Two Great Books

Ann had an interesting post today at Holy Experience.

She mentioned Carol Dweck. I read her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success several years ago. Her theory? There are two mindsets that someone can adopt. Not global mindsets, but about subjects.

The fixed mindset would say "I am good at math" or "I am bad at math." Both are fixed and can lead to trouble. This belief limits because when someone with a fixed mindset runs into problems, he or she perceives it as something about them that cannot be changed.

The growth mindset believes in effort and practice rather than innate talent. So when someone with a growth mindset runs into trouble, he or she will come up with some sort of plan to solve the problem, such as more study time, extra help, more practice and so on.

The great news is that it is not hard to switch from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Education about the two mindsets can go a long way.

I strongly recommend this book!

The other book I am reading now that was similar in subject to Ann's post is the book Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers by Geoff Colvin. What is it that separates those world-class performers from the rest of us. Practice. Lots of it. But not just any kind of practice. It has to be deliberate practice of what comes hard. And that kind of practice is not easy or immediately rewarding. Which explains why so many fail to engage in it.

I'm still reading, but I would also strongly recommend this book.

Three disaster books

I recently re-read Isaac's Storm by Eric Larson, then checked out A Weekend in September by John Edward Weems and for some reason, that led me to The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger.

The first time I read Isaac's Storm, I enjoyed it, but I felt like I missed a lot because I read it quickly (there are lots of details in the book). So when I re-read it, I read more slowly and carefully. I found that I didn't like it this time around. I just don't think it is well-written. It goes too fast in some places and in other places goes on too much. It has some interesting facts in it, but I didn't enjoy reading it.

Somewhere I heard that A Weekend in September was the definitive book on the hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900. It looks like it was written in 1980 (I returned the book to the library, so I checked Amazon.com for the date). Reading this right after Isaac's Storm was a mistake. This one is written in a more formal style and moves more slowly. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it first? It seemed a little dry, but I already knew a lot of the story he told.

Then I decided to read The Perfect Storm. I felt so sad for those people! Especially as I read the opening, I kept hoping that they would turn their lives around. It was a hard book to read, knowing that the men died, perhaps a terrible death, and I don't think they had the comfort of salvation.

I was a little sorry at the time I had spent reading these books (and I didn't finish A Weekend and I skimmed the end of Isaac's Storm and The Perfect Storm).

I've decided that my reading habits are very different from most of the reading population!

A Great Haul of Books!

I just brought home some interesting library books. I requested these late one night and I don't remember the inspiration, although I think some of it was the Amazon site and the "people who bought this book also bought ..." feature.

Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices by Brian McLaren (part of the new The Ancient Practices Series, with a forward by Phyllis Tickle)

Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional + Evangelical + Post/Protestant + Liberal/Conservative + Mystical/Poetic + Biblical + Charismatic/Contemplative + Fundamentalist/Calvinist + Anabaptist/Anglican + Methodist + Catholic + Green + Incarnational + Depressed-Yet-Hopeful + Emergent + Unfinished Christian by Brian D. McLaren

Praying the Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others by Scot McKnight

Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today by Scot McKnight

and

I just got this from Paperback Swap:

PrayerWalk: Becoming a Woman of Prayer, Strength, and Discipline by Janet Holm McHenry.

Bible Reading Plans, Part 1

I think it is good to have a systematic way to read through the Bible. And, as it had been my desire for a long time to read the whole Bible, I have collected Bible reading plans.

There are individual reading plans and Bible studies that take you through scripture in a systematic way.

Bible Studies
These methodical Bible studies are different from topical Bible studies. In a topical Bible study, you might, for example, study the fruit of the spirit or a person in the Bible. I much prefer Bible studies based on a book (or books) of the Bible. I recently read Honey for a Woman's Heart (or here) by Gladys Hunt and saw that she said something similar.

Individual Reading Plans
For the individual plans, there are read-the-Bible-in-one-year plans, read-the-Bible-in-more-than-one-year plans and read-the-Bible-in-less-than-one-year plans. (I guess that is a case of stating the obvious!) These "plans" include Bibles specially arranged for daily readings!

Bible Studies
Here are some of my favorite Bible studies.

Disciple Bible Studies. The first one I did was Disciple I. This program ran from September through May and if you read all the assignments, you read about 70% of the Bible. A wonderful overview to the whole book! This was my first Bible study ever and it is the one I remember most fondly. (The other Disciple Bible studies focus on a more limited portion of scripture. They are good, too!)

Bible Study Fellowship (or BSF). Another nine-month Bible study that follows the school year (August or September through May). There are seven classes:

• Matthew
• The Life of Moses
• John
• History of Israel and the Minor Prophets
• Acts of the Apostles
• Genesis
• Romans

And there are recommended readings for the summer. I don't know how much of the Bible you would read if you did all the classes and the summer readings, but you would have an excellent foundation in Bible study.

Another Bible study is a radio Bible study called Thru the Bible. It is broadcast Monday through Friday. As their website says:

Thru the Bible takes the listener through the entire Bible in just five years, threading back and forth between the Old and New Testaments. Because we start over again with Genesis after we've concluded Revelation, you can "get aboard the Bible bus" at any time. If you stay with us for five years you won't miss any part of the Bible.

Notes: 1) these were recorded in the late 1960's and early 1970's and 2) Dr. McGee has a thick Texas accent. I like it, but I am sure it drives others crazy!

And one for the home: Bible Study Guide for All Ages. I really like this program, too. How long it takes you to get through the whole Bible depends on how many lessons you do a week. There are four units and each unit has 102 lessons. At the rate of two lessons a week, you finish the unit in one year. This is what you cover.

Part 2, coming sometime soon but not necessarily right away, will be about individual reading plans.

Some of what I am reading these days

The Bible, in a whole year, using this plan from Discipleship Journal. I am behind. I've done this one other time and I found this time of year the hardest to keep up.

The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason, Volume 6. There is a yahoo group called CMSeries that is doing this. It helps to have some accountability. I am a little behind here and I skipped some, but without the group, I would have given up altogether.

And while I am not reading it word for word, front to back, I am reading the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Boswick Comstock regularly, as I really try to make nature study a regular part of our homeschooling week. I have a yahoo group for this, too. Using the Handbook of Nature Study's purpose is to encourage each other in nature study, but also to provide updated or appropriate regional information.

My yahoo group, Home Comforts Home, has just begun reading through Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson. We are not going to read front to back, but skip around. This book is somewhat like an encyclopedia.

And I am praying my way through The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle. This is a new discipline for me and some days are better than others. But what a difference when I do take the time to pray the hours!

I have the book The Words of Jesus: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle and have read some of it, but I have put it aside while I try to catch up with my other reading.

I have some blogs I read, too, and I just subscribed to Google Reader so that I could see them all in one place! I need to add more of the blogs I read to the sidebar.

I am trying to make my reading purposeful. My focus these days seems to be on my spiritual life, household and homeschooling.