The first book on my list of books read in February is The Worlds Religions by Huston Smith. The book was initially based on a class given by Smith at Washington University in St. Louis in 1955. The class attracted the attention of a NET affiliate (the precursor of PBS) who produced a television series based on Smith's class. The series would lead to the development of a book that became the standard textbook for colleges and universities for classes on the World's Religions. .
A book review from 1958 says;
"Because Dr. Huston Smith, Professor of Philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis, has such a high regard for man, he is able to give us a book about man's major religions that an intelligent reader may read, understand and be thankful for. Refusing to be [sic] begged down by the details which so easily and often throw the interested inquirer off the track, he moves rapidly into the meaning these religions carry for the lives of their adherents. In this book, we both [sic] sea and feel why and how they guide and motivate the lives of those who live by them".
I recommend this book to anyone interested in taking a look at religions other than their own.
I wrote of Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer in an earlier blog post.
Two of the books on this months list - The Wolf Hunt by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen and Budapest Noir by Kondor Vilmos - were introduced to me through recommendations from the Commentary Magazine daily podcast. It's one of my go to podcasts, by the way.
Finally, I wrote a bit about 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami in my last blog post. This "trilogy" has lead me to put more of Murakami's books into the queue, as well as Dickens' Oliver Twist. Of course, another book in Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series will be on the list for March.
Now, for the list:
The Worlds Religions by Huston Smith
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Wolf Hunt by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
Budapest Noir by Kondor Vilmos
1Q84 (books 1,2 & 3) by Haruki Murakami
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