229

GROUP MEETING

Contemporary Religious 
Literature Conversation Group
Facilitators 
Donna Wells, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary 
Jennifer Ulrich, Eastern Mennonite University

ABSTR ACT The Contemporary Religious Literature Conversation 
Group provides a space during the annual conference to discuss books 
and other resources that the group finds interesting and meaningful. It’s 
a good place to find the next book on your reading list. 

A small group met on Friday morning to discuss what they have been 
reading throughout the year. 

The group discussed Nancy Pearl’s “Rule of 50,”1 which basically 
says, read fifty pages of a book and then if you don’t like it go ahead 
and move on to the next book. We decided that it is okay to put down 
a book if you don’t like it.

We had a good time chatting about what we’d been reading and 
watching. Here’s the list.

Berry, Steve. The Malta Exchange. New York: Minotaur Books, 2019.

Card, Orson Scott. Rachel & Leah: Women of Genesis. New York: Forge, 
2005.

Card, Orson Scott. Rebekah: Women Of Genesis. New York: Tom Doherty 
Associates, 2001.



230  ATL A 2019 PROCEEDINGS

Card, Orson Scott. Sarah: Women of Genesis. New York: Forge, 2001.

Cosper, Mike. Faith among the Faithless: Learning from Esther How to Live in 
a World Gone Mad. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Books, an imprint 
of Thomas Nelson, 2018.

Hastings, Max. Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940–1945. New York: Vintage 
Books, 2011.

Haog, G. G., W. K. Willmer, and G. H. Henson. The Council: A Biblical 
Perspective on Board Governance: ECFAPress, 2019.

McDermott, Alice. The Ninth Hour. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 
2018.

Millard, Candice. Hero of the Empire: the Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the 
Making of Winston Churchill. New York: Anchor Books, 2017.

Miller, Madeline. Circe. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.

Sanneh, Lamin O. Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on 
Culture. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2009. 

Shteyngart, Gary. Super Sad True Love Story. London: Granta, 2010.

Vodolazkin, E. G. and Lisa C. Hayden. Laurus. London: Oneworld 
Publications, 2016.

Westover, Tara. Educated: A Memoir. New York: Random House, 2018.

Wilson-Lee, Edward. The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books: Young Columbus 
and the Quest for a Universal Library. London: William Collins, 2018.

Wright, Joe (dir.), Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony 
McCarten, Douglas Urbanski, Gary Oldman, et al. Darkest Hour. 
Universal City, CA: Universal Studios, 2018.

ENDNOTES

1 “Nancy Pearl’s Rule of 50,” Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada), 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/
nancy-pearls-rule-of-50-for-dropping-a-bad-book/
article565170/.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nancy-pearls-rule-of-50-for-dropping-a-bad-book/article565170/
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nancy-pearls-rule-of-50-for-dropping-a-bad-book/article565170/
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nancy-pearls-rule-of-50-for-dropping-a-bad-book/article565170/