Occasionally, a sociological book comes along that effectively captures the Zeitgeist of people and society within the scope of current events. These books articulate our experience such that we want to read these books. Vauhini Vara’s Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age (2025) is one of those books.
When I recently saw this title on Publisher’s Weekly, the book’s title made the subject and its’ sociological relevance in today’s digital age immediately self-evident. It wasn’t until the last two to three decades that we could – in the course of human history – find bread crumbs of our own thoughts-experience-lives-searches-postings-etc. (lives!) and the collective experience of everyone who ever goes online (i.e., “everybody,” essentially) “on the internet.” Our individual and collective search histories are cumulatively aggregated online. A dream for sociologists and marketers.
Relevant example #1: When I started reading Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, the author self-disclosed that she looked back at her own Google search history over several years and at her Google account. Based on her cumulative search history, Google had accurately figured that she’s a married high-income-earner with a child. Google had also assumed that she works in tech because she does so many searches about the tech industry; in that case, Google was mistaken….. Similarly, many people complain about targeted search engine advertising based on one’s search history (when you search for shoes, your search engine starts showing you advertisements for shoes….) and/or that “Google probably knows where I live…..” Then, there are the less-common tech privacy geeks like me who literally clear my cache and search history between EVERY search. I never get online advertising as there’s no cumulative history for search engines to use to identify my interests or life-trends (although the contours of my life could likewise be privately inferred by scanning the content of my email history…..).
Relevant example #2: When I want to tweak one of my websites to make the content relevant for the people who I want searching for my website, I go to Google Trends and look up society’s collective search histories from 2004 to the present to find which topical words and/or phrases – relevant to my website(s) – people are currently searching. Ditto when I periodically pay for online advertising. Then, I populate my website(s) or advertising with relevant search terms that match what people are searching for so I can make my content relevant to the people with whom I am looking to connect.
I am glad that Vauhini Vara had the insight to write this book (extra bonus: I learned in the book that she and I have lived in several of the same cities). I appreciate having this book be part of our collective reading for sociological naval-gazing.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
The cover of Ravenna M. Helson and Valory Mitchell’s book aptly introduces the book’s topic: A fifty-year study of women’s adult development.
I don’t recall how I found out about this book, but I was happy to find that my local library has the book. I picked up a copy yesterday.
Goodreads’ description of Women on the River of Life: A Fifty-Year Study of Adult Development begins as follows: “Commenced in 1958 with 142 young women who were seniors at Mills College, the Mills Study has become the largest and longest longitudinal study of women’s adult development, with assessments of these women in their twenties, forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies.” (Mills College is a private college in California.)
The first chapters of the book provide what a sociological study must provide – discussion of how the study came to be, an explanation of the study’s methodology, demographics of the study’s participants, limitations of the study (for example, all the study participants were women who could attend a private women’s college – indicating a more homogenous group of people within the study than would typically be found in broader society), an analysis of the social times within which the study occurred, an explanation of the benefits of a longitudinal study over a point-in-time study, etc. Such explanations for sociological studies are necessary, important, and informative.
After I skimmed through the introductory explanations to get a broad sense of the study and its’ parameters, I began happily finding valuable insights from what has been learned in this longitudinal study. For example, when the study leaders did the first series of interviews and had the study participants complete their first set of multiple questionnaires about their lives and about how the study participants socially identify, what goals they had, how their viewed their inner experience, etc. (when the study participants were in their final year of undergraduate study), the study leaders scored each study participant’s “social presence” based on the completed questionnaires. The study leaders wondered if scores of higher or lower “social presence” would impact the women’s adult lives in terms of goal achievement and other life measurements. Over the next several decades, subsequent follow up (questionnaires, etc.) did – in fact – show that higher or lower levels of “social presence” did correlate to life achievements or lack thereof: ability to achieve career goals, rates of marital stability or divorce, etc.
I am finding this book so insightful that reading a library copy isn’t enough. This study’s insights resonate with my own life experience. I see ways in which the sociological insights presented here can help me direct the course of how I navigate the world. I ordered a copy to have on my bookshelf at home.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
The ways through which we travel our faith journey – church attendance, types of prayer, etc. – should nurture our faith journey. If anything we participate in feels as though it is constricting our faith journey, either something is amiss or we are ready for additional or different faith activities. Being attentive to any sense of constriction is an opportunity to look to adapt either ourselves or our situation. It is entirely good when we notice that we need to adjust – we are being attentive in our faith journey (or, sometimes, it is an indication that we simply need to become more engaged). With a new year starting (2026) and with the Christmas season ending soon, this is a good calendar time to consider adding something new as we approach Ordinary Time (starting January 12).
By way of example, I am starting a Master’s in Theology in January (a “Masters in Theology Studies” or “MTS” for lay people rather than a Master’s in Divinity for pastors-in-training). At a recent meeting for registered MTS students, we were provided with the first of our faith formation sessions. We were told that Masters in Theological Studies degrees typically cover four academic subjects – scripture, ethics, systemic theology, and historical theology. In addition to academics, MTS programs – ours, at least – include faith formation of enrolled students – the degree process should include our faith maturation in addition to a focus on academics (a whole person approach). We were instructed to start participating daily in Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) – the daily prescribed prayer life of the Church.
In recent years, my prayer life has principally been one of contemplative prayer – both at home and in small prayer groups via Contemplative Outreach. There are as many ways to pray as there are people; contemplative prayer has been personally fruitful for me. In contemplative prayer, I encounter periods of time in which I experience God loving me – which has been freeing me from difficult aspects of “the human condition.” As with anything else, I do also experience occasional dry periods in my experience with contemplative prayer. Therefore, I am now open to also praying Liturgy of the Hours (Diving Office).
Prior to being recently instructed to start participating in Liturgy of the Hours, I viewed the Divine Office remotely (“from afar”) as the prerogative of priests and avowed religious – a respected activity distant from my daily life. When we were recently told to start participating in Liturgy of the Hours, part of me was intrigued. Another part of me was also relieved when we were told that Liturgy of the Hours is “a tool to help us pray, not a straight jacket to keep us from praying.” I am enjoying the journey into the Divine Office.
This daily prescribed prayer life of the Church is the Catholic church’s formal prescribed method for priests, deacons, avowed religious (i..e, nuns, brothers, etc.), and interested lay people to participate in Paul’s instruction for us to “pray without ceasing” (I think several other liturgical denominations also have Liturgy of the Hours?).
The print version of Liturgy of the Hours – around since 1970 as an outgrowth of Vatican II – is a series of four books with morning, evening, and throughout-the-day prayers for each liturgical season, feast days and Solemnities, and each day of the year. When I brought home a complete set of Liturgy of the Hours, I felt good about undertaking this new project. I was also surprised: finding one’s way to each days’ readings depends upon navigating pages and sections depending upon the liturgical season and assigned readings for specific feast days, holy days, etc. – it’s like navigating a small library’s equivalent of the Dewey Decimal System. No matter – praying the Hours means sharing in the mutual prayer life of everyone worldwide who prays the Liturgy of the Hours. For people who want to “keep it simple,” there are apps that will bring you each day’s readings. For lay people, we have the option of praying only the morning prayers (upon rising) and evening prayers (before going to bed).
A new, updated version of Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) – the daily prescribed prayer life of the Church – is the Catholic church’s formal prescribed method for priests, deacons, avowed religious (i..e, nuns, brothers, etc.), and interested lay people (I think several other liturgical denominations also have Liturgy of the Hours?).
The current print version of the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours – around since 1970 as an outgrowth of Vatican II – is a series of four books with morning, evening, and throughout-the-day prayers for each liturgical season, feast days and Solemnities, and each day of the year. When I brought home a complete set of Liturgy of the Hours, I felt good about undertaking this worldwide way of pray-without-ceasing. I was also surprised: finding one’s way to each days’ readings depends upon navigating pages and sections depending upon the liturgical season and assigned readings for specific feast days, holy days, etc. – it’s like navigating a small library’s to find each day’s readings. No matter – praying the Hours means sharing in the mutual prayer life of everyone worldwide who prays the Liturgy of the Hours. For people who want to “keep it simple,” there are apps that will bring you each day’s readings. For lay people, we have the option of praying only the morning prayers (upon rising) and evening prayers (before going to bed).
For anyone aware that avowed religious in monasteries get up at times like midnight and 3:00 or 4:00 am to do Liturgy of the Hours, I recently came upon interesting trivia regarding this practice. While most of us groan at interrupting a good night’s sleep, there’s actually a historical precedent explaining that this night time practice isn’t as difficult as it would seem. Prior to the Industrial Revolution – when night time lighting became available – it was biologically customary for people to sleep in two phases. In this biphasic sleep pattern, people had what Europeans called “first sleep” and “second sleep” – meaning that people would sleep for awhile (“first sleep”), then naturally wake up for an hour or longer and undertake activities before returning to sleep for “second sleep.” An interesting BBC article (available here) discusses this historical biphasic sleep pattern. Therefore, the monastic habit of a during-the-night portion of Liturgy of the Hours blends naturally with humanity’s historically-normal sleep patterns.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
I came upon Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind during COVID. I was out walking one day (alone, of course, there was a pandemic on….) and stopped at a Little Free Library in North Seattle. I went home with a whirlwind of a psychological thriller that captivated my imagination for weeks.
The Shadow of the Wind is set in Barcelona in 1945. This novel is wonderfully about books. And about people. And Barcelona. And, psychological suspense.
In this book, the writer manages to keep much in “the shadows” throughout the book – no way to “catch the whodunnit.” We are taken on the wind through the suspense of plot. Bottom line, Carlos Ruiz Zafon knows how to write.
This novel is dark. I attest to the author’s ability to write – the novel’s darkness took me into the depths of a dark despair. However, I couldn’t put the book down. When I had started reading a different book (several years earlier) that also led me into the depths of despair, I donated that other book to the library to get it out of my house rather than continue reading it. This book, however, doesn’t provide that option. I was so emotionally drawn into the book that I had to continue reading it. When I got to the end of the book, I was glad to have read it.
I’m looking forward to when I’ve forgotten enough details of the book that I can read it again. When I read it again, I’m going to be prepared for the depths to which the book takes the reader. The Shadow of the Wind is a must-read.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
I am reading John J. Collins’ book Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Fortress Press) for a graduate course on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
This is book for highly educational. The book itself is informative – I am learning a great deal about the historical, social, religious, and geographic contexts of the Near East.
The book’s contents are dense enough that I am regularly taking time to pause for reflection. I am now able to discuss the North and South kingdoms of Israel and Judah, for example, while being able to explain how Judaism and Christianity each came to call the first five books of the Hebrew Bible the Torah and the Pentateuch respectively. I looked up and printed out several maps to become more familiar with the geographic region of the Bible.
I was already aware – before reading this book – that recent Biblical scholarship thinks of several groups of writers for sections of the Hebrew Bible – the “E,” “D,” “J,” and “P” (priestly) sources. It’s interesting to read again about the academic theories about these various groups of writers.
This book is a great resource for anyone who wants to better understand the Hebrew Bible. In my case, I have previously read the Hebrew Bible and New Testaments – from the first page of Genesis to the final page of Revelations. I also took an undergraduate course from a rabbi on “The History and Culture of Ancient Israel.” Reading the entire Old and New Testaments and taking an undergraduate course before starting this book were both helpful in being able to take in the content of the Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.
The author taught at Yale Divinity School.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
More than just a book for religious historians, this book provides wide details and context on how church leaders came together – and sometimes didn’t come together – over the centuries to debate and articulate Christian theology.
I count myself among the bibliophiles who believe that every word of a book should be read to consider the book as having been read. In the case of this book, there is so much historical detail about each council, and historical context surrounding each council, and absorbing trivia that I am finding myself selectively choosing how much to summarily read about each time period the first time through this book (I may satisfy myself with selectively reading the book once through and keeping it a reference book). “Really?,” I found myself pondering. “A, B, X, Y really happened at this or that council or during this or that period in Church history?!?!?” As I read, I am scribbling trivia on sticky-notes to tell friends and fellow church folk about what I am learning about the history of the Christianity’s twenty-one ecumenical councils. As many of us know, the first council was the Council of Nicea in 325 through to Vatican II in the 1960’s.
Just this afternoon, I learned that an Empress was involved in the second council of Nicea in 786/7. Some councils were more ecumenical than others – in some cases, the councils were more heavily attended by bishops from the east than bishops from the west; today, individual denominations decide for themselves which of these historical councils were “ecumenical” (of note, the book’s author provides a listing within the book of which denominations consider with councils to have been ecumenical).
For non-historians, reading this book seriously will take the reader into reading additional books to learn more about the history and context of what was happening at the time of each council.
There’s plenty in this book for both historians and fans of religious trivia. It’s a book that really needs to be read over time so as to really absorb the content covered for each time period.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages and at The Hermitage Within. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
I recently came upon An Immigration of Theology by Fr. Simon Kim and am intrigued with what the author has done with this book.
Goodreads summarizes this book, in part, with the following: “The theological reflections of Virgilio Elizondo and Gustavo Gutiérrez are examples of the ecclesial fruitfulness of the second half of the twentieth century. Following the directives of Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council, [they] present the Gospel message in relevant terms to their own people…. Inspired by this moment in Church history, while at the same time recognizing the plight of their people….. [they] discovered a new way of doing theology by asking a specific set of questions based on their local context. By investigating where God is present in [their local context], both theologians have uncovered a hermeneutical lens in rereading Scripture and deepening our understanding of ecclesial tradition…. a theological method that takes seriously the contextual circumstances of their locale. By utilizing the common loci theologici of Scripture and tradition in conjunction with context and their own experience, [they] illustrate…. how every group must embrace their own unique theological reflection.”
I find this interesting – there seems to be the option in this book of stating that we must make theological concepts relevant to our own circumstances while also stating that theological principles are universal. What I am hoping to read in this book – now that I have it sitting on my coffee table – is that theological principles are universal in principle and also local in adaptation.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
In the early centuries of Christianity, Christians seeking solitude and a focused relationship with God would sometimes head into the desert in small groups or as individual hermits – particularly into North Africa and Palestine. Enough ascetics did this at the time that non-hermits in villages and cities knew of this phenomenon. People would sometimes head into the desert to seek spiritual counsel from the desert dwellers. Some desert dwellers graciously provided this spiritual counsel. In other instances, visits from people seeking counsel (counsel of even just one word!) would drive the desert-living ascetics deeper into more isolated regions of the desert to more fully find the isolation they sought.
As people sought desert wisdom from the ascetic monastics, word spread throughout the region of the wisdom communicated by the self-isolating followers of God who were living in the desert. Quotes and phrases were shared and quoted by visitors to the desert monastics that developed into something of a a collective body of wisdom.
I discovered in reading In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by John Chryssanvgis that any number of books have been written over the subsequent centuries about the lives, faith, and wisdom of these ascetic desert dwellers from early Christianity. In this particular book, Goodreads aptly describes the books’ content as “Words of spiritual counsel from the heart of early Christian monasticism.” For readers interested in reading more about desert mothers and fathers, In the Heart of the Desert provides a useful bibliography directing readers to additional books on this subject.
As an aside, one of my previous entries on another blog pondered the perceived relationship between types of geography – such as deserts – and how we perceive spiritual pursuits. That blog post can be read here.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
Book Review: The Spirituality of the Christian East
I came upon this book during my current phase of reading about the Christian East (i.e., Eastern Orthodox). As I read this book, I am surprised that it’s not more widely known and discussed among readers of Christianity.
The Spirituality of the Christian East, as summarized by Goodreads, was written by Tomas Spidlak, “Professor-emeritus of the Pontifical Oriental Institute at Rome, [who] dedicated his scholarly life to studying and teaching the theology and spirituality of the Christian East….”
What I find compelling about this book is its’ readable overview of the historical, philosophical, and cultural inputs of how Christianity developed. I purchased this book for its’ focus on the Christian East – which I am learning more about (the Christian East broadly as well as specific geographic regions of the Eastern Church – Russian, Greek, Coptic, Armenian, etc.) – yet, I am also recognizing that anyone wanting a historical overview of Christianity’s overall development will find an insightful and informative read in this book.
As a reader from Western Christianity, I have been surprised to discover in this book that the Eastern Orthodox tradition has its’ own set of recognized faith leaders over the centuries – historical saints, mystics (hesychasts), Desert Fathers, leaders. Symeon the New Theologian, etc. I shouldn’t find this surprising. It simply hadn’t occurred to me that the Orthodox tradition has it’s own people that it recognizes by name.
This book is worth reading for anyone interested in an introduction to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and/or a historical overview of Christianity in general.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
Book: Paths to the Heart – Sufism and the Christian East
Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East is an interesting book – a compilation of presentations from a conference held shortly after 9/11 where a group of people met to discuss similarities of the religious views between the Christian East (i.e.., Eastern Orthodox) and Sufi Muslim.
I am about half-way through this book. What emerges in this book is engaging observations about the contemplative aspects shared by Eastern Orthodox and Sufi Islam. For anyone interested in the contemplative aspects of Eastern Orthodox, Sufi Islam, or both….. Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East is a worthwhile read – a book that one doesn’t want to put down; rather, it’s a book to be savored and read again.
Bibliophile and would-be-antiquarian Kim Burkhardt reviews books at The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!).
The Books of the Ages 