Reading, reading, reading!

Books have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember.  Been doing some reading recently:

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich - I don't remember who turned me on to these books  just that it was someone from my extended church family.  I should probably thank them or buy them a donut.  I LOVE the Stephanie Plum series.  How much?  This book is 310 pages and I read it all in about 3 hours.  Between the end of dinner and before bed time.  Funny and fun to read.  And Grandma Mazur to boot. I can't remember a character that I look forward to as much as Stephanie's delightfully nuts maternal grandmother.   Plus waiting for the day when her dad finally loses control.   Looking for a series to follow?  Highest recommendation.
I already have the next one in the series "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" and will probably dispatch that tomorrow.

After the Prophet - The Epic Story of the Shia Sunni Split in Islam by Lesley Hazelton - Most Americans know virtually nothing about Islam or it's two major sects.  What gets tossed around as common knowledge is largely wrong and biased.  If you'd like to understand the whos, whats and whys I would strongly recommend this book.  It is an easy read and lays out the landscape of Islam in the years following the death of Mohammed in a clear and concise way.  The book helped me piece together little bits and get a better global understanding of the reasons and causes for the deep seated animosity between these two groups.  It doesn't cover the theology and doctrine of Islam but you'll know a lot more than you did before.

Breath of the Soul by Sister Joan Chittester - I belong to a book group and this is the book that we've been working our way through.  It's a tiny little book but is wonderfully written (as always with Sister Joan) and offers some wonderful insight into a life of prayer and faith.  Each chapter is about 3 pages long but they cover a wide range of ideas and concepts.  Really enjoyed this one.  It's a keeper.

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie - Hard to go wrong with Dame Agatha.  This is the very first of the Miss Marple series and the very first of that series I've ever read.  Not sure what I expected,  a kind of "Murder She Wrote" little old lady detective.  Miss Marple isn't really that at all.  There's a definite style to the English country mystery and this fits to a t.  I enjoyed the story and would certainly read some more.




Legions of Space by Keith Laumer - Another Baen Books release of one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors.  This is two novels and several shorter works.  Just rollicking good stuff.


On the less than thrilling side I've been trying some "popular history" stuff that has left me cold. "How We Got Here", "Stupid History" and "The Slacker's Guide to U.S. History" all try for the breezy style of say James Burke's "The Pinball Effect".  Sadly they don't want to work hard enough to be witty and bright and settle for being snarky and smug.  I wasn't able to finish any of them.  I was offended as a writer and a lover of history.  Read anything by Burke or any of the books in the Mental Floss series.  Don't waste your time with these.  There are more than enough people in our country with truly crappy understandings of history.  Don't become one of them.