Monday, October 20, 2014

Books

People occasionally ask me what books I've read recently. Here is my book list from the last couple of months:

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

Zealot by Reza Aslan

On the Historicity of Jesus, by Richard Carrier

Christianity, the First Three Thousand Years, by Diarmaid MacCulloch

Atlantic, by Simon Winchester

Einstein, by Walter Isaacson

Your Inner Fish, by Neil Shubin

Talkin' Tar Heel, by Walt Wolfram & Jeffery Reaser

Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbitt

A Man of Misconceptions by John Glassie

Ten Thousand Breakfasts by Ann Ehringhaus

Death and the Afterlife by Samuel Scheffler

Numerous booklets, articles, and book chapters about whaling and porpoise fishing on the Outer Banks (look for a Newsletter article about this in 2015).

I also recently watched Woody Allen's movie, Annie Hall. And I started worrying that I might be like Alvy Singer, reading too many serious books! Then I remembered that I also enjoy The Funny Times.

Maybe some of our readers have book suggestions for me and other folks who follow this blog. Leave a comment if you do.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is about the Unionist North Carolina State Government established at Hatteras in 1861. You can read all about it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092114.htm.  

15 comments:

  1. You also just read The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So I did...and a fascinating read, I might add.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:01 PM

      I think it is cool someone knows you well enough to see a book missing from the list :) I prefer non-fiction also . . . reading Last Child in The Woods by Richard Louv . . .

      Delete
    3. Not only did Lou Ann know that I had read Monuments Men, but she and I met Richard Louv. We had breakfast with him several years ago. Definitely a book worth reading...especially if you are a parent.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous6:25 AM

      I bet that was a good breakfast, regardless of the food . . .I'm in the last section . . . "To Be Amazed" . . . Yes, we have four children . . . all enjoyed the Ocracoke beach in April '13, I hope they will not be the last children on the beach . . . We want to return in the next year or two when low tide and sunrise meet about 6:30AM on a Tuesday :) . . . and then come by the Village Craftsment after lunch :) -Joey in Waterloo (SC)

      Delete
  2. Anonymous3:43 PM

    Based on several books you have read it looks like you are contemplating spiritual matters. Seeking after God and trusting Christ is the best decision you could ever make. Only one life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Good bless you. We love reading your blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad you enjoy reading my blog. I am not on a "spiritual quest." I am actually quite secure in my world view, although I try always to understand different world views. I think that is why I read a great variety of books, mostly (but not always) non-fiction.

      Delete
  3. Based on several books you have read it looks like you need to read The Dinosaur Four by Geoff Jones

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris, I know a good bit about your brother's book from your dad. It sounds wonderful...but I don't read much fiction, and fantasy/sci-fi is not my genre. However, you never know. I just might pick up The Dinosaur Four and read it! I know the reviews are super.

      Delete
  4. How was Zealot?
    And are you in a book club? Seems like a good island winter get together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heather, I've read quite a lot on the "Historical Jesus" subject. I found Aslan's book interesting, but like most books on the subject, full of speculations. I'm afraid the "historical Jesus" is hidden behind many layers of myth, fiction, and decades of sectarian overlays. Carrier's book is very academic, detailed, and not particularly accessible to non-experts in places, but worth the effort if you are willing to tackle a fascinating subject. It is not intended for the casual reader.

      Since I don't read much fiction, I am not in a book club. Maybe I would expand my horizons if I joined the local club at the Ocracoke library.

      Delete
  5. Sundae8:32 PM

    What did you think of Kneeknock Rise? It's likely that your readers don't know and think it's another of your serious, academic, inaccessible books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sundae, Kneeknock Rise was a good read. As you know, it is a children's book that deals with critical thinking and the need to investigate extraordinary claims. As Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

      Delete
  6. Anonymous9:13 AM

    From a different island:
    The Summer Book by Tove Jansson is slim little book with vignettes of a summer on an island in the Baltic. The main characters are a grandmother and her granddaugther, the island and its nature, the sea...
    "[Jansson’s] writing is all magical deception, her sentences simple and loaded; the novel reads like looking through clear water and seeing, suddenly, the depth." -Ali Smith

    While fiction, albeit semi-autobigraphical, might not be what you usually read - I suspect you might like this one. :-)

    Bisse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the recommendation. I will put it on my list of books for future reading.

      Delete