Nonfiction November ~ Week 3: Be the Expert

Week 3 of Nonfiction November (Nov. 15-19) – Be/Ask/Become the Expert with Veronica at The Thousand Book Project:  Three ways to join in this week:

1. BE the expert = Share three or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend.
2. ASK the expert = Put the call out for good nonfiction on a specific topic that you have been dying to read.
3. BECOME the expert = Create your own list of books on a topic that you’d like to read.

I've decided to BE the expert on the subject of prayer, using three books from my bookshelves:

The Greatest Prayer: Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord's Prayer ~ by John Dominic Crossan, 2010, religion, 10/10

Crossan explores the prayer line by line that every Christian knows by heart, so we can rediscover why this seemingly simple prayer sparked a revolution.  Addressing issues of God’s will for us and our response, our responsibilities to one another and to the earth, and the theology of our daily bread, he reveals the universal significance of the only prayer Jesus ever taught.

A Place to Pray: Reflections on the Lord's Prayer ~ by Roberta C. Bondi, 1998, religion, 9/10

Bondi put this study together in a unique way, with each chapter written as a letter to her friend.  "As for us, ours is a God who loves, and if we love this God who is love, we long to express that love by imitating God, that is, by loving those whom God loves in the way God loves, in an appropriately human manner" (p. 128).  This prayer helps us to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life ~ by William H. Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas, 1996, religion, 7/10

After a short introduction, the authors work through each phrase of the Lord's Prayer, using it as a framework for the Christian life.  Providing basic faith understanding, this book will help the user experience Christianity as attractive and inviting, not distant, difficult, or foreboding.  They apply this prayer to the whole Christian experience as life reflects these words.