Musings from Graceland

CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT!
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Lisa Samson is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite authors. Not only are her books a bit sassy, but they also are a more than a bit "different". They always touch my soul and sometimes, as in the case of QUAKER SUMMER, they rock my world.
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Lisa and her husband Will have written their first book together and its due out soon. JUSTICE IN THE BURBS is part fiction and part non-fiction. But as I've found out from reading Lisa's books, even her fiction is very true to life. A large part of that stems from the fact that Lisa is not only a very down-to-earth gal, but that she and Will are living out what they are writing about. These books aren't written from some secluded, sterile writer's haven, they are written with the real world knocking on their door every single day as they strive to live out a life of being Jesus to those that most of our society strives to avoid.
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PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY MAGAZINE has just given JUSTICE IN THE BURBS an excellent review. I just had to share it:
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Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live Will and Lisa Samson. Baker Books, $14.99 paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-8010-6809-6
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Award-winning Christian novelist Lisa Samson (Songbird; Quaker Summer) and her husband, sociology doctoral student Will Samson, intertwine fiction and nonfiction in this challenging and inspiring book about justice. Lisa Samson's novella features the Marshalls, a suburban family with all the accouterments: Matt climbs the corporate ladder, Christine cares for their three children, and both are busy with numerous church leadership positions. One day, however, Matt and Christine visit an inner-city mission, and their ideas about how they should be living gradually, but dramatically, change. The nonfiction portion of the book examines the issues these characters (and most of the book's readership) face. The Samsons talk about why God cares what we eat, where we live, how much electricity we use, and to whom we minister. Astonishingly, the authors manage to do this without hitting a sanctimonious note. On the contrary, they repeatedly highlight the heartbreak and complexity of what they refer to as "thinking and living in keeping with God's heartbeat of justice," and frequently acknowledge their own struggles and failures. The Samsons include short meditations at the end of each chapter written by a variety of Christian authors, as well as a series of helpful discussion questions at the end.
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You can pre-order a copy of JUSTICE IN THE BURBS here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801068096/willsamsoncom-20
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You can download a copy of the introduction and first chapter here:
http://willzhead.typepad.com/JusticeintheBurbs.pdf