Tag: Writing

The 10 Best Books I Read in 2025

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

2025 was an excellent year of reading for me. I was able to finish 70 books and I am thankful to God for books and for writers and for the ability to read and for the easy access I have to books of all kinds.

Here is a list of the 10 BEST Books I Read in 2025, plus a few honorable mentions.

If you are interested in taking a look at brief reviews of almost all of the books I read this year, you can find them under my monthly Reading Roundups.

10. Hideki Smith and the Omukade by A.J. Hartley

Look, I enjoy Hartley’s writing across the board. This author is creative, eclectic, original, and just fun to read, but this book in his Hideki Smith series is some next level writing. The first book in the series was good. This is better. And you don’t see that often enough in sequels.

Instead of recycling scenes, jokes, twists, and plot points that worked for him in book 1, Hartley masterfully builds on that book and gives his readers something that is familiar and yet brand new. This page-turner kept me so engaged I felt irritated if my reading got interrupted. And I stayed up past my bedtime more than once so I could finish “just one, two, three more chapters.”

*Note: This book is not pictured above because I loaned out my copy and it hasn’t made it’s way back to me in time for this post.

9. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

This was my first Clarke novel. It won’t be my last. The world Clarke created in this novel is fresh and exciting and fascinating. Her writing can take your breath away with its beauty and make your soul ache because of the connection you have with her principle character. This is a fascinating tale and so original it sticks with you. I imagine that there will be books that will be along the same lines as this one and people will think, “Oh, that reminds me of Piranesi!” If you haven’t read Clarke before, I cannot recommend this book as an introduction to her work highly enough.

8. LEAD by Paul David Tripp

I haven’t always liked Tripp’s writing. In fact, I don’t think I would have read this one had it not been required by the leadership team I am a part of in my church. But this book was revelatory and powerful and has found its way onto my annual reading list. Not necessarily because it is fascinating and well-written, which it is, but because the lessons in this book are absolutely necessary for me to be reminded of and to internalize and live out and that is going to require repeated readings.

LEAD strikes that delicate balance between deeply convicting and encouraging. Tripp pulls no punches and some of them land squarely in your gut, but then he is quick to point you to the glorious truth of the gospel. It’s like every page is shouting, “Yes, you really are a mess! AND Jesus loves you and desires to work through you in the church.”

7. Philippians: Rejoicing and Thanksgiving by David Chapman

I know it seems strange to see a commentary on a top ten list, but this was just so good. This is the first commentary I’ve read from the Focus on the Bible series but if the rest are even half as good as this one, I want the entire series in my library.

This excellent exploration of Paul’s letter to his beloved friends is easily accessible by anyone–no seminary degree required–and yet the depth of scholarship underlying it will satisfy any biblical studies wonk. You don’t need to be working on a sermon or academic paper to enjoy this book. Grab a copy, your Bible, a journal, and a pen or pencil and just walk through Philippians with Chapman as your guide and you will blessed.

6. Through a Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet

I love movies and I loved this book about movies. You know how when you read a book you enjoy so much, you start slowing down as you get to the end because you don’t want the experience to be over? I’ve only ever done that with novels. Until this book. I seriously did not want Overstreet’s “cinematic memoir” to end. It is just too good.

Overstreet is a writer, film critic, and college professor and he writes with a love for God and for art that shows up on every page. I have always loved movies and I think about them deeply and, honestly, have often been made fun of by others for doing that. With this book, I felt seen. I felt less like an odd ball and more like there were others like me. There are people who take movies seriously as art and Overstreet is speaking to us as one of us.

At the same time, he is writing to anyone who enjoys movies. He writes from a Christian worldview, but I think anyone can learn to think about and enjoy films on a deeper level by reading this book. Oh, and my “To Be Viewed” list grew A LOT as I read.

5. The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior

The author masterfully builds a case piece by piece that reveals how much of the Evangelical faith we take at face value without considering where some of our most closely held beliefs come from and without realizing how many of these beliefs are built, not from Scripture, but from a shared social imaginary. This imaginary is comprised of the stories we tell, the images we absorb, and the metaphors we use to describe and understand our world.

Swallow Prior picks up a magnified mirror, holds it up to Evangelicalism, and says, “Look closely right here.” And when we do, we might find ourselves shocked, even a bit horrified, but if we are paying attention, we won’t be offended. The author is not holding up her mirror with an attitude of disgust or judgment, but with a heart of love and all she’s asking us to do is pay attention and think.

Let’s stop taking everything at face value. Let’s stop absorbing sound bites and spitting them in the faces of others. Instead, let’s ask questions, pray, discuss, and just think.

I found as I read the book that I was asking many questions about my own beliefs and their origins and in those questions, I was drawn to a deeper faith in Christ. If that doesn’t make it worth reading, I don’t know what does.

4. Lest We Drift by Jared Wilson

I wrote a longer review on this book after I read it so I will only repeat a few pieces of that here.

Jared Wilson has written many gospel-centered books. This is not his first, and God willing it won’t be his last. But out of all the ones I’ve read so far, and they have all been good, this one in particular stands out.

Wilson writes with the mind of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and the passion of someone who knows he is a great sinner in need of a great Savior. In fact, he is very open and honest about his own weaknesses and the ways he has drifted from the gospel and the consequences that came with that and how the gospel of Jesus Christ was and is good news to him.

As Wilson shows us in this book, it’s so tragically easy to drift away from the good news of Jesus into other things, even important and good things, and point to them and say, “this thing is of first importance” and when we do that, we are missing it. We are missing where true life really is and we are pointing others away from Jesus too.

Wilson’s writing in LEST WE DRIFT packs some punch in a lot of places. But while Wilson writes strongly, there is no harshness in the way he writes it. The strength of his words are based in love for Jesus and for the people of God. You may feel convicted but you won’t feel condemned.

I think, LEST WE DRIFT is a timely and beautiful book. I was more in love with Jesus after I read it, and I also felt more aware of the ways I have often drifted away from the gospel in my own life. But I didn’t feel ashamed. I felt invited back to the heart of God.

3. The Affections of Christ Jesus by Nijay Gupta

Gupta is another “new to me” writer this year and I loved this rich and powerful book on the love of Christ in the writings of the Apostle Paul. My copy is LOADED with underlining and little flags and marginalia. I have set it aside for a bit and then I am going back to it and making notes in a learning journal because there is so much here you can’t just read it and throw it on your shelf.

Gupta writes with a depth of knowledge of the Scriptures and he also writes with a depth of love for God and His Word. He is one of those rare subject matter experts that understands that not everyone is an expert so while his writing is challenging, it is accessible. I found no trouble at all following him.

I also loved that this is not just a book of scholarship, although it is certainly that. It is also a book with encouragement, implications, and applications throughout. In that sense, it is richly pastoral.

2. Foster AND Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Okay, I know this is cheating a little, but I really could NOT pick one over the other. Both of these books are wonderful and as a result of reading them I am in love with Claire Keegan’s writing and will faithfully read everything she writes from now on. There is so much beauty and simplicity and excellence in these stories that I felt like a richer and better person for having read them. Keegan is a true master of the craft of writing. She’s the kind of writer that readers love AND the kind of writer that other writers admire. You don’t often find that in the same person.

If you haven’t read Keegan’s work yet, just do it. Both of these books are a wonderful place to start. Pick one and read it. Then come back here and leave your appreciative comments on this post.

And I will just offer a preemptive, “you’re welcome.”

1. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Duh.

I mean, can this book appear on any top ten list and NOT be in the number one spot?

When Robert Duvall accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, he highlighted the Western as America’s unique cultural contribution with this quote:

The English have Shakespeare. The French have Moliere. What do we (Americans) have…the Western!” 

Of course, Duvall played Gus McCrae in the TV miniseries of this book and when I read Lonesome Dove, I could hear Duvall’s voice in my head.

When has this not been a famous and continuously read epic?

After reading this book, I had to set it aside for a moment and mourn the loss of a group of characters I had fallen in love with over the course of 858 pages. I was sad that my journey with them was over. And what a journey it was!

I absolutely love Western novels and the history of the American West and read both frequently. But this one is not only my favorite Western, it is one of my top 5 favorite novels. The rich characters, the converging plotlines, the high stakes, the adventure, the sheer scope of the novel is just incredible.

Honorable Mentions

Here are few titles that nearly made the top 10 this year.

  • Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls by Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite
  • The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
  • A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier
  • Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
  • The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilberg Clark
  • A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

An Improbable But Not Impossible Reading Plan for 2026

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

The most books I’ve read in a single year (since I have kept records of such things) is 106.

I usually average between 60 and 80.

I know a lot of people don’t care about how many books they read in a year and there are some who even frown on those of us who keep track. That’s fine. They can think what they like.

I enjoy keeping track and I enjoy setting reading goals, especially challenging ones. It gives me a target to shoot for and even if I don’t hit the target, I get close and I go farther than I would (I believe) if I did not have a goal.

October is the time when I start thinking about next year and what I might try to do and what I will learn and read. And for 2026, I m developing an improbable but not impossible plan for my reading that, so far, contains a list of 266 books!

“MADNESS!!” You say?

Possibly.

But there are many people I know and respect that read that many and more each year and also have full and rich and busy lives just like I do.

Besides, I am having fun developing the list and I am building it in categories. Here is a sampling:

  • Reading It Again: Books I have already read, which is probably obvious. It will include The Lord of the Rings among others.
  • Spiritual Formation: This one is divided into subcategories like prayer, Scripture, etc.
  • Ministry: Also divided into subcategories like preaching and spiritual direction.
  • Novels: This is divided into monthly themes like Adventure, Books by Japanese Authors, Dystopian, Books by and About Women, Scary Ones, and others.
  • Plays: Because…THEATRE!
  • Reading Projects: These are attempts at reading the complete works of specific authors like John Steinbeck, Cormac McCarthy, Louis L’ Amour (don’t judge me), and Shakespeare.
  • History: Also divided into themes by month like the Old West, Deep South, Church History, etc.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

I am excited about this plan but I am sure it will undergo numerous revisions between now and the end of the year. Once I have finalized it, I will share it for those who are interested along with representative titles–or maybe even the whole thing.

Reading Roundup: July 2025

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

I only finished 5 books in July for a total of 40 so far this year. But there were some EXCELLENT ones in this stack and I am excited to share them with you in this month’s Reading Roundup!

I am a big fan of John Steinbeck and have a goal to read his complete works. I devoured The Moon is Down in a single day and I loved it. Steinbeck describes this slim novel as a “celebration of the durability of democracy”. It was originally published when Nazi Germany was at the height of its power and it looked as if Hitler may not be stopped by anyone.

In this novel, a small community is invaded by a larger, more powerful force and comes face-to-face with evil imposed on them and it wears a smile and claims it only wants to coexist. The mayor, as the spokesperson for the town, claims he does not know how his people will respond to the invaders. Their response is a slow burn at first, but the unjust death of one of their own fans their anger into a bonfire that cannot be contained.

This book reads like a play and I was delighted to discover that it was originally written as one until Steinbeck converted it into a novel. I would love to see this play staged. Certainly it was relevant in its time, and I think it has relevance even now. I also discovered that it became a movie in 1943. I added that to my watchlist.

How amazing is Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove?! It seems to be popping up in all the “influencers” feeds on social media and is enjoying a bit of resurgence in popularity, but come on, when has this not been a famous and continuously read epic?

After reading this book, I had to set it aside for a moment and mourn the loss of a group of characters I had fallen in love with over the course of 858 pages. I was sad that my journey with them was over. And what a journey it was!

I absolutely love Western novels and the history of the American West and read both frequently. But this one is not only my favorite Western, it is one of my top 5 favorite novels. The rich characters, the converging plotlines, the high stakes, the adventure, the sheer scope of the novel is just incredible. I read Sin Killer by McMurtry and hated it, but this, I loved and will return to again. In fact, I could see this becoming a sort of continual read for me, much like The Lord of the Rings series.

Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls by Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite is rich and beautiful. In a time when many pastors are feeling pressured to entertain and “tickle the ears” of those in their churches to keep attendance and financial numbers up, this book serves as a quiet reminder that pastors are the shepherds of souls.

Using the writings and lives of the Early Church Fathers, the authors call pastors today to holy, spiritual, skilled, and Christ-centered ministries. It is a call to walk with people through the joys and trials of their lives, always pointing to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. I found this book both convicting (in the best sense) and comforting.

Speaking of pastors, A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier is about Eugene Peterson, who always saw himself as exactly that, a pastor. At first, I thought this was going to be like many Christian biographies, loaded with hero worship. I was wrong. Collier does not shy away from Peterson’s foibles and weaknesses and failures at all. He clearly loved and admired his subject, but also understood that he was a sinful person, just like the rest of us.

It is Peterson’s lifelong quest to love and honor God and to serve God’s people that is so inspiring. Yes, he was the translator of The Message. Yes he wrote numerous best-selling books. Yes, there was controversy toward the end of his life (something the author handles honestly and honorably). But through it all, this book is a gripping story about a man who loved Jesus.

I liked Dan B Allender’s book Sabbath very much. The Healing Path I did not like near as much. In fact, there were times I found it tedious and melodramatic. For Allender, it seems like every disappointment in his life becomes soul crushing. There were times when I felt contempt for his weakness. But I came to realize that my contempt says more about me than it does the author. And it doesn’t say good things about me.

If I’m honest, there are things that feel soul crushing to me that others would laugh at me for taking so seriously. And, there are things that break us all like betrayal and abuse and loss and pain. They hurt us no matter who we are and Allender is pointing to a path of healing from those things and it takes us to Jesus, of course.

So while I struggled with this book, I’m glad I did. It was worth reading and it was helpful in pointing the way for some healing I still need.

Currently Reading

Here are a few books I am reading now.

  • To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink is one I am reading for work.
  • The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior is coming along bit by bit because it is rich and heavy stuff.
  • Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde is fun and funny.
  • This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger is for a book club I recently joined.

LEST WE DRIFT – A Review

~ Joseph McBee ~ 1 Comment
  1. The whole Bible is about Jesus.
  2. People change by grace, not law.
  3. Our ultimate validation is found not in our performance, but in Christ’s.

These three claims provide the substance of gospel-centrality. – Jared Wilson

Jared Wilson has written many gospel-centered books. This is not his first, and God willing it won’t be his last. But out of all the ones I’ve read so far, and they have all been good, this one in particular stands out.

Wilson writes with the mind of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and the passion of someone who knows he is a great sinner in need of a great Savior. In fact, he is very open and honest about his own weaknesses and the ways he has drifted from the gospel and the consequences that came with that and how the gospel of Jesus Christ was and is good news to him.

In LEST WE DRIFT, Wilson deftly reveals the ways the modern evangelical church has drifted away from the true gospel and into victimhood, dryness, superficiality, pragmatism, and what he calls “the new legalism.” I cannot point to a single one of these and say, “THIS, this is the one I drift toward.” I cannot say that because I have been guilty of them all.

As Wilson shows us, this is because it’s so tragically easy to drift away from the good news of Jesus into other things, even important and good things, and point to them and say, “this thing is of first importance” and when we do that, we are missing it. We are missing where true life really is and we are pointing others away from Jesus too.

The author is primarily writing to people in ministry, especially pastors and those in training to become pastors, but I genuinely believe every Christian will benefit from this book.

Personally, I don’t like to say that any book other than the Bible is a “must-read” but if you’re in ministry in any capacity, LEST WE DRIFT should be added to your list quickly, read deeply, and discussed thoroughly with others in ministry with you.

As Wilson warns…

Whatever her pastors are, a church will become. If we do not much find the gospel resilient, over time our people won’t either. If we do not find it a versatile resource, neither will our congregation.

Pastors, lead the way back to the gospel and help your people stay in awe of Jesus by being in awe of him yourself.

The impetus for LEST WE DRIFT seems to be the way the gospel-centric movement among evangelical churches has faded and many of its primary voices have been silenced because of moral failings or because they have moved on to other ideas. They have “drifted” away from the gospel.

Sometimes, as I read this book, I got the feeling that Wilson is one of the few people left at a party everyone else left, not wanting it to end, or not realizing it’s over. There was a feeling of sadness in the way he wrote. Not self-pity, genuine sadness that the ones who left, are missing where the real joy is and he’s calling for them to come back. And, he’s inviting others to come along too.

Wilson’s writing in LEST WE DRIFT packs some punch in a lot of places. Take this passage from his chapter on drifting into victimhood for example:

The therapeutic centering of the self is not simply a perpetual deification; because every person now walks around believing him-or herself to be the center of the universe, we are inevitably and continually aggrieved by everyone else’s violations of our sacred self. The therapeutic insistence of self-centrality is by necessity an insistence on victimhood.

But while Wilson writes strongly, there is no harshness in the way he writes it. The strength of his words are based in love for Jesus and for the people of God. You may feel convicted but you won’t feel condemned.

I think, LEST WE DRIFT is a timely and beautiful book. I was more in love with Jesus after I read it, and I also feel more aware of the ways I have often drifted away from the gospel in my own life. But I don’t feel ashamed. I feel invited back to the heart of God.

Idolatry, Repentance, and Peace

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. – 1 John 5:21

Yesterday I was struggling to find peace. I was torn up in my heart about something and the anxiety was building and with that, shame and anger.

As I usually do when things feel overwhelming, I took my journal and started to write about it.

Journaling helps bring clarity.

This time I couldn’t get clarity on why I felt so torn up in my heart, though. Of course, that just added to my frustration. I wanted the stress and anxiety to go away!

I stopped for a moment and asked myself, “What’s REALLY going on here?”

Then I wrote down…

“I don’t trust God. I don’t believe he can be trusted with this.”

Then I begin to write out a prayer about how wrong that was and that God was sovereign and good and loving and kind and that he would always do what was best for his glory and my good.

I repented for my sinful thoughts about him and confessed his goodness and grace.

And all my anxiety vanished. There was peace.

My circumstances have not changed at all. I am still exactly where I was. But my heart is different. The real issue was not my circumstances, it was my lack of faith and trust.

It was my idolatry.

We all want a god we can control, one that bows to our whims, our own personal genie that behaves exactly the way we want. And we build up that god in our minds and hearts and give that idol God’s name.

Then, when that idol let’s us down, and it ALWAYS will, we think we cannot trust the one true God.

And that brings anger and frustration and fear. But God is not the problem. It’s our wrong understanding of who he is. It is our idolatry that is the real issue.

And until we confess that and repent, we cannot know peace.

Thankfully, God is kind and his kindness and his patience lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

In his love, God also reproves and disciplines us to bring us to repentance as well (Revelation 3:19) but the goal is always to bring us back to himself.

It is an invitation to come home to him and to know him as he truly is, which is infinitely better than our self-made idols.

It’s Not the Catastrophe You Think It Is

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Confession time.

I am a chronic catastrophizer.

I RUN quickly to the absolute worse scenarios in my mind, dwell on them, and become convinced that those catastrophic scenarios are the most likely ones, even when they are remote.

Make a mistake at work? Everyone thinks I am incompetent now.
Have a fight with my wife? We’re on our way to a divorce.
Have to start taking blood pressure meds? I am going to die any day now.
Don’t get the feedback I want on a project? I am a failure and everyone hates it.

NONE of these are true. But they FEEL true and my mind and body respond as if they are true.

Then I tear myself to shreds internally until the issue is resolved.

After that comes the feelings of shame as I realize that yet again I have blown something out of proportion.

Not Just What Happened, But What Will Happen

It even impacts events that have not taken place yet.

I have social anxiety because I convince myself that I will do or say something stupid and embarrass myself or my family.

I dread doctor visits, work meetings, social events, ceremonies, dinners out, and travel plans, all because I believe they will be difficult or embarrassing or won’t go well.

I am not paralyzed by this. I go anyway. I do them anyway. But, it’s difficult to enjoy them because I am waiting for disaster to strike.

It’s not fun. And it had become my default mode of thinking for so long that I wasn’t even aware that I was doing it. And I wasn’t aware of what it was doing to me and to the people I care about.

Enter a New Practice

I’ve been working on it. Part of that is writing about it in my journal and here. So you’ll see more of this.

I’ve been trying something recently that has been helpful and that is replacing my negativity bias with a positivity bias.

Negativity bias is the human tendency to register negative events more readily than positive ones and to dwell on those negative events.

It rewires your brain to associate negative emotions with certain people, events, and experiences, and causes you to avoid them or approach them with fear or even anger.

In fact, it can cause you to see ONLY the negative and filter out anything positive.

I’ve been working on creating a positivity bias by bookending my days with positive expectations on one end and grateful, positive reflection on the other.

When I get up in the mornings my first thought is, “Today is going to be a great day. I am grateful to you, Lord.”

That’s like a command for your brain. It starts seeking out the great things in your day that you can be thankful for.

At the end of the day, when I am in bed I rehearse in my mind all the great things that happened that day and give thanks to God for them. This is especially important because this is where the real changes take place in the way you think and approach your days.

I felt like it’s been making a difference, but the real test came yesterday.

Putting it to the Test

Yesterday was my annual physical. Those are important, especially when you’re middle-aged, and as my doctor reviewed my EKG she said I needed to see a cardiologist. “Non-emergent arterial blockage” she called it.

Cue the panic attack.

Only there wasn’t one. And that surprised me.

She said that as long as I got a full work up in the next 3 to 6 months and started taking a baby aspirin I’d be fine and they probably wouldn’t do anything about it but establish a baseline so they can watch it.

And there were other issues too, that I won’t go into here, but it was stuff that would have sent me into an abyss of fear and despair only this time it didn’t. Not at all.

In fact, I walked out of the office feeling thankful to God that these issues had been revealed and that the changes I had been making in my diet and physical activity already had me on the right track and that I could just continue on that path.

That was nice.

I have some minor health challenges to face, positivity bias is NOT living in denial of reality, but the issues I am facing are not the catastrophe I would usually think they are. Instead, I am facing them feeling thankful and determined to make the changes I need to make.

The Magic of Reading Books

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Most people don’t remember when they learned to read.

I do.

I remember the precise moment in first grade when the black lines on a page came together to form words I could understand. I remember what it felt like, the swell of excitement in my chest, the fascination. I was overwhelmed and from that moment on, I was in love with reading.

Even before that moment I was in love with books.

My parents read to me a lot before I could read myself and there was one book in particular that I wanted read to me over and over again. It got to the point where at 3 or 4 years of age, I had the thing memorized.

My dad got a kick out of asking me to “read” my favorite book to dinner guests. I had it memorized so well, I even knew when to turn the page. The visitors were amazed as I “read” the book out loud and my dad would tell them I was clearly a genius.

Fast forward to elementary school and my favorite part of school was access to the library, which I went to every change I got.

I remember being shown the school library for the first time and learning how to find books using the Dewey Decimal System and the card catalogue (yes I’m that old). I was so excited I could barely sit still. I couldn’t believe that I had access to an entire room filled with books!

Each year, I would pick a bookcase at random and I would read every book on it by the end of the school year, checking them out one at a time. I did that all the way through middle school as well.

My parents bought me a box set of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and I devoured them multiple times. I also read the novelization of E.T. I read A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON, which I passed on to my oldest son, who then passed it on to my oldest granddaughter. I read stacks of Beverley Cleary and Judy Blume novels, and I don’t know how many Hardy Boys mysteries. I just couldn’t get enough. I would even pull volumes of the encyclopedia set off the shelves in our home and read random articles from them.

When I was in 7th grade, my parents got me a subscription to the Reader’s Digest classic book collection and the first volume, which I opened on Christmas morning, was THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE. I still have that book. And from then on, being gifted books felt like an expression of love to me.

When people ask me how I read so many books each year, and I don’t read as many as other people I know, I am afraid my answer is not very satisfying.

I just love to read and I always have. It’s not a chore. It’s a delight.

As Stephen King said, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

A good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life, and as such it must surely be a necessary commodity.

– John Milton

I saw the movie first–usually a mistake unless you have no intention of ever reading the book, and this time was no exception–because while I liked the movie, the book was better.

The book is ALWAYS better.

The story is set in 1959 in the the small coastal village of Hardborough, Suffolk and follows a middle aged widow named Florence Green as she attempts to open a bookshop in a community that doesn’t seem to want one.

This was a thin novel I liked about people I didn’t.

Okay, I like Florence very much and her precocious ten-year old assistant Christine, and the strange recluse Mr. Brundish who is her only real champion in the community. Everyone else? No thanks.

Because Florence dares to do something so impractical and without seeking the blessing and permission of the loathsome Mrs. Gamart, the self-proclaimed matron of the arts in Hardborough (and who I can’t help but picture as Dolores Umbridge from HARRY POTTER), poor Florence invites the ire of all the other shopkeepers and even many of the villagers.

Mrs. Gamart is a woman of influence and means and while she smiles at you, she will stab you in the back and make you feel like that’s what was best all along.

It really is a complete mystery as to why but it seems like nearly everyone expects and even wants Florence to fail.

Why would a community not want a bookshop?

You find yourself cheering for Florence even while you suspect that she’s not going to make it. She’s intelligent but not the most brilliant business woman and she doesn’t know how to play local politics and when she does have a bit of success, she doesn’t really know what to do with it or how to leverage it, but she won’t quit, she is always kind, and she is bold in a time when boldness was not “appropriate” for a woman, especially a widow. And for all of this, you admire her.

No one in her little village with the exception of Mr. Brundish seems to understand what a “necessary commodity” books are. And it seems like they despise Florence for modestly and quietly insisting that they are.

Personally, I think physical books are making a comeback, if indeed they were ever in any real danger. I believe there will always be people who love and want books. I know I am certainly one of them. Always have been and always will be.

But this novel does not romanticize, well, anything.

You aren’t going to read it and find page after page of self-indulgent prose on the glories of books and reading. Fitzgerald is not preaching a sermon, she’s telling a story. And it’s a good one.

You will find characters to like and ones to loathe and ones to pity. You’ll find yourself asking what you would have done if you were Florence.

Personally, I would given Mrs. Gamart a piece of mind in public, but it wouldn’t have done any good.

You will also find choice lines of prose like this one:

“She was held back by an urgent hand, and addressed by a man, not young, in a corduroy jacket, smiling as a toad does, because it has no other expression.”

Or this one…

“‘You’re very kind.’

‘Not very,’ said Milo, who rarely said anything that was not true. Gentleness is not kindness. His fluid personality tested and stole into the weak places of others until it found it could settle down to its own advantage.”

If you’re hoping for a happy ending, you won’t get one here. You will get an excellent story, that’s worth reading anyway. Fitzgerald writes about people as they are, not as we wish them to be.

In life, your undertakings, no matter how noble they may be, are not always going to find the support you want or need.

And sometimes, no matter how despicable someone’s actions might be, they will find plenty of support.

Either way, we shouldn’t quit. Or worse, fail to at least try. And we should never fail to be kind through it all.

A Story Within Time

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

As I work on my first novel, I am simultaneously studying the craft of writing fiction and I will write about what I am learning here. I am NOT an expert. I am a student. I am not trying to tell you how to write I am just sharing what I am learning on my own journey.

Margaret Atwood talks about how all novels exist within time and cannot be separated from it. Every story exists within a specific time and writers decide if that time is linear or circular.

When she speaks of circular time, she talks about characters beginning at the bottom of the circle and then throughout the story we see them rise until they reach the top of the circle, the accomplishment of their goal. Then, if the story continues, we may see them fall off the other side of the circle and maybe even be crushed underneath it.

And round and round it goes.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that and playing around with it, not just in fiction but in life as well.

At what point on the circle does a reader enter the story?

Your story must have a beginning, but it doesn’t have to begin at the beginning.

What if, for example, the reader enters the story as your main character is falling from a great height with the story ending as they are crushed? A cautionary tale.

Or what if the reader enters while the main character is being crushed and watches them rise again?

There is also the question of where other characters enter the story’s timeline and how far along the circle they travel with your main character. And, of course, each of them have their own circles of time as well, all intersecting one another at various points.

This idea of circular time within fiction can create some interesting ways to plot your story.

It also makes me think about life.

In life I think time is both circular AND linear. We are moving through time from one point to another, from birth to death, and yet we are also all going through seasons as well.

Some of us are being crushed.

Some of us are climbing.

Some of us are enjoying the heights.

Some of us are falling.

And God brings people in and out of our lives at various points along the way.

The one constant is HIM.

God is always with us. Walking every path with us. Through the valley of the shadow, and through the sunshine.

Where are you in your journey? How is God revealing Himself there? Because He is there.

My Commitments to You

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

It seems important to lay out a few things you can expect if you choose to read this blog. These are my commitments to you and they help hold me accountable.

There are also a couple of guidelines and requests sprinkled about. They are simple things I am asking of you.

My Top Priority is to Honor God

I am a Christian and my faith in Christ is central to everything in my life. If you read anything here from me, it comes from that worldview and with a sincere desire to glorify God. I won’t always get it right, but that is my constant goal.

This Blog Will Always Be Free

I have no interest in monetizing this thing. Even if, by some incredible miracle, it becomes “popular” I will not use it to make a buck. You won’t find pop-up ads, commercials for products, or any attempts by me to be some kind of “influencer” hawking some sponsor’s ware.

I do reserve the right to sell sponsorship space on any newsletter I may choose to create in the future, but the newsletter itself will always be free to read.

I don’t have an issue with writers who sell newsletters, or ad space on their blog, although any more than one pop-up on a blog and I am out of there. I am blessed to make my living as something other than a writer, so I choose to keep everything here free.

I Will NEVER Use AI to Write my Posts

Seriously, not ever. If it’s on this blog then it is written by yours truly or by a named guest blogger but not by AI.

It’s my personal belief that if a writer is using AI to write and then just editing what AI churns out, they are taking a shortcut I am simply not comfortable taking. Especially since Open AI has “learned” by stealing the hard work of human beings. I am not okay with that.

The Comments Will Stay Open

I can’t guarantee that I will respond to every comment–although I will try–but you are always free to comment on my posts. Feel free to disagree with me, share ideas with me, and ask questions.

I only ask that you do so respectfully. If you’re looking to pick a fight, you won’t find one here. If you are insulting or vulgar, toward me or others that comment, you will be blocked. I will treat you with respect and dignity. I only ask that you do the same.

You are Welcome to Use What You Find Here

If there is something in one of my posts you like, feel free to copy it and use it somewhere else. I’d be honored.

I only ask that you give me credit for it and point people to my blog.

There is no real way for me to police this so I am just trusting you to be honorable in your use of the content on this blog.