"I am Malala" by Malala Yousafzai

I am Malala is a touching story of an amazingly brave Pakistani girl who is an advocate for children's education around the world. At the age of fifteen, she was shot by the Taliban for speaking out for girls' education, but miraculously survived and went on to address the UN and write a bestselling book. Her father founded a school for boys and girls in Pakistan and was a community leader advocating for peace and education. From an early age, with her father's encouragement, Malala was vocal about girls' rights to education. When she was eleven, she wrote a blog for the Urdu BBC website about her life under the Taliban; and later traveled with her father around the country visiting schools and making speeches about the need for education and peace. Her book provides an insight into the Pashtun culture and way of life. She draws a very clear distinction between Islam and the teachings of the Taliban. Reading the book, I was struck by the purity of her soul. She lived through the horrors of public executions, school bombings, constant threats to her father's and her own life, and finally her own brush with death. Despite all of this, she preserved her passion for knowledge and desire to bring education and better chance in life to all children. Her prayers for the world are deeply moving. Malala was just a child trying to do her best at school and dreaming of making her country a better place for everyone. Her passion for life and knowledge is contagious. As long as there are Malalas in this world, humankind has a chance. What an amazing young lady! Everyone should read this book. If nothing else, it will teach us to be grateful for what we have in life.

"Zealot: the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" by Reza Aslan

I just finished this book, which has received quite a bit of attention lately, and honestly, I cannot say that reading this book was a worthwhile undertaking. To be fair, I think the author did a lot of reading and research in preparation. However, his book is filled with contradictions and will be frustrating for any serious student of the Bible. For example, the author states multiple times throughout the book that Jesus and his disciples were illiterate, uneducated day-laborers. But at the same time, he goes on to say that Jesus picked an obscure prophecy from the book of Daniel to confirm his status of Messiah. How could a simple illiterate peasant do that?

Aslan also disputes portions of the New Testament and brands them as total fiction with the aim of proving that Jesus was just another failed "messiah" who tried to rouse a Jewish rebellion against Rome. At the same time, he admits that Jesus never advocated violence and was a miracle worker, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead.

Furthermore, the author devotes a good portion of his book arguing that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, and most certainly never talked about his divine origin. However, he unequivocally states that something miraculous must have happened (i.e. Jesus' resurrection) for Jesus' movement to persist and for his followers to choose gruesome death over rejecting Christ's resurrection. Aslan also claims that the majority of the New Testament is based on Paul's teachings which were not in line with the teachings of the Apostles and therefore, not in line with the teachings of Jesus. The sole point of disagreement which he cites though is whether Christians must follow the Jewish law and rituals.

Needless to say, I found the book extremely frustrating; and moreover, I think it could be misleading to those who are not familiar with the Bible. Aslan cherry picks some portions of the Scriptures to support his claims and outright dismisses others. He also relies heavily on and does not dispute the verity of the writings of Roman historians, Josephus in particular.

I decided to get to the end of the book just to see what conclusion the author arrives at. It was a huge disappointment. Aslan basically concludes that "the Christ of Paul's creation has utterly subsumed the Jesus of history." He seems to think that Jesus was a zealous revolutionary who challenged Rome and tried to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, but that this Jesus is completely lost to history.

To me, the fact that Aslan failed to disprove Jesus' miracles or his resurrection speaks volumes. He in fact admits that Jesus most probably did work miracles, and something miraculous (such as his resurrection) must have occurred for Jesus' movement to persist. As such, Jesus' works speak much louder than anything else Aslan might have said in his book.

In sum, I think Reza Aslan did a great job marketing his book, but reading it was utterly frustrating and disappointing.