So Many Books, So Little Time
One thing I have set out to do, since this summer is not as burdensome as those of the past, is to read a great deal. So what am I reading now?
1. George Marsden's biography of Jonathan Edwards. Very readable, and from an evangelical mindset. I am reading it because my overall reading pattern is on American political thought, and I consider Edwards to have had more political consequences than religious.
2. Strangers in High Places, by Michael Frome, on Appalachia/Smokey Mountains. I plan to write a novel on Appalachia eventually, and need background.
3. P.D. James, The Private Patient. James is THE greatest mystery writer, in my opinion, so I have to read all of hers as they come out.
4. Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections. A little ponderous in style, but I'll get to it eventually.
5. Marilynne Robinson's The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought. She's contrarian but good; a delectable writer, with sentences you can savor and chew on like the Panera tomato basil bread I bought yesterday. I didn't like Housekeeping as much as Gilead, and hope to read Home this summer.
6. The Imperial Presidency by Arthur Schlesinger. This will be interesting to see a more liberal view of things.
7. Sarah Palin's biography. Easy read, almost hagiography on someone I admire.
8. Why Golf, by Bob Cullen (the last two are in the bathroom).
9. I have recently finished Hush My Mouth (pure whimsy, Southern mystery fiction), Liberal Fascism, and some of Barbara Kingsolver's book on living on her farm.
10. For the summer I have to read three new textbooks and hope also to read the Federalist Papers along with other political science books. I also hope to finish my next novel, which will have nothing to do with my last three and will entail research about military families after WWII. I could never write a scholarly work; everything I read points me to something else, and that to something else, so I never feel that I can really get to an authoritative place. I do hope to write a book on political theory for educated Christian laypeople at some point.
1. George Marsden's biography of Jonathan Edwards. Very readable, and from an evangelical mindset. I am reading it because my overall reading pattern is on American political thought, and I consider Edwards to have had more political consequences than religious.
2. Strangers in High Places, by Michael Frome, on Appalachia/Smokey Mountains. I plan to write a novel on Appalachia eventually, and need background.
3. P.D. James, The Private Patient. James is THE greatest mystery writer, in my opinion, so I have to read all of hers as they come out.
4. Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections. A little ponderous in style, but I'll get to it eventually.
5. Marilynne Robinson's The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought. She's contrarian but good; a delectable writer, with sentences you can savor and chew on like the Panera tomato basil bread I bought yesterday. I didn't like Housekeeping as much as Gilead, and hope to read Home this summer.
6. The Imperial Presidency by Arthur Schlesinger. This will be interesting to see a more liberal view of things.
7. Sarah Palin's biography. Easy read, almost hagiography on someone I admire.
8. Why Golf, by Bob Cullen (the last two are in the bathroom).
9. I have recently finished Hush My Mouth (pure whimsy, Southern mystery fiction), Liberal Fascism, and some of Barbara Kingsolver's book on living on her farm.
10. For the summer I have to read three new textbooks and hope also to read the Federalist Papers along with other political science books. I also hope to finish my next novel, which will have nothing to do with my last three and will entail research about military families after WWII. I could never write a scholarly work; everything I read points me to something else, and that to something else, so I never feel that I can really get to an authoritative place. I do hope to write a book on political theory for educated Christian laypeople at some point.
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