The Reading List for July, 2024

 

July has come to an end so a list of e books read this month is in order.

First on the list is The Case For God by Karen Armstrong. Like all of Ms. Armstrong's books, this one is well researched. The book covers the history of religion - particularly the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, although she does explore the Eastern, non Abrahamic religions to some degree.

It was by reading Ms. Armstrong's book that I was led to read The Mind's Road to God  by Saint Bonaventure. For the most part, Saint Bonaventure's book went over my head.

I've already reviewed The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling) in an earlier blog post. I failed to mention in that review that the protagonist has pretty good taste in music; he listens to Tom Waits and a group called Elbow.

In his translation of Gustav Meyrink's The Golem, Mike Mitchell writes that although Meyrink and Franz Kafka were contemporaries, "In it [The Golem] we have the Castle which is not Kafka's Castle, The Trial which is not Kafka's Trial and a Prague which is not Kafka's Prague". I would add that Meyrink comes across to me as a blend of Kafka and Edgar Allan Poe.

After J.D Vance was chosen as Trump's Vice Presidential running mate, I decided to read Vance's book and watch the movie based on the book. Vance has taken some heat recently, but reading the book has convinced me that Trump made the proper choice in picking J.D. Vance.

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin become the first human to journey into outer space. He became famous, world wide. He was so famous, in fact, that even a nine year old boy living in Atlanta Georgia knew his name. In Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, Jamie Doran & Piers Bizony write not only Gagarin's biography, but they explore the Soviet space program during the 1950s and '60s - it's successes and failures. Originally written in the 1990s, this edition was updated in 2010. I was particularly interested in the controversy surrounding Gagarin's death.

Now, the complete list:

The Case for God             by Karen Armstrong
The Cuckoo's Calling      by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling)
The Mind's Road to God   by Saint Bonaventure
The Golem      by Gustav Meyrink
Hillbilly Elegy    by J. D. Vance
Starman     by Jamie Doran & Piers Bizony

The Reading List for June 2024

 

June has come to an end and the time has arrived for another monthly reading list. The list for June will be relatively short - only four books.

I've already written blog posts for two of the books - The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope and High Rising by Angela Thirkell.

Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True is interesting, but anyone who watches science programs and reads the occasional science article is familiar with most of what he has to offer.

Book four is #18 in Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series - About Face. A favorite theme for Leon is the illegal transport of toxic waste thru Italy. Of course, there's always a murder or two involved.

I won't finish the book I'm currently reading in time to make this list. It will be the first on July's list. The Case for God  by Karen Armstrong.

So, here's this month's list:

The Last Chronicle of Barset      by Anthony Trollope
Why Evolution is True                 by Jerry A Coyne
High Rising                                   by Angela Thirkell
About Face                                    by Donna Leon

December's Reading List

For several years, I've been posting a list of the books I'd read that particular year. The annual book list would be posted either on the final day of the year in which the books were read, or on January first of the year following.

This year, I began posting a monthly list. Today being the final day of 2021, I will post the list for December. Tomorrow, I will do the list for the entire year.

As I mentioned in my post on The Tin Drum , it had been my original intention to read Günter Grass' Danzig Trilogy before years end. With the coming of typhoon Odette early in December, it looked as if I wouldn't be able to do that. Without electricity, it was impossible to keep my Kindle's battery charged, so I was obliged to read two printed books until the power was restored.

When the electricity returned, I wasn't certain I could finish reading Grass' Dog Years in time to make this list. It's a long novel, and not an easy read but I did manage to finish it today.

Within a day or two, I will do a post on the Danzig Trilogy .

So, for what it's worth, here is a list of the books I read in December, 2021.

I Am a Cat                      Natsume Soseki
Republican Rescue         Chris Christie
Norwegian Wood            Haruki Murakami
There Is a God               Antony Flew / Roy Abraham Varghese
His Monkey Wife           John Collier
Buddha                          Karen Armstrong
The Bhagavad Gita       Translated E. Easwaran
The Tin Drum                Günter Grass
Cat and Mouse              Günter Grass
Dog Years                      Günter Grass