The Spring, Summer and (Hopefully Not) Fall 2008 Reading List – Week 4
Not a lot of reading time this week because Sarah and I were out and about being social folk. And I had the Pikes Peak Writer’s Conference yesterday. Still managed to finish one book and start two others, though.
Books completed in week 4
“Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places” (L. L. Barkat)
I said it already a few weeks ago, but now that I’m done, I want to plug LL’s book again. It’s really that good. Transparent, touching, deep and perceptive. It’s comforting and troubling in all the right places and all the right times. And I mean that in a good way. If I have to stop reading to stare off into space and apply my own life to what’s being written, a book has done its job as far as I’m concerned.
So go buy it. Or, you can leave me a comment on this post because I’ve got two extra copies I was planning to give away. Drop me a comment if you want one of them, and I’ll get it to you in the mail. Who can say no too a free book?
Books read or started in week 4
“A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” (Ishmael Beah)
“The Stories of John Cheever” (John Cheever)
“Duma Key: A Novel” (Stephen King) (Audio – Hour 14 of 20)
The Kindle Go-No Go Assessment: 10
I went from being 9 last week and wanting to buy a Kindle now to a 10 this week. On two separate occasions, I had my mouse over the “Buy Now” button, almost ready to pull the trigger. I remain strong, but feel my resistance waning. I’ll keep on trying, but don’t be surprised if one of these posts in a coming week starts with, “So I bought my Kindle and…”
Fair warning, though if I remind myself that some of these books will never be read if I cave, I might be able to resist.
The (Remaining) Reading List (12 of 16 Remaining)
“A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” (Ishmael Beah)
“Orthodoxy” (Gilbert K. Chesterton, G. K. Chesterton)
“The Stories of John Cheever” (John Cheever)
“The Shack” (William P. Young)
“Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)” (Orson Scott Card)
“The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century” (Thomas L. Friedman)
“Peace Like a River” (Leif Enger)
“Writing the Breakout Novel” (Donald Maass)
“Notes From Underground” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
“St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics (Norton Critical Editions)” (Aquinas Thomas)
“On Eloquence” (Denis Donoghue)
“Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life” (Steve Martin)
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April 28th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Your blog is beautiful and inviting while your writing is poignant and inspiring! Thanks for creating this respite for fellow writers! Its been such a pleasure “meeting” you here.
– Jo
April 28th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Wow, thanks so much Jo. That’s a wonderful bit of encouragement and I really appreciate it. It’s a pleasure meeting you as well, and I look forward to reading your blog.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
do you have a copy of Stone Crossings left? I’ll even pick it up from you on Thursday.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Ken,
I do. It’s all yours and I’ll bring it in on Thursday.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Aren’t you a sweet soul. Thanks for these kind words about Stone Crossings… glad you enjoyed it! (Well, “enjoy” is probably not quite the right term.)
Your book list is so impressive. Maybe if I made a list and made it public on the blogosphere, I’d get more reading done. Maybe.
When shall we hear about your conference?
May 1st, 2008 at 6:53 am
LL, Of course! I loved it… that’s a better term.
You know, I have noticed that the list does introduce a level of accountability I didn’t quite expect. And don’t be too impressed. Some of these books have been in my possession for years and I am just now getting around to reading them. I’ll bet you could pick them out.
The conference, yes. I haven’t had a chance to go back through my notes yet, but I hope to extract at least one post when I do. All in all, it was a good conference. The best part was the people I met, which is often the case, isn’t it?