A Book a Week

 Finished April 21, 2022 I enjoy survival and apocalyptic fiction, and I recognize that this book is not the high-minded literature that "The Woman in White" or "Romeo and Juliet" is. But it is loads of fun. So there you have it.  The author takes both his idea and the method of telling it from Max Brooks' World War Z , a book that terrified me 15 years ago. At first, I thought this was a rip-off, but it's really an homage. As Taylor explains in his introduction, he loved World War Z and kept waiting for a sequel, or a prequel, or some other follow-up. When none was forthcoming, he wrote his own. And did a very good job. As with  World War Z,  what makes this book riveting is the gritty realism with which it is told. A worldwide zombie apocalypse is told from various viewpoints, like the app developer who got rich creating an app to help people spread the word that zombies are in the area, and ends up living on a cruise ship at a remote island. Or the Chine...

Finished April 16, 2002 I love that feeling of complete integration when I'm listening to a podcast or audiobook and I get so fascinated that I have to pull over and park, and listen with all my being. It's like a feeling of falling in, but pleasantly so.  That happened today with a sequel to a book in which it had happened before. The first book, Hatchet , concerned a 13-year-old boy named Brian who must survive in the Canadian Rockies when his small plane crash lands. Hatchet contained several scenes in which I "fell in." The sequel (one of several sequels), Brian's Return , contained a poignant scene in which Brian has an experience reading Shakespeare that changes his life. In the story, Brian's friend had recommended that he take a few -- just a few -- books with him when he went back to his beloved forest. He recommended Shakespeare and told Brian to read slowly and out loud. Feeling a little silly, Brian does one day, as he waits for his clothes to dry...

  Finished March 23, 2022 Mortimer Adler is to philosophy what Thomas Sowell is to economics and public policy; he clarifies complex ideas so that the lay person can easily understand complex concepts. And that's what he did in this book.  Many of the reviewers on Amazon have stated that although this is a populist book, it is not for the reader to whom philosophy is unknown. I would disagree. I have never read nor studied Kant, Aristotle, or Locke -- indeed, I have a high school education -- yet I understood 90% of what Adler teaches in this book. I listened to the audiobook, but I plan to purchase the paperback format so I can go through it again, making annotations.  One of Adler's main points to the reader is to understand the difference between knowledge, understanding, and opinion, and how we acquire each of these. He also points out where accepted philosophical assumptions need to be clarified or corrected. Adler is not a Christian, and his worldview necessarily co...

  Finished March 14, 2022 This memoir chronicles the author's identity theft story, which involved a dysfunctional childhood, a passive yet faithful father, and a self-absorbed mother who sacrificed everything and everyone on the alter of her own self-involved fantasies.  This poor girl managed to emerge fairly normal (other than the fact that she doesn't live with her husband for large chunks of the year). She managed to forgive her mother, stay close to her father, and finish her education. Sadly, she does not plan to have children, which is understandable, given her mother's attitudes toward her own child (her mother went to her 30th high school reunion and never mentioned she had a daughter; and mentioned in a Facebook message that the worst day of her life was the first day her husband left her in the house with the baby). This is normal for narcissistic personality types, because raising a child with love requires that you put the child first, which is hell for people...

 Date finished:  NOTE: This book is entirely coincidental in its title's similarity to Book 8, The Good Shepherd , by C. S. Forester. I had started The Good Shepherd a few months ago, and just finished it within a day of finishing The Silent Shepherd . At this time, I am also reading: American History in Black & White , by David Barton This is the Way the World Ends , by Keith Taylor How to Win Friends and Influence Enemies , by Will Witt War and Peace , by Leo Tolstoy Clearly, my taste in books is all over the map. But what fun! On to this week's book ...  Of the three persons of the Godhead, I understand the least about the Holy Spirit, which is a shame, because He is the one who lives closest to me, in me, and through me. So I decided to learn more about Him from a truly great teacher. MacArthur explores the role of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus, in both Old Testament and New Testament contexts, and for modern Christians (which is not different). His co...

Date finished: 3/1 In  The Good Shepherd , C.S. Forester departs from the age-of-sail Hornblower genre that made him famous to focus on an American naval officer during World War II.  After a somewhat disappointing career, Commander George Krause, USN, is at last given the command he has long sought when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor creates an increased demand for destroyer captains. He had not perished at Pearl Harbor with his colleagues because he had requested Atlantic assignments to be as far away from his ex-wife as possible, her infidelity and abandonment still too painful to risk running across acquaintances or inadvertently hearing news of her.  Assigned to Atlantic convoy escort duty, Krause commands not only his ship, USS Keeling , a destroyer, but also the other escorts assigned to protect a thirty-seven-ship convoy carrying much-needed supplies to the European Allies during WWII.  The story takes place in the forty-eight hours when the convoy is mo...

Finished February 8, 2022 I am reading this book with my British Literature students. I considered whether to include it in my project to finish a book a week. In the end, I decided to because 1) the reason I'm reading the book does not detract from the fact that I read the book, and 2) I will be reading all kinds of books during this year-long challenge: books of the Bible, childhood books I haven't read in decades, audiobooks, manuscripts, etc. and I don't want to get legalistic about what should be a joy. I used to love the story of Romeo and Juliet better than the play. But I think that's because I had difficulty with the language. When I got more familiar with the language, I began to appreciate not just the magnificent story, but the way it was written.  Shakespeare experienced young love. No one could understand it as well as he without having experienced it. That delightful aching ("Parting is such sweet sorry/The minutes are filled with years"), the d...