Mid Winter Reads

As every reader knows, one of life's great pleasures is getting a book recommendation from a friend, and having it be just the right book at just the right time, especially when it's something you never would've chosen for yourself.  I've had some books recommended in the last few months that fit this bill.  One of these is a faith based book, and the others are speculative fiction, but they all fit the description of mind expanding.  During the post-holiday, still in the thick of pandemic, cold and grey winter months,  I think books that get your focus away from yourself and expand your imagination beyond the here and now are perfect.

The first of these is a faith based book called "None Like Him:  10 Ways God Is Different From Us (And Why That's A Good Thing)" by Jen Wilkin.  It describes ten ways that God is not like us - for example:  how He is eternal, how He is everywhere, how He knows everything, how He does not change.  Much of it is hard to wrap my mind around, but it's exciting to think about the possibilities of a God that exists outside the limits of time and space and our scope of understanding.  The concepts are huge, but the writing is very  accessible and relatable.  I would recommend this highly if you're looking for a Christian living book that helps you expand your thinking about the vastness (in every sense of the word) of God.

And speaking of expanded imagination, the second category of books I'm enjoying lately is short story speculative fiction (specifically, "The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories" by Ken Liu and "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang).  I haven't done a lot of fantasy or sci-fi reading or viewing, and I have a few friends who might be falling out of their chair if they see me now *recommending* it, but it's been a good pairing with the above book ("None Like Him").  I'm a very concrete thinker, so it's hard for me to picture how anything might work outside of time and space as I can observe it - but if it's told in a story, it's a little easier to think about all the many ways things could work differently.  These books have time travel and parallel universe theory and aliens and futuristic technology - all told in captivating stories.

These books can provide a boost of imagination & wonder (as we see the possibilities), and humility (as we see our own limits of understanding & experience) - and man, could I use more of all those things!!

What are you enjoying reading and watching in these late winter months?