Best this month
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Percy (Emjay Anthony) reconnects with his father, Carl (Jon Favreau), in Chef.
money it pays you or the way it will make you appear to others. It is, above all else, something that lets you love.” Carl is a successful chef at a chic Los
Chef This appealing drama illustrates the difference between a
job and a vocation. As writer Kent Nerburn wrote in Letters to My Son (New World Library, 1999): “A vocation fills you with a sense of meaning. It is something you choose because of what it allows you to say with your life, not because of the
My Sister Beth’s Pink Birthday: A Story About Sibling Relationships Beth is turning 3 and her big sister Jen still consid-
ers her a baby. She thinks Beth is too little for cake and all the presents she receives from the family, including a bike. After the party guests go home, Jen takes the pres- ents to her room. Her mother tells her they are for Beth and she will get her own when it’s her birthday in a month. This book by Marlene
Author bio:
The Brussats publish the website www.SpiritualityandPractice. com where you can find more information about the items reviewed in this column.
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www.thelutheran.org
L. Szymona is published by the American Psychologi- cal Association. It ends with two pages of notes to par- ents and caregivers on how they can help improve sib- ling relationships. There are also questions to use when discussing the book with children (Magination Press,
www.apa.org/pubs/ magination).
Lila This is the third in a series of novels taking place
in Iowa during the 1950s. Marilynne Robinson, who teaches at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for Gilead, which centered on a Congregational minister. That book focused on the pastor’s relationship with his best friend; this one is about the life and feelings of a migrant drifter who becomes his wife and mother of his son. Lila has grown up on the road and is used to travel- ing light, unencumbered by posses- sions. A loner, she finds it hard to trust people. But the minister’s love changes her. Robinson circles around a hand-
ful of spiritual themes that serve as sturdy accompaniments to the main melody of loneliness: the deep delights of reveling in God’s grace, the debilitations and surprises of
old age, and the idiosyncratic nature of love between two very different people (Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
us.macmillan.com).
Angeles restaurant. But after a spat with a food critic, he loses his position. This gives him an opportunity to finally have some quality time with his 10-year-old son, Percy. They take a trip to Miami where Carl comes up with the idea of selling Cuban sandwiches from a food truck. He immediately gets Percy to help him clean and restore the truck. Soon the boy under-
stands his father’s enthusiasm for really good cooking. Dur- ing their drive back to L.A., he uses Twitter and other social media to promote the new business. This mutual assistance is what every father and son dream about but rarely achieve. It is beautifully illustrated in this movie. (Universal Studios, R— language, some suggestive references.) Now on DVD.
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