Books in Brief
-- 3/27/00
A Selection of Spring Self-Help Titles
FINDING REST WHEN THE WORK IS NEVER DONE
Patrick Klingaman. Chariot Victor, $10.99 paper (198p) ISBN 1-56476-788-4
HBusiness writer Klingaman observes that while plenty of books and ser-mons expound upon the role of work in the Christian life, "teaching on rest is in as short supply as rest itself." He explores the need for a true Sabbath in our hurried and worried culture, emphasizing that Christians should keep the Sabbath not only because they need it but because God commanded it. Other insightful chapters explore the utility of retreats, daily quiet times and the need to step away from consumerism. This long-overdue book offers practical suggestions as well as thought-provoking theological insights on the need for rest. (Apr.)
HOW TO WIN AT SPORTS PARENTING:
Maximizing the Sports Experience for
You and Your Child
Jim and Janet Sundberg. WaterBrook, $12.95 paper (240p) ISBN 1-57856-354-2
Former Kansas City Royal Jim Sundberg and wife Janet offer sensible and sensitive advice to parents of young athletes. The Sundbergs provide a few shocking anecdotes about hyper-competitive parents whose own insecurities come to rule their children's athletic participation. Positive parents, the Sundbergs counter, allow their kids to participate in sports just for fun, cheer them on without performance expectations, console them without reproach and are always ready to "listen, listen, listen." A child's sport should never dominate family life. "Your family is the team that should always come first," they write. The book contains a few vague references to God but is primarily a solid parenting book without religious preoccupations. (Mar.)
TWO JEWS CAN STILL BE A MIXED
MARRIAGE: Reconciling Differences Over
Judaism in Your Marriage
Azriela Jaffe. Foreword by Rabbi Alan Ullman. Career Press, $14.99 paper (224p) ISBN 1-56414-473-9
Different levels of commitment and observance can foster conflict even in a "two-Jew" marriage, says Jaffe in this perceptive, down-to-earth book. Jaffe begins by asking readers to examine their own Jewish background and to view their marriage as a merging of two spiritual journeys. She highlights some of the most prevalent marital conflicts that arise over issues such as holidays, purity laws and keeping kosher, using real-life couples as examples (she tells a very funny story about ordering shrimp on her first date with the kosher-keeping man who became her husband). A "mixed Jewish marriage," Jaffe asserts, can be a blessing if both partners learn to respect their differences. (Mar.)
YOU CAN EXPERIENCE... A PURPOSEFUL LIFE
James E. White. Word, $10.99 paper (180p) ISBN 0
8499-3767-1
This slick, superficial call to a purposeful life relies heavily on motivational anecdotes, drawn from well-trod urban legends and such inspirational Hollywood blockbusters as Chariots of Fire and Mr. Holland's Opus. These tales seem to exist for their own sake, connecting poorly to one another or to the book's ostensible point, which is that life should be purpose-driven. White's writing sounds just like a motivational trump speech, altered not one whit for print, and his ideas are disappointingly formulaic and trite. He adjures readers, for example, "Do associate yourself with those things that reflect your values, and don't associate yourself with those things that violate your values." Oh. (Mar.)
PARENTING WITH GRACE: The Catholic Parent's
Guide to Raising Almost Perfect Kids
Gregory K. Popcak and Lisa A. Popcak. Our Sunday Visitor, $12.95 paper (240p) ISBN 0-87973-730-1
This book's "uniquely Catholic" approach to parenting combines vigorous relational advice with careful theology and plenty of good humor. (The chapter on family planning is entitled "Is Eight Enough?"). The Popcaks guide parents through each stage of child development from infancy to adolescence, offering age-specific advice on "parenting with grace." They call upon natural law theology to encourage attachment parenting, co-sleeping and extended nursing through infancy, and urge parents of older children to consider home-schooling so that children always understand "that family is the primary relationship." Later chapters address a few Catholic-specific issues, such as stimulating children to pursue Church vocations. (Mar.)
WHY DO I PUT SO MUCH PRESSURE
ON MYSELF?: Confessions of a Recovering
Perfectionist
Kathy Collard Miller. Servant, $10.99 paper (260p) ISBN 1-56955-127-8
Miller, a self-described "recovering perfectionist," encourages women and men to examine whether they, too, have perfectionistic tendencies, exhibited by unrealistic expectations of themselves and others, an "all or nothing" approach to daily tasks and a propensity to raise the achievement bar ever higher, among other traits. (One intriguing chapter discusses how perfectionists feel "compelled to straighten out misunderstandings" and cannot let go of "the small stuff.") Many readers will recognize themselves in these pages, particularly in the recurring anecdotes about women who struggle to be perfect mothers. Miller offers a sound reminder of God's grace to those who strive to earn divine and human approval. (Mar.)
FAITH IN LEADERSHIP: How Leaders Live Out
Their Faith in Their Work and Why It Matters
Edited by Robert Banks and Kimberly Powell. Foreword by Max DePree. Jossey-Bass, $24 (272p) ISBN 0-7879-4586-2
"This book raises a potentially divisive question that we have tended to avoid," writes leadership expert DePree in the foreword to this serious collection of essays: "What is the connection between people's personal convictions and their public responsibilities?" Various contributors from the wide spectrum of the Christian tradition explore whether and how faith should play a role in the workplace. While the collection as a whole suffers from repetition of key ideas among contributors, individual essays stand out. Isabel Lopez writes of "Finding Wisdom and Purpose in Chaotic Times," while William Diehl cogently addresses the complexities of sharing personal faith with co-workers. (Mar.)
THE WORD ON HEALTH: A Biblical and Medical
Overview of How to Care for Your Body and Mind
Michael D. Jacobson. Moody, $14.99 paper (248p) ISBN 0-8024-6496-3
Dr. Jacobson espouses many contemporary health recommendations--drink plenty of pure water, eat fresh fruits and vegetables and cut down on red meat, utilize whole grains, avoid stress and so on--but always with a view to the Bible's counsel (or, in a pinch, to what was done "in Bible times"). In his efforts to cement the Bible's role as the definitive word on health, he must occasionally stretch its interpretation of issues on which it is relatively silent, such as the benefits of exercise. Jacobson's biblically literalist view of what "the Word" has to say about nutrition will appeal primarily to an audience of fellow conservative Christians. (Mar.)
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