Thursday Thirteen #2

Thirteen of the bazillion books I have bookmarks in. Being of those which I've cracked open in the last month. 1. The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. This is the only novel I am reading right now. Even I can read only one novel at a time. :) It is a novel of suspense with literary flavor as it address big themes like faith, trust, innocence and redemption. I should have left it for last on this list for if I don't put it down again right now, I won't get this posted. 2. What God Wants by Neale Donald Walsch. This is the author of best selling series, Conversations with God. He is a local, his home base being a few miles down the road from me. 3. From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler. This is a re-read actually. I read this last summer but am refreshing my mind with the advice in preparation for NaNoWriMo and a book review to be posted here soon. 4. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. Also a re-read. It is a book that has had a lot of influence on how I thought about being a woman writer. I used to own my own copy. This one is checked out of the library in order to prepare a book review. I am re-evaluating Woolf's thesis and how much or whether I still buy into it. 5. God Laughs & Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right by David James Duncan. I loved his novels, The River Why and The Brothers K. He also writes kicking nature essays with a spiritual flavor and environmental activist rants. 6. Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor by Joseph Campbell. Campbell introduced me to comparative religion and comparative mythology. He also gave me the framework of story which you find me rhapsodizing about here often enough. I don't feel that I took the concept from him and made it my own as much as I feel that he gave a name for something that I already intuited. 7. The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition by Huston Smith. Smith is another of the experts in comparative religion whose writings guided me through the turbulent exodus from fundamentalism onto the spiritual quest path I traipse today. 8. In God's Country: The Patriot Movement and the Pacific Northwest by David A. Neiwert. I am reading this as research for a novel I am writing, in which the Patriot and Militia movements play a prominent role. I also use Neiwert's blog, Orcinus, as a reference. He is a journalist living in the Puget Sound area who has a well earned reputation as an expert on the rhetoric and activities of the far right. 9. Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever by Leslie Savan. The title about says it all. I love to read and think about language as much as I do story. 10. Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism by Eric Burns. Before the 2000 election, I paid very little attention to news in any forum; since then I've had a hard time making space for the pastimes and passions which used to occupy me. I've been thinking for over a year that it was about time I learned more about the history of journalism and then along came this book. 11. The Assassins Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer. A journalist for The New Yorker, Packer made four tours of Iraq after the fall of Baghdad. His reporting from there earned him an Overseas Press Club award. The story about how the gate guarding the green zone got its name is particularly telling of American cluelessness of the culture in the Middle East and of how much language matters in cross-cultural communication. It is a faux pas on a par with President Bush's use of the word crusade in a major address. 12. The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley. Essays by a scientist, naturist, anthropologist, and poet. His writing triggers awe and wonder for the subject of his focus and then for his talent as observer and word crafter. 13. Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald. Being the story of the rise and fall of Enron based on many candid interviews with the principal players. Besides reading like a suspense thriller this story is informative about corporate culture. The main point I've taken from this story so far is that if all households in America could keep their books by the same rules as the big corporations we could all be billionaires. And I'm not talking about the blatantly illegal shenanigans Enron and others got caught up in. I talking about the rules made for corporations that constitute the envelope which Enron and other players pushed to the breaking point, bankrupting hundreds if not thousands of households on their way up as well as on their way down. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. amy 2. Susan 3. Shoshana 4. Tink 5. Skyelarke 6. The Mistress of the Dark 7. Kathy 8. Christina 9. Brony (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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