Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Yonder by Walt Kelly

This collection of Pogo comics was my bedside companion for several months, providing a break from other reading as I drifted off to sleep. Kelly's comic ran in my local paper when I was growing up, and not surprisingly, I was not very impressed with it as a child. It was hard to understand the satire or even the language sometimes, given the Southern dialect the characters use. I did enjoy some of the story arcs, and I liked the continuity, which contracted with most of the daily gag strips. It was funny and yet continuity like "Dick Tracy" and the serious comics did.

The collection at hand is from the beginning of the strip in the 1940s. I have not seen the follow-up volumes (though I'd like to) but the first one is well done, with strips nicely sized for reading. The color Sunday strips are included in the back, and a short essay describes Kelly's work as well as some of the ins and outs of comic publishing.

My recollection of the character Pogo was fairly accurate, and I began to understand the content of the comic as I grew up, so I was not terribly surprised at the humor. I don't recall many of the other characters, or their general dim-wittedness. If the content was close to what he was doing in the 1970s, I surely missed most of the humor.

I finished this slowly, over the course of 5-6 months, probably completed it about 12/15. I have shelved with with the comics books.

MetaMaus by Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman wrote and illustrated two books that outlined the experience of his parents in Jewish ghettos and concentration camps during WWII. Maus and Maus 2 came out in 1987 and 1991, respectively, though Spiegelman began Maus in 1972, originally as a 3-page version. I read both of the books about 7 years ago, after becoming familiar with them by reading In the Shadow of No Towers, his return to doing "comics" that was precipitated by the demise of the World Trade Center towers and the political repercussions thereof. 

MetaMaus is the story, told through a series of interviews, of how the Maus books came to be. The interview covers Art's relationship with his father, mother, and wife, lots of interesting technical information on his process of drawing and editing, his process for researching the content (beyond the interviews with his father), how he drew from comics traditions and history in his book, struggles he faced getting it published, personal and family difficulties and tragedies, and lots more. It's a wide-ranging interview/book, and held my interest throughout. His thought process behind every aspect of the Maus books seems to have been very thorough, and deeply thought out, more than you would expect from a "comic." His defining metaphor of a page as a paragraph and a row of panels as a sentence is brilliant, and explains why the book is so concise and yet satisfying. The constraint of the form, imposed by none other than himself, helps to keep the story moving. 

I was also interested to read about the growth of interest in the history of the genocide against the Jews during WWII. I've seen so many documentaries and miniseries and moves that it did not occur to me that it was most neglected as a topic until the late 1970s. 

I got this for Christmas in 2011 and read it over 2 days during a short vacation in Long Key, FL, finishing on 1/13/13. I'll definitely be hanging onto it, and putting it next to the Maus books on my shelf.

Reminds me: I think I got the Masters of American Comics (which Spiegelman helped curate) a year or so ago. I need to dig that out.

The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke

The Sentinel is a collection of short stories by the sci-fi legend. I checked this out of the library sometime earlier in the year and just noticed that I never wrote it up. I can't recall many specifics of the stories except that they were really great. The title story is the foundation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, though it is really just the idea for the monoliths, and it is fleshed out considerably. 

I checked this out of the library. I'd like to read more of Clarke. I probably finished it in March or April based on where I found it in my "short" list I keep of books on my reading list and that I have finished. 

The Elephant to Hollywood by Michael Caine

Michael Caine's second biographical work is a treat to read. It's full of entertaining stories about his life in the movies, and with interesting biographical details about his early life in the poor area of London know as The Elephant. It was a quick, fun read that I started and finished in one day while my daughter and I were at the beach in Sanibel Island. It's a perfect beach read. I finished this back in May. 

Mistakes Leaders Make by Dave Kraft

Dave Kraft is a long-time Navigators leader. He writes about the fictional Christ Community Church and uses a series of stories about the pastors and lay leaders of the church to illustrate several important mistakes leaders of churches might make. Though the people are fictionalized, they are based on actual people that Kraft has experience with, and I suspect a number of people he knows might look at the stories and say "He's taking about me!" In other words, they seem to be composites, but the problems they have are all too real.

Lots of minor mistakes happen all the time and gross sin would be an easy target, but Kraft focuses on those mistakes that (1) cause effectiveness in ministry to be seriously diminished and (2) may not all be looked on as mistakes by the mistake-maker or even the onlooker. For example, what looks like peacekeeping can actually be failure to confront people or to provide appropriate direction and stick to it. What looks to one like a drive to complete the task of ministry and grow the church can actually be prideful indulgence in overwork, lack of delegation and people development, and desire to please man rather than God. His first mistake--wait, that sounds wrong. The first mistake he expounds is putting ministry before the love of Jesus. These are the kinds of "respectable" mistakes (to borrow Jerry Bridges term) that people may laud rather than condemn.

Kraft provides 10 common mistakes with examples and resolutions (sometimes too simple! One hard-to-confront person moves away and saves the other leaders from dealing with him!)

The book is geared toward pastors. I found it useful as an elder, and would recommend it for Sessions to read together. It's brief  (about 100 pages) and broad enough that most churches probably deal with one or more of the mistakes he enumerates. He also gives a list of other mistakes that he wants to write about further, just in case he never gets to complete that book.

This the the second book I've read this year from the RE:LIT series (the first was Gospel-Centered Discipleship). I bought this from a Crossway promotion and will definitely hang onto it. Though some of the specifics will change, the mistakes are timeless.

Our Triune God by Philip Ryken and Michael LeFebvre

Ryken and LeFebvre have written a brief and helpful book on a complex topic. It is biblical and practical. They do not attempt to convey the historical dialogue or the heresies surrounding the doctrine, but instead take a practical approach for those who already know the doctrine and agree with it. What are the implications of the Trinity for my salvation and walk? What about the fact that I can't get my mind around the concept of the Trinity? How does knowing the God who is three in one affect my worship? The final chapter, The Joyous Trinity, coveres times in the gospel of Luke where all three persons of the Trinity act together, which I've not seen focused on before.

They point out in their introduction that they are writing for the individual believer, and that they could easily write another volume on the affect on the corporate Church of the fact of the Trinity.

I read most of this on a plane trip, and finished it up right before leaving for vacation, on 11/16/12. I will hang onto it and will likely read it again and recommend it to people.

Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years

Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years is a collection of Charles Schulz's comics throughout his career, with introductions and commentary from Schulz.  I read it over a few months in bits and parts, the best way to digest a book like this. Of course, I'd read and still recalled about 95% of the comics, but they are still delightful and I'm glad to have this nicely bound collection.

I read Schulz and Peanuts last year (a biography), and seeing the history of the strip unfold in "real time" over several decades was quite enjoyable. One of my favorite blogs these days is Roasted Peanuts, a running commentary on the gocomics.com postings of classic Peanuts comics. Each of these increase my enjoyment of the comics themselves by revealing some of the inner workings of the strip.

I bought it from Amazon as a gold box deal, one of the few good ones I've seen. It was a real bargain and I'll be hanging onto it.