Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative has been sitting on my shelf of to-be-reads most of the year. As people who follow Jesus, we inherited God’s story. It’s not a dissertation, an instruction manual, a bulleted list of doctrine. When we open its pages, we step into a story that came from a culture radically different than our own with different styles of storytelling. Saying that Scripture is story doesn’t mean that it’s not true; it means we need to read it the correct way. Alter is here to help us learn to read the narrative that we find in Scripture.

The Art of Biblical Narrative is a meaty read. I saved it on purpose for a break from seminary classes because I don’t work through this type of material on top of coursework. My brain needs a break. (Here’s what I’m reading for a “break” now so take that for what it’s worth.) But I picked it up between summer and fall classes and quickly realized, however uncomfortable I occasionally felt with some of Alter’s assumptions, this book will change how I read Scripture.

Moving is exhausting. Everyone who has moved is nodding, but since we had lived in Kentucky for 17 years, including college, I was not prepared for boxing everything up, sleeping on air mattresses, untangling the mess of dates and closing and paperwork, and then moving into a completely new place with our belongings still in boxes. Cognitively I understood what it meant, but emotionally, it took much more than I expected. I promise I have a much greater level of sympathy if anyone says they have to move. Even if the move is anticipated and not dreaded, you are welcome to cry on my shoulder and I’ll make scones for consolation and nourishment.

I might not have updated the blog with summer reading, but I did still write it all down. If you’re questioning whether or not moving is exhausting (did I mention that moving is exhausting?), please note that I only read three books in July and one of them was for my summer seminary class.