Skateboard Tough, reviewed by Lindsay Tramble

Matt Christopher's book Skateboard Tough was a good book about a boy who loves skateboarding and his skills improve even more when he starts to ride a mysterious board he finds in his backyard.

I would rate this book 7 out of 10 - it was good, but there weren't enough female skateboarders in the story.

In the KLUC library Young People's section at YP Fic Chr.

How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Third Edition

By Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart, Zondervan Publishing, 2003

My enjoyment of past Bible study courses at Kingsway-Lambton has helped me to appreciate the benefits of a study leader’s guiding framework to enhance my understanding. When I spotted How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth in the KLUC library collection, I wondered if I might actually be able to acquire a framework of my own with which to approach my Bible reading.

I found the authors’ discussion of the dual nature of interpreting the Bible particularly satisfying. They explain that readers must first enter into a process of exigesis (interpreting the meaning of a passage according to the context within which it was written) before addressing the hermeneutics (the meaning for us today). This is something that the average lay reader like me shouldn’t expect to do without guidance, such as taking Bible study courses, using annotated study bibles, and consulting online resources. I feel that I now have a better understanding (and a couple of fancy words) to bring to my future Bible study efforts.

I also found the discussions about the significance of translation very informative. In particular, I appreciated the historically contextualized explanations of the various popular Bible versions. Although I love my New King James version study bible, I can now see how I might benefit from complementing it with one of the other versions.

All in all, I found this book to be well written, with a clear and thought-provoking style. My one minor critique concerns the frequency with which I had to flip back and forth between How to Read the Bible and my own Bible, as the authors refer to many, many passages without quoting them directly. Nonetheless, with this slim and readable book, Fee and Stuart managed to pique my curiosity about interpreting the Bible at the same time that they instilled in me hopefulness about my ability to do so.

Moira Grant

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