I firmly believe that some of the best literary work today is being done in the Young Adult field. It is a genre that bristles with heart and plot and is devoid of much of the despair and cynicism in more contemporary adult literature. Many of these books deal with issues that cut across age lines and speak to the heart of the condition (ex. The Hunger Games trilogy is a passionate feminist paean to peace).

Two books coming out in the coming months are a great addition to this boon in quality YA literature and serve as the first two entries in what is being dubbed “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse” series. Both titles are penned by Jackie Morse Kessler and bring a novel approach to deadly serious subjects.

The first book, due out on October 18th, is entitled Hunger. Lisabeth Lewis, a 17 year old girls battling anorexia, is tapped to become Famine and is equipped with the matching horse and scales.

In the second book Rage, releasing in April, a 16 year old girl named Missy, who is a cutter, becomes War.

Both of these books are filled with heart and delve into some pretty dark, yet important, subjects. Kessler does a fine job of bringing these characters to life and treats their struggles with warmth, humor and care. Through the lens of the horsemen these girls are able to confront their afflictions by placing them in the larger context of the pains of mankind.

These are books not to be missed.

Every year the American Library Association releases their list of the most challenged books in America. With there being such a pervasive aspect in today’s society that lives their lives mired in an intangible fear it seems that there is no shortage to books that, if not yanked from a shelf somewhere, are at least threatened to be pulled.

I enjoy reading the challenged works (I’ve read 6 of this year’s top 10). (Part of my attraction to this is my desire to have my inner anger stoked but that is a more introspective post that will have to wait.) As I read these challenged works I shake my head at the intolerant minds who would challenge such seminal pieces of literature.

And yet I wonder if I, too, am guilty of censorship. Part of my responsibility is ordering materials. I often find myself, particularly in my ordering of religious and science materials, wrestling with certain titles that I find to be too conservative or polemical.

Granted, I have a collection development policy that stipulates that positive reviews are a deciding factor in what I will or will not order. I rely on that a lot, especially when I get requests for things like The Patriot’s Bible. However, I wonder how much I TRULY support intellectual freedom when I bristle at ordering certain titles.

With that said, every month I order things that I disagree with that are positively reviewed. My point is that it is often difficult to do, and we librarians must be aware of the fact that intellectual freedom goes both ways.

This is the PowerPoint I used:

I’ve got one Fantasy Football draft under my belt and two more to go.

I plan on being in the audience for the first Oklahoma State game this Saturday as they kick off against Washington State.

But most importantly, my Arkansas Razorbacks enter this season with the more excitement than they have had in years. It has been a long slog for us the 2 decades with very few reasons to celebrate.

But now we seem to have turned the corner and things are looking up. Thanks to a top-notch coach (two words for all of you Petrino haters: Bite me), a Heisman-calibre QB and a hopefully improved defense we can seriously compete in the SEC this year.

Here is our schedule and my view of how things should shake out.

Tennessee Tech: An easy win in what should be a statement game for our defense.
Louisiana-Monroe: Another easy win in a primer before a grueling two game stretch that will define our season.
at (23) Georgia: I believe this is a win. George will have a solid team but I dont’ think they can stop our Offense.
(1) Alabama: I think we can surprise here because running the table two years in a row will not be easy for Alabama. Ultimately, though, I expect us to stumble here.
at Texas A&M: This is not a true road game for us as it is played on the Cowboys field in Arlington. We owned A&M last year and I anticipate that staying the same.
at (22) Auburn: Perennially over-rated Auburn should be a victory
Mississippi: Unless Houston Nutt signs some phenom whose parole requirements allow him to stay in Mississippi this should be a win.
Vanderbilt: Why are they in the SEC?
at South Carolina: We could stumble on the road here but we typically do well against them.
UTEP: Win
Mississippi State: Win
(21) LSU: A Little Rock game. Should be a win.

We have a few that could go either way but we are fully capable of going 10-2 or 11-1.

Blockade Billy by Stephen King: A nice read and a perfect reason why libraries are so perfect: You don’t have to shell out novel bucks for a novella.

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo: Jo Nesbo’s Norway-set Harry Hole novels are a treat. Hopefully he will be discovered by an American audience soon.

Endurance by Jack Kilborn—I read this on my iPad Kindle app to test it out. Enjoyable horror read.

The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman—This book, releasing in October, is not to be missed. A well-written suspense tale that will frighten and touch.

Serial by Jack Kilborn—I read this on the Nook app. So-So.

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell—This is not a run-of-the-mill Zombie tale. It is much more deeply layered and nuanced than that. A YA book that I wouldn’t be surprised to see on the Sequoyah list is a year.

Internet Technologies and Information Services—Finally finished reading my final text from Library School.

Tripwire by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #3)—Good suspense

The End of the World as We Know It: A Former Bible Thumper Rediscovers the Scriptures by Timothy Beal—Releasing in January, this is an illuminating look at the history of the Bible.

The Glycemic Load Diet by Rob Thompson: If I am going to try out a diet I want it to be realistic. This was not.

Married to Distraction: Restoring Intimacy and Strengthening Your Marriage in an Age of Interruption by Edward Hallowell: After years of providing counseling for married couples I can unreservedly say that this is one of the best books I have ever read on the subject.

So Cold the River by Michael Koryta—It wasn’t just the river that was cold. I was left cold by the looooong windup to an unsatisfying conclusion.

John Dies at the End by David Wong—And by that time we were all glad. Although I am a part of the target audience for this book it just didn’t click with me.

The Best American Comics 2010 by Neil Gaiman—A stellar compendium of graphic novels.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins—I have had this series on my list for some time and with the final installment of the trilogy releasing in September I thought it was time. Haunting and lyrical.

Glass by Ellen Hopkins—See above

Obviously, that is pure hyperbole on my part. As an aspiring pacifist I limit my carnage to Zombies, Aliens and human-animal hybrids.

However, I must reiterate my distaste for the language that pervades much of evangelicalism. I could go off on an extended diatribe about how much of the current state of evangelical language is simply window dressing: using new words to communicate the same stale ideas but that is unnecessary. Most of us are smart enough to know that talk of destiny, purpose and claiming the milk-laden, puppy and sno-cone riddled future is just a power of positive thinking prosperity gospel that would surely make Jesus barf.

No, what really gets me beyond that is the damned certainty of it all. For example, here is one tweet that gets my goat: “Don’t just do your own thing! Be a part of the bigger picture! The local church. All ur dreams can be accomplished when you plant yourself.”

First of all, why is the bigger picture the local church? That is the ultimate end? Seriously? And how in the world can anyone possibly state that “ur” dreams can so simply be accomplished? All of those people with shattered dreams and broken hearts are obviously just uprooted right? They need the big picture of the local church.

Give me a break.

I believe the local church CAN do great things if its priorities are right (and not saddled down with salaries, buildings and lock-ins). There is obviously power in community and lives can be improved through benevolent largesse.

But the idea that some Utopian existence on earth is achievable if you just gird your loins, deposit your contribution and think happy-sappy thoughts is offensive to me. I encounter people every day who have been so broken by the wheels of living that this very idea is obviously offensive to them as well. (Side note: I have probably done more ministry in a year working at a library than any year of ministry I ever experienced. I’ve definitely encountered more people in desperate need.)

I was just going to slough off this particular round of annoying tweets and move on. (Side note: I don’t necessarily follow these people on my personal account, but it is the politic thing to do on the business account so to speak.)

But then the latest inanity by a loud-mouth Calvinist up in the Pacific Northwest was posted where he went through a litany of Young Adult books, which he clearly has never read, and likened them all with satanism.

The connection here is the certainty: “God WILL do this…” “God DOES have this in mind…” “This IS sin…” “Do THIS to be faithful…”

After 20 years of ministry and now a year in the real world I KNOW one thing: that I don’t KNOW anything. The more I understand the more I am enveloped by the mystery. The certainty of my younger years has been replaced with a numinosity that, to me, is much easier to live with.

Maybe, just maybe, if we would love to shut our mouths from all of our certainty, throw up our hands and say “I don’t know, but I am willing and eager to travel this path of seeking with you” then our language might begin to mean something again.

And faith would be redeemed.

But what do I know? I’m just a librarian.

Beginning next month I will be beginning a program here at my local library called “Buzzworthy Bistro.” It will be a program designed to spotlight new and upcoming book titles for our patrons to be aware of. A good portion of each month will focus on upcoming books that I have read. I get more and more Advanced Reader Copies in the mail and try to read as many as possible.

Staying fully abreast of new book releases is a daunting task.

In addition, I was invited this week to be a part of the Sequoyah Book Awards Committee. I will be a part of the High School team. Our task is to read and whittle down a list of 149 YA books to a 15 book Masterlist by April.

I average reading 17 books a month. I figure if I read 7 of each: Sequoyah and ARC’s that will give me 3 “wildcard” reads.

It’s gonna be fun.

Finding a church was a long and arduous process. There was NOTHING in Ponca City that worked for us as a family. Fortunately, we only had to live in that town for 3 months after I quit preaching.

In January we placed membership at a Christian Church here in Stillwater and I have been able to blend into the woodwork and maintain a much-needed level of anonymity. Until last week, that is.

I was invited to preach on August 1st and then this past Sunday I taught the teen class. Needless to say, I am anonymous no more.

The upshot is that the sermon was well received and led me to the conclusion that I miss preaching and teaching.

It is all the rest of it that I can do without.

If only there was a church where I could simply preach on a part-time basis and not have to deal with the rest.

But there is ordination which I have no time for. And there is my lingering antipathy to what modern day church is all about: money, buildings, etc.

I think I will just stick to the library.

How many have you read?

1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3. Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
4. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
5. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
7. The Shining, by Stephen King
8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
9. The Hunt tor Red October, by Tom Clancy
10. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
11. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
12. The Stand, by Stephen King
13. The Bone Collector, by Jeffery Deaver
14. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
15. Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown
16. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
17. The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton
18. Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane
19. The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth
20. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
21. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett
22. It, by Stephen King
23. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
24. The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
25. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
26. The Alienist, by Caleb Carr
27. Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
28. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
29. The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
30. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson
31. No Country For Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
32. Gone Baby Gone, by Dennis Lehane
33. Gorky Park, by Martin Cruz Smith
34. Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin
35. Subterranean, by James Rollins
36. Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy
37. Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King
38. Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
39. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre
40. The Poet, by Michael Connelly
41. The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin
42. Cape Fear, by John MacDonald
43. The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker
44. Pet Sematary, by Stephen King
45. Dead Zone, by Stephen King
46. The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon
47. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre
48. The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
49. Tell No One, by Harlan Coben
50. Consent to Kill, by Vince Flynn
51. The 39 Steps, by John Buchan
52. Blowback, by Brad Thor
53. The Children of Men, by P.D. James
54. 61 Hours, by Lee Child
55. Marathon Man, by William Goldman
56. The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
57. 206 Bones, by Kathy Reichs
58. Psycho, by Robert Bloch
59. The Killing Floor, by Lee Child
60. Rules of Prey, by John Sandford
61. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
62. In the Woods, by Tana French
63. Shogun, by James Clavell
64. The Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
65. Intensity, by Dean Koontz
66. Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming
67. Metzger’s Dog, by Thomas Perry
68. Timeline, by Michael Crichton
69. Contact, by Carl Sagan
70. What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman
71. The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
72. The Cabinet of Curiosities, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
73. Charm School, by Nelson DeMille
74. Feed, by Mira Grant
75. Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child
76. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay
77. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
78. The First Deadly Sin, by Lawrence Sanders
79. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
80. The Brotherhood of the Rose, by David Morrell
81. Primal Fear, by William Diehl
82. The Templar Legacy, by Steve Berry
82. The Hard Way, by Lee Child [tie]
84. The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper
85. Six Days of the Condor, by James Grady
86. Fail-Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler
87. Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith
88. The Eight, by Katherine Neville
89. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
90. Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming
91. Bangkok 8, by John Burdett
92. The Kill Artist, by Daniel Silva
93. Hardball, by Sara Paretsky
94. The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte
95. The Deep Blue Good-by, by John MacDonald
96. The Monkey’s Raincoat, by Robert Crais
96. Berlin Game, by Len Deighton [tie]
98. A Simple Plan, by Scott Smith
99. Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
100. Heartsick, by Chelsea Cain