Reading List

I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR today, and one of the books discussed was "The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity" by Elaine Pagels and Karen King. The interview was interesting, and it also reminded me that I had intended to check out "The Gospel of Judas" published by National Geographic Society a while back, and totally forgot about it. So today on my way back from the lab, I made a detour and stopped by the public library. Unfortunately, they have the book on order, which means they don't yet have it. But it's on its way. Once inside the library, of course I couldn't stop, and ended up checking out 4 books, although I already have a "list" of books I am reading. So now my whole reading list has changed, since the books I checked out today are due back April 4th. These 4 books make up my current reading list:

1) The End of Faith by Sam Harris...Yeah yeah, I decided not to be stubborn and see what he's got to say. :) I even started reading it...Woohoo...I'm not impressed so far, and I figured out what my problem with him is: It's not so much that what he's saying in essence is not good, it's just the fact that he's got a lot of things wrong which makes me question his credibility (like I said before), and although he's got an extensive bibliography and "notes" section at the end, I find myself asking "and where's the reference for that????" for some of the things he says. *shrug* I will read it until the end though.
2) Why Religion Matters by Huston Smith...I don't think this is a book I will particularly enjoy reading and I will probably find many things to disagree with, but I'd like to hear what he's got to say, because I am like that...
3) Nothing Sacred-Women Respond to Religious Fundamentalism and Terror edited by Betsy Reed...A book of essays written by "feminist" activists and authors of different religious backgrounds. It questions the link between discrimination against women and fundamentalism. I have a feeling I will really like this one. This might actually be one I might buy for my own library.
4) Lamb-The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore... A friend of mine recommended this author's books to me. I've never read anything by Christopher Moore before, but after all the "serious" stuff I was checking out today, I thought this would be a light and funny read on a "related" matter, the childhood of Christ...Heh...It is fiction of course. If I like it, I might end up reading all of his books. I started reading it tonight a bit and so far so good. It is funny at least, and funny is something I need more of in my life lately.

So my other list will have to wait, and that's OK, because even though I'd started reading these books, they are in my own library, and I can always go back to them. They were:
1) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
2)The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought edited by Jaroslav Pelikan...This one actually has essays by Dostoyevsky, Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Carl Jung, Immanuel Kant, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, to name a few. It is split into 8 parts:
1) The Unbeliever
2) The Will to Believe
3) The Grandeur of God
4) Reverence for Life
5) The Reconstruction of Tradition
6) Love Abides
7) Visions of the Other World (this part consists of essays on "mysticism")
8) Faith and Freedom
Overall, it consists of 66 essays, and it makes a very interesting (and enlightening?) read. Written by scholars, and modern "thinkers", it's a good anthology for understanding the role of religious tradition in modern life. Highly recommended.

3) Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan...The reviews I read said this book isn't as good as her previous books, but she's one of my favorite authors, so I think I'll read it regardless.

Hmmm, so that's what's going on here as far as reading goes. I must confess I'm not reading as much as I want to read every day, because there are so many other things I have to read and keep up with in the "scientific" and "academic" front that my brain is completely shot at nights. And sometimes after a day of reading oh-so-not-artistic scientific lingo and research related journal papers, all I want to do is listen to some music and browse through some magazines, such as Better Homes and Gardens (which my friend referred to as "a magazine moms read" judging from the age of women posing in the pictures...hehe...Which is probably true but I like reading stuff about home renovations, decoration, gardens, crafts (gasp), and food), Fitness, Harper's Bazaar, or Marie Claire. I do have a "girly girl" side after all... :)