I am just about done with these two titles and each really deserves their own space for discussion. But here is what I can say at this point, it is fascinating to hear Coates describe what it was like to live through the Obama presidency and the nation’s reaction during the 2018 election while reading about Grant’s leadership through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

In fact, Coates title “We Were Eight Years in Power” is not a quote about Obama’s two terms. The statement, over 100 years old, is from W. E. B. Du Bois regarding voting regulations set up in South Carolina in the 1890s designed to keep Black citizens from voting.

If you are white (like me) and read Coates book there are parts you would really like to take issue with. However, reading Ron Chernow’s impressive biography of Grant only serves to underline many of the issues that Coates has identified.

The Vanishing American Adult and The Tech-Wise Family

The Vanishing American Adult is Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse’s lament that things aren’t the way they used to be. He identifies several contributing factors and charts a way to correct our course. I liked the book well enough and think that he is spot on in many parts.

I think the Vanishing American Adult was a little less revelational because I had just finished The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch (one of the best books of the year for me). Crouch does a masterful job of tracing how American’s addiction to technology is having an adverse effect on our ability to do normal human things (like real conversation that doesn’t involve emojis ?)

Sasse and Crouch eventually prescribe similar remedies – a return to a simpler way of living. For my money though, Crouch does the best job of pointing to some changes that we need to make before the American adult goes the way of the dodo. When read together though you can see the relationship between our current choices and the potential outcome if our habits don’t change.

Culture Making and Walkable City (plus a trip to NYC)

I guess I was on a bit of an Andy Crouch kick this year because earlier this summer I read his book Culture Making. Of the three Crouch titles I read this year (also read Strong and Weak), I probably got the least out of Culture Making. That isn’t to say it is bad, I just felt it bogged down in some parts.

What was fascinating though was reading this book along with Walkable City, while vacationing with my wife and friends in New York City in July. Jeff Speck’s Walkable City describes what cities can do to make urban living more feasible and attractive. I loved reading his descriptions of the value and benefits of highly walkable cities while experiencing it first hand strolling around Manhattan or taking the subway to other boroughs.

That NYC is arguably the cultural capital of North America added weight to Crouch’s theory that a Christian’s role isn’t necessarily to condemn culture or consume it indiscriminately but rather to live out the mandate we have received to create culture where we live. And, things like the built environment of our cities have cultural significance.

When stories collide like this the cumulative effect is greater than the sum of its parts. I love the fact that it happens largely unplanned. So, while I might be able to finish books faster if I only read one at a time, I don’t think I would reap the same benefit.

What do you think? Has this ever happened to you?