Gonna Read.
Duh.
I have a few rules for personal reading.
1. 1. No
serial killers.
2. 2. No
child abuse.
3. 3. At
least one character has to be likeable.
4. 4. Happy
endings preferred.
5. 5. No
preaching, and while you are at it, don’t tell me what to think or what to do.
6. 6. A little wit, please.
Here are a few books that made the cut.
The Penderwicks by
Jeanne Birdsall – Delightful is not a word I use often, but this looks like it
might be.
The Yellow Admiral
by Patrick O’Brian – Royal Navy. Check. Napoleonic Wars. Check. Russell Crowe.
No wait, that’s the movie, Master and
Commander, based on two books from this series. This book is the 18th
in the series, and they are all yummy, with lots of swashbuckling, clever
dialogue, nifty characters, and suspense.
The Guernsey Literary
and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows – OK, I’m
cheating. I already read this one, but it was so good, I’m going to recommend
it here. My mother even liked it, and she hates everything.
The Extraordinary and
Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle by Catherine Webb – This looks like a
kiddie book, but I read the first chapter, and I don’t think it is. “It was short, had no shoes, wore a
shirt and trousers that might once have been white, but which now would shame
even the most scruffy of scarecrows. It had a tangle of dark brown curls
sticking out in every direction from its head, and a pair of intently squinting
and blinking grey eyes. It was, in fact, a girl, still young enough to get away
with pretending to be innocent, but old enough to be very, very guilty indeed.”
The Language of Bees
by Laurie R. King – Laurie King has written many books but her only series I
really like features Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Normally, I refuse to
read books that are retreads of classic literature because the original is
almost always way better, but I make an exception for these books. This is the
ninth in the series that begins with The
Beekeeper’s Apprentice.
The Reason for God
by Timothy Keller – “It would be inconsistent to require more justification for
Christian belief than you do for your own, but that is frequently what happens.
In fairness you must doubt your doubts. My thesis is that if you come to
recognize the beliefs on which your doubts about Christianity are based, and if
you seek as much proof for those beliefs as you seek from Christians for
theirs—you will discover that your doubts are not as solid as they first
appeared.”
The Motivation
Breakthrough by Richard Lavoie – Somebody I respect a whole bunch told me
to read this one.
The Power and the
Glory by Graham Greene – Read it in college. Liked it. Want to read it
again.
House by Tracy
Kidder – I was strangely drawn to this one. Plus, I’ve read stuff by Tracy
Kidder before and always like his stuff. Among
Schoolchildren was very good.
Spock Is So Wise
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