George Fox University: Recommended Print and Media

Recommended Print and Media

Recommended Reading

Non-Fiction

Embracing the Real World: The Black Woman's Guide to Life After College

by Chaz Kyser

Publisher: Seshet Press (2006)

ISBN: 0-9788188-0-6

A new book, Embracing the Real World: The Black Woman’s Guide to Life After College, has been published for Black women making the often challenging transition from college to the professional workforce. More than 80,000 Black women graduate from U.S. colleges each year. Written by Chaz Kyser, a career columnist and speaker on topics relevant to college undergrads and new grads, the book will help young Black women have a better chance of success upon entering the real world. The information presented in the book is based off of Kyser’s experiences, those of other college graduates, the insight of employers, and tons of research. http://www.embracingtherealworld.com

Recommended by Burel Ford

Director, Multicultural Services

Cooking With Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics

by Donna Brazile

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Copyright: 2004

Publisher Comment:
Cooking with Grease is a powerful, behind-the-scenes memoir of the life and times of a tenacious political organizer and the first African-American woman to head a major presidential campaign.

Donna Brazile offers an honest, hard-hitting account of politics in the U.S. at the highest levels of government. I highly recommend reading her work for three reasons. First, she explains that with diligence, perseverance, and hard work, many obstacles can be overcome. She offers a poignant account of how she personally performed as a political organizer with grace, integrity, and skill. Second, the honesty with which she explains her life in politics is refreshing and much-needed. Finally, she provides hope for every American who may be cynical about government, and encourages us to maintain that hope.

Recommended by Burel Ford

Director, Multicultural Services

Saving Women From the Church

by Susan McLeod-Harrison

Release: 02/20/08

Publisher: Barclay Press

ISBN: 9781594980138

Saving Women from the Church is a provocative as the title suggests. This is a great read for any thinking and feeling woman who has ever pondered incongruent interpretations of Scripture with regard to the role of women. With sensitivity and scholarship, Susan McLeod-Harrison, digs deeply into the hearts of women, examples from biblical culture paralleled with contemporary culture and experience, to lead the reader in a validating path toward discovering all they were created as individuals to be and do. As the author recreates in each chapter scenes where Jesus demonstrates understanding and respect for women by breaking traditional barriers; the reader cannot help but be drawn and encouraged. Each chapter concludes with study questions and meditation for personal growth and change. Saving Women is a message to embrace and share with women and men.

Recommended by Christee Wise

Administrative Assistant, Career Services

Being Martha

by Lloyd Allen

Publisher: Wiley (January 23, 2006)

ISBN-10: 0471771015

ISBN-13: 978-0471771012

I have always been fascinated by Martha Stewart, but have not been one of her dedicated followers. The beauty of her ideas appealed to me, but not the perfection. However, I so much admire her creativity, ambition and inspiration for homemakers. She took the domestic role and made it more valuable for many women. Sometimes the reports from the mainstream media leave us with impressions that are not always accurate about someone. I wanted to learn more about Martha and whether she really deserved the negative image some had put out about her-you know, getting to know the real person from another’s perspective. I enjoyed reading about her childhood and how her empire was built in addition to understanding more about the time she spent in prison.

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

Women's Ways of Knowing

by Mary Belenky, Blythe Clinchy, Nancy Goldberger, and Jill Tarule

This is a book that presents a view of how women arrive at knowledge; particularly women in an educational world that tends to be more logical and reasoned with less “connectedness” in its dissemination of knowledge. It is a fascinating, but not a quick read on the different ways that women acquire and view knowledge. Once again it points to a uniqueness in women and how they manage in the world of academics. For anyone in a learning or decision-making role, this could be a helpful, supportive perspective on what constitutes knowledge.

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student (Hardcover)

Author anonymous

I saw and heard this author speak on a television program. She told the audience she didn't publish her name for fear of reprisal from politically correct segments of society. She is an MD and her book is medically oriented. Her main position is about idealogical intolerance that might be hurting the physical health of our young adults. She points out how some agencies actually push sexual practices and protections that are known to endanger the lives of those participating. I am heartened by this book because she has put herself at professional risk by taking a stand that is increasingly unpopular and presenting a message that is critical to hear.

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

Reading Lolita in Tehran

by Azar Nafisi

Reading Lolita in Tehran is written by Professor Azar Nafisi who resigned from her job as professor of English Literature at a university in Tehran in 1995 due to repressive government policies. For the next 2 years, until she left Iran, she gathered 7 young women, former students, at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss works of Western literature forbidden by the new regime. They used this forum to learn to speak freely, not only about literature, but also about the social, political, and cultural realities of living under strict Islamic rule. (Available from the George Fox University libraries)

Recommended by Louise Newswanger

Reference Librarian, MLRC

Women & Christianity

by Mary T. Malone

Mary Malone has authored a three-volume set entitled Women and Christianity, which includes church history from the early Church through the 21st Century. She has presented the history of Christianity and its effects on women in the Western World through the use of Scripture and the writings of women through the past two thousand years. If you have difficulty naming women in church history, read any of these volumes to recognize that God has used both men and women for the furtherance of the gospel.

Recommended by Louise Newswanger

Reference Librarian, MLRC

A Beautiful Offering

by Angela Thomas

"In God's eyes, our lives—complete with mistakes, blemishes, and imperfections—are a beautiful offering," Angela writes in the follow-up to her best-selling Do You Think I'm Beautiful? With her trademark sister-to-sister voice, Angela offers a compelling look at the Beatitudes and encourages readers to remember that God doesn't require perfection, but rather faithful obedience. A Beautiful Offering provides a great invitation to ditch our guilt and compulsions, and to examine our motives as we launch into the New Year.

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Women's Reality : An Emerging Female System in a White Male Society

Defines the Female System as an emerging reality--a system in which women are valued, first-class citizens. Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D., author of Women's Reality and Co-Dependence, is a lecturer, organizational consultant, former psychotherapist, and workshop leader who trains health care professionals throughout the world in Living Process Facilitation. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Excerpt from book (part of a long excerpt included on the Amazon.com review):

Let me explain what I mean by the White Male System. It is the system in which we live, and in it, the power and influence are held by white males. This system did not happen overnight, nor was it the result of the machinations of only a few individuals; we all not only let it occur but participated in its development. Nevertheless, the White Male System is just that: a system. We all live in it, but it is not reality. It is not the way the world is. Unfortunately, some of us do not recognize that it is a system and think it is reality or the way the world is.
The White Male System--and it is important to keep in mind that I am referring to a system here and not pointing a finger at specific individuals within it--controls almost every aspect of our culture. It makes our laws, runs our economy, sets our salaries, and decides when and if we will go to war or remain at home. It decides what is knowledge and how it is to be taught. Like any other system, it has both positive and negative qualities. But because it is only a system, it can be clarified, examined, and changed, both from within and without.

There are other systems within our culture. The Black System, the Chicano System, the Asian American System, and the Native American System are completely enveloped in and frequently overshadowed by the White Male System. As, of course, is the Female System, which includes women from the other ethnic systems as well as white women.

The Myth of the Submissive Christian Woman

by Brenda Waggoner

What does authentic, biblical submission look like? Christian counselor Brenda Waggoner tackles this loaded question on the minds of countless Christian women. Drawing on scriptural truths and her background in counseling, Brenda challenges some commonly held misconceptions about what submission really means for women (not just wives) and asserts that this wrong thinking can lead to frustration, resentment, and unhealthy relationships. Through stories, discussion questions, and realities for reflection, she shows women how to exchange the myths for Christ-honoring, life-giving truth.

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Check All That Apply

Finding Wholeness as a Multiracial Person

by Sundee Tucker Frazier

Readers will be better informed and actually feel the dynamics of being a multiracial person in a world that is ever-increasingly diverse. Tucker Frazier's honesty and insightfulness make this book a must-read for those who wish to increase their knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a member of this community.

Recommended by Burel Ford

Director, Multicultural Services

And She Lived Happily Ever After

Finding Fulfillment as a Single Woman

by Skip McDonald

No more kissing frogs! This is not a book about how to find a husband. This is not a book about whether or not to kiss dating goodbye. This is a book about living in grace and fulfillment as a single woman, written by a single woman. In these pages, Skip McDonald offers encouraging stories and practical help on building a satisfying career, establishing a secure home, finding your place in the church, deciding whether or not to date, drawing strength from God, and enjoying rich and meaningful relationships.

Recommended by Burel Ford

Director, Multicultural Services

Bless Me Too, My Father

Living by choice, not by default

by Katie Funk Wiebe. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1988.

Wiebe is writing about the many changes women face at midlife and covers many topics, including forgiveness, loneliness, mentoring, women in the church, peace concerns, suffering, and growing older. Wiebe says although her Father loved her, she really wanted the blessing that she felt women were not often given.

Recommended by Louise Newswanger

Reference Librarian, MLRC

The Cloister Walk

by Kathleen Norris New York : Riverhead Books, 1997, c1996.

Notable Book of the Year! Norris weaves together an unusual tapestry of insights, from revealing details of her childhood to scholarly accounts of the desert fathers, all based on her stay at a Benedictine monastery. The chapter on "The Paradox of the Psalms" corroborated my own very difficult conflicts. Norris, a Benedictine oblate, writes of her own spiritual pilgrimage.

Recommended by Louise Newswanger

Reference Librarian, MLRC

Dakota

A Spiritual Geography

by Kathleen Norris, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, c1993.

Norris writes of her move to western Dakota and finding the faith of her forbearers, life in a small town, and being nursed back to her spiritual roots. "A poet's work; a work of beauty; a testimony to the work of the Spirit," ---Commonweal.

Recommended by Louise Newswanger

Reference Librarian, MLRC

Captivating

by Stacy and John Eldridge

The female counterpart to the bestseller Wild At Heart. Every woman should read this book to be reminded that they're beautiful, "the crown jewel of creation." This book also identifies the negative thoughts, fears and shame we all live with.

Recommended by Sarah Myhre

Undergraduate Admissions Counselor

Breaking Free

A workbook/Bible study by Beth Moore

Focused on Isaiah 61, this workbook is an intense and powerful study tool which brings women in bondage from various lies to freedom in Christ. My view of God and how He created me is renewed.

Recommended by Elizabeth Seybold

Senior, Assistant Area Coordinator

Bold Spirit

Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America

by Linda Lawrence Hunt

An inspiring story of a brave woman and her daughter who travel across America encountering remarkable and difficult situations. They travel from Spokane to New York. It takes us back to earlier days when women were viewed differently in our society and reminds us of how far we’ve come. It is a call to women to write and tell their stories for the sake of future generations, breaking the silence of a woman’s experience.

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

A is for Abigail

An Almanac of Amazing American Women

by Lynne Cheney, Robin Preiss Glasser

A delightfully illustrated children’s book about women in America’s history. Brings to mind the great contributions of women who went before us and some who are still with us. Fun to read as an adult; refreshing the memory.

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

Fiction

Redeeming Love

by Francine Rivers

EXCELLENT fictional story, based on the book of Hosea. Hosea marries a prostitute because God told him to. She ran away from Hosea so many times, but he still took her back and loved her. To me, Hosea represents Jesus, who loves me, accepts me, and desires to be with me, no matter how unfaithful I am.

Recommended by Elizabeth Seybold

Senior, Assistant Area Coordinator

A Lineage of Grace series

by Francine Rivers

Fictional books based on women in the lineage of Christ. These were unlikely women who changed eternity. These women were honored by God and did the unthinkable to honor him.

٠ Unveiled (Tamar)
٠ Unashamed (Rahab)
٠ Unshaken (Ruth)
٠ Unspoken (Bathsheba)
٠ Unafraid (Mary)

Recommended by Elizabeth Seybold

Senior, Assistant Area Coordinator

Recommended Viewing

Miss Potter

Rated PG, 2007; Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor

From Amazon.com: “The story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," and her struggle for love, happiness and success.

Thirty years old and single, Beatrix Potter lives in London with her social-climbing parents, who are exasperated that she has turned down any number of eligible young men. Her only real friends are the animals which since childhood she has lovingly drawn and made up stories about. She finally succeeds in selling a book of the stories, and it becomes Norman Warne's first project. He quickly falls in love with both the book and Beatrix and together they carefully arrange publication. This proves the first of many successes, offering her the possibility of escaping from both her parents' way of life and London.”

I found this to be a truly lovely story with inspiration and hope for any woman desiring to fulfill her dreams. It is heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time with some thought provoking ideas about the role of women in that time period. I was fascinated by the portrayal of imagination and how it can be a part of real life.

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

The Queen

Rated PG-13, 2006

Six academy award nominations. Directed by Stephen Frears. A thought-provoking look at the Queen of England’s response to changes in the monarchy because of the dynamic world surrounding it- focused around the time of Diana’s death. I found myself wondering if it was a true depiction-perhaps as close as it can be with some very fine acting. I was intrigued by the Queen’s behavior and began to understand how she is “born out-of and in-to tradition.” I started to think about the different roles of women in leadership and how our character and behavior are shaped. The role of Tony Blair in this attempt at metamorphosis is fascinating in itself. Not recommended as an “action-packed” movie!

Recommended by Bonnie Jerke

Director, Career Services

Woman, Thou Art Loosed

Rated R, 2004

(comments from http://www.christianitytoday.com/)

Woman, Thou Art Loosed introduces us to Michelle, a young woman whose anger at the sexual abuse and neglect she’s suffered erupts in a horrible murder. As she shares her story with her mother’s pastor, it becomes clear that behind the hardened woman is a deeply wounded young girl.

Look for the thought-provoking themes of this film. What is the nature of forgiveness? Is grace worth having if it’s freely offered to all, no matter what their offense? How does hypocrisy affect the way people understand and respond to matters of faith? How does God see us, despite our sins? What is the role of a healthy church community in dealing with difficult issues?

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Finding Neverland

Rated PG-13, 2004

(comments from http://www.christianitytoday.com/)

Depp portrays yet another eccentric in Finding Neverland, though it's also his most well-adjusted character in years. Celebrated Scottish author and playwright J.M. Barrie is best known as the man who wrote Peter Pan, which was in a sense the Harry Potter of the early 1900s. But there's also an emotional and heartfelt tale underlying the creation of this beloved children's play and book. Directed by Marc Forster (Monster's Ball), Finding Neverland is "inspired by true events" and based upon Allan Knee's play The Man That Was Peter Pan, which in turn was inspired by Andrew Birkin's book J.M. Barrie & the Lost Boys. The film was pushed back from late last year to avoid colliding with Universal's 2003 remake of Peter Pan. Miramax's insistence on releasing this in the final two months of the year indicated their high Oscar hopes.

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Hotel Rwanda

Rated PG-13, 2004

(comments from http://www.christianitytoday.com/)

In the spring of 1994, the central African nation of Rwanda was shattered by a bloody civil war. Over the course of 100 days, more than one million Rwandans were killed, as Hutu extremists murdered their Tutsi neighbors and any other countrymen who stood in their way. The genocide was made even more tragic because most of the world ignored the conflict and refused to get involved.

But in the midst of that horror a heroic figure emerged, a man who did everything in his power to save as many lives as possible.

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Pride & Prejudice

Rated PG, 2005

directed by Joe Wright

(comments from http://www.christianitytoday.com/)

Another Jane Austen adaptation may seem like the last thing we need, but Joe Wright—the most exciting new director on the block—brings this beloved material such warmth, humor, and energy that it's like we're seeing this story unfold for the very first time. The filmmakers didn't try to outdo previous versions, recognizing the limitations of a movie and working within those parameters to their advantage. The film is mercifully allowed to breathe, with some lovely scenery, texture, and symbolism. As Elizabeth, Keira Knightly delivers her most impressive performance yet, while Matthew Macfadyen, as Mr. Darcy, proves himself a strong leading man.

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Crash

Rated R, 2005

directed by Paul Haggis

(comments from http://www.christianitytoday.com/)

A well-directed and riveting character drama, Crash showcases a handful of the best ensemble performances of the year: Terrance Howard, Ludacris, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, and more. Telling the intercrossing stories of several L.A. residents, the film dissects the sins, racism, and human failings that separate us all—and we see the good and bad in each character. It's a "hyperlink movie," interweaving the short stories of numerous characters, and it holds together to communicate its point without confusing audiences. It's a fresh look at an old topic: racism and prejudice. But whatever your race or social status, Crash makes you consider how you treat those who are different from you.

Recommended by Cara Copeland

Associate Director, Residence Life

Recommended Print and Media

Recommended Reading

Non-Fiction

Fiction

Recommended Viewing

Miss Potter

The Queen

Woman, Thou Art Loosed

Finding Neverland

Hotel Rwanda

Pride & Prejudice

Crash

Recommended Reading

Iraqi Reporters Run Risks to Cover Women's Angle

USAF Pilot Second Woman To Command Shuttle

The New Mommy Track

Working Women: Participation and the Earnings Gap

Ask a Working Woman Survey, 2006

The Status of Women in the Historical Profession

Back to the Bible

Female Immigrants Send Money Home

Kellie Carlsen Safety Officer-GFU Female Alum-Fights Oregon Fires

Redeeming Love

Balancing Act

Empowering "God Chicks"

The Lure of Lesbianism

A Voice for Racial Harmony

The Gift of Doubt