Ann Kiemel Anderson succumbed to cancer on Saturday, March 1, 2014.

In the early 1980s, just after college, I devoured a number of Ann Kiemel’s books. They were basically just free-verse tales of interactions with people. Ann greatly inspired me. She didn’t give readers admonitions to go change our world, but glimpses of a person actually doing it.

I’m an ordinary girl in a big world,
but I’m going to change it–
God and I
and love.

Back in 2006, I wrote a blog post titled “Ann Kiemel, Wherefore Hast Thou Been?” It became by far the most-commented blog post I’ve ever written–85 comments. Turns out many lives, like mine, were impacted by her simple stories. People shared their testimonies of Ann’s influence on their lives.

Ann found the post through a niece, and she twice added her own comments. She mentioned her desire to return to writing, and she soon started a blog in which she continued sharing her free verse stories. A couple years later, two of Ann’s early books that meant so much to me were republished: “I Love the Word Impossible” and “I’m Out to Change My World.” They now inhabit my Nook. Both are timeless.

Ann experienced some real difficulties later in life, with lots of discouragement. I hope that my blog post, and the overwhelming outpouring of support in the comments, perhaps spurred her on.

In one of her comments on my blog, Ann wrote, “today, i still believe utterly in sharing Jesus with my neighborhood. i speak the name of Jesus every day to someone.”

Another of Ann’s early books was titled, “I’m Running to Win.” You did, Ann, you did.

A few months ago I finished “Zealot,” by Reza Aslan. This wonderful book looks at what history tells us about Jesus, the people around Jesus, and that era in general. I learned so much, and as a result, I now read Scripture in a much more informed manner.

Aslan, a religious historian, is a Muslim with an evangelical background. He is fascinated by Jesus, and holds Christianity in high regard (he married into an evangelical family). While some of his views conflict with traditional Christian teaching, he never attacks or tries to discredit Christianity like the atheist writers–Dawkins, Hitchens, etc. He’s just saying, “This is what history tell us.” His views also differ from traditional Islamic teaching about Jesus–again, based on his objective findings as a religious historian.

The book is mostly straightforward history. He gives background on Herod, Pilate, the high priests, other “messiahs” (pretty much all of them killed by the Romans), the economic boom occurring in Galilee at the time, the mood in Israel (always on the verge of rebellion against Rome), the disciples, the divide between Paul and the church in Jerusalem, the destruction of Jerusalem, and so much more. His explanation of why Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man is excellent, and unlike anything I’ve heard before. In explaining the historical context of Galilee, he presents some utterly fascinating, and totally plausible, possibilities for how Jesus might have spent those “silent” years of his youth (helping build Herod’s “dream city” very close to Nazareth). He information about James, the brother of Jesus who led the church in Jerusalem, presents an incredible hero of the faith we never talk about.

I’ve found that Christian writers tend to regurgitate the same information. They use each other for references, and so you get nothing new. But Aslan comes at the life of Christ from a totally different perspective and illuminates that period of history in ways that continually made me stop and go, “Wow! I never heard that!”

Aslan’s writing style is clear and accessible–not academic in any way (though he footnotes extensively). It’s not a long book (less than 300 pages without the footnotes), broken into topical, fairly short chapters. He humbly admits, right up front, that his conclusions are nothing new, and that many of his claims can be rebutted with equally authoritative claims. There is no academic arrogance here. When he discounts a miracle, it’s not because he doesn’t believe in miracles, but because no historical source beyond the Bible mentions it. He divides events into matters of history, and matters of faith. For instance, he says the crucifixion of Jesus is a matter of history, but for Christians the resurrection is a matter of faith which goes beyond the historical record–and he’s okay with that. There are similar matters of faith in Islam.

Aslan describes himself as a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, but not a disciple of Jesus the Christ. Viewing Jesus as the Christ is a matter of faith. But even the historical record, he shows, contains evidences of Christ’s divinity, including his well-documented (I didn’t realize) reputation as a miracle worker and healer. He even gives one of the best proofs for the resurrection that I’ve heard (based on the disciples).

The book was just downright eye-opening to me. I learned so much about Jesus, and compromised none of my doctrinal views. Aslan never promotes Islam; doesn’t even mention it, I don’t think, except in the opening chapter in giving his background. It was easy for me to cling to my view of Scripture as the authoritative Word of God, and to slide over what conflicted with my views. Aslan apparently found the Bible authoritative from a historical standpoint (basically, with caveats), because he used the Bible as his main source of information about Jesus. Many times, in fact, I felt like I was in a Bible study.

I’ve been very simplistic here in reviewing “Zealot,” and can’t do justice to Aslan’s approach. I’m sure many of my fellow Christians are ready to go on the warpath to defend the faith. But please, just read the book. Yes, he raises lots of questions for us Christians, but always in a respectful way. Aslan’s Jesus and my Jesus inhabited the same world. Aslan helped me better understand that world and, in the process, better understand my Savior.

The fourth Bernie Gunther novel ended with our German detective fleeing with Adolph Eichmann to Argentina somewhere around 1950. This fifth installment begins with his arrival in Argentina. He is drafted by the national police to find an abducted girl…though it gets a whole lot more complicated than that.

As always, Gunther (like Forest Gump) finds himself rubbing shoulders with famous historical people–in this case, Juan and Evita Peron, Joseph Mengele, and assorted Nazis who fled to Argentina after the war. A good chunk of the book involves flashbacks to 1932 Germany, where Gunther pursues a case very similar to one in Argentina.

Philip Kerr is an excellent writer, producing detective mysteries that are more literary than most. Kerr has written several more Gunther novels. One awaits on my bookshelf, and I’ll track down the others in due time.

I just finished “The Light Between Oceans,” by M.L. Stedman, easily the best book I’ve read this year. Beautifully written. I understand it’s an Oprah Book Club selection.

The book is set in Australia, mostly on Janus Rock, a remote island with a lighthouse–a captivating context. We learn all about lighthouses and how they work. The lighthouse keeper, Tom, is a former soldier in the Great War, a war hero. He meets a woman, Izzy, they marry, and they move to Janus Rock. Then one day a rowboat washes ashore carrying a baby girl. They decide to raise the child as their own…and things get complicated.

I went to the Espresso Gallery coffeeshop to read the last 75 pages. With 5 pages to go, the tears were welling up, and I knew it would only escalate. Being a guy of the old-school variety, I quickly closed my Nook and hustled out of the place. I decided it would be better to drive home and read the final few pages there. It was a good decision.

This is Stedman’s first book. I’ll be looking for future titles by her.

I was trying to think of other novels I’ve read that were set in Australia. I could think of only two: “The Thornbirds” and “On the Beach.” Add “The Light Between Oceans,” and you’ve got a pretty fabulous trio of books.

Because I’ve written some books, people occasionally contact me with their own book ideas. When they tell me what the book will be about, my reaction is often, “It sounds like you have an article, not a book.”

They have enough original content for an article. For a sermon. For a workshop. For a blog post. But not for a book.

Sadly, this is true of a lot of Christian books. The author has an interesting idea, a new twist for an aspect of the Chrtistian life, but they cover it within a chapter or two. They then pad the book with stuff you’ve heard before, Generic Christianity, while making obligatory connections to the original theme.

Such was the case with a book I just finished, “Firsthand.” Another example was “Not a Fan”–a far better book than “Firsthand,” yet basically only a couple chapters’ worth of content dealing with the “fan” premise.

With some Christian books, I should just read the first two chapters and consider myself done. And since I can usually get the first chapter free as a “sample chapter” on my Nook…hmmm.