Introducing: Gracepoint Book Club

Posted on October 25, 2022 by hemilykim

We’re marking the end of this blog’s 29-month hiatus by kicking off the Gracepoint Book Club! 🙌 I tried to think of some snazzy name, but decided to stick with this for now. Whether you’re an avid reader or a reluctant one, or somewhere in between, chances are you’d like to read more.

One of the obstacles people have cited for not reading more is not knowing where to start. So each month I’ll be unveiling the “book of the month” in four different genres or categories. You can choose to read one or all!

As I read along with everyone, I’ll be posting some thoughts and questions here on the blog, and over on Convo. The dream, the vision, is that there’ll be some IRL conversations as well as convo-sations throughout our church about some good books and some big ideas. This will help us to remember more of what we read, and we’ll likely grow in our enjoyment of reading as well, which will start a virtuous cycle of even more reading and more thinking!

Our November book-of-the-month selections are…[insert drum roll]

Christian book category: Fan the Flame: Let Jesus Renew Your Calling and Revive Your Church by Jim Cymbala, pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. (Sept. 2022)
Good Fiction category (aka English Class but *even* better!): Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Oct. 1953)
Social/Cultural commentary category (aka Good Non-fiction about Big Ideas): The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World by Andy Crouch (Apr. 2022)
Bibliopolis Wild Card category: The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton, who you might remember from Just Mercy. (June 2018)

All you have to do is start reading! I also recommend following this blog so you get updates on posts.

Which book are you thinking of starting with?

36 thoughts on “Introducing: Gracepoint Book Club”

Andrew Martinez (Nyc) on October 25, 2022 at 8:10 pm said:

Fahrenheit 451 looks intriguing! I’ve been looking for a good fiction book so I think I’ll start with that. Thank you for the recommendations!

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Grace on October 25, 2022 at 8:14 pm said:

Thank you Emily! This might just be what I need to push myself to read more.

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gracelin0108 on October 25, 2022 at 8:17 pm said:

Thanks Emily! This might be what I need to get more reading in. I really liked Farenheit 451 (I read it in AP English in high school.) so I think I’ll start with Anthony Ray Hinton’s book.

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David Tung on October 25, 2022 at 8:17 pm said:

I’m planning to start with Fan the Flame – I remember reading some of Jim Cymbala’s books when I was an undergrad – it was inspiring to hear about what God had done through Brooklyn Tabernacle, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from him.

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Danny Orozco on October 25, 2022 at 8:36 pm said:

Woo hoo! Let’s go Book Club!

I’ll start with Jim Cymbala’s book.

Thanks again Emily!

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Sarah K on October 25, 2022 at 8:52 pm said:

I love reading! Just read Fan the Flame on Kelly’s recommendation a few weeks ago. It reminded me of the Bible studies we used to have in P. Ed & Kelly’s living room back when I joined staff. Highly recommend!

But I’m going to start with The Sun Does Shine. I was really impacted by Just Mercy during covid and am looking forward to reading this book!

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Susan on October 25, 2022 at 8:54 pm said:

Thanks Emily! I’ll start with “The Sun Does Shine”
When we lived together at Ironwood, I would read books off of your shelves. One week, I read Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies – it was a dark week…

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Cristian Medina on October 25, 2022 at 8:59 pm said:

Thank you for starting this up Emily! Been wanting to read more books, and super excited to start with Fahrenheit 451!

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zmting01 on October 25, 2022 at 8:59 pm said:

Thank you for starting the book club, Emily! Excited to get back to reading!

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Esther Zhu on October 25, 2022 at 9:01 pm said:

Thank you for stating the book club, Emily! Excited!

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Dennis Cheung on October 25, 2022 at 9:01 pm said:

Thank you Emily! “Fahrenheit 451” or “The Life We’re Looking For” – still deciding

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Elisa on October 25, 2022 at 9:12 pm said:

I’m going to start on Fan into Flame! Excited.

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Vanessa Orozco on October 25, 2022 at 10:09 pm said:

Gracias! I had just started listening to The Life We’re Looking For – very good so far!

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myra on October 25, 2022 at 10:09 pm said:

Yay! I love getting book recommendations because I’m never sure what to read. It’ll be really neat to not just read but also talk about these different books with people. I’m excited to see how we’re all going to grow through Biblio Book Club.

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Arie on October 25, 2022 at 10:31 pm said:

Yeah book club!! The Sun Does Shine is my favorite non-fiction book of all time! I laughed and cried every chapter. It is my go-to gift when I can’t think of a gift for some special occasion.

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johnko76 on October 25, 2022 at 10:42 pm said:

was really challenged by Fan into Flame. and also heard a stirring podcast from him on Craft and Character, a preaching podcast i listen to. he was bringing it and preaching it!

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Valeria Wang on October 25, 2022 at 11:17 pm said:

This is awesome! Really excited ,thank you 🙂

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Jenny Park on October 26, 2022 at 6:04 am said:

Thank you Emily!! Excited for this. Miss you!

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Monica Kwok on October 26, 2022 at 6:28 am said:

Thanks Emily! Always looking for good book recommendations! I think i’ll try to start with The Life We’re Looking for!

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Erika Ludorf on October 26, 2022 at 7:20 am said:

Wow, thanks Emily for starting this book club! Funny enough, I recently recommended Fahrenheit 451 to another sister who was looking for a good fiction book. Since I reread it very recently, I think I’ll start with the Jim Cymbala book 😊

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Jeanne on October 26, 2022 at 8:06 am said:

I’m in! Thank you Emily!!

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hyokimwrites on October 26, 2022 at 8:24 am said:

My life’s peak is still my guest post on this site.

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janice lee on October 26, 2022 at 9:06 am said:

Exciting! Just re-activated Audible so I could join the book club! 🙂 I will start with The Sun Does Shine.

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Janice Lee on October 26, 2022 at 9:45 am said:

Thank you! I am excited and very thankful for this, too! i will start with “The Sun Does Shine.”

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Jax Muniz on October 26, 2022 at 10:03 am said:

Im in!

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Nick Kang on October 26, 2022 at 11:39 am said:

Oh cool, me and a couple other guys have been reading through Fan the Flame already and about halfway done. Now even more incentive to finish reading the book!

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jenn hudnet on October 26, 2022 at 2:29 pm said:

Exciting! I’m going to try The Sun Does Shine

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Judy Shieh on October 26, 2022 at 2:51 pm said:

Excited about the book club – thank you Emily! I loved Just Mercy so I’m going to start with The Sun Does Shine.

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Kelly Lee on October 26, 2022 at 3:21 pm said:

yeees super excited about this book club. i was aimlessly looking for book recommendations but now i have some! yay 🙂 im gonna start fan the flame! thanks emily!!

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Jasmine Bhan on October 26, 2022 at 3:54 pm said:

thanks Emily!! I LOVE reading. I think I’m gonna start with Fan the Flame!!

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Pingback: Where I Answer Your Questions About the Book Club | Gracepoint Church Library
Del on October 27, 2022 at 9:07 am said:

thank you Emily! excited to start Fan the Flame & Fahrenheit.

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Liliana Noz on October 27, 2022 at 10:05 pm said:

Thank you Emily! Can’t wait to start reading The Sun Does Shine, just ordered it.

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rdanpoonsub on November 1, 2022 at 5:53 pm said:

Thank you for the recommendations!! I loooooove Jim Cymbala books!!

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Joy Chang on November 2, 2022 at 8:56 am said:

Thank you Emily for starting the book club and the recommendations!!
I’m about half way thru The Sun Does Shine, it’s so good!! Cant wait to finish the book!

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Dayanne Quinonez on November 3, 2022 at 4:42 pm said:

Just finished reading The Sun Does Shine. Such a good book and it opened my eyes to how broken our justice system is. Thanks for the recommendation!

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