What’s Up Wednesday

Another week, another What’s Up Wednesday, the blog meme created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where we check in and let you know how things are going with us. What have we been reading? How’s the writing going? That sort of thing. So, without any further ado…

What I’m Reading

I have a confession. I’m not really into YA Contemporary novels. Not even “not really.” I mean “not.” I don’t usually seek them out, and there has to be something about a particular YA Contemporary novel that makes me want to read it. There are a lot of my blog friends who love Contemporary, and that’s great. It’s just not my cup of tea. So, it might seem a little odd that I read, and actually really enjoyed, Medeia Sharif’s BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. It’s the story of a Muslim teenager trying to respect the principles of her religion (e.g., by keeping to the Ramadan fast), while living and going to high school in Miami, Florida. There are no aliens, life-and-death struggles, murder mysteries, or anything like that. What grabbed my attention about the novel is the fact that this isn’t just an ordinary teenager’s struggles; it’s a Muslim teenager’s struggles. That’s an unusual angle, and, given my interest in theology, of course, I was curious. And then, once I started reading, Medeia’s prose  pulled me right in and wouldn’t let go. I just couldn’t put the book down. Seriously, friends–especially those of you who really enjoy YA Contemporary–if you want YA Contemporary with a twist, something a bit different, check out Medeia’s novel. You won’t regret it. I reviewed it more fully on Goodreads.

At the moment, I’m reading THE HERESY OF ORTHODOXY by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Michael J. Kruger. This book debunks Walter Bauer’s thesis, picked up in recent times by Bart Erhman, that there was no single “orthodox” Christian faith in the first few centuries of the church. Ehrman likes to refer to “Lost Christianities” when speaking of the supposed many forms of the faith that existed in those earliest times. In this book, the authors provide evidence to show that there was, in fact, a solid strand of orthodox belief that went back to Jesus and the Apostles, and that many of Ehrman’s “Lost Christianities” were, in fact, later deviations from that foundational core belief.

What I’m Writing

I know this is going to get old, but I’m still revising/editing my WIP. I’m further along than I was last week, but I still have a way to go yet. This is my first time re-reading it since I finished it at the end of last November, so it’s fun re-discovering all the good bits. Thankfully, there are a number of good bits! I’m not sure how long this is going to take, but if I can minimize distractions, hopefully within the next month or so I’ll be done. I’d especially like to be done by November, since my Mum’s coming to visit, and I’d like to get it in the hands of beta readers before Christmas. That’s the broad plan. I can only hope…

What Inspires Me Right Now

I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone that today is the 12th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. I read this article on CNN’s website yesterday about the first man to die in the course of those attacks. His name was Danny Lewin, by all accounts a genius, an entrepreneur, a relatively young man (he was my age) with everything going for him. He was on Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. Prior to the plane striking the building, flight attendant calls indicated that a passenger had been stabbed to death. The passenger in seat 9B. Danny’s seat. It’s conjectured (we’ll never know for sure) that Danny, who had trained in the Israeli army and knew Arabic, understood what the terrorists were trying to do, and tried to stop them. Why else would they strike out at a single passenger? How can you not be inspired by such selflessness, especially by one who had everything to live for? It puts life in perspective, and makes you that much more determined to make your life count. It does for me, anyway.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Yet another week of “nothing strange or startling.” As I mentioned, my Mum is planning to visit from the UK for the month of November, so we’re all looking forward to that. One of the things I’m doing is working out a time-off/work from home schedule to maximize the time I spend with her. It’s been about three years since her last visit, so it’ll be good to see her again.

What have you been up to? Visit Jaime’s blog for a linky list of other participants, and for details on how to join the WUW blog hop.