Books, Books, Books............

Many years ago, when I worked at a camera store, we had a strange character who would come in occasionally with his hands to his head repeating "books, books, books...." Did I say strange? He would just walk around the store, repeating the same mantra. So, when I think of books, I often think of him.
Books - I read a lot of them on our recent trip, so thought I would give a little book revue of sorts.
Here goes.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Great book! I enjoyed it a lot. A woman's spiritual journey, very honestly told. Reminds me just a bit of Robert Johnson's "Balancing Heaven and Earth" which I read years ago and still place in my favorites.

Endangered Species by Nevada Barr
A great diversion - she weaves wonderful mysteries, but is a less than talented writer, in my opinion

A Place Called Home edited by Mickey Pearlman
Anthology of women writers thoughts of the concept of home. Deep, thoughtful, soul searching, raw, at times, poignant. Highly recommended.

A New Life by Bernard Malamud
A favorite author of "classics". Written in the 60's, captures the mores of the times and is sad, emotional, quiet and bizarre all at the same time. A story of a college professor in Cascadia - the Willamette Valley. A strange book, but very well written.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Predictable, but nevertheless has a lot of things to think about. Like many of her books.

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
A fantastic book. Makes you think - agonize over your own life, run things over in your mind. No spoilers here. Just read it.

Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
Read his first in the series before you read this one. Another spiritual journey book. Loved it!

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Depressing. Chronicles her experiences trying to make do on minimum wage jobs. Really makes you think. Written in 2000, I think, so, hopefully, some things have changed - but some things have become even worse. Read it and you'll understand.

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
Scary! These things happen. Still. A lot of factual info here that just plain makes you paranoid about the things that go on in the government. Another interesting diversion, but of a differnt type than a "fiction" book!

Along Came A Spider and Maximum Ride by James Patterson
OK, I admit it - I'm a James Patterson freak. More diversion. I think I have now read all of the Alex Cross books, so am starting on other books he has written. You can really tell when Patterson has written the latest ones vs when his "assistant' has taken over. But I still like them for what they are.

partially read:
The Christian Agnostic by Leslie Weatherhead
I'm working my way through this one and enjoying it, but sometimes it is difficult reading.

The Way Things Are - conversations with Huston Smith
I had the pleasure of hearing him speak, along with Marcus Borg, at Trinity in Portland several years ago. A great guy - and a great mind. I like what he says and am enjoying this book.

Also read:
O Magazines!!!

So, there you have it. The trip books. I usually try to read a wide variety.