The Jew & the Lotus (which I'm revisiting); some Rushdie thing: Step Across the Line. which I never finished. How the West Lost its WAy; and a Reader on Eastern Thought from Schocken books.

FREETHINKERS: A History of American Secularism BY SUSAN JACOBY-Excellent-A must read for people who suffer from the delusion the United Snakes was founded on religious ideals
The Road -by far the most bleak and depressing book I've ever read
His Dark Materials(aka the Golden Compass Trilogy)-by Phillip Pullman-Mindblowing!!!

I don't know when I'll read it but my happy clappy Christian mum bought me Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil for my birthday, which I found really ironic since it argues that Christianity is a decadent religion and morality.

I haven't read anything much in over a year but when I last read I was into Sartre's Reprieve and Being & Nothingness and Max Stirner's Ego and Its Own.

It takes me ages to read philosophy but if a novel grabs me I can finish it quickly.

I'd really recommend Peter Carey's The True History of The Kelly Gang to anyone looking for a good novel. It's a fictional retelling of the history of the Kelly Gang, it one some prestigous award or other, and justifiably so.

I've been reading "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama. I never thought I'd be so inspired by a candidate that I'd actually buy their book.

I'm also working on "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality" by Ken Wilber. It's a thick book, so it should keep me busy for a while.

"When things fall apart" By??? cant remember.
just started it.. not sure if i will finish it...

Amy:-)

For Fun: "You Suck, A Love Story" by Christopher Moore
For my classes: "Freakonomics, A Rogue Economist Explains the Hidden Side of everything." well, that's the one worth mentioning anyway.

One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.

Elizabeth Bishop



I've had her book of poetry sitting by the bed waiting for me to pick it up.

Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control - Forbes and Post

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene - Jean-Yves LeLoup

The Workout - Gunner Peterson

Bible

I'm reading "Everybody Wants Some" right now, which is about the history of Van Halen. It's a little fluffy bit of reading I like to do once and awhile.

Re-reading Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods'- it is an amazing book. Anyone who's interested in mythology and likes kind of dark humor should definitely pick this up and read it! Its difficult to describe well, but the central point is a war going on between the Old gods and the New- the new gods being technology, computers, telvision- "the television is the altar the family gathers around to adore its new gods"(line from the book). The old are the religious deities- Odin, Kali, Anubis, Erzulie. Believers from foreign lands brought their faith and thus their gods and spirits with them over to the new worlds(America), but this is a bad land for gods, and they have become stranded here, forgotten and unloved in place of technology. Its kind of awesome how Gaiman managed to personify the gods, and its fun trying to figure out what character is supposed to bewhat god or spirit throughout the book x) It really is an incredibly well-rounded book, very philosophical and deep.... but you'll laugh out loud at some of it. Gaiman is wonderful, I really suggest y'all pick up at least one of his books :)

I'm also reading 'Tuesdays with Morrie' for school... I like it. It puts you in a bit of a pensive mood, it really makes you think about life and mortality... how to live. I like this one more than I can really say, so I won't write a paper to you folks about it- chances are most of you have read it at any rate xP