

"Houses aren't refuges from history. They are where history ends up," Bryson says and he makes a great case for his assertion.

At Home is chock full of interesting trivia and factoids. Here are just a few examples:

• The dining table was originally just a board that was hung on the wall when it wasn't needed. From this comes the expressions "room and board", the use of the term "boarders" for paying  lodgers", and the evolution of the term "aboveboard"--keeping your hands visible on the board-- meaning honest.
• The expression "barking mad" comes from a symptom of grain poisoning (ergotism), a cough that sounded like a dog's bark.
• "Cabinet" originally meant the most private and exclusive chamber where the king met with his  closest advisors. Over time it became a collective term for those advisors as well as a type of furniture.
• Thomas Jefferson invented the French fry. Hmm..wonder why he called it French? Bryson doesn't tell us.

Here's one of my favorite quips from the book: "These days the study is the final refuge of old furniture and pictures that one member of the marriage partnership admires and the other would happiily see on a bonfire." Reminds me of a certain rug in a certain study in a certain house!

At Home combines history, anthropology, epidemiology, engineering, architecture, etymology, and fun factoids in a lively and entertaining narrative, all those "ologys" notwithstanding.  If you've never read a Bill Bryson book before, treat yourself!

Book Review: Heartstone

Heartstone is the latest novel in the Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery series by C.J.Sansom. 

I was so eager to read it that I didn't wait for the e-book edition and sprang for the hard copy--all 640 pages of it!

The series, which starts with Dissolution, is set in the England of King Henry VIII. Our hero, Matthew Shardlake, is a hunchbaked lawyer in London with a passion for uncovering the truth wherever it takes him and a penchant for finding trouble without half-trying.

Heartstone is set in the waning days of King Henry's reign as the French fleet threatens the English coast. Shardlake is asked by Queen Catherine (the one who survived Henry) to take the case of one of her servants whose son warned of a "monstrous wrong" being done to one of the King's wards who he had tutored just before committing suicide. As Shardlake begins his work, he decides to couple it with an investigation into the mystery surrounding Ellen Pettiplace, an inmate of The Bedlam, whom he befriended in the previous mystery (Revelation)  in the series as he travels to the area where the ward lives and also where Ellen was born. Shardlake's old nemesis, Sir Richard Rich, surfaces to threaten him again in the process.

Sansom weaves these two mysteries into a compelling tale that reveals the corruption of the wardship system of the day against the backdrop of the King's disastrous invasion of France and its aftermath for England. The events leading up to the  tragic sinking of the King's ship, the Mary Rose, in the Solent provide the exciting and unexpected conclusion to the story.

Sansom is a master of historical fiction. Like the other novels in this series, Heartstone is meticulously researched, well-plotted, satisfying and exciting to read. Matthew Shardlake, as well as the other continuing characters in the series, is both a sympathetic and a complex character who continues to evolve in his spiritual and personal life. I'm praying that Sansom will continue the series into the reign of Edward VI since Shardlake is in his forties in this book. Pretty please????

I loved it, achy wrists notwithstanding!

(This review is also posted on my book blog: QG's Book Reviews.)

Book Review: Unprotected Texts

When I agreed to review an advance copy of Unprotected Texts by Jennifer Wright Knust as part of a TLC Book Tour, I was struck by the suggestive title. The title reminded me  of Misquoting Jesus, a book by Bart Ehrman.

Lo and behold, who should be quoted on the front cover of Unprotected Texts but the self-same Bart Ehrman who calls the book "explosive", "fascinating" and a "terrific read by a top scholar." Not surprisingly, I found it none of these things (although I do not mean to imply the author is not a top scholar). It is sometimes interesting, sometimes tedious, but not "explosive". At least it is not explosive to anyone with a broad knowledge of scripture.

First of all, let me make it clear that I am NOT a Biblical scholar. I don't know the ancient Biblical languages and I never went to seminary. I'm a lay Christian educator and Presbyterian elder with a passion for inspiring people to in-depth Bible study in the tradition of Reformed theology.  As an elder, I am vowed to "accept the Scriptures of the old and New Testaments to be, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in the Church universal and God's word" to me. (PCUSA Book of Order W-4.4003 b.That is my point of view on the authority of the Bible.

The author is Jennifer Wright Knust, an American Baptist pastor and assistant professor of religion at Boston University . She states her thesis in the introduction  " the Bible is not a sexual guidebook." She sets out to prove  it with an exhaustive (and exhausting) discussion of every word of scripture that mentions sexual activity, bodily parts, bodily fluids and reproductive functions .

To anyone familiar with the Bible, the fact that it contains  tales of prostitution, rape, homosexual behavior, concubinage, incest, and adultery is not a surprise. In my opinion, this does not constitute an endorsement of these behaviors. Knust offers some novel interpretations of these stories, apparently based on her own translations of the original text and ancient Middle Eastern mythology and culture.

For example, she says the first three chapters of Genesis are not necessarily about marriage, but are a story about farming because it is similar to the Babylonian creation myth Gilgamesh. 

She devotes a whole chapter to interpretations of several Biblical and Apocryphal passages that she says show that the only sexual sin clearly condemned in scripture is sexual intercourse between humans and angels. She points to the Nephilim (according to Genesis the offspring of angels and women), the apocryphal books of Enoch and The Watchers, the men of Sodom, and the admonitions of Paul to the women of Corinth to keep their heads veiled in worship (so as not to tempt the angels). A novel interpretation, for sure!

With regard to homosexual relationships, she interprets the relationship between Naomi and Ruth as a single sex household where Ruth and Boaz's child Obed (to become the grandfather of King David) is raised. Last time I read that story, I don't recall Boaz being out of the picture. Predictably, she interprets the relationship between David and Jonathan as a "love affair" based on her translation. I checked several other translations and did not find the language she used in hers. Knust analyzes the condemnation of homosexual behavior in Leviticus and the letters of the New Testament  in tandem with ancient contemporary writings on the subject and concludes that the condemnation was only directed at the passive partner in the act.

The well-known story of Jesus meeting the  Samaritan woman at the well, revealing he knew she had five husbands  is transformed into an allegory of the sin of pursuing the pleasure of the five senses (her five husbands) instead of pursuing the love of Christ. The more commonly accepted interprestion of this passage is twofold: the revelation of who Jesus is to someone who is not a Jew (showing that Christ did not come only to redeem the Jews) and an affirmation by Jesus that sexual promiscuity is sinful behavior. Knust does admit that this allegorical interpretation is not widely accepted today.

My copy of the book, which is an uncorrected publisher's proof, is riddled with yellow underlines and a lot of notes. The book is mostly written in an academic style, with 81 pages of footnotes and bibliography. Much of the research she includes will no doubt be useful to other scholars. There are some livelier anecdotes about modern life included which are aimed at discrediting conservative, fundamentalist understandings of scriptural teaching on sex.

Unprotected Texts is another partisan entry in the "sex wars" going on in the mainline Christian denominations. I would argue that when the Bible is read as a whole,  it does provide clear moral guidelines for human relationships , including sexual relationships, such as the story of the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus, previously discussed in this review.

My progressive friends and I may differ on the parameters of those guidelines, but I think we agree that they are there. One could point of agreement is these words of Christ in response to the question "which is the greatest commandment?":

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12: 30-31)

Unprotected Texts seems to be directed at an academic audience rather than the lay reader. Some progressive church groups and pastors will find it useful in supporting their side of the controversies regarding ordination of actively gay persons and the definition of marriage. It is not going to change many minds, in my opinion.

Note: this review is also posted on QG's Book Reviews.

Book Review: The Wolves of Andover

The Wolves of Andover is the prequel to The Heretic's Daughter, which is a novel about the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts, written by a descendant of Martha Carrier, one of the women executed for witchcraft. As a descendant myself of one of those women (Mary Ann Averill), I was interested in these novels and since both had good reviews, decided to start with the prequel and read them in sequence.

Well, that may have been a mistake. The Wolves of Andover did not fully capture my interest or imagination. I appreciated the historically accurate descriptions of the difficult living conditions of the day, but ultimately did not find the protagonist, Martha Carrier, a sympathetic or engaging character. If the author depicts her accurately, then perhaps others in the community felt the same way, thus setting the stage for the accusation of witchcraft and her execution that comes in The Heretic's Daughter. But since I haven't read that book, I don't know how she is depicted in that book.

Spoiler Alert: Martha falls in love with a mysterious farmhand who turns out to have had a pivotal role in the execution of King Charles I during the English Civil War and is being sought by assassins in the pay of his son, Charles II. The chapter that fully discloses this part of the story is set in italic print, which I found annoying, hard to read, and unnecessary. I didn't find the love story very convincing, either.

The Wolves of Andover is not a bad novel--parts of it are well-written and evocative of its time and place.  On the whole, I would give it an average rating. I don't plan to read The Heretic's Daughter any time soon, but if you are interested in these novels I recommend you read that one first because it has more positive reviews.

Friday Five: Books!

I haven't played the RevGals Friday Five in quite a while, but today's meme is about books, so here goes:

1. What books have you recently read? Tell us your opinion of them.

I just finished Ron Chernow's Washington, A Life. That one is over 900 pages long, but I read it on my IPad. It is well worth the time (a month) I put into it, too. My full review is here.

2. What books are awaiting your available time to be read?

Unprotected Texts by Jennifer Wright Kunst and The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn are two books I have received as advance copies from publishers and committed to review as part of book blog tours in February. Right now I'm working on Unprotected Texts because that is scheduled February 1.

I just got the latest Matthew Shardlake mystery, Heartstone, and can't wait to get to it but must discipline myself to finish these other two first.

3. Have any books been recently recommended?

The two books mentioned above that I received from publishers for review.

4. What genre of books are your favorite, along with some titles and/or authors you like best?

For me, as a history buff, the most enjoyable recreational reading is historical fiction or medieval mysteries. My favorite series is the Matthew Shardlake mysteries set during the reign of Henry VIII. Fabulous! They should be read in order, so start with Dissolution which deals with the dissolution of the monastaries under Henry VIII.

5. What have you read lately that you have a strong urge to recommend? (or to condemn?)

Let's stick to the postive! Elizabeth's Women by Tracy Borman is a fascinating study of Queen Elizabeth I and her female relationships--a facet of her life usually neglected by historians.  America's Prophet by Bruce Feiler is an intriguing study of the influence of Moses on American history and culture.

Book Review: The Jew Is Not My Enemy

When I was asked to participate in the Green Books 2010 Campaign by publishing a review of a book printed on environmentally friendly paper today, I chose The Jew Is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths That Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism by Tarek Fatah from the list of books offered to me for review. 

I have not seen many books written by moderate/liberal Muslims speaking out against the extremist acts of a few, so I thought it would be an interesting read. And it is.

Tarek Fatah, a Canadian of Pakistani descent, is a journalist and the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, a liberal group. In his introduction to the book he says that he is on a jihad against Muslim anti-Semitism.

Prior to the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008, the small Indian Jewish community had not been the target of anti-Semitic attacks. The fact that the terrorists came from Pakistan, which has no Jewish population, horrified Fatah and inspired him to write this book about the origins of Muslim anti-Semitism.

Fatah relates the history and development of anti-Semitism in Islam', and the factors that encouraged it from the Qur'an to the policies of the modern state of Israel. 

The purpose of the book is more to persuade his fellow Muslims that anti-Semitism is not a core tenet of Islam than it is to make an apology to non-Muslims. Fatah makes a distinction between the authority of the Qur'an and the writings of the Hadith in order to make his point. He also argues that the creation of an independent Palestinian state would help reduce Muslim anti-Semitism.

I am not familiar enough with Islam or the history of the development of anti-Semitic attitudes in its theology or in the cultures of the countries where it is widely practiced to know whether or not Fatah is making a persuasive case to other Muslims. I do appreciate the courage that it must take for him to take on this subject in a very public forum.

I will give away my review copy to one of my readers. If you are interested, leave a comment on my book blog: QG's Book Reviews.

Book Review: The Spice Necklace

 (This review is also posted on my book blog: QG's Book Reviews.)

Books that combine travel and cooking are great to take with you on vacation. Or to pick up and read when you need a vacation but aren't going anywhere.

Ann Vanderhoof's The Spice Necklace is an excellent example of how to combine these two genres into an entertaining and educational read.

I'm not a big aficianado of Caribbean cooking, despite the fact that I do like hot and spicy food. Vanderhoof's book didn't change my mind and send me out to Whole Foods looking for jerk spice, mangoes, fresh coconuts or plantains so that I could try out some of the recipes she includes in the book. So I can't comment on how the recipes come out. 

However, her memoir of a recent trip around several Caribbean islands included great descriptions of each as well as insight into what is distinctive about each one. She and her husband made friends with islanders on each of their stops and took the time to learn about their lives and participate in their traditions.

The title is meant to remind the reader of the old term for this area of the world: The Spice Islands. Vanderhoof shares the education she gained through her experience about the history and cultivation of their traditional spices such as vanilla, wild oregano, nutmeg and mace, and congo peppers as well as their use in the native cuisine.

All in all, The Spice Necklace is a fun, escapist read that informs as well as entertains. If you try any of the recipes, let me know how you liked them!

QG Nominated for Book Blogger Award

Woo-Hoo! I got word this morning that Quotidian Grace has been nominated for Best Spiritual, Inspirational or Religious Book Blog in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week awards contest. If memory serves, there were around 20 blogs entered in this category and I am excited to be among the three nominated by other book bloggers for this award.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week is September 13-17 and this is the third annual contest. The awards are chosen by fellow book bloggers who registered to vote back last spring, so it is an honor to be nominated by your peers.

Here's a link to the post which was my entry into the contest:
Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards Entry

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Entry Post

I appreciate the advice and comments from my Gentle Readers which has helped me to choose the posts for my entry in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards Contest. After further consideration I decided to enter in the Best Spiritual Book Blog (instead of the Best Eclectic Book Blog) and the Best Written Book Blog categories.

I am nominating the following book reviews from Quotidian Grace for the Best Spiritual Book Blog:

1. Days of Fire and Glory by Julia Duin
2. Life in Year One by Scott Korb
3. Revelation, A Matthew Shardlake Mystery by C. J. Sansom
4. The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time by Judith Shulevitz
5. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

I am nominating the following book reviews from Quotidian Grace for the Best Written Book blog:

1. Days of Fire and Glory by Julia Duin
2. Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini
3. Son of Hamas by Mosab Hasan Yousef
4. Revelation, A Matthew Shardlake Mystery by C. J. Sansom
5. The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time by Judith Shulevitz

Wish me luck! The awards will be announced during Book Blogger Appreciation Week September 13-17.