End of Summer

I wish this was a fishing report but sadly, it is not. The foot problem continues and has pretty much left me without the energy or health to get out and fish - it's just not worth the pain. 

On the bright side, my lack of mobility has led to an avalanche of reading this summer. So, as summer ends and classes begin here is my reading list from the summer.

May 2008:

  Alex Haley, "Roots" - classic

  Peter Block, "The Answer to How is Yes" - quite good on learning to ask the right questions

  Ted Kerasote, "Merle's Door" - it's a dog's life, literally (and a bit over-the-top)

  Edward Robinson, "The Fight is on in Texas: A history of African American Churches of Christ in the Lone Star State" - Edward is a colleague of mine at ACU; this is a good primer on African Americans and the Churches of Christ

  Ron Hall & Denver Moore, "A Same Kind of Different as Me" - if you haven't read this one yet, go get it. 

  Daniel C. Snell "Twice-Told Proverbs and the Composition of the Book of Proverbs" - okay, I had to get this one in there

June 2008:

  Tim O'Brien, "The Things they carried" - historical fiction out of the Vietnam war, very good.

  Erin Schlosser, "Fast Food Nation" - a critical examination of the social system created by and driving our fast food industry

  Mark Haddon "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" - good, but just odd

  Stephen King, "Duma Key" - yes

  Greg Mortenson, "Three Cups of Tea" - with "Same Kind of Different as Me" - on my "must reads" recommendation list

July 2008:

  John Grogan, "Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" - another true-life dog story. In some ways much better than "Merle's Door" - funny

  Malcolm Gladwell, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" - one of the best non-fiction books I read this summer, really makes one think about prejudices and how sometimes our best decisions are snap judgements that we really cannot explain.

  Don Robertson, "The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread" 

  Malcolm Gladwell, "Tipping Point" - his book that preceded "Blink" - also very good.

  Tony Cohan, "On Mexican Time" - enjoyable slow read

  Thomas Merton, "The Wisdom of the Desert" - selections from the Desert Fathers

  Larry McMurtry, "Lonesome Dove" - first Western I can recall reading, outstanding

  Larry McMurtry, "Books: A Memoir" - okay, but the best thing about this book was that it only took two days to read it.

August 2008

  Darryl Tippens, "Pilgrim Heart" - very good

  David Kinnaan, "UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks about Christianity" - worth the time to read for every Christian - especially ministers & church leaders.

  Larry McMurtry, "Commanche Moon" - prequel to Lonesome Dove, not as good - but a fun "how did they get to this point" read.

I'd like to be able to say that the bass fishing is going to rebound soon, but truth be told it is likely to be a while yet... 

Waiting for a warm day

Happy New Year!

Travel schedules and weather patterns (cold!) have combined to pitch a shutout the past few weeks. I'm hopeful to be on the water this weekend - but the forecast has 25+ mph winds. Sigh.

What do to when you cannot fish and just can't get interested in another football game? FWIW here's my reading list from 2007 (plus today). As I look over the list I am surprised by how little I have read... and then when I reflect on the year, surprised that I found time at all. In order of completion:

Khald Hosseini, "The Kite Runner"
Chaim Potok, "In the Beginning"
Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., "Interpreting the Historical Books"
Richard Bachmann [Stephen King], "Blaze"
Mark Winegardner, "The Godfather Returns"
Samuel Terrien, "Till the Heart Sings"
Richard Bachmann [Stephen King], "The Long Walk"
J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Deathley Hallows"
Stephen King, "Needful Things"
Frank McCourt, "Teacher Man"
Marilynne Robinson, "Gilead"
Michael Chabon, "The Amazing Adventuresof Kavalier & Clay"
Gale Yee, "Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible"
Philip Roth, "The Plot Against America"
Jon Krakauer, "Into Thin Air"
Patrick Miller, "The Way of the Lord: Essays in OT Theology"
Stephen King, "Misery"

Go for the analysis - I'm sure the reading list says something about my warped character.