What We've Been Reading, Summer 2006

What we say about what we're reading... we're posting blog-style here so the newest reviews will be at the top.

Paulo Koelho

The Alchemist, a fable about following your dream

read by: Rusty Perez

This was one of the books which served as a sermon
illustration at Crosswalk this summer. I've heard about Koelho, but this
is the first time I have read one of his books.

This is a short book about a boy who is encouraged, through several chance
meetings, to persue his dream.

As the title describes it, this book reads like a fable. An alchemist
does, in deed, make gold, and it seems that no matter how many times the
boy meets up with danger, the universe is conspiring to see him succeed.

the book is an inspiring read. Among it's many little lessons it teaches
us to pay attention to what God is trying to tell us in seemingly
meaningless interactions and events in our lives.
We learn, through the boy's observations of his sheep and the desert, that
we can learn a multitude of things from the most mundane circumstances.

We learn to listen and trust our instincts and the little voice inside of
us that says, "yes, it's possible."

We learn to think, like children, that our dreams can come true.

It was a very moving book. Koelho weaves biblical immagery and stories in
unexpectedly and makes these stories come to life.
You will enjoy this book.

Elaine Pagels

Beyond Belief

read by: Jennifer Subriar

While the subtitle of this book is The Gospel of Thomas,
there s much more in this book than that. It seemed to me that it was much
more a discussion about the Gnostic gospels in general, rather than just
about the Gospel of Thomas. She gives a crash course in the canonization
process how it was decided which manuscripts would be included in the
Bible. She educates us on who the most influential writers were, their
perspectives, their cultures, and why certain doctrines were considered
orthodox. Since I read this before I read the Gospel of Judas, it prepared
me for the processes and players I met there. There s lots of material,
presented in an intelligible fashion. While it s somewhat clear which side
of the fence she s on, she sounds more objective than I had anticipated.
But I think I m really getting tired of this demythologizing stuff

Roberta Bondi

Memories of God: Theological Reflections on a Life

read by: Suzanne Mallery

This book is a type of spiritual autobiography of Roberta
Bondi, a well-known early church historian. Bondi's account isn't linear,
but instead is framed in stories or vignettes of her life and the ways in
which she fought to "unlearn" some of the harsh and demanding theology of
her youth. Bondi reflects extensively on gender and the ways in which
1950s formulations of women's roles and worth impacted her views of God.
She also explores the interplay of rational, intellectual approaches to
God and the experiences and convictions of the heart.

I appreciated Bondi's openness in her description of her own journey. I
could identify with a lot of her conflicts and experiences, and I found it
helpful to me in my own journey to reflect on some of her insights. I
felt, though, that in some ways perhaps this autobiography was written too
soon. In other words, it seemed to me in reading the narrative that Bondi
might still have been too close to the issues she raised, and the result
of this was inadequate perspective. Many of the insights she gained don't
seem to "shine" through the narrative in the way that it seems she intends
them to.

Despite my critiques, I found this to be a compelling book, and it gave me
a lot to think about in terms of my own spiritual journey. For those who,
like me, identify with Bondi, this book may provide fuel for critical
reflection and a light to draw them near to God.

Donald Cameron Watt

How war came: the immediate origins of the Second World War,
1938-1939

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

Watt, a British historian, tells the tale of the
complicated diplomatic negotiations and intrigues leading up to World War
II. While the tale has been told before (notably by Winston Churchill in
_The Gathering Storm_), Watt adds a lot of detail from material that has
come out later, and integrates the whole tale into a tragic story.

Perhaps not tragedy so much as catastrophe. The opening pages of the book
look backwards from 1945, in an elegiac lament for all that was lost in
the war... buildings, art, a millennium of craftsmens' work of joy and
beauty, cast into ashes in the midst of plague and flame and blast and
horror. It is a haunting, terrible, image.

The story bears comparison to Tuchman's _The Guns of August_, about the
prelude to the previous war, but I was reminded most of Thucydides careful
and detailed account of the buildup of the Pelopennesian War in the fourth
century BC, breaking off suddenly into a quick comment about what _really_
made the war inevitable: the growing power of Sparta and the fear it
inspired in Athens.

This war, too: for all the diplomatic negotiations, for all the ditherings
and lies of French diplomacy, for all the appeasement and bewilderment
among the British, even for all the paranoia and suspicion and mistakes of
Russia, one fact remains: Hitler had set his mind on war, and was
determined to have it. He got war, if not the war he wanted; he paid in
suicide, Europe in massive destruction.

I have not read a book that better describes the twilight years of
waiting: the negotiations at the top, the miscomprehensions of each side,
with Hitler thinking (not without reason) that the Russians could be
fooled, and the West bluffed, into surrender; with Mussolini trying to
figure out whose coattails to ride to glory as long as he could pretend to
be center-stage; with the French desperately trying to avoid another war;
with the British hating and loathing war, and slowly realizing that war
was coming after all, and the slow-kindled resolution rising in the
Island, till with the outbreak of war hate and fear and loathing found
their purpose, Britain standing as the world's shield against the rising
darkness, become what Hitler lied and said he was.

James M. Robinson

The Secrets of Judas

read by: Jennifer Subriar

This is *not* the book to read if you re interested in
knowing what the Gospel of Judas says! While the author whines about all
of the media hype that the owners of the document have stirred up, he was
not above taking advantage of this opportunity to come out with his own
book! He spent more time discussing the wheeling-and-dealing that went on
in procuring the document (some sour grapes here ) than about the contents
of the document itself. There s a good reason for this at the time this
book was released, the author had evidently not even seen the manuscript
in question, or a translation thereof. He speculates about what it
contains, again from writings of Irenaeus and Epiphanias. However, as I
stated in the review on The Gospel of Judas, these guesses turn out to
not even be close. If you re intrigued by the greed and politics of the
antiquities dealers, maybe you ll enjoy this. I was disappointed.

Rodolphe Kasser et.al.

The Gospel of Judas

read by: Jennifer Subriar

The Gospel of Judas gives a completely different
perspective as to who God is, who the disciples are, and it certainly puts
a different spin on the character of Judas Iscariot. While it s not clear
that this is the Gospel of Judas of which Irenaeus and Epiphanias wrote
(there may be more than one), it is understandable why they would consider
this one a heresy. From Epiphanias writings (4th century C.E.)
researchers were probably expecting that the Gospel of Judas would say
either a) Judas knew that Jesus did not have the truth, and was a hero
because he turned him over to the Jewish authorities; or b) Jesus was the
Christ, but the powers of this world were attempting to stop the
crucifixion (and resultant resurrection), ruining the plan of salvation,
so Judas was a hero for making sure that it did take place. It turns out
that neither of these is the case (except for the part about Judas being
the hero!); the story of this gospel is much more radical than that!

The editors of the book, after an explanatory introduction, give the text
of the codex as it has been pieced together. It is fragmentary, and
several key sections are missing or illegible. It is accompanied by
several footnotes that help explain the meaning or give various
interpretations of the text. After the text is given, there are
commentaries about the text that help fill in what is missing, and
consider the culture in which this story arose. Very interesting reading

Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things

read by: Suzanne Mallery

I had somewhat mixed feelings about this book, which is
the story of a family tragedy set in the social turmoil of 1960s Kerala.
The prose is stunning, novel, and beautiful, and the book is worth reading
on this basis alone. There were several points, however, when it seemed
to me that the style took over the plot or overreached itself, and I got
bogged down in the reading.

The story is told from the perspective of Rahel and her twin brother
Estha, and the author faithfully captures the children's perspective, in
that time is often jumbled or compressed, many adult events are unclear or
are misinterpreted, and situations are seen without much perspective on
the motivations of other actors. Perhaps as a result many of the
characters appeared flat to me, and I had some difficulty feeling engaged
with them.

Overall, I found it an enjoyable book to read, and was fascinated by the
author's wordplay. It took me a long time to get through the book,
though, because the book didn't draw me in enough to make me return
immediately after an interruption.

Tony Hendra

The Messiah of Morris Avenue

read by: Suzanne Mallery

This novel is satirical speculative fiction based 15 years
in the future, at which time the US has become a Christian theocracy. In
the new America, Christian leaders have more political power than elected
officals, the first amendment has been repealed, provoking Armageddon is a
political objective, and blasphemy and environmentalism have become
criminalized. Into this environment appears a poor young man, the child
of Guatemalan immigrants, who heals people, preaches nonviolence,
collects a following of deadbeats and "crack whores," and claims to be the
messiah, returned to correct misinterpretation of his earlier message.
The clash between this man and the Christian hierarchy is inevitable and
thought provoking, as is his ultimate execution for treason.

This novel is bound to be offensive to many, and I don't recommend it for
general reading. For those who can get past the initial premise that the
messiah would return for purposes other than those we traditionally
expect, however, the book may prompt reflection on our own assumptions
about what God is "supposed" to do. I found it a useful exercise to
observe my own reactions to the unfolding of the story, and found that I
became engrossed enough by the story that several times I was surprised by
the events that unfolded, even though I "knew" the basic plotline by
heart. Although I didn't agree with everything the author seemed to be
supporting, I still found that my reflection on the story impacted me
personally and spiritually in a way I feel was valuable.

Cox, Lynne

Grayson

read by: Jennifer Subriar

From the Bestsellers Shelf
When I was updating the Bestsellers book records, I ran across this book.
With the title Grayson, I couldn t figure out what it was about, much
less why it would be a bestseller. As I checked the online catalog
display, I clicked on the Worldcat Link, taking me to the OCLC site,
where I read a the whole first chapter from the book. I was hooked I had
to check it out! This story reads more like fiction than non-fiction, but
maybe that s because I ve never had an experience anything like this! It s
an inspiring narrative that takes place off the coast of Seal Beach and
well, I don t want to give the story away. Just go to the catalog, search
by title for Grayson, click the Worldcat link, select the Details tab,
and go down to Sample Text . If you read it, you ll be hooked, too!

Saul Bellow

The Actual

read by: Annemarie Hamlin

Having never read any Saul Bellow before, I picked up this
novella at a used book sale. The story is of a man who as an adult
becomes reacquainted with his first love, a woman who has been through two
marriages and difficult times. The book offers some intriguing characters
and situations, and the ending does offer a nice--though small--payoff.
The rather even pace of the book (no strong building to a climax and
resolution) left me wanting more, but I suspect a second read would yield
greater appreciation of the book's subtleties.

Brodie, Richard

Virus of the Mind

read by: Jennifer Subriar

I had never even heard of memes until I starting working
at the library. Then, I kept running into it on the lists that I monitor,
and it seemed like it might be something I should find out about. Virus
of the Mind is an introduction to memes and memetics, the study of memes.
The simplest definition of a meme used in this book is, a unit of
information in a mind whose existence influences events such that more
copies of itself get created in other minds. These ideas, attitudes, and
beliefs can become paradigms in our lives; Brodie calls them the mental
equivalent of viruses in biology. The book discusses the impact of these
viruses on us as individuals and on the entire culture. It s an
interesting perspective don t read it unless you re willing to be
infected!

Spong, John Shelby

A New Christianity for a New World: Why traditional faith is
dying & how a new faith is being born

read by: Jennifer Subriar

OK, so I m finally getting the gist of what this guy
believes. While he says he believes in God, and considers himself a
Christian, he defines these terms in ways that are certainly
non-traditional. He doesn t believe in a theistic God: the all-powerful
parent, watching over and protecting us, while rebuking and punishing us
for our evil ways. His definitions of God are these: 1) God is the
ultimate source of life; 2) God is the ultimate source of love; and 3) God
is Being the reality underlying everything that is. He reinterprets John s
God is love, as Love is God. It s all about community, love,
inclusiveness all admirable goals, and, indeed, goals that some of us see
our God leading us toward the Kingdom of God.

Of course, since he doesn t believe in a theistic God, neither does he
believe that Jesus is the human incarnation of that theistic God. He
believes that Jesus was strictly human, but a radically more humane,
complete human, able to get beyond the Darwinian instincts of
self-centeredness. Yes, Darwin weighs heavily in Spong s construction of
the non-theistic God! Spong calls himself a Christian because he embraces
the same concepts he sees in Jesus, not because he thinks Jesus is the Son
of God.

It s clear from the beginning that Spong is unhappy about the traditional
theistic God. His picture of God had been skewed by some of the more
fundamentalist teachings about God that every event is the will of God.
I can understand why, after years of trying to counsel and comfort church
members after a loss, he would be frustrated with a God who wills the
death of a child or other loved one. If I viewed life occurrences as the
result of God s will, I d probably be looking for another God, as well.

While I m not ready to accept Spong's vision of the new church, he does
bring up interesting points where we, as Christians (in the traditional
sense), often fall short. He does build an impressive case, one that I
think that is important to be able to address in this post-modern world.

Russell A. Hart

Clash of arms: how the Allies won in Normandy

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

A fairly through review of the American, British,
Canadian, and German armies in Normandy, starting with their pre-WW II
thought on how they were going to fight, and a brief review of each army's
war experience up to 1944. Hart argues that the British started the war
not knowing how to fight and never really learned, more or less blundering
into a heavy-firepower approach to fighting; the Canadians started out
with no thought at all, and had to copy British doctrine, but proved
somewhat more flexibile; the Americans started out with doctrine more or
less correct but inexperienced in actual fighting, then improved
dramatically during the course of 1944; the Germans started out with very
good fighting ability but with an army "front-loaded" for combat power at
the expense of staying power and intelligence, which came back to bite
them hard as Allied logistical superiority and air forces begun to gather.

So far, much of this is standard WW II analysis (though Hart's point that
the German racial ideology led them to assume that the
racially-akin-to-them British would be better fighters than the mongrel
Americans, contrary to the actual facts of the matter, is a very good one
and new to me); Hart manages to integrate a lot of useful research and
recent accounts as well.

Recommended if you like WW II military analysis and comparative army neepery.

Jean Ferris

Once Upon a Marigold

read by: Suzanne Mallery

This fairy tale features a young boy, Christian, who gets
lost in a forest and is taken in by a troll. He grows up in a cave with
the troll, but spends his free time creating new inventions and spying on
a nearby castle in which live the princess Marigold and her family.
Marigold is cursed with the ability to read other people's thoughts when
she touches them, and everyone avoids her. Christian and Marigold begin
to correspond by "p-mail" (carrier pigeon) and develop a relationship.
Marigold's evil mother and her pet ferret intervene to ensure that the
kingdom remains under her control. The story features a fight to break
the tooth fairy's monopoly on the tooth-collecting business, a
twice-disrupted wedding, and a flying machine.

This is pretty light reading, nothing particularly profound, but funny and
enjoyable all the same.

Geoffrey Parker

The Grand Strategy of Phillip II

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

Highly recommended. Nobody has yet done a complete analysis of Phillip II,
basically because he was drowning in paperwork by the 1570s and most
historians don't have the indefatigable energy to wade through all that
paper, but Parker analyzes three major episodes and concludes that Phillip
II's micromanagement and inability to delegate were his biggest problems.
While not exactly news, Parker's analysis is boosted by his comparisons of
historical data with modern management theory and the occasional
comparison with the recent (1940- ) American White House as to how leaders
handle information overloard.

I also learned a lot of stuff about the Armada (state of research has
advanced considerably since Garrett Mattingly; e.g. Parker's cite that the
English ships did receive moderate damage, but you have to look for the
records somewhere other than had been expected: previous researchers only
found the accounts for repair of rigging, etc., and concluded that the
English hulls had been undamaged, but their repairs had been paid for in a
separate account...), and the global state of Phillip's responsibilities
(e.g., a fortress in Goa in India was not built because Phillip needed the
money for the Enterprise of England, and he turned down a plea by the
Spanish colonists at Manila to invade China, for the same reason).

Also some very nice analysis of the interplay between structural factors
in history, and individual ones -- how much does the man matter, how much
the system?

Karen Propp

Why I'm Still Married

read by: Kitty Simmons

Subtitled, Women write their hearts out on live, loss,
sex, and who does the dishes , this is a collection of essays by women
literary authors writing about the staying power of their marriages. The
relationships are both traditional and nontraditional and range in
duration from fifty years to the relatively newlywed. The variety of
experiences and life stories make for an interesting read. Since all the
essayists are authors some aspects relating to professional aspirations
recur, however this unifying theme also provides insights into their lives
as authors as well as their role as wives. One of the memorable quotes
for me appears near the end, as a long-time husband sums up his marriage:
And some people are just lifers. With all the peaks, pitfalls, and
happenstance between the I Do and the intervention of Death, those words
probably account for the longevity of marriage as much as anything else.

Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

read by: Annemarie Hamlin

If its perspective on autism is anywhere near accurate,
this book gave me great insight into the reactions of autistic people to
the world around them. Narrated by an autistic teenage boy, this novel
reveals not only the mystery of Wellington, the neighbor s dog who has
just been murdered when the story begins, but also the mystery of the boy
s small family and its relationship to its neighbors. Through
first-person narrative, we come to understand and sympathize with his
desire to not be touched, to not hear loud noises, to be too close to
people, and his love of mathematics. We also watch him grow in small ways
that suggest he will eventually find ways to become a functioning adult in
the non-autistic world that surrounds him.

At times I tired of the complicated segues the narrator makes into
explanations of scientific facts, mathematical formulas, and even (yes!)
literary works, but I did feel that these gave me a more authentic sense
of the boy s inner life.

E.D. Bragg

The Frog Princess

read by: Suzanne Mallery

This book offers a new twist on the old fairy tale of the
frog prince. In this tale, a frog prince tries to convince a princess to
kiss him, but when she finally agrees, she turns into a frog too! The
rest of the story details their quest to find a key to turn themselves
back into humans. Along the way they meet a variety of fascinating
characters and the relationship between the two grows.

I found the story to be engaging and entertaining and a fairly light read.

Bernard Bragg and Eugene Bergman

Tales from a Clubroom

read by: Suzanne Mallery

Tales from a Clubroom, a classic play within Deaf culture,
was widely acclaimed when it was first performed in 1980 and has just been
re-released by Dawn Sign Press. Written by two pioneers in Deaf/ASL
theater, the play depicts a myriad of issues central to the tight-knit
Deaf community in America in the late 20th century. Deaf clubs were, for
many years, the center of Deaf social life and both a focal point for Deaf
issues and a microcosm of the general human experience of love, conflict,
grasping for power, and loss. The re-release of the play provides hearing
readers with a glimpse into this world. The new edition provides notes
that help explain to hearing readers some of the terms used and concerns
of the characters, although hearies with little to no experience with Deaf
culture may still find some points confusing. For example, deaf people
who pass out ASL alphabet cards in public places in exchange for donations
are generally viewed by the Deaf community as a source of shame and
embarrassment to the Deaf. Hearing readers who are unfamiliar with this
cultural value may initially be confused by the references to "ABC cards"
and the characters' references to a character who engages in this practice
as a "thief" and a "beggar."

Overall, for members of the hearing world, this is an introdution to a
world few know or understand. The play is still being performed, always
in ASL, though many Deaf theaters offer interpretation for hearing
audiences as well. For those who haven't experienced Deaf theater, going
to a play performed in ASL can be a fascinating experience.

David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas

read by: Patti Poblete

While I don't think Mitchell's novel is necessarily as
brilliant as some reviews have described it, this is certainly an
enthralling and puzzling piece of literature. It might be better
described as a series of loosely-connected short stories. Mitchell weaves
together a half-dozen different genres, eras, and narrators. Though there
is some--wholly intentional--disconnect between sections, I found myself
quickly engrossed in each dilemma presented.

Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Talents

read by: Patti Poblete

This follow-up to "Parable of the Sower" is set in a
future dystopia. In a twenty-first century American dystopia, Lauren
Olamina struggles to establish a community and a new belief system in the
midst of anarchy and plague. Butler, perhaps anticipating audience
skepticism of Lauren's beliefs, interweaves the more cynical views of
Lauren's husband, then, as well as her future daughter.

I found Butler's dystopia discomforting--not because of the presentation
of an alternative belief system, but due to the descriptions of an America
that could very well grow out of today's society. Overall, this is a
thought-provoking work of science fiction, and definitely something that
merits re-reading.

Marina Warner

Six Myths of Our Time

read by: Patti Poblete

Originally a lecture series presented by the BBC, these
essays explore six archetypal myths: the monstrous mother, the
monster-slaying male, the dual-faced child, the human beast, the cannibal,
and the (British) island home. Warner presents the ways in which these
archetypes surface, not only in folklore, but in today's popular culture.
As these essays were originally intended for a general audience, they
don't delve very deep, but I found them to be a good introduction and
overview of the mythological constructs.

Deborah Wiles

Each Little Bird that Sings

read by: Suzanne Mallery

This sweet novel centers around Comfort Snowberger, a
young girl whose family runs a funeral home in the downstairs of their
house. When two of Comfort's relatives die in close succession the family
gathers to mourn, and Comfort's whiny cousin is foisted on her. Comfort
does her best to shake him off, but when tragedy strikes she is forced to
make a split-second choice that will bind them together forever.

This is an easy read, and Comfort is a humorous narrator with a quirky
point of view. Because of the setting, the novel could have been morbid
or filled with platitudes about death, but Wiles weaves a story that is
touching without being sentimental.

Thich Nhat Hanh and Daniel Berrigan

The Raft is Not the Shore: Conversations Toward a
Buddhist-Christian Awareness

read by: Suzanne Mallery

Very challenging and enlightening book. I think in some
ways the title is in some ways misleading, in that the book is not really
ABOUT Buddhism and Christianity themselves but is more of a discussion
between a Buddhist monk and a Christian priest on a variety of topics.

Daniel Berrigan, a priest who was jailed for his protests during the
Vietnam War, and Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who was
exiled from Vietnam for his support of the people and resistance to the
government, recorded these talks in Paris in the 1970s. Both of them
challenge the faithful to undertake greater engagement in social
realities, including challenging the status quo. Their talks bring up a
number of uncomfortable issues, such as the extent to which religious
institutions become economically embedded in maintaining injustice and the
dedication of people of faith to ideals and illusions that prevent them
from seeing clearly.

These conversations from the 1970s are remarkably relevant to current
world events, and confronted me with some of the ways in which my own life
is not consistent with what I claim to believe. Highly recommended. You
may not agree with everything, but the discussions will push you to think.

"Found by" Kristine Atkinson and Joyce Atkinson

Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason

read by: Suzanne Mallery

This is an interesting book, and I can't help but say I'm
way over my head in the finer points of review on it. Perhaps some
English faculty member could clarify what I'm missing, but .... In brief,
this is a combination of folk art and literature, in the form of an
altered book. The book is laid out as a scrapbook/journal pasted over the
pages of another book, which I believe is Lucile, by Owen Meredith (aka
Edward Robert Bulwer-Litton). Interestingly, Meredith's book appears to
have been plagiarized from George Sand's Lavinia.

SO ... the scrapbook pasted over Lucile is a murder mystery told in the
form of a journal in clippings, text, paintings, postcards, emails,
photos, and various memorabilia. The journal, purportedly written by Amy
Zoe Mason, follows her relationship with her husband and a friend up to
the point of her death. Subsequent clippings by the authors (who claim to
have found the journal in a desk drawer) reveal Amy s fate.

Interestingly, there is also a story outside the book. The authors have a
website detailing how they found the journal, and referencing a website
purportedly by Amy s daughter, Susan. Susan s website is a memorial to
Amy, and references her MySpace page containing a blog about her reactions
to the publication of the book. Susan has a number of friends on MySpace,
etc. You get the idea.

I enjoyed the book though the plot wasn t as complex as I would have
liked. The sections from Lucile that show between the scrapbook items are
interestingly juxtaposed with the storyline, and the combination of art
and literature is well done. Overall an entertaining book, but check it
out of the library rather than buying it.

Bud, not Buddy

read by: Christina Viramontes

This is a sweet, but depressing story set during the Great
Depression about an African-American 10-year-old boy. Bud is an orphan
who is sent to live with a foster family, only to escape their abusive
ways. He decides he must go to Grand Rapids to find his long lost father.

Constantine Porphyrogenitus

De administrando imperio

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Emperor of Byzantium,
wrote this manual on how to run the empire for his son (who proved not to
be as studious as his father, alas); it's still a primary source for our
knowledge of Byzantium and the lands around it in the ninth century AD.

The most interesting section is near the beginning where Constantine
discusses who Byzantium should ally itself with, and why, and various
techniques of how to convince the barbarians not to demand too much money,
or copies of the imperial robes, or (worst of all) marriage to imperial
princesses. ("Yes, <name of previous emperor> did that, but he was cursed
by God for doing so and excommunicated by the Patriarch, so you must
understand that we can't do that again.")

There are a lot of nuggets in here that reward the careful reader, but the
overall style isn't the most readable (then again, Constantine was writing
a manual, not a novel... I don't suppose modern National Intelligence
Estimates are stirring reading either.)

If you like Byzantine history, this should not be missed. If you don't
care about the Byzantines, read the first few chapters. If you hate and
despise the Byzantines, go read something else.

Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Paul T. Barber

When they severed earth from sky; how the human mind shapes myth

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

Myth, the Barbers explain, is generally encoded history,
mostly of natural events (volcanoes, astronomical observations, sometimes
other things) -- the observed facts are often accurate, but the
explanations tend to vary widely from the norm; by throwing out
unbelievable explanations we blind ourselves to the recorded facts.
Normally I would dismiss this sort of thing as garbage, but they start off
with some fairly well-attested facts... for instance, the Klamath Indian
myth of the fight between the Sky Chief and the Chief of the Below World,
which turns out to be a pretty accurate description of the eruption of
Mount Mazama more than six thousand years ago. This makes one sit up and
take notice!

The account is fairly wide-ranging, covering a lot of myths from a lot of
different cultures, and dealing with various explanatory principles that
the Barbers have put together from their analysis. They point out that
before the development of writing, it simply wasn't possible to record and
transmit enough information across the generations for people to realize
the causes of various events; stories that were first told as analogies
("that looks like a giant black bird of smoke over the mountain; that red
glow beneath it looks like blood") turn into descriptions that are easier
to retell ("the black eagle is tearing out someone's liver"), and we have
the story of Prometheus, traced back several thousand years to an eruption
of Mt. Elburz in the Caucausus. (They also derive the Norse Loki from
this same eruption, an interesting study in the way stories change over
time and are adapted by their cultures.)

The argument goes that some of these myths were codified very far back
(for instance, the Greek myths about changes in the heavens when Kronus
displaced Uranus and then Zeus Kronos, they argue, refer to changes in
constellations caused by the precession of the equinoxes -- which happen
more than two thousand years apart, and the myths record _two_ of them, so
the original tales and structure go back more than four thousand years, to
well before the development of writing... and there are hints of a third
shift as well.)

Overall, the book is well-argued, if not entirely convincing -- but I
found myself intererested enough to go back into their bibliography and
start looking up some of the more detailed studies they cite (such as the
corollary between Hawaiian myths of Pele and dated volcanic flows). This
is very much a summary book, and might have benefited from more detailed
analysis of fewer myths in more depth. I'm not entirely convinced... and
yet, there's that Klamath story that passed down details for _six thousand
years_.

Hmm....

Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilemma

read by: Suzanne Mallery

Pollan's book is a critical investigation of the American
way of eating. Pollan traces a McDonald's meal back to its sources, in
the process raising many ethical questions about the sustainability of our
way of life; the health, safety and nutritional quality of the food
supply; and the abuses which occur throughout the system in the interest
of competitive pricing and "efficiency." He critiques our reliance on
corn and discusses the political and historical factors that have given
rise to this reliance as well as its impact on public health and the
viability of small farming. He makes a compelling argument that the
American way of eating is not sustainable, largely because of its heavy
reliance on fossil fuels and monoculture. Pollan also critiques the
organic food movement, particuarly its evolution into big business, and
discusses they ways in which the "organic" certification process has been
a disservice to small farmers. In the third section of the book Pollan
explores an alternative: the small farmer devoted to sustainability,
humane treatment of animals, and ecologically sound farming. His time on
such a farm serves as a sharp contrast to his earlier descriptions of the
decidedly disturbing and unnatural ways in which meat and poultry are fed,
housed, treated, and slaughtered in the mainstream food supply industry.
Finally, Pollan describes his experiences with hunting and foraging for
food, though he's clear that he does not see this as a viable alternative
food source on any significant scale.

Pollan's writing is thoughtful and thorough. Given the topic and the
nature of his discoveries, this could have turned into a tedious polemic,
but Pollan manages to keep the discussion interesting and even humorous.
He is adventurous enough to participate in the lives of the people he
interviews, and this adventurous spirit enlivens the narrative. Overall
this is a surprisingly engaging read. Highly recommended to anyone who
cares what he or she is eating, where it comes from, what it's doing to
his or her health, and whether it will still be readily available in 20
years.

Michael Kenney and Sarma Melngailis

Raw Food, Real World

read by: Suzanne Mallery

I have to admit that I was surprised to find myself
reading this book. I have generally been a strong critic of food fads and
the raw food movement definitely falls into that category. I actually
stumbled onto this movement by accident. I had been put onto a very low
sodium diet by my doctor, and quickly discovered that eating in a
restaurant is a near impossibility, as essentially all restaurant entrees
contain more sodium than I'm allowed to eat for an entire day. One day in
San Francisco this summer, in desperation to find something I could eat
one, of my friends suggested a local raw food cafe, the "Cafe Gratitude"
which seemed to exude more than its share of karmic weirdness. The food,
though, was low in salt, and surprisingly, spectacular. More than
spectacular ... it was the best restaurant food I've eaten at least since
I was in college (and that was a long time ago). So, reluctantly I
decided to investigate.

Raw Food, Real World is a good match for the reluctant, in that unlike
many proponents of this movement, the authors are realistic about the
difficulties of eating raw and they take a "do what you can" approach
rather than an "eat raw or die" hardline stance. I was impressed also by
the minimal appearance of the pseudoscience which seems to flourish in the
natural food world. Both authors are professional chefs, and their
expertise shines through. Although I had expected "raw food" to mean
carrot sticks and salads, this book demonstrates that it can be much, much
more. The authors make innovative use of a variety of ingredients and
they thoroughly explain the rationale and use of each. Rather than just
telling the reader how to make a food, they describe what it is, where to
get it, what to substitute if you can't get it, how well it freezes, etc.
There are a lot of personal comments and anecdotes about their own
experiences making and eating foods and about making the shift from eating
cooked food to raw foods.

The book contains recipes for a number of dishes, many containing
surprising ingredients (cheese made of cashews, "noodles" made of strips
of squash, etc). The recipes are accompanied by gorgeous photos that
immediately had me making grocery lists and planning menus. The book is
much more than a recipe book, though. It's an introduction to a
lifestyle, with thorough descriptions of what that entails. Unfortunately
part of what it entails is a rather substantial investment into new
cooking equipment for most of us (unless you have a food dehydrator and a
Vita Mixer lying around the kitchen).

While I don't see myself "going 100% raw," I do expect to incorporate some
of the information I've learned in this book into our family's diet. Even
if you aren't convinced that heating food is evil (I'm not particularly,
though I do see the nutritional benefits of fresh over cooked for many
foods), once you've read through the book your mouth will be watering so
much that it will be hard to resist slipping into the kitchen to try your
hand at making some of the authors' specialties.

Ellen Kushner

Privilege of the Sword

read by: Patti Poblete

In this sequel to "Swordspoint," Kushner details the story
of Katehrine Tremontaine, who travels to the city at the request of her
uncle the duke. Instead of being introduced to society, however,
Katherine finds herself under tutelage of a swordsmaster. While the novel
is primarily a coming-of-age story, it also serves as an intricate
exploration of the politics and manners of noble society.

Sarah Vowell

The Partly Cloudy Patriot

read by: Patti Poblete

In this collection of personal essays, Vowell explores her
frustration with and love of American culture. With topics ranging from
movies and television, to national parks, to disappointing presidential
elections, to disconcerting family reunions, Vowell uses wit and fervor to
express just how much she loves her country, as well as how much she hopes
for it.

Lemony Snicket

The Penultimate Peril

read by: Patti Poblete

As the title suggests, this twelfth book is the
next-to-last chapter in the popular series, "A Series of Unfortunate
Events." Indeed, every twist of the book indicates a revelation, from the
backdrop of the Hotel Denouement, to the gathering of dozens of figures
from previous novels. Though purportedly part of a children's series,
Snicket's use of irony and wordplay makes this book, and the series as a
whole, enjoyable for readers of all ages.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Komarr

read by: Patti Poblete

In this sixteenth book of the Miles Vorkosigan series,
Bujold manages yet again to compose a novel both self-contained and rife
with continuity. Readers are again presented with a dense political
mystery--this time, a possible act of sabotage, which soon ties to a
terrorist group, an embezzlement scheme, and an unhappy marriage. By
using protagonist Miles and newcomer Ekaterin in alternating points of
view, Bujold allows the readers glimpses into all facets of the mystery,
while sneaking in a nascent romance, as well.

Frances Mayes

Bella Tuscany

read by: Patti Poblete

A companion volume to "Under the Tuscan Sun," this memoir
presents a full spectrum of Mayes's life. There is her home in Tuscany,
the chaos of her life in San Francisco. There are weddings, divorces,
harvests, and deaths. While the luxurious pace of the previous book is
repeated, we are given a more meditative and balanced work here. Yes,
there are still explorations of Italy, its quirks described in loving
detail, but Mayes also pushes the boundaries of our view. We aren't just
shown a life in Italy, we are shown a *life*, and this book is better for
it.

C. S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

read by: Annemarie Hamlin

We have been reading this book to our children in the last
few weeks, but I ll admit I snuck ahead and finished it before them. I
don t know how many times I ve read this book but continue to love it,
especially those sections that describe the mighty and gentle Aslan. I m
always taken back to my own childhood, when my parents read this book to
me and while listening, I could dream of riding on the lion s back like
Susan and Lucy. I can t wait to start the next book in the series!

H.C. Erik Midelfort

Mad Princes of Renaissance Germany

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

Midelfort discusses more than a dozen cases of mad princes
in Germany from 1490 to about 1610, culminating with the Emperor Rudolf
II. It's an interesting book, if perhaps not quite as detailed as I'd
hoped. He's trying to find out what people at the time considered as
mentally unstable, and how they treated such affairs (there's an
interesting aside or two on the difference between Galenic medicine, now
in a resurgence due to the printing of classical texts, and Paracelsian,
and at what point people gave up on doctors and started trying exorcisms.)
Given some of the remedies used, I'm just as happy not to have been
living back then (and while I have some understanding of ancient medical
theories, I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would think having a
calf's liver tied to your head would produce any results at all...).

There is also a lot of concern with political matters -- the prince is the
head of state; how does the state function when the prince is raging or
melancholy (a majority of the cases) or what we might term clinically
paranoid? There are a number of solutions (regency council, relative,
depose the prince), but all of them have their disadvantages.

There's also a debate with Michel Foucault's history of madness in early
modern Europe; Midelfort is less inclined than Foucault to see a single
uniform explanatory scheme crushing diversity out of existence, nor of
repression being the main explanation (there do seem to be a lot of people
there who honestly wanted to help their relatives, though there are a
couple of cases that look decidedly twitchy in hindsight).

Worth it if you like medical history; for detailed human interest stories
you might want to find actual biographies of the people involved, as
Midelfort has too many case studies to go into lots of detail on any one
of them.

Steve R. Waddell

United States Army logistics: the Normandy campaign, 1944

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing
you will like. Much detail about supply tonnages and how the Army dealt
first with ammunition shortages and then with fuel shortages, combined
with criticism of J. C. Lee, the general in charge of Eisenhower's supply
services, and his peculiar theories of organization, which resulted in
much confusion.

Louis Sachar

Holes

read by Brooke Hess

Louis Sachar tells the story of Stanley Yelnates, a boy
who was falsely accused of committing a crime and then sent to serve his
sentence at Camp Green Lake, a wasteland where the warden makes Stanley
and the others dig a big hole each day. Stanley, like every good
protagonist, has to overcome many obstacles to get to something he wants.
In this case, he wants to find a way of escaping Camp Green Lake and by
doing this, he finds a way to remove a curse that was brought on his
family by his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather !

Sachar received the 1999 Newberry Medal for this book.

G.H. Bennett and R. Bennett

Hitler's Admirals

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

Not recommended. The Bennetts took a number of essays
written by various German admirals after the end of WW II and broke them
into bite-size pieces, rearranging them in a chronological framework.
This is moderately useful but one would have preferred to see the complete
essays so one could follow the entire trail of thought.

It's interesting seeing what was mentioned and what was not mentioned
(though one can't be sure if, say, U-boat commander Doenitz left something
out or if the editors did, which is why the original essays would have
been preferable), and one does get a little bit suspicious of everyone
saying repeatedly "It was Hitler's fault, not the navy's! Don't blame us,
blame that dead guy over there!"

Still, lots of interesting little tidbits, but they don't make up for
wrongheaded editorial decisions.

The Dam

Murray Morgan

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

In 1951, someone left a manhole cover open on Grand Coulee
Dam in eastern Washington. On March 14, 1952, someone else pushed the
wrong button. The resulting flood might have wrecked the economy of three
states.

Murray Morgan tells the story of what happened. Half the book is a brief
and boring account of the building of the dam; the second half is the
stunning story of what happened as the water surged through openings and
flooded the two powerhouses at the foot of the dam.

"Radio announcers began begging housewives to eat cold cuts and let the
washing go. Stores were asked to turn off display lighting. The load on
the system was being reduced, the steam plants were being fired in four
cities, but the generators were going off the line even faster."

Meanwhile, in the dam, "... men moved upstream through the tunnel,
pressing against the cold weight of the flood, moving through an unnatural
world of cement and flood toward machines they were not certain they could
operate, with cold gripping their insides and the whole dam reverberating
to the sound of the geyser smashing against the ceiling and the tons of
water tumbling down shafts and stairways."

(This is even more exciting if, as I have, you've actually seen the place.
Grand Coulee Dam is _big_. Really big. Murray notes that workers
typically drove their cars from Point A to Point B on the dam because
otherwise they'd spend too much time walking the miles between important
points.)

Very exciting story of industrial near-catastrophe, and cleverness and
heroism and cool calm decision-making.

Robin Cook

Marker

read by Jennifer Subriar

This novel by Cook explores some (what I hope are not
inevitable) consequences of the increase in knowledge of the human genome.
It was a good read, though it seemed a bit too long: 658 pages in
paperback. It seemed too long because I had figured out the end game
about three hundred pages before the end, and who was behind it more than
one hundred pages early not much surprise left. But it was still an
interesting diversion, and definitely thought provoking, if not down-right
scary.

John Irving

Until I Find You

read by Joel Haldeman

As seems to be typical of many of Irving's novels, 'Until
I Find You' is another bawdy romp through the dysfunctional life of its
main character, Jack Burns. We first meet Jack as a 4 year old, touring
through Europe with his mother supposedly searching for his father who had
deserted the family shortly before Jack's birth. Jack's mother, Alice, is
a tatoo artist and makes a living as they travel from one European city to
another sketching her artwork on human skin. William, the father of Jack,
appears to be one step ahead of Alice and Jack as he moves through Europe
teaching and playing the organ and in the process getting his skin
completely covered in tattoo's which seem to emphasize classical music and
Christian themes (Part of the story involves William supposedly
impregnating women at every city along the way, thereby having to flee to
another city, this according to Alice). Eventually it appears that
William deserts the family and goes to Australia where Alice refuses to
follow. Jack and Alice return to Toronto where Jack at the age of 4
attends an all girl's Catholic school, which has finally decided to admit
boys in grades one through four. It is in this school that the
predominate theme's of Jack's life develop, acting and sexual exploitation
by older females. These two themes influence the rest of Jack's schooling
as he goes from a variety of boarding schools and onto college. Jack
eventually becomes a well-known actor, particularly for his transvestite
roles and the older school girl that took over his life at the all girl
Catholic school eventually becomes his best friend and author of several
books(An interesting plot twist is that Jack's mother and the mother of
his best friend become involved in a long-term lesbian relationship).
Death which seems to play a pivotal role in many of Irving's novels, now
acts as the impetus to help Jack discover the truth about his mother,
father and a family of which he was totally unaware. His best
friend(sexual misadventure) and mother(cancer) die in short order and Jack
discovers the various lies on which his life was built and finally
discovers the truth of the relationship of his mother and father. This is
a truly fascinating book though I think for the more conservative reader
some of the sexual themes of the book will be somewhat troubling. There
is also something very redemptive for Jack as he discovers the truth of
his life and eventually discovers himself.

Unspeak

read by Joel Haldeman

This book looks at the language used by those in power and
how it blurs the reality it is supposed to be addressing. Each chapter is
dedicated to a word or particular phrase currently in vogue by the
political masters particularly in England and America. Words such as
Terror, Freedom and phrases such as ethnic cleansing, surgical strike and
weapons of mass destruction are dissected in depth and we are shown how
these words are used to manipulate the public and obscure a variety of
different truths. For example, Philip Morris, the tobacco conglomerate
coined the term 'sound science' to help them fight the mounting evidence
of the damage being done by cigarette usage. Perhaps even more invidious
is the use of the word ethnic cleansing which has no recognized legal
definition but is used by politicians instead of genocide which would
require action on the part of the international community. A fascinating
look at how those in power use language to manipulate and control those
whom they rule.

Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner

read by Annemarie Hamlin

It often feels awkward to say I like a book or film that
contains hideous violence or other disturbing occurances. The Kite Runner
contains several scenes that churn my stomach, yet the story is one that
provokes some thoughtful questions about loyalty, love, and human
responsibility. The novel tells the story of two Afghani boys who are the
best of friends despite the fact that one is the servant of the other.
One of their favorite activities is flying kites--thus the title of the
book, which also becomes a central motif in the narrative. When one boy
betrays the other, guilt haunts him for decades until a mutual friend
offers him a way to become good again and make up for his past wrongs.

The book describes many aspects of Afghani cultures and people, both in
Afghanistan and in the United States. It also gives a very human face to
a group of people who are largely mysterious and misunderstood by
Americans since 9/11. The pieces of the story fit perhaps a little too
well together, and although the ending is not the classic happy-ever-after
ending, it, too, seems a little contrived. Still, this is a very good
read a gripping tale well told.

Jean Rhys

Wide Sargasso Sea

read by: Patti Poblete

The obscured character of Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre"
is the protaganist of this book--Mr Rochester's lost wife, the infamous
madwoman in the attic. In "Wide Sargasso Sea," Jean Rhys explores the
origins of Bertha's madness. By identifying Bertha as Creole, and a
daughter of former Jamaican slaveowners, Rhys also creates a surprising
postcolonial response to "Jane Eyre."

"Wide Sargasso Sea" is a compelling novel in its own right. Bertha, or
Antoinette as she's called in the text, is a pitiable character at worst,
discriminated against from all sides, due to circumstance and heritage.
Rochester's own responses to her, to the community, to Jamaica, are
familiar and horrifying in context. The melancholy tone of the novel, as
the audience is expected to know Antoinette's eventual end, is highlighted
by the lush descriptions of the island.

Ellen Kushner

Thomas the Rhymer

read by: Patti Poblete

In this novel, Ellen Kushner retells the medieval legend
of Thomas the Rhymer, or Thomas of Erceldoune, a poet and rumored seer.
According to the Child Ballad, Thomas was abducted by the Queen of Faery,
and through her gained his prophetic powers. Kushner does not, however,
treat the legend as a cut-and-dried fantasy. Instead, she explores how
Thomas's disappearance would have impacted those closest to him, as well
as how it changes his own view of humanity. Because of this, what could
be a cliched narrative becomes an interesting and often touching
exploration of family.

John Grogan

Marley & Me

read by: Brooke Hess

Marley isn't what you would consider a "good" dog... but
he closely resembles many of the pets that I have had throughout my life.
Grogan tells a story about love and devotion between a dog and his human
family. There are many incidents throughout the book that are
laugh-out-loud hilarious, but I thought Grogan did a wonderful job of
describing the pain of losing Marley... this part of the book actually
helped me deal with the loss of my cat. This is a good read for anyone who
has ever loved (and lost) a slightly-neurotic pet.

Mary R. Habeck

Storm of steel: the development of armor doctrine in Germany
and the Soviet Union, 1919-1939

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

In the aftermath of World War I, two ruined nations had no
tanks (Germany because the Allies had taken away the few they had built,
Russia because they had never built any to start with); both nations
concluded that they would be important war-winning tools and started
trying to obtain them and figure out how to use them, even attempting a
joint effort in the late 1920's.

Habeck's book is the story of what they did, and the conclusions that they
came to, and how they decided them. Both nations looked closely at the
British (if not so closely as Liddell Hart would argue after the war),
both tried out various exercises in secret, both tested their doctrine in
brushfire wars in the late 1930's (Russia in Finland and Mongolia and
Manchuria, Germany in the occupations of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and
both in Spain). And through the book looms the shadow of 1941-45, when
the two doctrines would come to a test against each other.

Some useful things to remember from the book. One is that military
revolutions take considerable time to accomplish (the Germans were writing
in the 1920s about what they wanted to do, ditto the Russians; it took
more than a decade to build industrial capacity from the first models to
the point where mass assembly could begin); a lot of thought was driven by
technological imperatives (a lot of early criticism of tanks and
admiration for horses must not be judged until you understand how limited
WW I tanks were, and the kind of rough and mountainous terrain that both
armies expected to fight in; as tanks got better, theoreticians started
realizing what more could realistically be accomplished); progress
requires a stern attention to practical details (such as the Russians
having to train people to actually drive tanks, a point which they were
having trouble with as late as 1936, with more accidents than tanks; and
both sides realizing in the 1930's the huge importance of refuelling
facilities and radios for tanks, which had not been appreciated before
they started training with large numbers of tanks).

There are a lot of things in Habeck's brief narrative where one wants more
details; the footnotes are somewhat intimidating in their coverage of
Russian and German archival sources. Most especially I would have liked
more interest in the various personal conflicts in the process (e.g.,
Guderian vs. Beck in Germany, or Tukachevsky vs. Voroshilov in the Soviet
Union), and on the impact of the Soviet purges (Tukachevsky and most of
his co-theoreticians of the 'deep battle' concept getting shot by Stalin
in 1936!). I'd also like to see the story continued and the same level of
analysis applied to how the pre-war theoretical debate worked out during
World War II.

If you like concise analyses of military-industrial relations and the
development of military theory, this is the sort of book you will like.
Get it through LINK+

Thomas Howard

Dove descending: a journey into T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

When I read Eliot's "The Wasteland" in college, I thought
it was pretty prentious nonsense.

I now think that teaching "The Wasteland" _without_ "Four Quartets" is
philosophical malpractice. The former poem is a triumph of ennui,
meaninglessness, and confusion; the latter is the assertion "And yet..."

And yet what? That was the part that mostly eluded me; while I had many
unforgettable images and passages from the Four Quartets stuck in my head
("the dove descending breaks the air/With incadescent terror", "In my end
is my beginning", "beneath the bleeding hands we feel/The sharp compassion
of the healer's art", "You must wait without love, for love would be love
of the wrong thing" (and others), Eliot's thread as a whole escaped my
grasp. Thanks to Thomas Howard, I think I'm getting a feel for it. The
question of time, and its passage, and the value of memory, and the
question of what lies beyond and outside of time, breaking through into it
and making meaning...

Highly recommended if you want to understand Eliot. Also recommended if
you want to see a good example of working literary criticism (which I
define as "something that helps me enjoy and understand the literature").

Spong, John Shelby

Here I Stand

read by: Jennifer Subriar

about-the-book: After reading Spong's book, The Sins of Scripture, I was
pretty confused about exactly what it was that this Episcopalian bishop
did believe about God. Some things that he didn t believe in were pretty
clear: God as a personal being, Christ as the incarnation of God, physical
resurrection of Christ (or us, for that matter ), etc. He has evidently
gone down the demytholization path. But, he still considers himself a
Christian, talks about the coming of the Kingdom of God, and calls for
people to be followers of Christ. So, what does that mean? I had hoped
that reading Here I Stand (his autobiography) would help me see what he
believed and how he got there. After reading the book, I did know more
about why he took some of the stands he did. I think his battles against
some of the Fundamentalist positions of the church were admirable. But,
even after reading his Twelve Theses in Appendix B, I still didn t have
a concept of what he truly believes God is. I guess I have to read yet
another of his books if I want to nail this down.

Leah Stewart

The Myth of You and Me

read by: Suzanne Mallery

Themes of loss and forgiveness and love are central to
this novel of an estranged friendship. I enjoyed the book and it made me
think more about the value of friendships and the necessity of facing the
loss that is always part of loving someone.

Madeleine L'Engle

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

read by: Patti Poblete

about-the-book: The third in Madeleine L'Engle's famous Time Quartet, this
book follows Charles Wallace Murry as he weaves in and out of time,
accompanied by the unicorn Gaudior. While it's definitely a fantastical
novel, L'Engle uses the time travel device to explore the ways in which
pride can lead to violence.

Since I read A Wrinkle in Time in the sixth grade, I've made it a habit to
reread this series every couple of years. L'Engle has created a very real
universe, and it's always a pleasure to revisit it.

Madeleine L'Engle

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

read by: Patti Poblete

The third in Madeleine L'Engle's famous Time Quartet, this
book follows Charles Wallace Murry as he weaves in and out of time,
accompanied by the unicorn Gaudior. While it's definitely a fantastical
novel, L'Engle uses the time travel device to explore the ways in which
pride can lead to violence.

Since I read A Wrinkle in Time in the sixth grade, I've made it a habit to
reread this series every couple of years. L'Engle has created a very real
universe, and it's always a pleasure to revisit it.

Stewart Lee Allen

In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food

read by: Patti Poblete

In this nonfiction collection of anecdotes, Allen presents
us with a wide variety of foods that have, at one point or another, been
considered taboo, or at the very least, been frowned upon. Though Allen
sometimes takes on an almost gossipy tone, the stories about how food has
been used to discriminate and divide are fascinating.

Carolyn Keene

The Secret of the Old Clock

read by: Annemarie Hamlin

This read was a nostalgic indulgence for me. I discovered
this book the same edition I had read as a fifth grader in a used book
store and picked it up to read to my daughters. First I had to read it
for myself, of course, to make sure it was age appropriate! In this book,
Nancy searches for a handwritten will left by a wealthy old man whose
distant, destitute, and morally deserving relatives have been mysteriously
overlooked by his largesse. His fortune has instead been willed to the
snooty, rich and spoiled family of his nephew. In the end, a later will
is found, the snooty nephew goes bankrupt, and the morally deserving
distant relatives become solidly middle class folks. Nancy Drew mysteries
are much as I had remembered a fun easy read that moves along quickly and
comes to a satisfying ending. My scholarly side has had fun analyzing the
class and gender issues that I never saw when I was 10!

Ure, Jean

Skinny melon and me

read by: Christina Viramontes

I was curious about the book because of the title alone.
This is another child, Cherry, who is dealing with life after her parents
divorce, but it is a humorous book. The main character is 11 years old,
and with the encouragement from her teacher, has decided to write in a
diary. Actually, the book is written in a diary format. Her mom, or mum,
has remarried to a very nice man who is a children's book illustrator.
His name is Roland Butter and he plays with his name (Roll and Butter).
He tries to win her heart, but Cherry is stubborn. What I really liked
about the book are the picture coded notes he slips under her door. It is
fun just trying to figure them out.

Tony Hendra

Father Joe

read by: Suzanne Mallery

The spiritual journey of a man who was brought to a monk
to be reprimanded and found instead God's love in the person of the monk.
I found the book to be compelling and readable, and was amazed at the
impact one life had on so many others.

Markus Zusak

I am the Messenger

read by Suzanne Mallery

This is a somewhat unusual but highly readable story of Ed
Kennedy a young taxi driver who unintentionally foils a bank robbery.
After his brief moment as a hero he begins to receive deliveries of
playing cards with names or addresses on them. He realizes that each is a
clue to someone whose life he is to impact in a way that will be profound.
I really enjoyed this book and was struck by the ways in which even small
or simple gestures can make a large difference in people's lives. The
book was hard to put down, though I have to admit I found the ending
disappointing.

Jeff Strand

How to Rescue a Dead Princess

read by Suzanne Mallery

This one is weird, in a Monty Pythonish sort of way, and
hilarious at the same time. Unfortunately I started reading this one at
night in a tent while camping with my family in Sequoia National Park, and
I was laughing so loud that I had to keep burying myself in my sleeping
bag to keep from waking up the kids.
The basic story line involves a knight and squire escorting a princess
to a nearby kingdom when the knight accidentally incinerates the
princess. This sets into motion a quest, on the part of the squire,
to reanimate her ashes so as to save his own hide.
Not sure whether to recommend this one or not. You need to have a
particularly twisted sense of humor and a heavy dose of silliness to
enjoy this story. If you are the type who enjoys weird books and
bizarre humor, go for it. Otherwise, stay away.

Jodi Picoult

Plain Truth

read by Suzanne Mallery

When a dead premature newborn is found in a barn on an
Amish farm, suspicion quickly turns to a young unmarried Amish girl who
has apparently recently given birth, despite her own and her family's
denial that she was pregnant. The story explores the complexity of moral,
psychological and social processes that led to this point and follows the
girl through a court trial when she is charged with murdering the infant.
I enjoyed this novel, as I've enjoyed others by this author, because she
never presents difficult issues as morally unambiguous. Instead, she
explores the complexity of life and allows the ambiguity to play out.

Jon Krakauer

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

read by Jennifer Tyner

I am still recovering from this book (hence the reason for
my two beach read entries). This book is not for the lighthearted. It is a
disturbing look at Morman Fundamentalism. I found the approach to be
significantly onesided, but extremly interesting and disturbing. While the
focus is on morman fundamentialists (and the hsitory of the Morman
church), one can quickly understand how fundamentalism in any religion can
rise within desenters and quickly get out of control. Scary stuff! I can't
wait for the movie!

Emily Giffin

Something Blue

read by Jennifer Tyner

Another beach read. Fun novel about awful, manipulative,
lying people who learn that they can't always get things their way. It is
the follow up to SOMETHING BORROWED, a novel that tells the same story
with the same characters, only from a different perspective. Fun, fast
read.

Curtis Sittenfeld

Prep

read by Jennifer Tyner

Engaging summer beach read (although I haven't been
lounging at the beach reading!) This book chronicles a young LMC girl's
four years at an exlusive New England prep school. Reading this book was
like reliving high school all over again the insecurity, self-doubt, first
love, and teen awkwardness came rushing back.

Viswanathan, Kaavya

How Opal Metha got kissed, got wild, and got a life

read by Christina Viramontes

The second half of the book is better than the first half.
This is the book that was removed from bookstore shelves due to the fact
the author plagerized portions of the book from three authors. Opal Metha
is extremely intelligent. At her early interview with the dean of
admissions, she finds out her studious manner is not enough to be accepted
into Harvard. Now Opal and her parents have until January to transform
her from geek to hottie.

W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne

Blue Ocean Strategies

read by Angela Barrett

This book is a great book to explain and present the
business world and the business sharks that swarm around the market.
Organizations have tried to find the perfect profitable company and have
been in battles with other organizations to make it to the top, and keep
their product distinctive and realistic to the market surrounding it. The
illustration of a bloody red ocean comprised of competing organizations,
swarming backstabbers and rivals, makes the goal of getting to the top, a
distant hope. The red ocean is ineveitable for every company if they are
not willing to think out side the box in order to create a new profitable
environment for themselves.
The authors have presented the idea of creating a new ocean, or a blue
ocean, that will use unchartered market areas that are ready to be reared.
It is a great book to help make 'the competition irrelevant'. The authors
show tools and ideas that will help all businesses by using princples to
change the big picture and change the ideas of leaders in these
organizations.
This is a great book to prepare individuals who want to venture into the
business world, by giving them simple accounts of what to do and what not
to do in the very beginning stages of business, as a stepping stone and
perhaps, the reason for success.

Abbott, Edwin A.

Flatland

read by Jennifer Subriar

For us, this is a journey to two-dimensional space, which
probably sounds incredibly dull. However, learning the expedient, yet
politically incorrect, intricacies of the social life somewhat
necessitated by the dimension-challenged Flatland is an eye opener
(remember, it was written in 1884!). The adaptations we must make in order
to understand life in the 1- and 2- dimensional spaces leads us to a
better understanding of what extra dimensions might mean to us. Does God
exist in a space with one or more additional dimensions of which we are
totally unaware? Is this why we cannot know God completely; why God can
see within us; why God is God? As in the dedication of the book: This
work is dedicated by a humble native of Flatland, in the hope that, even
as he was initiated into the Mysteries of Three Dimensions, having been
previously conversant with only two, so the citizens of that Celestial
Region may aspire yet higher and higher to the secrets of four, five, or
even six dimensions, thereby contributing to the enlargement of the
imagination and the possible development of that most rare and excellent
Gift of Modesty among the superior races of solid humanity. We have a lot
to learn.

Calvin Trillin

A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme

read by Brooke Hess

Poetry about the Bush Administration never in the wildest
parts of my imagination would I have thought this possible. But this book
is wonderful! Trillin sheds light on some of the harshest times of the
President's Administration with humor and wit. No matter what your
political party, I think everyone can appreciate this book.

Donald Miller

Blue Like Jazz: Non Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

read by Angela Barrett

This is probabaly the most candid book that I have read
when approaching spirituality, Christian growth and simple everyday
occurances that makes one think of grand questions of life and existence.
Within the book, the author is free, to express whatever he is thinking at
that very moment, whether profound or silly. He remembers significant
moments in his childhood, situations that were funny and some that were
not so funny, that brought him into a wondering state of God and life with
Him. There is venting and discussion as if we are Donald Miller's everyday
friends at a local spot. He is human and talks with God and interacts with
God in a humanly fashion. Someone who has put aside the traditional garb
of addressing God but rather found the everday personal effects of God in
his life in the way he does things. As he grew to remember his vague God,
he started a ministry that became successful but left him empty. In his
book, he talks about his journey back to God after his ventures, with
serious relevance in his life.

This book is a must read. He is very poignant and amusing and will make
God real to our 21st century, especially to the busy college student.

In his stories, he talks to us about how alone he thought he was in a
world full of staunch Christians, the childhood way of witnessing the
Christian world and those in it. As he grew, he realised that there were
more like him, in the way he felt, than he had ever imagined. He was
searching and so were others.

Lee G. Bolman

Leading With Soul

read by Angela Barrett

This book is a composition of many stories and ideas,
thoughts and reflections as well as conversations that take differnt turns
in the arena of leadership. It is like a spiritual quest that needs to be
taken in order to receive and acheive the wisdom to lead. The book entails
information from many studies, reports and research, presenting them in
the form of short stories and parables. Within these stories, are lessons
and plans to move towards holistic leadership.
The book shows one how to take leadership as a personal journey in the
format of a servant leader. Of course, these are in respect to the time
and era we live in, the differnt courses of places such as the work place
and how important it is to make sure that leadership is provided to
institutions with soul. The live situations, questions and answers make
the book realistic and practical.
A wonderful lead to help renew the ideas of servant leadership and to take
a path towards this in all avenues of life.

'B' is for Burglar

read by Patti Poblete

In the second book of Grafton's series, detective Kinsey
Millhone takes what appears to be a missings persons case, and ends up
investigating burglary, arson, and murder. The style of prose is dry and
matter-of-fact, as typical of the genre. Grafton, however, manages to slip
in clues deftly, while developing characters into memorable and realistic
personalities. A quick and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Barth, Karl

The Epistle to the Philippians

read by Jennifer Subriar

Barth is always worth reading. Sometimes the going can be
pretty tedious (artifact of translation from German?), but his insights
into texts that we might not even pay attention to can be astounding.
Worth the effort every time.

Elie Wiesel

Night

read by Angela Barrett

This masterpiece was introduced to me as a freshman in
college but reading it again thoroughly along with excerpts of his last
interviews with Orprah and as a reviewed version with his wife, Marion
Wiesel, it became evident how the author has grown from this horrific
experience. A candid and deep book at many levels, Night provides an
autobiographical account of Elie Weisel as a young man, a teenager during
the Holocaust in a Nazi concentration camp. The language is precise and
Night is Elie Wiesel s masterpiece. The spirit of survival, loss,
deprevation, and a search for reason, is apparent in such a small book
throughout the lines. Simplicity defines the vivid nature of trecherous
conditions and hopeless days for the inmates. The book is a reflection of
survival for todays survivors, their battles and their nightmares, making
sure that the world never forgets how capable they can be to instigate
such hatred and atrocities. Elie Wiesel, an active spokesperson against
inhumane dealings around the world, recently passed away, but this book is
stands alive today, important for the soul of humankind

Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Understanding the Crucial Link
Between Mothers, Daughters, and Health

read by Annemarie Hamlin

Combining scientific data, Eastern philosophy,
child-rearing advice, sociological observation, and autobiography, this
book offers a thoughtful look at the relationships between mothers and
daughters and how various cultural and psychological forces can influence
women s health. Northrup uses her medical career (as an OB/GYN) and her
experience as a daughter and mother of daughters to lay out some of the
major postholes of girls lives, and how to best guide and support them to
become healthy, well-adjusted women. Her approach is holistic in that she
incorporates ideas from many traditions into her writing about subjects
such as training girls in healthy food habits, developing self-esteem,
preparing for puberty, and managing the challenges girls face at all ages.
She offers many tales of her own failures and successes as a woman and a
mother.

Although it was given to me as a gift (and therefore I didn t screen it as
something I wanted to read on my own), the book has some interesting and
surprising connections to my own research on attitudes about the female
body among medical women. My area of research is the nineteenth-century,
but I felt that this book gave me a good sense of the trajectory of women
doctors writing about women s bodies well beyond the period of time on
which I focus.

Lewis, C.S.

That Hideous Strength

read by Jennifer Subriar

That Hideous Strength is the concluding book of CS Lewis
science fiction trilogy. This portion takes place on earth, and contrasts
the forces of evil hell-bent on destruction here on the Silent Planet
with the peace of the unfallen worlds, Malacandra and Perelandra, of the
previous books. The similarities between the initial destructive moves by
The Institute and Sauron s forces in the Lord of the Rings trilogy were
telling for both, the first impulse is to tear down all of the trees and
build something ugly. Looking around, it strikes a little close to home
Pave paradise; put up a parking lot. As with the other two in this
trilogy, there are strong good/evil forces and characters, along with
those of undecided mind, still trying to figure out where they stand. It
is an interesting book, although I don t think it was as enlightening to
me as the first two in the series were. Maybe that's because we do see
this going on around us right now, while it is hard for me to imagine what
might be the conditions on unfallen worlds as clearly as Lewis described
them.

Winston S. Churchill

The Grand Alliance (History of the Second World War, v. 3)

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

Perhaps less gripping than the previous three volumes (too
few analytical chapters, too many reprinted documents), _The Grand
Alliance_ is nevertheless an important part of the story of the Second
World War. In this third volume, Churchill recounts how first Britain,
and then the Soviet Union, came into the war, and the numerous
catastrophes that bedeviled the Allied cause as a result of their
unpreparedness.

The tale is nonetheless of great interest. "I slept the sleep of the
saved and thankful", Churchill reports at the moment of high catastrophe
when the US Fleet was sinking in the mud of Pearl Harbor, the Russians
were fighting desperately to hold the Germans back from sight of Moscow,
and the Japanese were about to seize a vast stretch of ocean and
resource-rich islands. Why so sound a sleep? Because the outcome of the
war had been decided: the Americans were involved.

This is perhaps a little hard on the Russians, who did a lot of the war's
heavy lifting (and might still have lost it all in 1942), but there is
truth to it. And even if the tale tends to bend a little in the light of
hindsight (Churchill's own papers as quoted in this volume show that he
wasn't quite so eager for an invasion of the European mainland as he
pretended to be after the war), it's still worth reading.

Recommended, but you might have to slog through a few hard patches to get
to the next volume.

N.T. Wright

The contemporary quest for Jesus

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

A brief survey of the current (2002) state of what might
be called the Third Quest for the Historical Jesus. The 19th-century
First Quest came to an end with Albert Schweitzer's pointed observation
that all the authors had been looking down a well and writing about their
own reflection; the Second Quest, culminating in the Jesus Seminar, seems
(according to Wright) to have abandoned historicity entirely; the Third
Quest is trying to abandon both earlier false ends.

This is an excerpt from his larger book, _Jesus and the Victory of God_;
if you want his views on Jesus, go there; this book is about his views of
people's views on Jesus.
Short, fairly packed with information; but Wright does have the gift of
clear exposition, if perhaps not always the gift of brevity.

Recommended if you want to know what the theologians have been up to in
the last half-century or so.

Winston S. Churchill

Their Finest Hour (History of the Second World War, v. 2)

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

This is probably the finest volume of Churchill's magnum
opus. It tells of the crucial year of 1940, when France fell to Hitler's
armies and Britain stood alone, the last defiant outpost of democracy east
of the Atlantic, the last bastion of freedom in the continent of Europe.
And this is the story of how Britain endured.

It is hard to tell the story in words less than Churchill used. "Let us
so bear ourselves," the new Prime Minister told his countrymen, "that if
Britain should last for a thousand years, men will still say 'This was
their finest hour.'" It is hard to deny that they deserve it, or that
what Churchill said of the RAF pilots and the British he might in truth
have said of all of us: "Never in the field of human conflict has so much
been owed by so many to so few."

Read it. Now.

Feiler, Bruce

Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths

read by Jennifer Subriar

This book was chosen by a study group in which I
participate. Feiler discusses Abraham as a common cornerstone of three
religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In his view, each of these
monotheistic religions has hijacked the Abraham figure and written the
story in the light of their own culture/beliefs. Feiler interviews persons
from each of these faiths to determine how each faith relates to and uses
the Abraham story. Some of the quotes are particularly interesting,
reading them now during the missile attacks on Lebanon (book was written
in 2002).

Mark Salzman

The Soloist

read by Patti Poblete

Renne Sundheimer spent his childhood hailed as a cello
prodigy, but when he turned 18, his gift deserted him. The book opens
years later, as Renne teaches cello at a university, still haunted by his
lost talent. In the course of one week, he takes on a student, another
young prodigy, and is called to jury for a murder trial. Both events
force Renne to confront the limbo to which he's consigned himself.

Salzman's writing is always a pleasure to read, often breezy, always
witty, and in this case, tinged with melancholy. This novel asks us to
consider how we define success, and how we measure our lives by it.
Though the conclusion felt, to me, a bit abrupt, the overall story is a
touching and thoughtful.

Bauer, Joan

Stand Tall

read by Christina Viramontes

This book is from the point-of-view of a 12-year-old boy
who is 6'3" tall. He is struggling through life, not only from his
height, but also after his parents divorce. His grandfather, a Vietnam
vet, and his friend continue to stand tall, and not let anyone's harsh
comments get in his way.

Tracy Daugherty

Late in the Standoff

read by Annemarie Hamlin

I enjoyed this collection of short stories because it
featured the kind of variety of characters and situations I love in
Bharati Mukerjee s story collections. From a young, melancholy girl to a
grieving middle-aged widower to a family changed by a father s relocation
to a new job, the central characters of each story demonstrate the
emotions and reactions of every day folks enduring largely ordinary
circumstances. The exception to this is my favorite of the stories, Anna
Lia, in which a wayward young wife dies while making a pipe bomb, much to
the surprise of her friends who are left to figure out what happened.
They gradually discover the extent of her effect on their lives and come
to see that her unpredictability made sense of her disastrous end.

Laurie Beth Jones

Teach your Team to Fish

read by: Angela Barrett

I really appreciate how this author has established many
wonderful lessons in her books for business leaders and readers to
remember how Jesus lived on earth, and how His teachings can enhance our
work and performance. In Teach Your Team to Fish, she discusses the most
important aspect for anyone to run a business and for productive outcomes
to occur. She discusses teamwork. Very often, the biggest problems within
organizations fall right to the root- broken and displaced teams. We are
very differnt as individuals in the manner in which we think, and good
organizations will recognize that it is important to regard these crucial
and critical aspects of people in order to learn to accept and work with
each other. It reminds me of the True Color model, that helps individuals,
recognize their differences and strenghts, and can also allow us to
understand others around us without getting annoyed at every little quirk
that they may exhibit.

In this manner, leaders need to define their ideas and methods to pull
together at all times.
The author discusses Jesus as this role model for leaders everwhere
bringing to light stories from the bible and how Jesus managed His own
team of disciples as well as others he was in contact with.

It offers guidance into many situations as well, and this provides a great
stepping stone for the busy leader who wants to hit the nail right on the
head from the perspective of Christ.

Lloyd Alexander

The Rope Trick

read by: Christina Viramontes

Quite an unusual book. It is full of magic tricks and
escape from the villian. The villian is so slimey and oily that your
brain even feels it when you read about him.

Jesus, CEO

Laurie Beth Jones

read by: Angela Barrett

This book breaks up the Gospel and the stories and
parables into practical applications for our lives today. It bears
seasonings of the leadership princples. Every chapter begins with "HE"
referring to Christ, and his mission on this earth during the few years of
His mission work. Each chapter can contribute to a format for devotional,
especially to a company or administration. I found these little stories
easy to read, to the point and most of all, biblically sound. The author
presents Jesus as an every day individual with a deep understanding for
humankind.
It is a wonderful book for the ever changing Christian domain of our
century. We want packaged goods to arrive right on time, and in that
mindset, this provides it, but at the same time, the ideas linger through
the day to touch us in a variety of ways.
The author discusses the importance of goals and uses the attitudes of
Christ and the disciples to frame teamwork to our new generations. The
principles sound as if they are presented by CEO's of large cooperations
and institutions. Laurie Beth Jones has provided us with a wonderful staff
to help us stay on track with our Maker in mind, even in the most
challenging situations that may deter us away from a straight and narrow
path. She enlightens us that the world has had issues as large as today
very similar to those back in the time of Christ and that there is always
a Christ like way to address any matter.

Nancy Thayer

The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again

read by: Christina Viramontes

Think of the First Wives Club! This is the second in this
series where a group of women help each other solve their problems. A
couple of the problems involve future and present mother-in-laws. This
may be a good book, but the first one is better.

Malcolm Gladwell

Blink

read by Angela Barrett

This book is all about quick thinking and the 'think on
your feet' kind of experiences that happens in a blink of an eye at the
most unexpected moments. The book discusses how in a new circumstance of
ordinary events, such as walking down a street and bumping into someone,
your mind takes a few seconds to draw conclusions and make up a
'personality' for that person. Then there is a series of conclusions that
you form within your mind. This book talks about those few seconds that we
use to make conclusions because they are imperative in how we think and
how we view our environment.
Others have discussed this as intuition but have been challenged that
intuitions are about feelings and auras, however Blink is really about the
first two seconds of thinking. Just thinking that happens really quick.
During these quick moments, there is something mysterious with 'rapid
cognition'. We have made judgments and alot more. It is about how to use
those two seconds to make that rapid cognition better and better with
time.
I appreciated this book because it gave me insight into how I view things,
and even ideas on how I can get better with my 'two seconds'.

Joe Kane

Running the Amazon

read by: Rusty Perez

For a long time now I have had something of a facination
with Latin America. I have often thought it would be great to wander
through Central and South America, possibly from the US to Tierra Del
Fuego, by bus, train, car, what ever. Having gone on the Peru trip with
Charles Teel and spent a couple of days in the Amazon, and having also
done a little bit of kayaking, paddling with a group to Anacapa island was
my grandest adventure, I was excited to find this book.

Running the Amazon recounts the adventures of a group of 10 individuals
who, in 1985, set out to be the first to travel the length of the "Amazon
River" from "source to sea." The book follows the group, a support team
and kayak paddlers who begin in the frozen Andes, braving violent rapids
and deep canions. as the group changes makeup and passes through tropical
regions camping on lonely stretches of beach, muddy swamps and in small
settlements, towns and large cities, the book recounts poignant meetings
with indigenous people in their humble existance. It follows the toil,
primarily, of two men, the author and a total stranger, another member of
the group, who traverse the bulk of the river together. These two, along
with a support team of two, are, finally, the four to arive at the
Atlantic Ocean some six months later.

This book made me long to wander and meet people and have experiences that
might bring me closer to my own humanity. It is simultaneously a book
about the Amazon River, the people who live on it, and the world that is
impacting it.

It was a great book!

Isaac Asimov

Foundation and Empire

read by: Jennifer Subriar

about-the-book: In the second book of the Foundation trilogy, a crisis
apparently unforeseen in the Seldon plan has emerged. How could the
psychohistorians have predicted a mutant with the capability of exerting
psychological control over others? The Mule, as he is known, has
effortlessly conquered several worlds, and most importantly, Foundation.
Faith in the Seldon plan has all but vanished, but a few see clues that
all may not be lost.

David L Weaver-Zercher, editor

Writing the Amish, the Worlds of John A. Hostetler

read by: Kitty Simmons

My interest in the Amish arises from having visited
several communities as a tourist and from hearing my brother speak of the
Amish acquaintances he has made related to his draft horse activities.
This book is an unusual combination of biography and sociology as it
focuses on the life of John Hostetler, undoubtedly the most well known and
best informed interpreter of Amish life for the contemporary reader. The
opening forward written by his daughter and first chapter authored by
Hosteteler provide many interesting biographical details of his Amish
family and upbringing. Eventually deciding to forgo Amish baptism in
order to pursue more education than is permitted in Amish society,
Hostetler became a Mennonite. His professional life was spent in pursuit
of a multiplicity of activities related to his Amish roots, including
scholarship, mediation, and advocacy. The book includes reprints of
Hostetler s writings and essays by other authors focusing on Hostetler and
his work. In addition to enjoying the many fascinating details of Amish
life, the book prompted reflection anew on the importance of community
above individuality, the role of education in human development, and
pacifiscm as a way of life. Although this is a scholarly work fully
footnoted and bibiographied, the subject matter was so interesting, that
for me anyway the read was a real pleasure.

Barak Obama

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

read by: Susan Gardner

This moving memoir of one of our nation's up and coming
politicians/rhetoricians was a good read. Obama, senator from Illinois,
introduced John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in an
impressive speech. His memoir traces his roots and extensive family lost
to him when his Kenyan father returned to Africa leaving his Caucasian
American mother and him with her parents in Hawaii. Obama saw his father
only one other time when he was ten years old. Once his father has died,
Barak's struggle with identity, focus for his talents, and haunting
questions of his heritage spur him to visit Kenya and meet half brothers
and sisters, cousins, grandmother and aunts to help him understand his
place in the world.

Shirin Ebadi and Azadeh Moaveni

Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope

read by: Susan Gardner

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and former judge, won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Her memoir of growing up under the Shah and
then living under the restrictive laws of the Ayottolah Khomeni is
gripping. She is a fighter for women's and children's rights under Muslim
rule, and she insists on doing it from within the system. One goal of her
memoir is to shed light on both the injustices and the beauties of her
beloved country of Iran.

James Sire

Discipleship of the Mind

read by: Angela Barrett

Sire engages the reader s mind through every chapter
bringing to light both practical and informative aspects in our devotion
to God. It prods us to have intelligent beliefs and thoughts within the
modern world. When Sire approaches religion, he uses intelligent
strategies. Often, Christianity, Christians and Christian literature are
misrepresented as shallow, based on feelings that are not clear, and
cannot relate to the modern world. Sire gives us intelligent food for
thought. The bibliography is an incredible tool for further study that
Sire ushers us towards in maintaining an intelligent approach to biblical
thought and worldly concepts so that we can stand up for beliefs, armored
with a belt of knowledge.
Within this book, Sire works diligently to extend his research and ideas
especially to the college level. It is during this period of life, that
students pick and chose their deepest beliefs and solidify them in the
years to come. Often, Christian students lose face, are embarrassed and
dispose off Christian clothes in intellectual communities, when they are
unprepared to face the challenges and have no solid argument. Sire
continues to present why it is important and necessary for education
within the realm of Christianity. He lays out the most important
requirements of true education that does not plainly encompass a career
but provides a broad and challenging scope for growth. His book raises
expectations for students and makes them thoughtful of their own concepts
of life, to prepare them for a service to God.
This is a great book or Christians who are serious about faith and want to
love God with all that they have. By introducing us the basics of the
Christian worldview, we are now aware of the foundations of knowledge. We
are also aware of the relationship between knowing what we know and doing
what we do. As a Christian student Sire has allowed me to see my academic
discipline as a service to Christ in a deeper sense, a worldview sense.
This is an excellent and relevant approach to personal and spiritual
growth in all aspects of life.

Barry M. Gitlen (editor)

Sacred time, sacred place: archaeology and the religion of Israel

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

A collection of essays discussing how to use archaeology
to discover more about Israelite religion in the Biblical period. Some of
the essays (for instance William Dever's) are highly programmatic ("this
is what we need to do"); others, such as Seymour Gitten's "The Four-horned
Altar and Sacred Space") are direct investigations.

There's a lot of useful information about ancient Israelite religion here,
and a lot of discussion about the relationship between archaeology and
textual studies. For those interested in the religion of ancient Israel,
some of this will probably be new, and other stuff old hat, but the
discussions of the current state of the art will be useful.

David E. Johnston

Fast tanks and heavy bombers: innovation in the US Army,
1917-1945

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

A rather pedestrian account of US military innovation
between WWI and WWII, focusing on tanks and bombers. (It is nice to have
a book whose title accurately reflects the content, though.) Largely
chronological in his account, Johnston discusses what happened without
much analysis. He does point out that the huge budget problems the Army
had in the 1920s and 1930s made most plans impractical (as in, neither
Congress nor the American public was going to fund more than what they
thought would be the bare minimum necessity for defense). One seeks in
vain for explanations of how people such as General Herr, head of the
cavalry branch in 1939-1940, could conclude that the Polish campaign of
1939 proved the necessity of the horse in modern warfare, or why the US
army (in contrast to the German army) seemingly made very little effort to
learn from the lessons of WW I. There are, however, useful reminders of
the actual state of the art in tank and plane design during the period,
and Johnston quotes a priceless zing by a US army officer at British
theorist JFC Fuller: "he presumes perfected machines that never break down
and always achieve their aim" (paraphrased).

A good book for _what_ was going on; less so for _why_. Useful if you
know little about the topic in question and need an introduction.

Kim Edwards

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

read by: Suzanne Mallery

In the midst of a blizzard in 1964, an orthopedic surgeon
delivers his twin babies. The first, a boy, is healthy and fit, but the
father realizes immediately that the second child, a girl, has Down
Syndrome. He makes a split second decision to tell his wife that the
second baby died at birth, and gives the child to the nurse with
instructions to take her to a home for the "feeble-minded." The rest of
the story explores the power of guilt and secrets in the family's life
over the next 25 years.

Hans Magnus Enzensberger, ill by Rotraut Susanne Berner, trans. by
Michael Heim

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure

read by: Suzanne Mallery

I first saw the Number Devil about a year ago in a
bookstore, but thought, nah - math takes too much thought. The book
stayed on my mind, though, so I went back for it this week, and I'm glad I
did.

This is a great read for math fans and math-phobics alike. The story
takes place in a series of dreams, in which Robert, a young boy with a
distaste for math, meets the "Number Devil." The Number Devil takes
Robert on a series of adventures that introduce Robert to conceptual
mathematics. The games Robert plays with the Number Devil are accessible
to anyone who has an understanding of addition and multiplication, but
they introduce some of the truly interesting problems and puzzles of the
mathematical world. The book explores triangular numbers, the Fibonacci
sequence, irrational numbers, and other concepts of math in a way that is
friendly and engaging for even those who think they dislike math. The
illustrations add a lot to the story.

The author uses made-up names for many math concepts and famous
mathematicians ("rutabagas" for square roots, "coconuts" for triangular
numbers, etc), which may put off some readers. I personally appreciated
this because I think many readers may already have preconceived notions
about specific math concepts. The use of different words allows the
reader to focus on the fascinating ideas presented without getting hung up
on mental blocks or anxieties associated with specific concepts.

Morris L. Venden

Never Without an Intercessor

read by: Jill Start

Venden's updated and revised version of his earlier work
"Good News and Bad News about the Judgement." In typical Venden form, he
dosn't take the scholarly avenue but more of a practical and spritual
viewpoint people can relate to.

Ty Gibson

An Endless Falling in Love

read by: Jennifer Subriar

This is not a review... but I do resonate with his theology.

Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor Dad

read by: Rusty Perez

I've been wanting to buy a home for myself for a couple of
years. This past Sunday I went to a seminar on purchasing bank owned
homes. They suggested we read this book.

The author describes the differences between how "rich" people and "poor"
people think. On the surface, it sounds bad, but his goal is to educate
the reader on how money works, and how to make money work for you instead
of working for money. The author is also the creator of a game called
"Cashflow" which is a game about getting out of the rat race.

While some of his theories and ideas are radical, "pay yourself before
paying any one else," his exhortations to start small and start early, to
manage fear, to control emotion and impulse, to pay attention to the
experts, to give in order to receive, all seem wise. There is a lot more
in this little book. I would encourage any one who would like to be able
to take care of themselves and their families when they grow older and
retire, to read this book.

Mark Bear

Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain

read by: Angela Barrett

This book provides a fresh, simple, approach to undergraduate
neuroscience, that focuses on the basis of neuroscience from
it's biological foundations instead of psychological and behavioral
aspects. As a result of its clear format, it is a nice refresher for the
student in the field of science, as well as a beginner book for those who
have never attempted to tackle this information. It is refined, provides
wonderful examples, diagrams and updated research in the field of
Neuroscience, as well as techniques in surgery. I enjoyed my review over
the summer in preperation for the school year as well as for research
purposes.

The Courage to Teach

Parker Palmer

read by: Angela Barrett

This book applies to the college teacher, the K-12
teacher, the parent or anyone who wants to improve the quality of
education and learning. Good teaching is not about techniques but with
time, it develops into an identity that reflects the personality and
integrity of the teacher. The human being is composed of various
dimentions that must be regarded practically, in order to find approaches
and develop good methods and sources to for our teaching. The book
discusses about the claims that good teaching makes on our lives, about
our relations with our students and those who learn from us and about a
teacher's power.
Instead of learning how to teach, we must figure out the human condition,
and that will challenge us to new paths and roads but also reward us if we
are willing to engage what we find there.
The book goes on to explain that when we teach poorly it is becasue we are
first and foremost, fearful of the unknown. It also states that
education's nemesis is not ignorance but fear because fear gives ignorance
its power. It is because of this unknown and stressful situation, that we
must find the courage to teach. In the chapters, it discusses very real
situations that have pralyzed the system of education, enabling fear to
take over classrooms and remove security for both student and teacher.
As a new teacher, I felt that this book brought to light very good
examples of how to improve what we serve to our students, and how to do it
well.

Tony Hillerman

Skeleton Man

read by: Rob Thomas

Hillerman has a short list of entries in the LSU Library.
Skeleton Man has not made the list yet. For those who enjoy either the
western genre or a "clean" mystery, Hillerman may be somebody to give a
try.

His books are usually set in the Four Corners region of the Southwestern
U.S. and typically have native american officers of the law investigating
a crime. However, much of the plot lines and character development reveal
insights into the Navajo culture, its mores and traditional ceremonies,
and the challenges that co-existing cultures often face in maintaining a
balance between cultural autonomy and total cultural assimilation.

Yes, there is certainly the "who-dunnit" crime-solving overtone of a
mystery, along with a lot of geographical features highlighted from the
southwest.

John Townsend & Henry Cloud

Boundaries: Face to Face

read by: Rob Thomas

This book is somewhat similar to Crucial Conversations,
yet has the Townsend & Cloud writing style and Christian perspective on
dealing with conflict.

Townsend & Cloud's "Boundaries" book launched an ongoing stream of
spin-offs, some which are in the Library's holdings. Unfortunately, this
book is not. Perhaps it will be in the future?

Kerry Patterson, et al

Crucial conversations : tools for talking when stakes are high

read by: Rob Thomas

This book provides helpful insights into and specific
suggestions for dealing with conflict. The three-pronged criteria that
comprise a "crucial conversation" are: Stakes are High; Opinions Differ;
and Emotions are strong.

While this is a fairly easy read, I would recommend this book to anybody
who might encounter conflict. Oh... I suspect that means everybody!
<grin>

Margaret Thatcher

Statecraft

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher discusses
the current political state of the world and makes recommendations on what
to do. Very interesting and acute discussions of world politics.

Ursula Hegi

Floating in My Mother's Palm

read by Patti Poblete

Circling around the life of a young girl in post-WWII
Germany, this novel could actually be considered a series of short
stories, glimpses of Hanna's experiences and impressions of the people
around her. While the through-line of the story is Hanna's connection to
her mother, the "secret" lives of many are dissected and reflected in the
stories told.

What stands out to me, even beyond the complexities of humanity Hanna
observes, is the infinitely spare style Hegi uses in her writing. While
the details she includes are simply worded, they never fail to make an
impact.

C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

read by: Angela Barrett

This book is a compilation of a set of books and every
page made me think, reason and understand God's design and purpose for our
lives. Christianity doesn't demand that you be good but it asks you to
give your life to Jesus. In this manner, Christ can be good through you,
and replace the sinner with the Son of God. The book discusses the art of
transformation, I have always been intrigued by the analogy of a horse.
This transformation is like teaching a horse to fly. Horses just don't fly
but true transformations are out of the box. At first, it is awkward, like
a horse forming little bumps on it's back. But one day, these turn into
wings, and allows the horse to beat other horses at their own games. It
doesn't happen instantly but Christ does not stope working on you till you
acheive your path in life.

Morgan Spurlock

Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America

read by: Joel Haldeman

This amusing polemic, from the producer and star of the
documentary 'Super Size Me' Morgan Spurlock, is an entertaining and
educational look at the growth of the fast food industry, particularly
McDonald's, and its impact on the health of the American population. With
over sixty percent of the American population being either overweight or
obese this book provides a timely look at some of the causes of this
epidemic. Spurlock manages to illuminate the horrors of the fast food
industry by telling his own personal 30 day sojourn in McDonald's McHell.
The book answers some of the questions of his critics and illuminates some
of the stories that the documentary was only able to address briefly.
Spurlock also looks at American food habits from school lunch programs to
Big Food lobbying efforts. This book is an informative read and should
probably be required reading for all freshmen.

Dan Brown

Angels and Demons

read by Annemarie Hamlin

After The Da Vinci Code (which I loved), this book was a bit of a
disappointment, though I will admit it kept my rapt attention to the very
end. The book (published prior to DVC) follows the story of Robert
Langdon who winds his way through Rome solving riddles embedded in Bernini
statues in order to find the hiding place of a highly explosive substance
( antimatter ) that will destroy Vatican City within 24 hours. Like DVC,
there is some cleverness to the search, but the murders of several Roman
Catholic Bishops in the process are gratuitously violent (reminding me of
the gruesome movie Seven ) and the ending is overly drawn-out and moves
the already unlikely story into the realm of the ridiculous. Compared to
this one, DVC is restrained!

Jennifer L. Holm

Boston Jane: The Claim

read by: Christina Viramontes

Another great book from the Boston Jane series. Jane is
now a mature seventeen year old, and Shoalwater Bay is a growing town.
After her father's death, Jane decides to live here where Jehu has
promised to build her a home on her own claim. Things change when her
archenemy, Sally Biddle, arrives in town and plans to stay. There is a
constant battle between Jane and Sally as to prove to the town who is the
good one.

Frances Mayes

Under the Tuscan Sun

read by: Patti Poblete

about-the-book: This memoir begins with a simple house, Bramasole, and the
author's almost impulsive purchase of it. From that point, the book grows
into exploration of Tuscany, its people, its history, and its food. Mayes
revels in the smallest detail, whether it be the shape of the local
insects, the variety of fruit trees, or the timeless nature of the piazza.

Mayes also shares a few recipes she's formed, based on her experiences and
observances in Italy. It's impossible to read this book without yearning
to sample the meals she describes in every chapter.

Annie Proulx

Close Range

read by: Joel Haldeman

This book by Annie Proulx is a series of short stories
focusing on life in Wyoming over a 100 year period. Included in this
volume, (there is a second volume available) is the short story that
spawned the movie Brokeback Mountain. Having read Accordion Crimes and
The Shipping News, also by Ms. Proulx, I was surprised at the 'rawness' of
these stories. Nothing is hidden from the reader. Sexual issues dominate
several of the stories and this is best typified by the Brokeback Mountain
story. However one of the more complex stories, 'People in Hell Just Want
a Drink of Water', deals with a young man who has suffered through a
terrible accident and returns home to Wyoming. Because of the hideous
damage he has suffered to both body and brain he begins to exhibit
socially deviant behavior. One gets to follow this young man as his
behavior drags him on a collision course with another family. The reader
gets to witness the dynamics of two different families and the denouement
has a powerful emotional impact on the reader. Several of these stories
are not for the faint of heart and reveal some of the darker aspects of
being human and how this is influenced by the environment. As always
Annie Proulx is a master wordsmith and no matter what the topic is she has
a way of making it very interesting.

Le Ly Hayslip

Child of War, Woman of Peace

read by: Jennifer Tyner

A sequel to When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, this
book chronicles the journey of Le Ly Hayslip from Vietnam to the United
States during the Vietnam War era. Surprisingly, it is a moving story of
debt and forgiveness, a true portray of grace. Le Ly walks readers through
a journey of self-discovery, personal growth, and spiritual enlightenment.
I highly recommend this book.

Winston Churchill

The Gathering Storm (History of the Second World War, v. 1)

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

Winston Churchill's History of the Second World War is an
excellent and highly readable account of his leadership of Britain from
1939 to 1941. The first volume tells the story of the pre-war years and
Winston's tenure of the Admiralty during 1939-1940; it closes with his
taking office as Prime Minister in 1940.

Besides very well-written history (the series won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1953), there are many fascinating practical details of how
to run a country in wartime, human interest, and a philosophical
reflection on the reasons for using force. I strongly recommend this book
to anyone interested in the history of the Second World War, or in naval
history, or in twentieth-century politics.

Of course, now that I've finished book 1, I have to go ahead and read the
next five volumes -- the story is most captivating. (And very
re-readable; I've read the series several times before, and it's always
fun to re-read.)

Margaret Atwood

book-title: Oryx and Crake

read by Annemarie Hamlin

This is a novel set in the future at a time when
biological engineering has taken over the world, creating new life forms
and destroying old ones in the process. The novel tells stories that
happen at different times to the central character Jimmy (aka Snowman).
One is the story of Jimmy as he is growing up within one of the walled
communities organized and run by one of the biological engineering firms
for which his scientist parents work. The second is the story of Snowman
making his way across a ruined landscape many years later of North America
after the world has been devastated by some major incident or force. The
two stories ultimately come together to tell us what happened to get him
to the current situation.

The book is a chilling commentary on the extent to which scientific
manipulation of life forms can run amok and ravage the earth and its
inhabitants. I found its imaginative representation of newly engineered
creatures especially interesting: rakunks (a cross between raccoons and
skunks) and wolvogs (wolves and dogs) were designed as pets, but other
creatures served medical and culinary needs. Pigoons (pigs and baboons)
spontaneously grow multiple organs which can be harvested for human
patients needing transplants. The one I found most disturbing was the
ChickieNobs, a headless chicken lacking a central nervous system that can
grow multiples breasts or legs (up to twelve at a time) for human
consumption. Made me think twice about what I was cooking for dinner that
night!

Fascinating read, however, for anyone curious about the possible logical
conclusions of how we manipulate our physical and social worlds and
subsequently our intellectual and psychological ones to fit our immediate
needs without considering long-term consequences.

Marc Levinson

The box: how the shipping container made the world smaller and
the world economy bigger

read by: Tony Zbaraschuk

It's amazing to reflect that there are people teaching
here at La Sierra University who were born before the Box made its
debut... and how much the world has changed since then.

This is a fascinating history of a very unglamorous object: those big
containers we see on trucks and railway trains all the time. Levinson
traces the development of the shipping container from the 1950's
experiments with surplus WW II ships to today's ports that can load
thousands of 40' containers in a few hours, and all the differences that
have resulted. Just a few of them:

Ports changed hugely -- Felixstowe in East Anglia replacing London and
Liverpool in a matter of years as England's largest port, because it was
too small for the English unions to have worried about, Port Elizabeth in
New Jersey simultaneously changing New York's geography around, the US
being _able_ to support an army in Vietnam (instead of a few thousand
troops) because of container shipping, Japan getting a huge start in
shipping to the US because Sealand wanted something to fill ships on the
voyage back from Vietnam, industries relocating and reshaping themselves
around the world as transportation costs dropped like a rock in the course
of two decades, the adoption of shipping containers by Scots whiskey
distillers to prevent theft on the docks, the various solutions (and
non-solutions) dockworker unions worked out as shipping changed from
mostly muscle-loading to mostly cranes loading boxes... and it goes on.

The book is easily and clearly written, and extremely interesting. Highly
recommended.

Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across
Italy, India and Indonesia

read by: Suzanne Mallery

My neighbor recommended this book as a good summer read,
and I enjoyed it. This is a woman's account of approximately a year of
travels, divided between sampling delicious foods in Italy, praying and
meditating in an ashram in India, and looking for a balanced life in Bali.
After a very hostile divorce, the author decides that her life is out of
balance and she needs some time alone to reevaluate and recover. The
result is an engaging novel, detailing this journey, both interior and
exterior.

I was particularly impacted by the author's account of her search for God
in India. I found that I could relate to many aspects of her experience,
although we come from very different traditions and approaches to God.

Dean Ornish, M.D.

Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power
of Intimacy

read by: Jennifer Subriar

This study by Dr. Ornish attempts to demonstrate the
correlation between the quality of one s social support structure
(established relationships, etc) and longevity. The second chapter is
essentially all citations of scientific studies where this correlation is
found. The evidence supplied seems staggering: just having a social
network seems to increase length of life and reduce incidence of disease.
In one study looking at two factors-group participation and comfort from
religion- it was found that those individuals without either support
network were more than seven times as likely to die within six months of
elective open-heart surgery. Ornish had what I thought was a pretty
profound observation: Even though I am unaware of any factor in medicine
that causes a sevenfold difference in mortality only six months after
open-heart surgery, how many surgeons even ask their patients these two
questions in assessing the risk of cardiac surgery? The last part of the
book is an attempt to determine the actual mechanism whereby social
support enhances the immune system. Much of this is speculative, traipsing
through Eastern religions along with science. I was a little stunned to
not hear what I think is going on until after page 200, and then, not by
the author, but someone else. Ornish makes the case that an individual s
social network has more impact on health than any of the traditional
preventive measures: diet, exercise, not smoking, etc. How many doctors
prescribe this? I guess there s no money in it

Isaac Asimov

Forward the Foundation

read by Joel Haldeman

This book is an addition to Asimov's original Foundation
Trilogy. It is the second prequel that helps explain the life of Hari
Seldon, the originator of psychohistory, and helps fill in some of the
details that were only sketchily addressed, if at all, in the original
series. I think that in the original series Hari Seldon was portrayed as
an almost God-like figure. This volume humanizes Hari Seldon and the
reader gets to see the various twists and turns in the development of
psychohistory. This is the second book in prequel series that focuses on
Hari Seldon and it further develops the character that was so sorely
missing in the original series. The reader gets a look at the
relationships of four key individuals in Hari's quest to develop
psychohistory. Asimov once again links his Robot series of novels with
the Foundation trilogy linking these two distinct series. (One is tempted
to ask whether Asimov substitutes the robot character R. Danell Olivaw for
a deity. Daneel exists at the beginning of the series and also appears at
the end of the series, undergoing a series of figurative and literal
births and deaths.) For fans of the Foundation series it was fortunate for
us that this volume was finished just before the death of Isaac Asimov.
Even if you are not a fan of science fiction this is a series that
addresses a series of philosophical notions that is fun to explore in this
context.

Iê thi diem thúy

The Gangster We Are All Looking For

read by Jennifer Tyner

Fascinating story about a Vietnamese refugee family told
from the perspective of the youngest daughter. Chronicling her adjustment
to American life in San Diego, lê tells the story of her arrival in the US
at the age of six with only her father and four "uncles". Her mother was
left behind in the confusion of their dangerous escape.

The best part of the novel is how it is written. While written in prose,
it reads like a poem, taking the reader in and out of present
reality--back to the author's childhood home in South Vietnam and into the
future of her escape from her own family and haunting ghosts. A wonderful
feast for the reader's own imagination.

William Lavendar

Just Jane

read by Christina Viramontes

Jane is actually Lady Jane. She is now an orphan who
sails to America to live with an uncle before the start of the American
Revolution. Her uncles are divided against each other, a Rebel, a
Loyalist, and one is neutral. As she grows older, Jane sees the struggles
of both sides and finds it difficult to chose. She also falls in love
with a schoolmaster who is now a supply smuggler for the Rebels.

Palle Yourgrau

A World Without Time

read by Joel Haldeman

Palle Yourgrau's fascinating examination of Kurt Godel and
Albert Einstein and their interactions at the Institute for Advanced
Studies at Princeton. We are given a brief history of both men,
particularly the intellectual efforts of Godel and his Incompleteness
Theorem and his 'attacks' on Hilbert's Formal Mathematics, and Einstein's
Theories and his problems with Quantum Mechanics. After a very
entertaining but short history of both men the author then examines the
fascinating personal lives of Godel and Einstein while they were living
in the 'wilds' of New Jersey. The quirks of both these great
intellectuals is a fascinating peek into the life of genius. The main
thrust of the book though is Godel's use of Einstein's Theory of
Relativity to develop a proof that time cannot exist. I am incapable of
explaining in the space provided how this works, (I am probably incapable
of explaining it no matter how much space I have.) however the gist of
this has to do with special Godel Universes with unusual geometric
properties. The last chapter of the book does not at first appearance
seem to fit the overall theme of the book. It is a defense of Godel as a
philosopher. Interesting to see how the current academic philosopher
evaluates the past and the tribal fights that seem to occur in the ivory
towers.

Greg Louganis and Eric Marcus

Breaking the Surface

read bySuzanne Mallery

Breaking the Surface is a memoir of the life of Greg
Louganis, Olympic gold medalist in both 10m platform and springboard
diving in two consecutive Olympics. The first publication of this book in
1995 was also the means for him to come out publicly as a gay man and
reveal that he is HIV+. He also indicates that he had very recently
learned his HIV status in 1988, when he hit his head on the springboard on
one of his dives in Olympic competition, an injury that required multiple
stitches. He was such a superb diver that he went on to win a gold medal
in that event and in the next day s event, even with a head injury.

Lougan is honest and revealing memoir documents his struggles with
dyslexia and his sense of inferiority to others as a young adopted child
who was darker-skinned than his peers. This sense of innate badness
persisted into adulthood and fed his struggles with domestic violence and
substance abuse. Louganis also documents his experiences as a gay
athlete, the prejudices and hatred he encountered at times among fellow
athletes, and his fear that his sexual orientation would become publicly
known. The book opens with his account of his 1988 accident, his fears
about whether he had bled into the pool or put anyone at risk, and the
immense pressure of trying to figure out what to do to protect both other
divers and his own privacy in the midst of competition. He later called
the CDC and was reassured by an infectious disease specialist that none of
the other divers were at risk.

I enjoyed this book and found it more compelling than I had expected. The
memoir is neither an exercise in self-glorification nor a tell-all expose.
Instead, I was struck by Louganis honesty and his tremendous growth in
wisdom and maturity over the course of his life. I was also impressed by
his courage in being willing to reveal some of his bad choices or
controversial choices that he knew might evoke some public backlash. I
had the sense, reading the book, that Louganis wrote it not simply for
himself but also as a way to encourage others to find meaning and to grow
through hardships. Although I had previously admired Louganis
accomplishments as a diver, my primary reaction after reading the book is
great respect and admiration for him as a person. For me this is quite an
unusual reaction to celebrity.

David Myers

A Quiet World

read by Suzanne Mallery

David Myers is a prominent Christian psychologist, a
professor at Hope College, and the author of the text we usually use for
general psychology. He also has a moderately severe hearing loss. In
this book he discusses the process that he and his family have gone
through to come to terms with his hearing loss and to manage it well. He
reviews hearing aid and other technologies and talks about the
communication barriers that face people who become hard of hearing or deaf
as adults.

In general I thought this was a helpful book, but because it was published
in 2000 it is a little out of date on the most recent technologies. It
was particularly helpful to me to learn from his discussions of teaching
with hearing loss. I felt that he was somewhat over-optimistic, however,
about the potential for new technologies to solve the problems of the hard
of hearing and deaf by making them able to hear. This book does a nice
job of addressing the differences between those who are deaf and those who
are hard of hearing and the ways in which the solutions which have been
implemented for those who are deaf are not necessarily appropriate for
those who are hard of hearing. I learned a lot from this book and would
like to see an updated version with more incorporation of recent
technologies that improve communication without necessarily improving
hearing.

George R. Knight

Philosophy and Education

read by Angela Barrett

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book as it is a form of
a survey or summary with regard to the stand as a Christian that discusses
the major and famous philosophies from various individuals through history
that pertain towards the realm of education. These philosophies are
discussed in light of their historical context, the time period, it's
birth and eventually its association into educational moulds of the
present century. As we continue to read, we find George Knight bringing us
full circle to our belief systems as Christians, how we can incoroporate
our values into forming what he refers to as the philosophy of Christian
Education. While the book is rather hard to read as it disects many
aspects such as axiological, epistomological and metaphysical dimensions,
it is imperative that a Christian educator be aware and familiar with such
terminology to some extent.

Spong, John Shelby

The Sins of Scripture

read by Jennifer Subriar

Spong describes how generations have used Scripture to
rationalize and promote abuse, bigotry and waste. Spong makes some very
good points, but I disagree with much of what he writes. Still, I believe
this book is worth reading; the points he makes about the church and
racism, sexism, homophobia, abuse, and elitism are well taken, and invite
us challenge us to find better understandings/resolutions to these
problems than the author did. I recommend this book for a study group with
that in mind. Besides, I guarantee that there will be no shortage of
discussion from most groups that read this book! It s a fun read, in
that you can hardly wait to see what he s going to say next! I spent time
laughing out loud, other times, appalled by the stories he cites of
church-sanctioned abuses, and still other times, just out-and-out angry at
what he has written. It s something of an emotional roller coaster, but
worth the time if given serious consideration.

Daniel Goleman

Primal Leadership

read by Angela Barrett

While there were many aspects of the book that discussed
practical and everyday activities to enhance positive attitudes, I
thoroughly enjoyed this book as a guidebook for myself and for other
individuals and organizations that can grasp the concept of emotional
intelligence and make it real in their own walks. The step by step process
is an integral component to directing the masses of organizations into
production for success. This was sound and practical advice on leading
effectively, based on empirical data and science, as well as business
experience. References are made to many great leaders and it provides a
fresh perspective for a new form of working environment where matters of
the heart have equal significance with matters of the mind. This
incredible concept ignites leaders with driving emotions in the right
direction to have a positive impact on production. It gears me within the
field of education to empower myself and find directives in providing
positive learning and leadership aspects within the classroom, as well as
to instill leadership qualities within young students in their realm of
education and life. The strength of leadership infiltrates a great many
aspects of life and we can always learn how to get better in all we do.

John Waters

The Real Business of Web Design

read by Jennifer Subriar

While the introduction states that this book is about
communication, design, and business, there is actually very little about
design in the book. It is much more geared to the business end--marketing,
building and maintaining clientele, economic growth, business
fundamentals, etc. As such, it didn t provide much that I was looking for,
and what was there was, for me, pretty dry reading. Those who are more
interested in the retail usage of the internet might find this book useful.

Blue Balliett (illustrated by Brett Helquist)

Wright 3

read by Suzanne Mallery

The Wright 3 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the
best-selling tween novel Chasing Vermeer. Both books are set in Hyde
Park and feature a set of likeable kids from the Chicago Lab School at the
University of Chicago seeking out their own answers to questions that
intrigue them. In the Wright 3, the University of Chicago has determined
it cannot carry the expense of renovating the crumbling Robie House, and
decides to divide the house into pieces to be moved into museums. The
children embark on a crusade to save the Robie House from destruction and
to solve the mystery of the shadows that appear in the windows of the
house.

This book captures the essence of discovery learning at its best, and for
this reason it has really sparked my own imagination. The teacher helps
the kids ask interesting questions and think about how to answer them and
at times channels them toward projects that make use of what they are
learning, but the feel of the process is that it follows the kids
interests. The book does not set out to be about learning at all, and
certainly doesn t hit kids over the head with Information but manages to
convey the joy, excitement, and adventure in investigating things for
oneself in the process of telling a great story. For example, one of the
child protagonists plays with a set of three dimensional pentominos (12
pieces, each an arrangement of squares or cubes, that can fit together in
a variety of ways to make a rectangle or block), which show up throughout
the book. This character becomes fascinated by the parallels between the
shapes in the blocks and the shapes that appear in art and architecture,
in the structure of Wright s buildings and in the stained glass in the
windows. Fibonacci numbers, Japanese Art, the Mona Lisa, and the
Invisible Man also appear in similar ways. In none of these cases does
the author just teach the reader about these concepts. Instead, the
characters discover them as tools on their journey to saving the Robie
House. In the process, their story inspires the reader to find out just
what these pentominos are exactly, and may just inspire questions like,
Mom, can we go visit the Robie House? I remember my own excitement as a
ten year-old when, upon being dragged to another boring museum (the
National Gallery in this case) I turned a corner and happened upon a
painting by Mondrian, whose art I had explored previously. It was such a
shock and a thrill to see it in real life and somehow the experience of
it was mine in a way it would never have been if someone else had force
fed his work to me.

Finally, the illustrations are great. Brett Helquist cleverly hides
clues in the illustrations (and they aren t easy to find, either).
Overall great read.

Eugenio Corti

The last soldiers of the King: wartime Italy, 1943-1945

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

Another of the untold tales of World War II: the Italian participation
on the Allied side of the war after the Italian surrender in 1943.

Corti, a lieutenant at the time, writes a gripping personal account of his
escape from German-held Italy to the Allied lines, and then his
participation in the 1944 and 1945 offensives. There is a great deal of
personal musing and thought about the meaning of war and Italy's
situation.

Jeff Talarigo

The Pearl Diver

read by Jennifer Tyner

Definitely my favorite book so far this summer. Set in the
1940s postwar Japan, The Pearl Diver is a story of a young woman diagnosed
with leprosy. She is shipped off to an island, Nagashima, where she spends
much of her life exiled. She is required to re-invent her life on the
island leprosarium. While the book offers a glimpse of the Japanese
treatment of people with leprosy at a time when the disease sparked fear
in the community, it offers readers a powerful reminder of how we must not
treat people suffering from illnesses or inflections that we fear. I
don't want to reveal too much or it will ruin the story for you. If you
like Asian literature or memoirs, you should read this novel.

Robert William Fogel

The escape from hunger and premature death, 1700-2100: Europe,
America, and the Third World

name: Tony Zbaraschuk

In 1800, twenty percent of the population of Britain, the
world's richest nation, had barely enough food to move around for a few
hours a day and beg for more. Fogel tells how things got better.

A lot of the book is statistical analysis of various demographic data
(life expectancy, height, weight, body mass index) trying to establish
just what the situation was like over the last three centuries. Much of
the data is European since statistics like this were not kept elsewhere in
the world until very late in this period, but there's a very interesting
analysis of the twentieth-century population growth curves in East Asia.

I was hoping for a bit more discussion of why this happened, but
apparently the research has not yet advanced to that point (considering
that modern nutritional science pretty much got underway between 1900 and
1950, this is not surprising); Fogel notes that the real take-off in
health and life expectancy seems to have happened around 1900, and credits
the post-1850 installation of public health systems (water, sewage,
hospitals). I suspect that the development of nitrate-synthesis
technology had something to do with it as well (we literally _could not_
feed two billion people today without the Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis
process), but the curve was getting underway before then. There are a lot
of interesting synergies between infection and malnutrition (a famished
body is more vulnerable to infection; infection makes malnutrition worse
by diverting energy to manufacture of infections organisms and making
nutrition harder to obtain; feedback cycles like that get really ugly)

Fogel notes that we aren't yet done with the process, either. Life
expectancy is still rising... The last chapter has some interesting
speculations for the twenty-first century.

Verlyn Flieger, editor

Tolkien's legendarium: essays on The history of Middle-earth

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

A collection of essays exploring the literary value and
worth to Tolkien studies of the now-completed History of Middle-earth, the
twelve-volume set of Tolkien's papers and manuscripts published by
Christopher Tolkien over the past two decades.

Flieger is a notable Tolkien scholar and has edited a well-done book. It
will probably not be of interest to those who read the Lord of the Rings
but skipped the appendixes; to people like myself who own the full
twelve-volume set of the Histories, it's a fascinating and useful guide.

One group of essays considers the Histories in themselves and discusses
various aspects of them (including one on what stuff in the set is
enjoyable in its own right as opposed to merely stuff that might tell you
something about the LOTR trilogy); a second discusses Tolkien's languages,
and a third discusses the nature of stories, story-telling, and the impact
of Tolkien's various narrators and framing schemes (much of which was
abandoned prior to publication.)

Kirsten A. Seaver

The frozen echo: Greenland and the exploration of North
America, ca. A.D. 1000-1500

read byTony Zbaraschuk

A very interesting account of the Norse colonies in
Greenland. Seaver suggests that the Greenland settlements continued
occasional use of North American (for, among other things, wood) for much
longer than usually estimated. There's a lot of study of the later years
of the Greenland colony, though I think this is marred by the long and
elaborate efforts to explain that the various documents don't mean what
they say (for instance, one Greenlander reports leading a trip to the
Western Settlement to rescue it from a Skraeling attack, and arriving
there to find nobody and nothing except a few cattle wandering; Seaver
suggests that Skraeling attack is unlikely [for no reason I can see] and
that the settlers were just hiding from what they thought were tax
collectors). I would have liked to have seen more examination of the
archaeological evidence (much of which seems to be in Danish, judging from
the bibliographies).

Frequent use of the phrase "it must have happened this way" is also a
warning flag...

I am also not very confident about the suggestion that the vanishing of
the Greenland colony can be explained by them moving to North America
after its discovery and becoming another of the many failed colonies that
litter the sixteenth century... but even so, it is an interesting
coincidence (if not more) that the Greenland colony seems to have
continued to be a viable Norse settlement up until almost the time of
Cabot.

Worthwhile book; take some conclusions with a pinch of salt; lots of very
interesting facts and speculations, for the most part clearly
distinguished.

C.S. Lewis

Out of the Silent Planet

read by Cindy Parkhurst

In this first of C.S. Lewis' space trilogy a linguistics
professor named Ransom is kidnapped and taken to a planet called
Malacandra. He meets a variety of beings on this planet that range from
ghost-like waifs called sorns, to amphibious creatures called pfifltriggi
and the bear-like hrossa. These three species live together in peace,
each respecting the other.

In this tale, Ransom learns how "bent" (Malacandrian for evil) human have
become. He has the opportunity to witness the inhabitants of an unfallen
planet living together harmoniously. Ransom learns that the earth is
known to the rest of the universe as "the silent planet" because the "bent
one" that rules the earth does not communicate with rulers from the other
planets.

This is a classic tale of good and evil, of man, once perfect and now
fallen, and of the consequences of evil in the universe. Lewis does a
masterful job of telling the old story in a new and fresh way.

Holm, Jenninfer

Boston Jane: the wilderness

read by Christina Viramontes

Boston Jane is now starting to realize being a lady is not
that important if you live in the wilderness. After finding out her father
is dead, she thought she did not have any kin left in the world. After
some dangerous adventures, she realizes the filthy, flea-ridden men she
lives with are her family.

David Norton

A textual history of the King James Bible

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

There are a lot of books detailing the history of the
English Bible. Most of them start with Wycliffe in the fourteenth
century, continue through the massive wave of translations in the 16th
century, and then go straight to the Revised Version in 1881 and
on to the 20th-century translations... leaving a quarter-millenium gap
from 1611 to 1881.

This book fills that gap, extensively discussing the various printings of
the KJV, various revisions and scholarly efforts (for instance, the point
that revision mostly stopped in 1769), and then includes rather a long
list of changes. There's also some very nice coverage of the original
1611 translation project, and how one can tell printers' errors from
translation blunders, and the like.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in the KJV, or in Bible
translation in general.

Julia Alvarez

Saving the World

read by Rusty Perez

While doing some research, Alvarez discovered a footnote
about a ship transporting orphan carriers of a vaccine for small pocks to
the Americas early in the nineteenth century. Curiosity and imagination
lead her to write this fictional account of the events surrounding a
doctor's attempt to save the new world from the disease. Accounts of the
voyage are interspersed with the modern day struggle of a writer whose
husband is, in part, responsible for supporting aids research in a clinic
situated in a rural location in the Dominican Republic.

I heard Alvarez speak at the LA Times Festival of Books. Though I do not
know how much of the voyage to save the world is factual, it was
interesting to read of how these live carriers were used to transport a
vaccine which we take for granted today.
Alvarez's placement of small pocks side by side with our modern day
struggle with AIDS and the stigmas surrounding it is interesting. Her
fictional musings on the ethicality of using a rural population for
medical trials is not a new subject, but still challenging.

The truly interesting topic for me here was the small pocks thread in the
novel.

Jon Krakauer

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

read by Annemarie Hamlin

Under the Banner of Heaven is a fascinating work of
investigative journalism about the violence among fundamentalist Mormon
sects. The news story around which the book is developed is the murder of
a woman and her baby by two of her brothers-in-law, Ron and Dan Lafferty.
Ron Lafferty claimed to have had numerous revelations from God during his
adult life, one of which was the instruction to kill the mother and
daughter (as well as two other people, whose murders did not come about)
which he and Dan carried out in July 1984. The brothers were eventually
tried and convicted in a Utah court.

The book features a lot of recent history of fundamentalist Mormon groups
across the western United States, Canada, and Mexico, which have broken
off of the mainstream LDS church in the 20th century. Featured
prominently in their beliefs and practices (and in this book) is polygamy.
These groups believe this practice is divinely ordained, and we learn a
lot about the contemporary experiences of these families from Krakauer s
interviews with the wives and children of these communities. The book
also tells the story of the church s nineteenth-century beginnings and we
come to understand that the violence and polygamy are rooted in the
earliest part of the church s history. Learning about Joseph Smith (the
church s originator and first to claim polygamy was divinely ordained) and
Brigham Young (who organized the settlement in Utah territory), I was
fascinated by the history of settling of Utah by Mormons in the
mid-nineteenth century after being violently driven out of Missouri and
the eventual social and political domination of the state by the church.
Krakauer makes it clear that the mainstream church took some very
important steps to fall closer into step with the rest of the United
States when they officially abandoned polygamy in the 1890s, but that some
members resisted this change and have pursued the polygamy as part of
their fundamentalist practices despite the official change. There are
numerous break-off sects, each claiming their own divinely sanctioned
leader in direct communication with God.

I ve wanted to read this book for several years, because every June as our
family drives to Lake Powell in southern Utah, we drive through Colorado
City, one of the polygamist communities featured in the book and the one
where the murders took place. The houses are so large as to look like
duplexes or triplexes, and we have often speculated on the size of the
families living there. I was surprised to learn that this community has
the extensive and complex history it does, and was enlightened as to its
relationship to Mormon church history.

Ty Gibson

In the Light of God's Love

read by Jennifer Subriar

In this book, Gibson postulates that many SDAs have
isolated and emphasized vital points of doctrinal truth outside of the
context of God s love as manifested at the cross. Using Scripture, he
attempts to recast some of our conventional thinking from the perspective
of love instead of fear. He portrays a God that I would be much more
likely to love than the God to whom I was first introduced. My guess is
that this sort of evangelism is more likely to develop Christians with
actual relationships with God, rather than the here-one-week,
gone-the-next type that we seem to get when we threaten seekers with
beasts and end times. It s good to know that this theology is becoming
more widespread within Adventism.

Isaac Asimov

Foundation

read byJennifer Subriar

"Foundation" is the first book of the Isaac Asimov
Foundation trilogy. After reading CS Lewis science fiction books and The
Chronicles of Narnia , along with The Lord of the Rings series, and
finding there strong good vs. evil and salvation themes, I thought I d
reread the Foundation Series to see if the same types of themes were
there. Of course, good vs. evil is pretty prevalent in storytelling
anyway, and I m not surprised that Foundation is rife with it. But there
is no equivalent savior figure, but rather many average people who turn
out to be heroes, each in his own time. This futuristic story starts as
the foremost authority of psychohistory, Hari Seldon, predicts the fall
of the Galactic Empire, which has grown beyond its capacity to govern the
fringes (as empires are wont to do ). These psychohistorians model the
statistical probabilities of societal changes in large populations, and
are thereby able to predict (within a certain alpha % error) future trends
and crises. Seldon selects a group of people to inhabit a galactic-edge
planet (the Chosen People? The remnant? Maybe something will come out of
this, after all!), a Foundation from which to facilitate a reduction in
the length of time that the Empire spends in its upcoming dark ages. It
s interesting to note that the first trend developed to protect this elite
group is religion not one that they themselves believe, but that they pass
on to the inhabitants of local planets, whose knowledge of what used to be
everyday technology has deteriorated to the point that they believe the
Foundation is able to perform miracles. We ll see how the series goes

Trobisch, Ingrid Hult.

On our way rejoicing!

read by Jill Start

A story of a girl from a large Swedish family of ten who
served as a missionary in Africa. Her father, a missionary who pioneered
spreading the Gospel in the remote areas of Africa died of malaria while
serving in Africa. She as well as several of her siblings followed her
fathers footsteps serving in the mission fields.

Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the story of a mouse, a
princess, some soup, and a spool of thread.

read by Suzanne Mallery

An enchanting talk of an extraordinary mouse, a devious
rat, a gullible serving girl, and a princess with a heart full of light,
the Tale of Despereaux deservingly won the 2004 Newbery Medal, the most
prominent literary award for children's books. DiCamillo's captivating
writing style and nuanced characterization grace a deceptively simple
story. A tiny mouse who falls in love with a princess is banished by the
mouse council to the dungeon of the castle because of his decidedly
un-mouselike behavior of listening to music, reading books rather than
eating them, an allowing a human to touch him. His love for the princess
eventually sends him on a quest to save her from an evil plot. Along the
way we meet a rat whose love for soup and beauty and light, all un-ratlike
tastes, lead to bitter and broken heart; and a host of minor characters.
Although the story contains many elements of a fairy tale, the characters
are multi-faceted and both children and adults will identify with many of
their hopes and dreams. The story is highly entertaining with a number of
"Dear Reader" asides (including one encouraging the reader to look up the
word "perfidy" in the dictionary even if the reader believes he or she
understands the meaning of the word) and creative connections between
characters and plot elements throughout the book.

Overall this is a highly enjoyable read, and fun or both children and
adults. Then illustrations are beautiful and capture the spirit of the
prose. I have read several other books by this author, and have been
impressed by her flexibility and versatility in style and genre. Highly
recommended and a good read-aloud for families with elementary school aged
children. Note that there are a few elements that may be scary for
younger children. such as a dungeon littered with the bones of mice eaten
by rats.

Kalisha Buckhanon

Upstate

read byJennifer Tyner

I added this novel to my summer reading list because it
was compared to "The Color Purple." While not worthy of that comparison,
it is a wonderful story of love and achievement. The novel consists of
letters passing between Natasha and Antonio, teens in love separated by
distance and later by time and personal growth. When Antonio is sent to an
upstate prison for killing his father, he must adjust to a different kind
of life, and Natasha must continue hers without her first love. The story
provides an unique glimpse inside the lives of familes growing up in the
poorer neighborhoods and schools of Harlem. By the end of the story we are
reminded how much we can do if we put our mind and wills to work. It is a
great summer read.

Emma McLaughlin

Citizen Girl A Novel

read by Jennifer Tyner

My sister suggested this book. Since she has an ivy league
degree, I trusted her! Ivy Leaguers need some serious literary criticism
classes. All I can say is...CHICK LIT. This is a book about a
twentysomething women's studies major whose liberal arts education led her
to believe she would land a job and save the world. The premise had
promise, but the story turned into a whine fest for a young college grad
who found out that working in the real world is not as idealistic as
promised in college. I think my sister liked this book because she could
relate. I can't anymore...I am too old!

Dan Miller

48 days to the work you love

read by Jennifer Tyner

This is a great book for exploring and understanding your
own skills, abilities, personality traits, values, dreams, and passions. I
recommend it to college seniors and those looking to boost their careers.

Jeanne DuPrau

The Prophet of Yonwood

read by Suzanne Mallery

about-the-book: I was excited when this book was released, because the two
volumes of this trilogy that were released previously, the City of Ember
and the City of Sparks, were spectacular reads. Both were highly creative
and imaginative works, written in a beautiful style.

The Prophet of Yonwood, a prequel to the other two works, was somewhat of
a disappointment. The novel has merit in its own right and is
particularly timely given world events, but as a prequel it falls flat.
It simply doesn't add enough to the other two novels in the trilogy to
feel like a coherent continuation of a consistent story, and it fails to
fulfill the promise offered by its billing as a prequel.

In a nutshell, the Prophet of Yonwood portrays a small American town at a
time when the US is at the brink of war with a group of hostile nations.
Throughout the book there is a sense of anxiety and even paranoia about
terrorists and impending destruction. Nickie, the 11 year-old
protagonist, finds that the moral confusion of the rest of the world is
echoed in Yonwood. Althea, a local woman, has had a vision of the
destruction of the world, and is hailed as a prophet. In the aftermath
of this vision, however, Althea is rendered incoherent, so an officious
neighbor takes it upon herself to "interpret" Althea's ramblings and
translate these into dictates of good and evil for the town. These
pronouncements become increasingly controlling and nonsensical. For
example, all pet dogs are to be relinquished to the town council and
released outside of town, because the love people have for their dogs
detracts from the love they can have for God. Nickie's desire to be
"good" propels her into betraying a friend, with dire consequences.

The examination of good and evil in this book is thought-provoking for
intended audience (pre-teens and early teens), but much of the novel was
spoiled for me by the last chapter and epilogue. Like Upton Sinclair in
the Jungle, the author seems unwilling to trust her audience to "get" the
moral conflict without her telling them explicitly. Thus, much of the
last chapter is devoted to what feels like "preaching" (and not in the
good way, I add for those among us who preach). Particularly insulting to
the reader, this clarification of the issues comes from an adult, as if
the young people in the book somehow weren't bright enough to grasph the
issues themselves. This is particularly disappointing given that the
other two books in the trilogy feature young people solving problems and
working to save their society.

The epilogue is also disappointing. The connections between this novel
and the other two are oblique at best. The epilogue rushes through the
next 60 years to bring the reader up to the point when the next book
begins. Unfortunately, the transition makes very little use of plot
features from either this book or the later books. Instead, it comes
across more like whizzing through some people's lives to emerge 60 years
later when something strange and unexpected happens. This is most
unsatisfying for the fan of the later two books.

Overall, I would highly recommend the City of Ember and the City of
Sparks. The reader of those two books looking for insight into the
foundation of the events of those stories may be disappointed. This novel
stands on its own as an interesting story, but doesn't work well as a
"prequel" to the others.

Annie Proulx

Close Range

read by Leslie Martin

Collection of short stories (from the ranges of
Wyoming...). Her descriptions are sometimes nothing short of amazing-- I
found myself underlining quite a few short passages just because her
wording was so very compelling/vivid/unique. Can't say I cared much for
most of the content of the stories, though (very raw).

Nelson Mandela

Long Walk to Freedom

read by Leslie Martin

This is essentially the story of Nelson Mandela's life--
very good, but it's long, and it can be frustrating (lots of detail on
some things, and only the most scant tidbits in other areas). In all,
though, an excellent read.

Alan J. Levine

The war against Rommel's supply lines, 1942-1943

read byTony Zbaraschuk

A moderately interesting account of a relatively unreported part of World
War II. Levine focuses on air and sea action against Axis shipping to Tunisia
during the 1942-43 campaign there, with a brief prelude about action earlier in
North Africa. Much of what he reports about the ground campaign is virtually
common knowledge (at least to those interested in the topic), but his main
discussion of convoy attacks is new and based on extensive research in
primary sources (when they exist) and comparisons of Axis and Allied
accounts (when the primary sources don't exist any longer).

Logistics is a greatly underappreciated part of the military art, and very
worthy of consideration by people who want to know what their military can
or can't be used to do. There are some useful bits of advice here about
the validity of current battlefield reports and the difficulty of seeing
immediately what has resulted from a military action. I could have wished
for more analysis of the relative effectiveness of various different
Allied actions, as opposed to a mere recounting of one convoy attack after
another, but I did learn a lot from this book.

If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like.

Robert M. Hazen

Genesis: the scientific quest for life's origin

read by Tony Zbaraschuk

A very interesting review of the current state of
knowledge about the origin of life. Large chunks of it consist, more or
less, of "We need to do more research", but there are some good accounts
of current experiments, and some suggestions as to the origin of
metabolism and genetics.

I could have used more detail, but this would be a very interesting primer
for someone with little or no experience in the area.

Whelan, Gloria

Homeless Bird

read by: Christina Viramontes

A beautiful story about Koly, an Indian girl, who was
forced to marry young. Her family is poor, but they were lucky to find a
husband for Koly. At the wedding ceremony, she finds out he is younger
than Koly, and is sick with tuberculosis. He dies after a failed attempt
at the healing waters of the Ghange River, she becomes a young widow.

Lou Ann Walker

A Loss for Words: The Story of Deafness in a Family

read by Suzanne Mallery

about-the-book: In this book, Lou Ann Walker tells the story of her
experiences growing up as a CODA (a hearing child of Deaf adults).
Because both of Walker's parents had been deaf since birth or early
childhood, neither of them were fluent in spoken or written English, and
Walker, the oldest child in the family, was thrust into the role of
interpreter and cultural liason for her parents at a very early age. She
describes how this unusual role impacted her development as a child and
her sense of responsibility for her parents and the rest of the Deaf
community even as an adult.

Walker's story is much more than a recounting of hurts, though. She draws
a vivid and complex picture of the lives of Deaf adults and families who
may be at the same time naive about how things work in the hearing world
and all too understanding about prejudices and discrimination they face.
I was struck by the many invisible ways in which Deaf adults are made
powerless by obstacles to communication. Walker recounts events such as
obscene phone calls that her parents were powerless to stop or even
understand, the brunt of which were carried by the hearing children in the
family.

Walker does a nice job of conveying the way in which communication in ASL
differs so significantly from spoken or written English, and her
frustration with her inability to convey to outsiders her father's humor
and intelligence, which simply didn't "translate" well to English. There
are also a number of very moving incidents in which it becomes poignantly
clear how small obstacles to communication have a very significant impact
on relationships. For example, Walker describes how, when her parents
dropped her off for college, she sent her parents away from the dorm and
then later that night went back to their hotel because she was lonely and
wanted to talk with them. No matter how hard she pounded on their hotel
room door, she was unable to get their attention, and she ended up going
back to her dorm without being able to say goodbye again. She also
describes an incident in which a normally unexpressive grandfather speaks
to his daughter (her mother) to tell her how much he loves her and how
proud he is of her. Walker catches part of the conversation, but
discovers later that because of the dim lighting in the room, her mother
missed almost everything the father was trying to convey to her.

Walker describes her parents in a way that is tender and affectionate but
honest. It is clear that this is a family who love each other deeply and
are highly interconnected, but are faced with the very real challenge of
trying to straddle two very different cultural worlds. I appreciated that
the author did not demean or belittle the Deaf world in her portrayal of
the family, but was also honest about the types of difficulties faced by
the community.

This was enlightening reading, though a bit slow at times. I think it's
worth a read, particularly because it affords the reader a glimpse into a
world that many of us never see or even imagine.

Bruce Mills

Poe, Fuller, and the Mesmeric Arts: Transition States in the
American Renaissance

read by Annemarie Hamlin

This book is based on the interesting theory that reserach
and writings on mesmerism in medical and popular literature of the 19th
century influenced several American writers (Edgar Allan Poe, Margaret
Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, and Walt Whitman) to rethink the ways writers
write and readers read. Mills examines several texts that I occasionally
teach in my American literature classes--short stories by Poe, essays by
Fuller, poems by Whitman--and I appreciate the new ways he has made me
think about these familiar works. The book itself is not an easy read,
however; the intellectual gymnastics needed to make the ideas clear will
feel engaging only to the most dedicated of mesmerism scholars, and
apparently this is not me.

Aaron J. Klein

book-title: Striking Back

read by Rusty Perez

Klein recounts the captivity and subsequent deaths of
eleven Israeli atheletes during the Munich Olympics in 1972. He then
traces the state sanctioned retaliatory hits on most of the key
individuals responsible for the deaths of the atheletes.

Though I checked this book out and scanned it before the
start of the current situation in the Gaza strip, it is surprisingly
pertinent to current events.
It seems a contradiction to consider one's self God's chosen people, and
harbor such venomous grudges. It must take a tremendous emotional toll to
seek revenge for over thirty years, let alone centuries.

Laila Lalami

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

read by Rusty Perez

Lalami tells a series of short stories, all connected by
the fact that each of their main characters was on the same inflatable
boat full of refugees headed from Morocco to Spain. The stories recount
portions of the characters lives, either before, or as a result of their
illegal imigration.

At a time when we are struggling with the effects of
illegal imigration in our country, and as we witness the bitter disputes
over what to do about our imigration problems, this book offers a glimpse
of what drives an individual to leave their home and family to make a life
in another country illegally. This book also gives us a look at life on
the edge of employment, on the edge of social and ideological acceptance,
on the edge of family.

Lalami spoke at the La Times Festival of books and this is what inspired
me to read this, her first book.

John Tollett, Robin Williams, David Rohr

Robin Williams' Web Design Workshop

by Jennifer Subriar

Robin Williams Web Design Workshop (John Tollett, Robin
Williams, David Rohr) provides an overview of the process of web design,
from client relationships to maintaining the finished product. There are
lots of ideas and tips, but not much in-depth info. Plenty of pictures
of web pages that are great for brainstorming, and getting the general
idea of what available techniques have to offer.

Wright, Betty Ren

The Moonlight Man

by Christina Viramontes

This book has a nice element of suspense to it since it
is geared toward ages 9-12. It is one of those "I can't put it down"
books, but it did seem to end too quickly.

Amy Tan

Saving Fish From Drowning

by Jennifer Tyner

In this politically charged fictional novel, Tan
experiments with a creative technique of taking a real-life incident and
building a story around it. Laced with wry humor, the book is about a
group of American tourists who visit Myanmar (Burma) and get kidnapped.
Somehow Tan gets readers to really care about characters that we start out
loathing. However, overall, I did not enjoy this book. It took me a very
long time to get through it. I normally read Tan in a day! This book
isn't as engaging or visual as her previous works.

Lisa See

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

by Kitty Simmons

A historical novel, written in the style of an
autobiography, tells the life story of a Chinese woman born in 1853.
Weaving a rich tapestry of cultural details throughout the narrative of
events results in a book that is both informative and fascinating. Of
particular interest is the detailed description of the footbinding
practiced for centuries which virtually crippled many Chinese women.
Also I learned about " nu shu" the sort of secret-code writing developed
and used by some Chinese women to communicate with each other. Fans of
Army Tan and Pearl Buck will surely enjoy this book. I sure did!

Sheila Tobias

Overcoming Math Anxiety

Esther Kinzer

Tobias discusses the possible reasons why people,
particularaly women, develope anxiety about math. She explores the
social, biological, and experimential factos that may contribute to the
problem. She stresses the importance of becoming an autonamous learner,
and why it might be particularly difficult to do so in the area of
mathematics. She spends two chapters with particular examples of
exerciese or thought processes that might help with thier anxiety, an
cites examples of several programs offering approaches, that have
successfully helped adult learners overcome this and become successful
math students.

Kathleen Norris

The Cloister Walk

by Kitty Simmons

I came away from reading this book with a much greater
appreciation for liturgical worship and for the relevance of the Psalms.
The author shares her experience as an active participant in a Benedictine
monastery, but what makes this even more interesting are the biographical
details and her perspective as a poet interwoven throughout the text.
This memoir covers a wide variety of aspects related to spiritual life,
particularly from a woman s perspective.

Jhumpa Lahiri

Interpreter of Maladies

by Suzanne Mallery

I don't generally read short stories, but selected this
book because I liked the author's novel, the Namesake. This book was
enjoyable far beyond my expectations.

This is a beautifully written collection of short stories, and a winner of
the Pulitzer Prize. Each story features a South Asian in his or her
interactions with people from different cultural, social, or economic
backgrounds. Lahiri's stories center around themes of isolation and
alienation and these themes are brought into relief by the contrast with
the recurrent appearance of comforting rituals, foods, and traditions
reminiscent of the ties with home and family.

The stories draw much of their beauty from the complexity and depth hidden
behind a facade of simplicity. The writing is spare, and the plots
deceptively straightforward. The characters, however, powerfully portray
the sense of isolation that can occur in anyone who has somehow been
displaced or separated, emotionally or physically from his or her sense of
connection with the world.

Most of the reviewers on this book comment on its portrayal of the
"immigrant experience." While many of the stories do focus on characters
who find themselves as foreigners in a new place, the feelings and
experiences of the characters have universal appeal and touch the sense of
isolation and alienation that is part of the reality of being human. This
is the great beauty of the book.

Lewis, C. S.

Out of the Silent Planet

by Jennifer Subriar

"Out of the Silent Planet" is a science fiction tale in
which C.S. Lewis imagines what a planet that had not "fallen" might be
like. He describes relationships between various creatures and the
envioronment; what it might be like to not be so self-centered. The
inhabitants have no concept of war, and a "righteous" perspective of
desire. Lewis also throws in some interesting linguistics lessons from the
idyllic planet, along with vivid imagery of the flora, fauna, and geology.
Over all, a good story, which brought many questions to mind about how I
live and what I believe.

Lewis, C. S.

Perelandra

by Jennifer Subriar

"Perelandra" is the second book in CS Lewis' science
fiction trilogy. This book has the adventurer of the first book traveling
to a different planet, at the time of temptation of its "Adam and Eve." He
imagines the deception by the "serpent" creature to be constant
pressure--nagging!--coupled with half truths. The evil creature tries to
make it appear that the God of the universe actually wants his creatures
to disobey him, so that they can grow and become individuals separate from
God. The deception is very subtle and reminds me of some of the methods
found in Lewis' "Screwtape Letters." In reading the Bible, one can come
away with the impression that all Satan had to do was say, "Here, Eve, eat
this." And she said, "OK." Perhaps the deception was much more intense,
more prolonged, more insidious, than the short passage might lead us to
believe. Again, Lewis utilizes his gift for description to create a
fantastic picture for us of the scenery and lifeforms found on this
Eden-planet.

Odyssey of Hearing Loss: Tales of Triumph

By Michael A. Harvey

Odyssey of Hearing Loss, by Michael A. Harvey, recounts the stories of
psychotherapy clients who are hard of hearing or deaf. The author describes
the psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual difficulties and triumphs
encountered by each individual as he or she interacts with the hearing world
and in many cases faces radical adjustments in his or her life as hearing
becomes increasingly limited. The individuals are presented not just as
"clients" but as human beings, and their struggles and personal and
spiritual growth reflect themes that are common to everyone.

The psychotherapist-author discusses his thoughts and reactions to the
client as well as the interactions that were helpful to the individual and
those that were not-so-helpful. I particularly appreciated the openness
with which Harvey describes his encounters with his own prejudices and
assumptions about deafness and hearing loss. The accounts of the featured
individuals are presented in a way that is accessible to
non-psychotherapists, and the reading is light and relevant in a way that
may not be expected by those have no difficulties with hearing.

This book touches on many issues common to adults who are hard of hearing,
deaf, and Deaf (capital D Deaf, a reference to those who identify culturally
with the Deaf community), but provides only very cursory insight into Deaf
culture. The book is not intended to focus on Deafness per se, but a reader
who has some familiarity with Deaf culture will be able to
"read-between-the-lines" to see the depth in many of the narratives in ways
that most hearing readers will not. As a result, for the average hearing
reader who lacks an understanding of the historical and cultural background
for the stories in the book, some of the feelings and reactions of the
clients are likely to feel flat or evoke puzzlement. The average reader
will get a lot more out of this book if he or she first reads a book that
provides a solid discussion of the historical and current forces impacting
the Deaf World. For this purpose I'd highly recommend Journey into the Deaf
World, by Harlan Lane, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan.

Both this book and Journey into the Deaf World are published by Dawn Sign
Press, and neither book is in the holdings of our library, but both are
available via Link+.

Suzanne Mallery