What's next?

First of all I want to say thanks for reading. The accountability of knowing people were looking at this really gave me the necessary motivation to finish. As I have been thinking through this last year I decided that I wanted to have a task to accomplish so I thought about some areas that I felt like pursuing. Any of you that know me know that I am not exactly what most people would describe as a "patriot." Please hear me say, I don't hate America (aka the United States of America) I just wasn't raised to have a great appreciation the basic elements of our culture. I suppose that most of this was my doing, but I always had far more interest in the cultures of "exotic" locales. As I have grown older I have started to see the value of this Nation, but I feel like I still lack a base understanding of how we got to where we are, and why that matters. So. in 2010 I am going to attempt to discover an America that I can appreciate (while staying true to my beliefs) and hopefully learn to love. I am going to read American classics, listen to American masterworks, study the works of the great American artists, look at the inventions and contributions of some of our noteworthy citizens, and lastly analyze the ideas of our greatest thinkers. I am very excited to conquer this and if you would like to follow along you can view my thoughts at http://iheartamerica.wordpress.com hope to hear from you soon.

p.s. the blog is set up but posting will not begin until January 1st

FIFTY! and done!

Well, I did it with a couple weeks to spare. I figured I would finish my quest with a book about another man's quest. I'll be honest, mine was a little less ambitious. This book is a "classic," at least according to some people. I have seen the film version of this book so I wasn't really biting on all of the twists and turns that Verne threw at me, but it was still entertaining.
To be honest after 50 books I'm tired of writing reviews so I am going to finish by saying this. I love epic adventure stories, and this was no disappointment on that front. It did, however, drip with closet racism, justification for imperialism, and general Caucasian bias. So, I won't be reading this to my kids. Not to mention that Verne generally takes a pot shot at most cultures as well as the Hindu and Mormon faith. I'm all for freedom of speech but I guess I trust my authors to keep it classy. Anyway, I guess the politician thing to say now is that these were different times, but that's non-sense so instead I'll say, this is a good story told through a very narrow worldview.

quarantanove e soltanto uno da andare!

There is a series of books with non-descript covers called the culture shock series. I have personally read Culture Shock: China, and Culture Shock: Hong Kong. I found the books fascinating as well as ultimately useful in each of those cultures. You see the thing about people is we form cultures around ourselves, and to those indoctrinated in the culture it makes complete sense. But to those unaccustomed to the mores of a particular country or part of a country these traditions, laws, unwritten rules, and fanatical devotions can seem like complete non-sense.
Ciao America! by Beppe Severgnini is sort of a Culture Shock: United States of America for Italians. The thing about it is the author comments on things that seem incredibly common place to most "Americans." As I was reading, however, I started to realize the insanity of this country. From American football to Black Friday to the sheer quantity of goods available to consume, the witty observations of Severgnini begin to make sense when you step back to view them.
Cultures are crazy, and I am starting to believe that all people are a little bit nuts, so it makes sense that cultures would be so unique as you travel the globe. It was actually refreshing to hear an outsider both give a glowing description of my nation as well as an honest critique on a few of our shortcomings. The book was written in the mid nineties so many of the topics have already become outdated, but the general perceptions hold true. After all we are talking about ideas and pattens that are ingrained in our nations DNA. Technology, media, art, and social tolerances may change but we will always be a nation of self-reliance, interstates, barbecue, and "American football." But I haven't heard people petitioning for change.

If I was a trappist monk, I would definitely read more than 50 books in a year

So I heard about this Thomas Merton guy a few years ago, and at first he sounded like a nut case. He may very well be a nut case, but he has some good things to say. Granted, I do question anyone that can live extended amounts of time without human interaction, but that doesn't take away from his thoughts. I'm not going to get into the details of Merton's philosophies but this is an excellent overview of the many branches of Cistercian monks. There are as many types of monks as there are denominations in the protestant Church, and many of the differences are just as trivial. I'm not going to lie to you, this isn't a pleasure read for most people, but if you've ever wondered what a vow of silence would be like, this is a pretty inside look. Thomas Merton has some very different, and often controversial, viewpoints but if you can weed through those there is some very significant content to contemplate.

47! And a series complete

Well...I promised a full review when I completed the 5 books in the Percy Jackson series. I don't want to give too much away, but as adults with any semblance of knowledge of Greek mythology it isn't too difficult to pick up on foreshadowing and thematic devices in these books, so here it goes.

Percy Jackson is 12 years old when we meet him, he quickly discovers through a series of monster related adventures that he is a half-blood. That is to say half mortal and half deity. In Percy Jackson's world the deities of Greek mythology have continued to exist and they just move around wherever Western civilization is centered. With this knowledge Percy is invited to attend a camp for half bloods with others from around the world along with centaurs, satyrs, naiads, dryads, harpies, and myriad other beasts that I previously had little knowledge of.
Needless to say, the demon side of mythology has persisted as well, and these creatures soon begin to unleash there fury. Over 5 books Percy himself deals with most of Hades' worst minions in the city, below ground, under water, and in the sky. Percy relies on the help of his friends as well as the Gods themselves, most of them make appearances, but you may be surprised how, and when.
Overall I highly recommend these books. If your child may not be able to understand this is mythology then you may want to wait, but for any mature kid these are great epic adventures. They are tales of good versus evil, and wonderful stories where good decisions ultimately lead to success. Percy Jackson was just something I started as a distraction from my quest, but like Percy I was sucked into a journey I was unable to say no too. I normally say I don't enjoy fiction but Percy has caused me to reconsider that stance.

46, but this should have counted as a couple of books

So I guess I never figured I'd read a Jonathan Edwards book, let alone a book written by John Piper commenting on a book by Jonathan Edwards, which by the way, included the entire Edwards book as well. But, I did, and it was tough. I am decently familiar with Piper so I actually thought the Piper portion of the book was pretty straight-forward. Don't get me wrong, I learned an immense amount of information, but as far as difficulty of comprehension I was pleasantly surprised that I felt like I was in-taking what Piper was attempting to convey. That all ceased when Edward's original writings took over. I need to say that if it were not for the Piper thoughts to lead the book, I don't feel I could have gotten through the remainder of the writings. The text that Edwards wrote was entitled The End for Which God Created the World it is a fairly well known piece of Christian literature, but I found it very hard to track with. This was not beacuse of the content or necessarily even the level of theological understanding. It had much more to do with the changes in the English language over the last 250ish years. Jonathan Edwards was a contemporary of the founding fathers and his writing reads as such. To my "post0modern" sensibilities the words of Edwards came across much like contemporary legal documents. This is not to say that it was intentionally confusing, in fact I often found that Edward's made his point more thoroughly than necessary, the writing just piled up at great lengths causing me to often get tangled up in his ideas, and proof texts. Having said all of these things I felt this was an incredibly valuable read. I was stretched in my understandings of God, and was challenged as a reader. It was fascinating to see that many of the struggles in the modern American Church are similar to those of Edwards day, even though the language of his time is as foreign to me as Greek or Hebrew.

5 to go!

Assasination Vacation is not a murder novel. It is however a ridiculously fascinating story. I feel it is important to note that I grew up in a home that would make most presidential libraries jealous, so I am probably prone to information on our presidents, especially the ones killed in office. In this book Sarah Vowell takes to the road unearthing the minutiae surrounding the first 3 Presidential assassinations. Those 3 assassinations were Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. The first of these is pretty well known and as a native son of "the land of Lincoln," I had the tale pounded into my head each year along with the stirring exploits of Kazimir Polaski (look it up). Any way, the Lincoln assassination is indeed fascinating, and full of intrigue but so are the lesser known of the presidential assassinations. If I didn't trust the sources of the information I would have a hard time believing that many of the plot lines didn't come from telenovelas. These stories are rife with espionage, conspiracy, bribary, bizarre sexual exploits, teapot manufacturing, And strangely enough Robert Todd Lincoln comes to play in all three stories. Reading this book inspired me to visit Washington D.C. as soon as possible and explore the historical sites that are off of the normal tourists radar, as well as visit the Truman presidential library in Kansas City when I go home for Christmas. He wasn't assassinated, but a couple of people tried. Maybe there is a good story behind that as well.

44! I can see the light

So a few years ago I was reading the book Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. At the time it seemed like 1300 pages of what could only be classified as theological shock therapy. Looking back on the book, it was neither that overwhelming of a read, nor really that arduous a task, but I'm a little older now and definitely a better reader, so that is to be expected. Anyway, I have asked the guys in my community group to read this book and since I try to not ask people to read books I haven't read myself, you shall now get a blog post describing the book. Grudem took the 1300ish pages of Systematic Theology and "condensed" it down to just under 600 pages for the book Bible Doctrine which was then parsed down to around 150 pages and presented as this book Christian Beliefs.
I really appreciate what Grudem has done in this book, having read the monster version I was actually surprised to find that a couple of the things presented actually seemed clearer in their abridged form. I have very few complaints with the book, I felt the tone and writing style was very accessible and easy to enter into. I did, however, wish that Grudem had chosen to discuss the ordinances of the Church as well as getting into exactly how the Bible was canonized, but I realize he was limited to 20 topics. I would highly recommend this book to anyone hoping to get in on the ground floor of reformed theology, or for anyone wanting to brush up on their knowledge of the essentials.

43

Book # 4 in the Percy Jackson series is completed!

T minus 8

I feel that I need to say this on the record - I am still reading mature adult writing. I just got wrapped up in this story and want to finish it. Like I said last time, I will give a huge write-up on the Percy Jackson series once I am done. But just in case anyone doesn't believe me I am also currently reading God's Passion for His Glory, it is definitely higher level reading. I haven't abandoned scholastic pursuits, but sometimes you have to finish an adventure!

41 - I'm hooked...

and I don't usually get sucked into storylines so easily. I have already started the third book, and I am going to catch Brad soon. At least I waited until all the books were released, this way I don't have to wait 9 months for the next installment to come out. Anyway, my previous review stands, I think I'll give a big doozy of a review after all the books are read. Okay well I have a mountain to conquer so I am outta here.

WARNING: This book, and the subsequent books in this series exist in a modern world not only occupied by "God" but by "gods" as well. If you may find this offensive, then you should skip this series.

That being said I loved this book. I was skeptical to start a series of children's books but my friend Brad gave this one the Butler seal of approval so I figured I'd drink the Kool-Aid. I was pleasantly surprised. I have always nerded out on Mythology, with the full understanding that it was just that, Mythology. I spent a few years as secretary of the Latin Club in high school, which essentially requires some mythological studies. So as I dived into the first few chapters, I was hooked. I am ready to get on to the next book, but I have some other reading to do, but if I'm honest I'll probably put that off and keep going on these. They really are compelling, it is good writing, good conflict, likable characters, people you hate, and superpowers. I need no more. It won't increase the surface area of your gray matter, but it will make you enjoy reading. That's enough for me.

Ambos Nogales

So I have little to no affection left for border towns, but my dad really loves the places. I don't know what it is about them, but he really wants to go to Nogales every time he visits, so I oblige. After our last visit a few weeks ago I decided that there was at least a minimal amount of study I needed to put into our nearest border-town-neighbors. So I started to read Ambos Nogales. This book is a Photo-journalistic view at both Nogales but has a remarkably deep level of story as well. I think my appreciation for the town on each side of the border has grown as a result. The problem with border towns, in my mind, is that you don't really get to know anyone. The population is transitory, most people don't originate from the area, and the dollar is driving daily life. Come to think of it, that isn't much different from the city I live in. I suppose the transitory nature of life here is a part of being situated on an international border, it is even a part I embrace. I love the idea of cultures living side by side, and co-mingling. I can appreciated acculturation in some contexts but I can also understand a fierce loyalty to ones "mother culture." I suppose in some circles this makes me un-American, but I also suppose it doesn't make me un-Jesus-like, and that's more what I'm shooting for. All of this to say, I realized in the last few weeks that the things I don't love about border towns are the things that have been imposed upon those towns by bureaucracy, crime, and international political posturing and preening. So, long story short, border towns are OK in my books, after all, if there wasn't a made up border there, they'd just be towns. I'm OK with towns.

Pursuit of Holiness

I should have read this a long time ago, for many many reasons. I have now. I found this book encouraging, and in consideration of my pursuit of reading 50 books, a wjole lot convicting. Why is it that I can be dedicated to reading 50 books, most of which are ultimately meaningless, but a pursuit of the life I am created, and desire to live is really tough to pull off. Anyway, this book bridges practical information and encouraging reminders very well, it has the right amount of conviction but enough encouraging to keep you going. If you haven't yet, go ahead and give it a read through.

I have a better understanding of these struggles

I've read some other books about adoption, and each of them addressed the struggles that may, or will, be faced by adoptees and their parents. They all seemed to be reasonable, but it was hard for me to see where the bitterness, or envy, or anger was coming from emotionally. This book did a phenomenal job of getting to the core of the issues. The author spent a good amount of time getting to the heart of the matter. Instead of just telling you that when your child says _______, you should respond like ________. She let's the reader know where the feelings of the issues lie. So if your child says ________ they probably are feeling this way because of these unspoken, and unresolved feelings. I feel like in general we give children far too little credit when it comes to their emotions. Often, I think, our children fully understand what they are going through, they just can't vocalize it, and so we assume they are ignorant to their heart issues. It sounds cheesy but I really do feel like this book has made me more equipped to deal with the unique challenges that are presented during adoption. I would definitely recommend this book for future adoptive parents or anyone that will spend any significant time with adoptees. Their is essential information that you may not hear anywhere else.

book 36 - I'm gonna need some help

If any one has read this book, please give me some help here. Otherwise my review is as follows: ???

Spiritual Journaling

Emily and I bought this book about 6 months after we got married, I guess it wasw time to read it. The ideas in this book are pretty good it seems. You see, I bought this book because I feel there is a great value in journaling, but I haven't been able to make myself do it very consistently. Maybe if I started a blog about it I would be held accountable.

There isn't much to really talk about until I am able to force myself into putting this information into practice. If I manage to do that I'll let you know. Right now you can get a copy on amazon.com for $0.84, it is definitely worth reading for that price..

34 books and around the world

So a couple years ago I watched the BBC television series Long Way Round and as soon as I got my paperbackswap account I added the book about the journey to my wishlist. For anyone that doesn't yet know about the series, it is the journeys of Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman as they ride their BMW 1150cc motorcycles around the world...the long way! There route starts in London, through the chunnel to Paris through Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia then the Ukraine. This is where the adventure begins and the pavement stops. Next comes Kazakhstan then Russia, all the way across Mongolia, back into Russia just in time to hit Siberia and the Road of Bones. From there they ship there bikes across the Bering Straight and Ride from Alaska to New York. RIDICULOUS. All of that in 3 months.
I really thought that the book would be a bore now that I had seen the television show, but it wasn't. There was a ton of material that couldn't fit into 6 hours of programming. Some because it didn't make good TV and some because it wouldn't make appropriate TV. Boys will be boys, so you can use your imagination. Any way, this isn;t as much a review as it is an encouragement to get out and see the world. These two guys followed this trip up with a trip from the northern tip of Scotland to the southern tip of Africa. Check this stuff out, it is very entertaining and inspiring too.

Metal Bööks för Metal Möments in Life

I didn't exactly grow up a "metal fan" in the typical sense. I mean don't get me wrong, I can run with some GnR but Mötley Crüe, Winger, Trixter, and Warrant never really did much for me. It probably was for the better, I can't really drop the f-word casually enough to blend seamlessly into the metal sub-genre. But hear me out, I totally get the appeal. Beyond that I'm not even sure how anyone from rural middle America could possibly not love metal, it is everything great and despicable about American popular music, and possibly American culture in general. So if you can handle hearing the f-bomb used as every part of speech in the English language, then this is not such a bad look at Metal, or rural America. If you like to challenge yourself, possibly increase your level of intellect, and come out of a book smarter on the tail end, then this might not be the book for you.

Tommy Lee, please don't hold this against me.

More Collected Works of Various Authors, Many from the Glorious Nation of Iceland

Book 32 in my quest was McSweeney's 15 and in keeping with my previous ruling, I will not give a review of a book comprised of various writings, by various authors. I will, however, give you a brief list of some of the topics covered int the 299 pages of McSweeney's 15. Here's a taste: the quasi-invention of the cinema, dealing with sickness and dealing with kids, children being hit in the head with hammers and the ensuing birthday party mayhem, gigantic eagles, and last but not least a moral tale of our collective hands-free future with Chicago buried shoulder deep in honey.

It's good reading, and for the record, assuming there would be no human casualties I would be in favor of Chicago being covered in honey, even with the fore-knowledge that this would ultimately lead to an invasion of man-eating bears.

31 and dragging

I have apparently hit my late summer slump, I don't know if it is the return of the post-rain heat or if I am just tired of reading but I am slipping behind. Don't worry though, I won't go this far and fall short. That being said, I did finish an amazing book the other day and I set a new mark on my reading journey. For the first time this year, possibly in my entire life I read 2 consecutive books by the same author.
This time I read The Botany of Desire. I loved it, Pollan is really easy to read, and comes at food and plants from a little different viewpoint than I am used to. This is one of those books that I feel like I would ruin if I got into too much detail, but I will give you the overview. The book covers four different plants and how each of these plants meet a human desire. Like I said, this is a unique way to look at plants. First Pollan looks at the apple and its ability to satisfy our desire for sweetness. He probes the story of Johnny Appleseed (who was a real person) and uncovers a bit of a less Holy version than I was taught as a child. Second we look at the Tulip and Beauty, and we see that when beauty and commerce are combined anything - even a TULIP - can become a commodity to be traded at ridiculous values. Third comes marijuana as the plant that satisfies our desire for intoxication. I'm not really pro-mind altering drugs but this was fascinating. The author looks at Cannabis Sativa in its native form and at the current plant smoked by the youth of our nation, a much more potent version of the plant. Lastly, we are asked to examine the potato. I love potatoes, I'm not going to pretend otherwise, but this challenged me to enjoy some other varieties other than the typical french fry russet (sidenote: I got some South American purple potatoes, and they were great, far less starchy, but they tasted a lot more like the earth). Anyway, I think this is a valuable read for the gardener, farmer, or amateur agronomist living in your soul. It may not change your life, but it will challenge you to appreciate the life of the plants that make your life enjoyable.

P.S. I feel in the interest of full disclosure I should let everyone know the following for your consideration in processing my review.

I subscribe to several seed catalogs as well as bee keeping catalogs even though I live in an apartment in central Tucson. I may be predisposed to enjoying plant books.

3/5ths finished

I finished this book a few days ago, but I have been so busy reading my next book that I forgot to update the blog, so here goes.

There are only a few currently active writers that I must buy their books as soon as they come out. That short but highly prestigious list would include; Erwin McManus, Malcolm Gladwell, and now Michael Pollan. Last year I read his book The Omnivores Dilemma it was fabulous. A simple blend of information, data, and thought provoking conversation on our food and where it comes from. That being said, I suppose I assumed that he was a one hit wonder, My assumption was wrong as I tore through In Defense of Food I realized that I was capable of listening to this man fill two books with very similar material. Not only that I felt some angst that there wasn't more to read. I can't give a better review than that, and to say that as soon as I finished In Defense of Food I moved on to his other creation The Botany of Desire, which you can very soon expect a write-up for.

I find his writing to be whimsical and scholarly at once, while holding my attention and asking me to dive deeper into the subject on my own time. I don't know what more I could want from a writer.

Knockin' on the door of 30

So I have previously expounded on my love of Garcia Marquez, so I will save you a reprise. The Leaf Storm is a little tricky to follow, that's not all that uncommon for Marquez, but I found this to be more difficult than usual. The story once again settles around a borderline fantasy world where strange circumstances abound. I will definitely be re-reading this sometime in the future. The story line was good, not great, but once again the writing style sucked me in from the start. I swear I would read a seed catalog if it was run through the mind of Marquez. I will be 3/5ths of the way through my book reading expedition upon the completion of my next book, which should be sometime today. So I feel like I am beginning to see the end, and it is starting to feel like I may actually make it. Well I better get to reading, 30 here I come.

Soul Cravings

So I am a tiny bit behind pace, but I am going to attempt to remedy that as soon as possible. I have to start by saying that I am a huge fan of Erwin McManus, I love his writing, I love his way of speaking, I love his fashion sense(at least for a man his age). This however was my least favorite of his books. It was good, it just wasn't great. The hard thing for me was that the thing I love about McManus' writing style is the way he develops his ideas and lays out in great detail his thoughts and ideas. Soul Cravings doesn't allow for this. It is a book made of about 65 chapters of 2-5 pages each, they are just snap shots. Great thoughts, but only little glimpses of what could be very huge topics. The surface is only scratched and most of the time I found myself wanting more, I could always use more of what McManus has to say and this time I didn't get it. This did complete my reading of the collected works of Erwin McManus. This is a little disappointing but I can always have hope that there will be more to read in the future.

here are some films that accompany the book

27

I am not a nutritionist or doctor so I am going to leave this one up to the experts. I will just say this, it seems to make sense to me.

My friend Scott Appleman gave me The Cheese Monkeys to read since I am a graphic designer and as I am sure you can tell by the title this is a book about graphic designers written by a graphic designer. This book is a look at 2 semesters in Art School as a group of "real" artists come to the dark side. You see a large proportion of artists see designers as the rogue sect of hacks that couldn't cut it and sold out in order to live in a loft and criticize typefaces instead of dada. Anyway, I like to hear people talk about zany art school antics. I didn't go to art school, and if I had I probably would have been one of the squares in the corner of the class, but I can live vicariously through the crackpots that are willing to write books about it. I'm not really sure how much of this tale to believe but, in the end I didn't care. It was an interesting read, I kind of cared about the characters, and I identified with internal conflict of the characters. Artists have to be deep, controversial, and always pushing society. That can be tiring, especially if you are just a normal guy.

HALF WAY!!!

On the last day of the 6th month of the year I finished mt 25th book. The Penguin Atlas of Food: Who Eats What, Where, and Why, a fascinating book, with a completely fascination-less title. The book is 42 Maps with an in-depth essay accompanying each describing a wide range of food related topics such as; under-nutrition, over-nutrition, mad cow disease, trade disputes, and fast food trends. If you have been following my blog you may have noticed that I have been reading quite a bit about poverty and food (especially the industrial food complex.) This was a great look at both topics in written as well as graphic form. The maps were great as well as the charts and data provided. I still can't quite comprehend the fact that we have more than enough food to feed the world but people are still going hungry, or that there are 30 food additives approved for use in foods worldwide that may cause unknown health risks. Or, that we add corn to foods just to use up the corn we have grown, thereby driving down the price of corn, forcing farmers to grow more corn to pay the bills, but I'm no world leader. But I am a reader, half way done!

24 books down and liking the United States more book by book!

Sarah Vowell is a contributing editor to the Public Radio International program This American Life which is probably my favorite program in any genre of media. I've always felt like I kind of identified with her on some level. I mean like anyone we have some things in common and some things very much mot in common, but I feel like we process and think about the world in similar ways. So I put all of her books on paperback swap, and to my delight I received Partly Cloudy Patriot the other day. This is a collection of short writings for magazines, radio presentations, and letters to other individuals. They range in topics from A letter to Bill Clinton about what, and what not to do with his presidential library, to essays on the inauguration of George Bush, The Pitfalls of living in New York City vs. Montana, and a few thoughts on Patriotism. I've never really thought of myself as much of a Patriot, other than the "dissidence-is-the-most-genuine-form-of-patriotism" kid of patriot. But I am starting to realize that there is more to me than that. I don't figure I'll ever be a flag waiver, or a "this is the greatest country God has graced our planet with," kind of patriot. But I can see that this is a great country, and there are things to be grateful for. Freedom is good, democracy is good, diversity of population is great, the ability to dissent is fundamental to society. I will never be a jingoist, or a patriot in the close the border, apple pie inhaling, America is my religion way, but I can embrace the nation God determined I would live in, I can call it home, I can love it's people as long as I love all people, and I can be American. If it was good enough for Lincoln, it's good enough for me.

Not sure how to review this?

My twenty-third book of the year was McSweeney's Issue no. 14. The hard part about this for me is that there were several great short stories in this issue. But, as with any collection of material, there were a few that didn't really resonate with me. I wouldn't consider my self an intellectual reader of fiction, but I see a great value in stretching one's self in these areas. I don't really intend on becoming a great lover of contemporary fiction, that's just not me. There is, however, a great deal of appreciation on my part for anyone willing to push the boundaries of there field. When I was young I spent a pretty large amount of time in art galleries. At least compared to most children my age, and I can recall an overwhelming sense of "I don't get it." I often would tell my dad, "I could have done that." and he would without fail reply, "but you didn't." As you can imagine this was very frustrating as a 10 year old trying to make sense of Rothko, or Pollock. But Robert Rauschenberg seemed the most strange to me. I can remember thinking "all he did was collage some other peoples photos together and screen print them. But now I get it, having done some screen printing I can begin to see the inspiration behind the work. It is much like the writing in-between the covers of McSweeney's no. 14. I could have done it. But I didn't

How to Be an Explorer of the World

Some people may contend that I shouldn't count this in my books because it is such a light read, and not necessarily intellectually stimulating. But, some people like White Chicks. That's not the point, however. This book was really inspiring. It consists of 59 challenges to take to the streets. They are activities designed to increase you imagination, problem solving, story telling abilities, and overall hipster appeal. If you know me, you probably know that I do not hold to the "do not judge a book by its cover" non-sense. I'm a designer, so I always judge a book by its cover. That's not to say that I haven't read some great books that are lacking in the aesthetic appeal department, but I generally reach for the books that grab my attention. This book, however, I judged on its reverse instead of the obverse. It contained two statements that beckoned me to read it. One, a statement that I try to live out on a daily basis and impart to anyone that will listen. And the other a warning to those who may refuse to hear it. They are as follows and sum up the mission of this book:

Everyone is an artist.
- Joseph Beuys

Warning: To whoever has just picked up this book. If you find that you are unable to use your imagination, you should put this book back immediately. It is not for you. In this book you will be repeatedly asked to...suspend your disbelief, complete tasks that make you feel a bit strange, look at the world in ways that make you think differently, conduct experiments on a regular basis, and see inanimate objects as alive.

This is going to be fun!

Pleasantly Surprised!

I'll start by saying that I know nothing about Karen Armstrong other than what you find here. I can say that I definitely disagree with her theology but enjoyed here factual presentation of a faith that I am ashamed to say I have little understanding of. This book was recommended to me by a friend, Eric Huxley. Who if you have a chance to talk to, you should. He is in Guatemala right now but seriously you should talk to this guy. Anyway, he recommended this book as a nice introduction to Islam.
The thing that I appreciated about this book was that it was written with a western sensibility. It was not a textbook by any means and was written with a Euro-American audience in mind. This is by no means an assault on the writer. I felt that the book portrayed the followers of Islam fairly and in fact spoke highly of the adherents of the faith. It is hard in "the West" to filter through a "Fox News" presentation of a group of people that most of us have little contact with. I felt this short history did a good, but succinct job of catching the reader up on the last 1,400'ish years. I by no means feel I am a scholar, but I don't have to pretend I know the differences between Shi'ites and Sunnis. I now know what a Sufi is and ultimately I can better understand my faith. I come from a Judeo-Christian culture, a and a Christian family, but it would be ignorant in this day and age, or any for that matter, to pretend that the role of Islam in the world does not impact my life on a near daily basis. If knowledge is power then I desire to be powerful in my understanding of God, and I feel like this read encouraged that.

I didn't get the idea for the art show from this book

Have you ever wondered what evolutionary biologists think about music? I haven't, but it turns out to be pretty interesting. I'm not on the evolution wagon, but I don't have a problem listening to opposing points of view,especially when they cover a topic I haven't put much thought into.
In The World in Six Songs by Daniel J. Levitin we get to take a glimpse into the mind of a brilliant scientist as he tries to explain (via Darwinian evolution)not only where our music came from, but why, and why it was able to survive through the genetic landslide that is "survival of the fittest." Levitin looks at many of our current day "tribal" peoples for a glimpse into their use of music for communication. Levitin theorizes that music was originally a system used for warning, threatening, and generally communicating before the development of written language. Then due to the fact that the people who could warn each other of danger managed to live longer those genetic predispositions were passed on and that thousands of years later we are watching The Killers on Laye Night with Jimmy Fallon. This is all a stretch for me, but what I really enjoyed were the "Six Songs." I assumed he would discuss six specific songs that summed up the world succinctly. Not quite, instead Levitin discusses six topics that essentially all of the worlds lyric music falls into. Friendship, self explanatory...think "I believe that we are gonna be friends." by the White Stripes. These are songs of peace and cooperation or as the author says, War (what is it good for?) Next is Joy, along the lines of Jeremiah was a Bullfrog. People like joy, that should be no surprise, so as a result we sing about it. Comfort, we all know the its okay that that guy broke your heart song, it's a universal theme of music. Knowledge, many of the earliest songs that we know of are songs teaching people which plants were safe to eat, where the local cannibals lived, which animals would prefer to eat you. This continues today, we have songs to learn the capitols, to tie our shoes, and the books of the Bible. The last 2 topics go without saying, Religion and Love. Anyone who has spent any time in an organized religion knows that music is a critical part of worship and a sense of unity for the followers of said religion. One easy to feel connected to a group of people is to share a common vocabulary of songs. Finally, Love, most songs on the radio (at least FM) are songs of expressions of love, songs of unrequited love, or torch songs (thank you Phil Collins.) Music would cease to exist if we couldn't sing about love.
So in closing, I don't care how music got to where it is today, I personally believe we serve a creative God that put it in us to create music for him. But whatever you believe I think we can all agree, music is good, and this planet would be a drag without it.

4 Loves and 19 Books

I have been meaning to read this book since the late 1990's but I just seemed to never get to it, so I finally did. I probably would have been better off having read it a while ago. I love reading Lewis's writing. It is at once elevated and accessible, I seem to find comfort in his grasp of words and his grasp of a theology of the people. To me he seems a brilliant man, with a knack for speaking to common man.
As he spoke of love I was convicted on many levels and had my eyes opened to the many threads that run through each type of love. Love is a complex thing, so complex that there are multiple types of love ranging from the love of friendships to the love of husband and wife, but even that is not a tidy enough way to categorize things. Each love is unique and requires its own finesse and intense study to master, as if mastery was the end goal. I now see that all levels of love require a commitment, the commitments are different, and the priorities you place on those commitments varies but the commitments are necessary none-the-less. Just as my marriage requires my attention daily, my friendships can not function at their optimal levels without similar attention. Obviously this will look different than my commitment to Emily, and my relational obligations will look differently with God. What people ask, enjoy, and need from you will differ, as will your ability and willingness to provide those things for them, but what can not differ is love. Love is constant, and as you may, or may not, have heard is able to cover a multitude of sins but Love without Jesus may be a love half delivered.
For me, I can not be the friend I am called to be, or the husband I am required to be, or the disciple I long to be, if the love I am cultivating for Jesus is not at the very least alive. There are times it may not flourish, even times that it struggles to breathe and grow at all, but it must be a true, honest, love of my King if any of my other loves are to prosper. That can be overwhelming, but so can love.

An Army of Davids

I've thought long and hard about what to write about this book and I am blank so I am going to let someone else do it.

From Publishers Weekly
In this testament to the power of the little guy, law professor and blogger Reynolds gleefully hails the emergence of a new entrepreneurial class resulting from the democratizing power of technology-the manifestation of his observation that "a society that's rich and free will have citizens who-entirely on their own-develop a wide range of skills." Among the skills he cites are citizen terrorist-busters, hackers and average Joe techies who set up phony jihad sites to foil terrorism in the U.S. Others have taken on big media, forcing newspapers and networks into something "akin to what happened to the Church during the Reformation." Reynolds shows how technology opened up markets to software companies in Poland and to filmmakers and musicians in Africa. Proclaiming good blogging as a combination of "rapid response times" and "personal voice," Reynolds praises the explosion of cyber-self expression, seeing it as yet another way to proliferate information and build knowledge among communities. And while Reynolds may seem naïve in ignoring any potential negatives that could arise from widespread, unmitigated, technology-enabled empowerment and does little to touch upon the ethical implications of the everyman becoming a superman, he brings a contagious sense of optimism to this "new reality."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

So basically if you want to read a book about normal people helping to keep journalism alive, and space travel feasible, and the colonization of mars something still on the radar, and eBay a viable career path (they provide health insurance to sellers who net more than $1000 per month) then this is a book for you. If all of that sounds meaningless, then skip it.

Jeans are the American Uniform...AHHHH!

I hate dressing up, but I love uniforms. As a kid I had this set of encyclopedias and they had full color charts in them and I would alternately spend weekends drawing either, all the flags it showed, or the military uniforms that it showed. I especially enjoyed the completely impractical uniforms that predated camouflage and and long distance battle. I love the idea of wearing red into battle with a giant purple plume extending from your already ridiculously tall hat. I guess in the days where you had to be within 15 feet of someone to end their life there was no reason to hide. If you are going to fight hand to hand, or at least saber to saber then you ought to look like a high class drum major to do it.
So when I saw Uniforms: Why We are What We Wear I had to give it a read. I will get my only complaint out of the way first. The author never addressed sports uniforms. I love sports uniforms, if you do to check this out. Any way, I never really thought to look at uniforms from a psychological viewpoint but that is where this book is coming from. Some of the highlights are as follows:

Q: Why do the Marines look so much badder than the rest of the military?
A: Because they are and you aren't going to tell them otherwise. If they want to kill people in full dress uniform while carrying a saber who is going to stop them.

Q: Why did nurses used to wear white when they deal with so much bodily fluid?
A: It looks sterile and sanitary if you are able to keep it clean.

Q: Why do nurses now wear Betty Boop scrubs?
A: They got tired of keeping their whites, white.

Q: Why do the Navy Seaman uniforms look like Schoolboy costumes?
A: Apparently they like them, Admiral Zumwalt tried to change them in the 1970's and people went bananas.

Q: Why do commercial airline pilots where quasi-military looking uniforms?
A: We trust them more that way.

Q: Whats with Hotel Bellboys?
A: Who knows?

So basically uniforms say a lot about who we are, from class, to income level, to our ideas about sex and ultimately about our culture. Some of what they say isn't good, and some show that we are a society of order, and that we respect our superiors, and that shiny buttons will never go out of style for the people in charge.

A fiction book I loved?

"Exquisitely harrowing...very strange and brilliantly conceived...A sort of metaphysical murder mystery." - The New York Times Book Review.

I don't want to tell you anything about this book, because it could ruin it, so I'll let that review tell you what you need to know. For the record the story has some adult elements to it but nothing you can't handle. I would highly recommend this book for a monsoon afternoon. It is 120 very quick pages, and the intrigue will keep you reading. 3 hours well spent, and the level of detail that Marquez provides is astonishing. If you like to read, check it out.

Sorry Dad, I don't get it

On the short list of people I would consider personal heroes of my father the following four I can assure would make the cut; Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and Ernest Hemingway. So, I thought I would give a Hemingway classic a reading. I went into this with some pretty high expectations, but I have to be honest and admit that I didn't see what the big deal was. Hear me out, I am in no way saying that this book isn't a classic, or even a masterfully written piece of American literature, but nothing in the story resonated with me. I can't explain why it was so detached from anything I identify with but I had a very hard time engaging in the story. I suppose there is a generational gap, but it was more than that. I wouldn't say that I liked, or identified with any of the characters, I even disliked most of them. I felt pity for most of them, not sympathy, but genuine "I wish there was more substance to their lives than drinking and bullfights." To me this was a dismal tale of a few overly privileged, disenfranchised, American and British ex-patriots complaining about life, but doing nothing to change it. I'm sure it was me, I don't claim to be a literary expert, and I often struggle with fiction, so if anyone has something to share please do. I want to understand. I feel like a bad American.

One last thing, as you can see on the cover image there is a picture of a bullfight. So I was under the impression that the book was centered around bullfighting. It takes almost half of the book before you meet a bull, and I wouldn't consider the story a bullfighting tale. I don't know why this matters but I felt a little deceived. The cover should have been a picture of people drinking a lot.

Book 14 makes me feel stupid!

I would review this book of 4 essays by Henry David Thoreau but I seriously can only sound stupid so I will just list some of the things that stood out to me.

1) I have never used a dictionary this much in my life.

2) This book was 90 pages long and in the time I read it I read 5 other books.

3) Civil Disobedience is a lot of commitment.

4) I should use my middle name if I ever publish something.

5) Dover thrift editions are the best thing about historically based vacations.

6) I have a Dover thrift edition of "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. DuBois and it is almost 200 pages so I will be done reading that this November.

Slow Down it's Good for You!

In Praise of Slowness is one of the most thought provoking books I have read in quite a while. Carl Honoré begins as an optimistic skeptic to the slow movement and takes you on his journey to mild believer in the core tenets of slow living. I was first introduced to the ideas of slow living by a friend of mine that at that time was an amazing cook as a hobby. He is now the owner/manager/lead chef at one of the hippest and most influential restaurants in Lincoln, Nebraska. His restaurant, Bread&Cup, is founded on many of the ideas of the slow food movement as well as slow living. Kevin himself is a slow paced, thought-filled, always contemplating larger issues kind of man, and I always admired that about him. To give you a glimpse of his life in the time I spent with him he; made his own cheese from bacterial cultures he ordered online, taught me to make bread, recorded his own album in a basement studio he built, grew an amazing garden from started plants he grew in his basement during the Lincoln winters, read non-stop, composed original electronic music (down-tempo of course) and managed to always have a new recipe in the works. You may be thinking that doesn't sound like slow living but it was. That was the beauty of Kevin and the ultimate goal of the slow movement. Slow living is not about being boring or resting all the time, or about having a low stress job. It is about taking time to enjoy life. This means savoring your meals, meals you made at home, with friends, and enjoyed for hours over conversation. It means never rushing in love, taking time to enjoy your spouse. It means listening to Beethoven's 7th Symphony 75 times and on the 75th time hearing that small viola part you never noticed that changes everything you thought about the piece before that moment. It means reading slower, and discussing what you read with people. It means riding your bike, or riding the bus, or God-forbid walking somewhere.
I can't say I am the new leader of the slow movement in Tucson, but I can say I am making strides to live at my pace, to say no to things I don't want to be doing and to spend long amounts of time in the things I do want to be doing. Nothing that Carl Honoré says is ridiculous but our American mind wants to think it is. Slowing down and enjoying life almost seems unpatriotic, but no one has ever accused me of being a patriot.

10, 11, and 12

So, I got a little behind on my updates so her is the latest news. I am pretty much right on pace with 12 books read in 3 months so I am feeling good about this. I usually read a lot more in the summers because it is pretty much too hot to do anything outside. The three books I knocked off were All Quiet on the Western Front which I will sum up this way; I don't like war, I don't plan on liking war, this did not help the situation any. I think if we forced people to read books like this they would be a lot less eager to fight over fossil fuels and imaginary lines in the middle of nowhere. So pretty much if WWI had actually been the war to end all wars that would have been nice. Next I read The Truth About You It may very well be bull, I'm not sure so someone else read it and let me know what you think. Lastly I just finished another look on poverty. This time I read Out of Poverty by Paul Polak. I read this because I knew the other was a little more radical than some of the other authors I have read who discuss ending poverty. Polak was much more extreme in his stance than I would ever be. He is very against foreign aid. I understand where he is coming from, many nations are dependent on aid and never fix there problems they just wait for the next boat full of money to show up. But there must be a give and take, and anyway generally speaking the wealthy have too much money anyway so we should give aid to impoverished nations just to force the world's wealthy to quit hogging all the cash. It was, however, interesting to read something by someone that I would consider extremely liberal in his solutions to poverty, I was raised by socialists, I don't come across that every day.

La Frontera es Grande

So I am pretty passionate about border issues so when I saw this book I figured I needed to check it out. You don't see a lot written about Christians and there response to immigration, so I was interested to see what the author had to say. We agreed for the most part, I might be a tad bit more liberal than the author, but I just might be a bit more dramatic as well, and I kind of have a chip on my shoulder about this topic too. So maybe a little more centrist of a viewpoint wouldn't hurt me. I don't want to get into a huge political discussion, not because I am afraid to say what I think, but because I feel like this is an issue people should struggle through, not something you can poll a panel over and come to a clean and tidy conclusion. It isn't nice, it is far from tidy. The border is a mess, there is nothing easy about the problems. I do want to be clear about one thing before I go on. When I say problems, I don't want anyone to hear me saying "Mexicans". If you know me at all, you know I don't think they are the problem. The problem is humanity and the depravity that we impose on each other, and it just gets easier the more levels of separation we put between our selves and "them" whoever "they" are. People are people, and Jesus loves people. There are no stipulations on real love. So in the long run I feel like we are only exacerbating the problems at the border. No matter the height of a wall, or the persistence of the border patrol we will not stop the flow of immigrants, because ultimately immigrants are human beings and the human spirit can not be stopped. And no matter the height of the wall nor the economic divide put between us I have only one choice and that is to love "them" wherever they come from because I am an alien in this land as well, I don't belong here and ultimately I will see my real place of citizenship, so I can not be a patriot over a follower of Jesus, I can not place a flag in the way of my values, so I must love. It is the way of Jesus, and it should be the way of anyone who has chosen to be a wanderer on this planet as we wait for our true home to be revealed. A home that will be full of lovers of Jesus...most of whom won't be white.

Vintage Jesus has a Glittery Gold Lining and Vellum Dust Jacket

Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a book about Jesus that is in any way associated with Mark Driscoll. It is honest, upfront, thought-provoking and sometimes a little bit much, but in the end It is a great read. I think we lose sight of who Jesus was as American's. Not what he did, not why he came, not how he died and saved us from sin...but WHO HE WAS and IS. I am not going to repeat everything that the book said, and when you think about it it was certainly nothing earth shattering, it wasn't even anything that Jesus himself didn't say about himself. And I think that is where the humbling part of the equation comes in. Jesus told us exactly who he was and we still get it all screwy. I'll let you read the book and make your own judgments and be convicted in your own way, but I will some up my experience with Vintage Jesus this way; as I was reading I can't say I had a new outlook on Jesus revealed to me, I wouldn't say my theological understandings were blown away and replaced with new more exciting paradigms, I wouldn't even say that I was convicted that I was ignorant about Jesus and what he meant to me but I can say this. As I read, and got deeper into the book there is one feeling that grew until the moment I closed the book. I realized that I love Jesus for a very long list of reasons and I can not wait for him to come back.

My biggest book to date

So I got a little behind this month but the adoption is a tiny bit more important. than some books. But do not fear I am still on a good pace for the year. For the first half of February I read Factory Girls: from Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang. It was a great read, the book follows rural teenage girls as they enter the factory life in Southeastern China and experience the city, boys, money, success, corruption and greed all in one chaotic burst. The impressive thing about these girls is how adaptable they are. It is at once impressive and saddening. They are so able to roll with the punches, but at the same time you realize that they are just becoming whatever they need to be to survive. At just 16, 18, or 20 years old these girls are not even able to be themselves, they may not even know who they really are yet. I am a sucker for tales of survival, however, so I obviously found myself pulling for the girls to both succeed and find themselves, and ultimately find truth and happiness, not in wealth but in something greater than themselves. If you have a heart for anything Chinese and enjoy a story from the point of view of real imperfect people looking to improve their lives then this is a book for you. It isn't full of riveting plot lines and contrived emotional jabs at your heart, it is just real human emotion played out in the factories that build our phones and coach bags, and knowing the struggles of people who build our phones can't hurt us in the long run.

I read this book so I might understand Eric Kelley when he talked...

It didn't work, I am pretty sure I usually have no idea what he is saying. I know he is talking about finance, and I know it is smart, but other than that I just nod and try to cling to the words that I recognize. It's kind of like when you are in a foreign country and you have the most basic understanding of the language. Just grab on to the first idea you can comprehend and go with it.
The book, however, was very powerful. I guess it should seem like common sense that $100 dollars goes way farther in Bangladesh than it does in the United States, but I never dragged that idea around long enough to come to the conclusion that poverty could actually be curtailed by micro financing loans to the poorest of the worlds poor. This means the 1 billion people that live on less than a dollar a day, and then the next 1-1.5 billion that live on 2 or fewer dollars a day. Think about that, we are talking about annual incomes of $365. That is something I come across in in a few days, and I have the luxury of sitting at a desk all day. It is amazing to think that with a loan of $30 I could give someone in Bangladesh, or the Philippines, or Laos a month head start in their business. That is enough leeway to get out from under their debt or to break the cycle of interest repayment that they are stuck in essentially until they die. My $30 dollars could launch a necessary business in a place where business and profitable living are out of the norm. It could be the beginning of a new way of life in a village that knows nothing but poverty, nothing but lenders that lord their debts over villagers. It could be the easy way to be Jesus to a farmer in Bangladesh, or a weaver in Cambodia, or a fisherman in Micronesia. Jesus didn't really have money that we know of but if he did I think these are the places he would have used it. My country just threw 800 billion dollars to a bunch of greedy suits to help stimulate an economy that imploded on its self while they could probably turn around the economy of entire provinces of nations in Sub-Saharan Africa for $800,000. I am fortunate to live the life I live, and a lot of that is because God planned for me to live it here, but the ridiculousness of poverty in this world makes me want to vomit.

January is almost done

So I know it's been a while but I have been a little consumed with getting stuff done for the adoption but I made my self get one last post in before January left us. So, at the end of the first month I have finished completely 5 books, I will review 1 of the 2 most recent in this post. I have also started 1 massive book (related website here) and read a substantial portion of 2 other books so I am on approximately a 65 book pace, so I am feeling good right now. I feel like I need to be ahead of pace when the summer hits because for some reason my reading in the summer declines...unless I get laid off again.
So, without further ado Praying in Colors When my friend Angel told me about this book I'll be honest I though it sounded a little cult-ish but I trust Angel about pretty much everything, but especially about not getting me tangled up in cult rituals...She still hasn't failed me (but that's probably what everyone in a cult says.) Anyway I heard enough people talk about it that I finally gave it a chance, and surprise surprise it is actually really beneficial. See, I tend to drift in and out of conversations with people that are right in front of me so sometimes talking to God can be hard for me. It isn't that I don't want to, or I am disinterested. I just don't focus very well. You should see me drive and talk, not a good thing. But this really worked, It actually helps me focus. I always used to say I did better in meetings when I could doodle and this was a little bit of reinforcement to my claims. I'm not going to tell you why you should read this book from a literary viewpoint because it wasn't written for that reason. In fact it isn't all that well written, but you should read this book because A)it will only take you about 45-60 minutes and B)it adds some new energy to your prayer life. It hasn't made me a better prayer, It definitely hasn't made me more spiritual, but it has made me eager to pray each day, and it has help me to spend a focused time in prayer without being interrupted. In a perfect world I would just be able to sit down and focus and pray, but I don't need to tell you that I'm not perfect and my brain doesn't often cooperate with me. But add the doodling and I have not a crutch but an enhancement to my prayer life.

How it Feels to be Adopted

My third book of the year was How it Feels to be Adopted. Now any of you who may know me fairly well probably know that I am a judge the book by it's cover kind of person...it's what I do. So as you can see I was up against a bit of a mental hurdle from the start, but I was pleasantly surprised. This book is short, simple, and an it easy it read. It is made up of 19 interviews of adopted children from age 6-18. They are pretty frank, and some of the things they said surprised me. The book is fairly old but it seems that there are quite a few common, universal threads that run through the mind of an adoptee. I won't bore you with all of my observations unless you ask me in person, but there was one thing that 5 or 6 of the children said that I thought was very enlightening to their situation. The children were asked when they think of their birth parents if ever, the reason the answer surprised me was it ran through all the age groups, all the reasons they were adopted, all socio-economic statuses, it just seems universal. And this is what they said, they answered that they really only thought about their birth mothers on their birthdays, they wondered if she remembered, or cared. They wondered if she was sad, or if she knew that they had a better life now. But this was where my mind got blown, almost every child in the book said they never, repeat NEVER thought about their birth father. I don't know what that is about, I guess it speaks to a maternal bond that men will never understand, but I don't plan on giving up any kids for adoption so hopefully I don't need to figure it out.

One Week Three Books

So I took a week off from the internet, which was harder than you'd think, and pretty eye opening, but I got the two books I was reading done. Spectacular Sins was good, not great. It was a basic look at God's sovereignty especially His sovereignty in the evil and unjust things of the world. Piper took stories from the Old and New Testament and showed how and where God was present, knowledgeable, and in control of the events. I wouldn't say I learned anything profound, but it was definitely a good reminder about something that a lot of people don't really want to think about in the first place. And on a dorky note I think the cover art is very classy and actually pretty hip. You can't tell it in the picture but the oval picture in the middle is spot varnish so the picture is glossy and the rest of the print is matte. Nice touch.

182.5 books in 52 weeks

That's my current pace, but don't worry it will never hold. I finished Serve the People in 2 days and now I am going to start 2 more books to read concurrently; How it Feels to be adopted and Spectacular Sins. But first the review of Serve the People, I guess it sort of lived up to the hype that the Propaganda Bureau delivered but not in the way I expected. I went into it assuming that it would rip the party and Mao to shreds, rake them over the coals, and then tar and feather them for added insult, but not really. Don't get me wrong it wasn't complimentary, and it definitely read like a counter-revolutionary folk story, but it wasn't that bad. The sex however, more than I expected. I guess that's not all that accurate, the sexual tension was the killer, it was thick, but somewhat necessary I suppose to make the story believable. I won't ruin it by announcing any plot details because they are all crucial to the angst in the lives of Wu Dawang and Liu Lian, but I will sum my feelings this way. I felt for these people. They lived in a way I would never consider, and did things I would never do, but in the end I felt sorry for them, and not in a pathetic way but in a genuine human empathy way. They were trying to be happy in an oppressive situation, so they made up their own rules. I would judge them as bad rules, mistakes, egregious errors in judgement, but at least they were pursuing love and happiness.

Without Further Ado...

So, I chose Serve the People by Yan Lianke as my first book of 2009. I will let this stirring review by the Chinese Central Propaganda Bureau tease you until I can give you a review.

...Slanders Mao Zedong, the army, and is overflowing with sex; Do not distribute, pass around, comment on, excerpt from it or report on it.


I couldn't miss this.

50 books in 52 weeks

So for the last 2 years I have tried to read 50 book in one year. I read 38 and 40 in each of those years, so no more lolly-gagging, this is the year so I made a list ahead of time and am determined to do it. So I made a blog for some built in accountability...hopefully it helps. Here are the 50 books in no particular order, I hope to give you all a review of each book when I am finished.

Title	Author
Democracy Matters	Cornell West
Moby Dick	Hermann Melville
Audacity of Hope	Barack Obama
Best of the Oxford American	Various
Islam - A Short History	Karen Armstrong
Real Parents, Real Children	Holly Von Gulden
Raising Adopted Children	Lois Melina
Pursuit of Holiness	Jerry Bridges
Jesus	John MacArthur Et. Al
The Gift of Being Yourself	David Benner
The Silent Life	Thomas Merton
Dark Night of the Soul	St. John of the Cross
The Sun Also Rises	Ernest Hemmingway
Maximum City	Seketa Mehta
Farenheit 457	Ray Bradbury
Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain
Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman
Surrender or Starve	Robert Kaplan
Son of the Revolution	Liang Heng
Blue Highways	William Least Heat Moon
The Spirit Catches You and then You Fall Down	Anne Fadiman
Around the World in 80 Days	Jules Verne
Comrade Rockstar	Reggie Nadelson
90 Minutes in Heaven	Don Piper
Spectacular Sins	John Piper
Factory Girls	Leslie T. Chang
Vintage Jesus	Mark Driscoll
Banker to the Poor	Muhammed Yunnus
Out of Poverty	Paul Polak
Creating a World Without Poverty	Muhammed Yunnus
American Pastoral	Philip Roth
All Quiet of the Western Front	Erich Maria Remarque
The Desire of the Everlasting Hills	Thomas Cahill
The Silmarillion	J.R.R. Tolkien
The Picture of Dorian Gray	Oscar Wilde
Going Nucular	Geoffreay Nunberg
On the Road	Jack Kerouac
The Book of Dave	Will Self
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ	John Piper
Miracle at St. Anna	James McBride
Adventures of Augie March	Saul Bellow
Love in the Time of Cholera	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Are Those Kids Yours	Cheri Register
Exiles	Michael Frost
Serve the People	Yan Lianke
Marco Polo From Venice to Xanadu	Laurence Bergreen
World Changing: A User's Guide to the 21st Century	Ed. Alex Steffen
Civil Disobedience and Other Essays	Henry David Thoreau
Reading Lolita in Tehran	Azar Nafisi
The Souls of Black Folk	W.E.B. DuBois

Again, this is in no order, and I tend to read multiple books at one time. Please feel free to ask questions and comment at will, I'm going to get it done this year.