Sacred Selections: Literary Recommendations

Here are some of the literary related things that Sacred Chickens thinks you should check out this week! 

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Morty Recommends.......

Erik Larson   In the Garden of the Beasts
 
What is it? A book which chronicles Hitler’s first year in power, 1933, through the eyes of the American ambassador, William E. Dodd and Martha, his twenty-four-year-old daughter.  The book takes place as Hitler begins to seize power and illuminates how the horrors slowly ramped up without waking much of the German populace or the rest of the world.
 
Why Read it?  For the history certainly, but Uncle Morty thinks it might give you perspective on current events as well.  Like a good horror story?  You’ll realize you might be living in one. Think how much money you’ll save on books and movies!

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Julie Recommends....

The Slacktivist Blog by Fred Clark
 
What is it?  In his own words, “Fred Clark is a graduate of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now called Palmer Seminary), of Eastern College (now called Eastern University) and of the fundamentalist Timothy Christian High School (still fundamentalist and still called Timothy Christian High School, but not really thrilled to have a snarky, liberal, tree-hugging, pro-choice, pro-GLBT, peacenik, commie, evolutionist as such a vocal alumnus).”  Clark daily has incisive commentary on how White Evangelicals jumped the tracks and insights into where that train wreck might take us all.
 
Why Read it? Like it or not, White Evangelicals have an outsize impact on our lives in this country. Sometimes this world is opaque to those who haven’t seen it from the inside.  Fred Clark is a magnificent guide to these theological hinterlands.  We’ve also recommended Clark’s Anti-Christ handbooks where he hilariously reviews the Left Behind Books and helps the reader sort the bizarre theology behind them.
https://www.amazon.com/The-Anti-Christ-Handbook-Horror-Hilarity-ebook/dp/B00TXWK43Y
 
https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Christ-Handbook-Vol-Horror-Hilarity-ebook/dp/B017TJV66G
 

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Jarad Recommends....

God Help the Child- Toni Morrison

What is it? Not only is this the most common phrase ascribed to Jarad as a child, it's also a wonderfully sad  book, the first by Morrison to be set in out modern time. It chronicles and analyzes the way in which people suffer in childhood, and the ways in which that affects them as adults. 

Why read it? To some extent, everyone has experienced trauma in varying degrees when they were younger, which makes the novels relatable to most people, many of whom I think can identify with the authors journey throughout the book. 
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