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Welcome to my weekly book update post where I share what books I read this past week + my honest thoughts and star ratings of them.
A Word on My Star Ratings
The star ratings I give the books I read are based on a 5-star rating system. I rarely will ever give a book a 1-star rating (maybe never?), because my philosophy is that if a book is only worthy of one star, I’m more than likely going to quit reading it. 🙂 In the same vein, you’ll also notice that I’ll rarely give a 5-star rating as I reserve those for only my very, very favorite books.
Want to see all of the books I’ve read so far this year? Check out my Good Reads page.
Last week, I finished one book and here is my review…
This past week, I listened to Be the Bridge by LaTasha Morrison. This book had been highly recommended by multiple people, but I went into it fairly apprehensive.
You see, about two years ago, I listened to I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown. And while the book was eye-opening and stirred up a lot inside of me (which was good), it also left me feeling frustrated. I wrote about it here, but here’s one thing I said in that post:
I want to do the best I can to raise my children with eyes and ears and a heart to see and love ALL people and I want that so much for myself, too. But she only gave example after example of what not to do — which I really appreciated. But I ended the book feeling like, “Well then what should I do?”
I felt like the author of I’m Still Here gave story after story after story of racial injustice and how she and other black people had been mistreated and misjudged over the years. But she didn’t give any solutions or provide any suggestions for what a white woman like me could do to love people of color well or what we should say or ask. And for awhile after I read it, I felt scared that I would unknowingly do or say something hurtful to my black friends.
In fact, it took me months to not feel like I was totally walking on pins and needles around my black friends and any black people I met — which I’d never been doing before. And I hated that! I wanted to just freely love well instead of always worrying that I was missing the mark.
I did end up having some uncomfortable conversations with some of my POC friends about it and I asked a lot of questions and had my eyes opened even more. And I’m grateful for that.
But I kind of was scared to read another book on racial reconciliation. However, I’m so glad I ended up listening to Be the Bridge as it left me feeling so much more encouraged and hopeful.
In Be the Bridge, LaTasha Morrison paints a beautiful picture in this book for ways that Christians can come alongside others who have different skin colors and/or come from different backgrounds and cultures, have uncomfortable conversations, and ultimately love well. She shares story after story of how this can beautifully play out and gives practical examples of how to take the first steps.
I also really appreciated how she shared about her own racial biases, her own struggles to overcome racial differences, and how she is seeking to walk out these principles in her own life.
While I don’t agree with everything in the book and definitely had my toes stepped on in many places, I finished this book feeling so excited about what the future could hold for relationships in my own life and how I can more effectively be a bridge builder and raise my kids to do the same.
Verdict: 4 stars
This was a picture book that I read so many times to Kathrynne when she was a baby. It’s where we coined the phrase that we say all the time, “I love you to the moon and back.”
So, of course, we had to introduce the babies to this sweet book. I’ve read it to them pretty much every night before bed for the past week.
What have you read recently? I’d love to hear! Tell us in the comments!
