5 comments about Growing Up Lutheran.

1. While the focus of the book is on Lutherans who grew up from the 40s to 60s I must confess that having grown up as the daughter of 2 Lutheran pastors, having worked at a Lutheran bible camp in college where i would go lead VBS at lutheran churches in Minnesota and having graduated from a lutheran college that it still pin points humor about the general Lutheran culture. It does not matter if you are in tune with all of the theology or church politics or not--people who both embrace and reject their Lutheran heritage will still appreciate this book! I must admit that while it was not always humourous and that it is more historical than modern that it did pin point observations with humor that i am currently struggling with while debating whether or not to follow through on attending Lutheran seminary relatively soon. I found it right on target and extremely therapeutic.
   Also recommended: Garrison Keiller
   and more Lutheran congregants should read Jim Wallis and SOjourners magazines!!



2. I must confesss, which is fitting, that I grew up at the same time in the Midwest as these authors.
   
   However, my ancestors are Swedish and we lived in Iowa. You wouldn't think this would make a difference, but it does.
   
   The only thing I can say is that you had to have been there to completely understand this book. And maybe that won't do it.
   
   There was a comment somewhere that said you can't understand it unless you've had beets or Jello melt into your scalloped potatoes on a paper plate.



3. I am manager of a Home Health Agency. One day one of the nurses brought this tape and played it during lunch. We laughed until we cried. Especially appreciative are Lutherans or people who were brought up in Scandinavian communities.



4. . . . grow up Lutheran and in the Midwest, you may not appreciate the total humor of this book, but it's still a delightfully witty, tongue-in-cheek commentary on a by-gone era. Once started, I couldn't put it down, because it called up a flood of memories, everything from Sunday School pins to Mother-Daughter banquets to cemetary upkeep. It was MY life they were talking about. For those of you who did (grow up Lutheran in the Midwest), it a journey back into time; for those of you who didn't, it's an education about a whole bunch of us who sit quietly here in the Midwest doing what come naturally.



5. I enjoyed this book well enough to send a copy of it to my Father and an Aunt, who also grew up Lutheran. They enjoyed it, too.

No comments about William Carey: The Shoemaker Who Pioneered Modern Missions (Heroes of Faith and Courage Series).

No comments about I've got a new song: 13 Christian recording artists, their stories and music.

No comments about Queen Christina of Sweden and Her Circle: The Transformation of a Seventeenth-Century Philosophical Libertine (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History).

1 comments about Scandinavian Proverbs.

1. This award-winning, beautiful little book includes 101 Scandinavian proverbs designed in calligraphy. Printed on ivory acid-free paper, the ink used is blue and rust, colors favored by Scandinavian folk artists.

   Scandinavian Proverbs won first place in the trade book division of a contest sponsored by the Chicago Women in Publishing Association.

   Julie Jensen McDonald, the author, writes that the hours she spent in libraries to compile the book were "more like picking wild strawberries than serious research."

   "That which is loved is always beautiful." -Norwegian

   "God did not create hurry." -Finnish

   "The twigs are rarely better than the trunk." -Icelandic

   "Don't sail out farther than you can row back." -Danish

   "A life without love is like a year without summer." -Swedish

   Julie Jensen McDonald is the author of ten published books. Her mother's parents emigrated from Denmark in the 1880s, and her father came from Denmark when he was nineteen. Mrs. McDonald is also the author of the Penfield Press book, Definitely Danish: Denmark and Danish Americans.

   Calligrapher Esther Faske, M.F.A. graduate of the University of Iowa, designed the book. The proverbs are reproduced in her calligraphic style. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2 comments about Something About Mary: From Girl About Town to Crown Princess.

1. How do I describe this book? If Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" ever done an A@E style biography show, this book would be it.
   
   What do I mean by this? An example would be when the author described the priest whom married Mary and Frederick; she said he spoke like the Swedish chief from "The Muppet Show." You know the one who went "Knoucky, knouck, knourk, knourk!"
   
   There are a few things I didn't like about this book; there is this one chapter that tells the paparazzo's point of view on Mary Donaldson's path to Denmark. As well as the paparazzi style pictures that is found in this book. Particularly, this one picture which was taped back together by one of paparazzi; whom dug it out of the then Ms. Donaldson trash can. If this is what Ms. Kate Middleton is currently going through she has my complete sympathy.
   
   Another thing I didn't like about this book was the Aussie slang, which I didn't understand it and the author offered no explanations about what the particular Aussie words mean.
   
   Other than that, the book is like I said humorous and serious at the same time. Also, the author should clearly try to get on "The Daily Show," I believe she would fit in perfectly with the cast members.



2. This book, though not an authorised biography and contains only 'researched' information, is a great read. Especially for the fellow Australian who can understand some of the references made - like the stories told in the Little Golden Books etc. This provided a few laughs, though not sure if they'll be understood by the non-antipodean!

No comments about Queen Margrethe I, 1353-1412, and the Founding of the Nordic Union (Northern World, V. 9) (Northern World, V. 9).