What are you reading on Mondays? - August 24

I've decided to go ahead and throw in the towel on The Brothers Karamazov. Just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll give it another shot in the future, but for now there's too many other books waiting to be read, so it's time to move on. I only finished two books this week, which is somewhat disappointing, but it did allow me to finish up the Summer Vacation Reading Challenge.

Recent completions:

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller -- review

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer -- review

Reading this week:

A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration by Antonia Fraser

Up next:

The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Challenge progress:

1% Well-Read: 7/10
18th and 19th Century Women Writers: 4/5
A to Z Challenge: 22/26
Baker Street Challenge: 1/4
Book Awards 3: 0/5
Chunkster: 2/3
Classics Challenge: 4/6
Decades '09: 7/9
Elizabeth Gaskell: 1/2
Fill in the Gaps 100 Books: 3/100
George Eliot: 1/2
Guardian's 1000 Best Novels: 5/10
Nonfiction 5: 4/5
Orbis Terrarum: 7/10
Summer Vacation Reading: 6/6 ***COMPLETE
Support Your Local Library: 29/50
TBR Lite: 5/6
Well-Rounded Challenge: 2/5
What's in a Name 2: 4/6

999 Challenge (overall): 58/81

999 Subcategories:

• 1001 Books: 6/9


• Booker/National Awards: 2/9


• Through the Decades: 7/9


• Dewey's Books: 8/9


• C.S. Lewis: 4/9


• Biographies: 7/9


• Travel: 9/9 ***complete


• Catholicism: 7/9


• Dewey Decimal: 9/9 ***complete
  

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Title: Everything is Illuminated

Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

First Published: 2002

No. of Pages: 276

Synopsis (from B&N): "With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: This is a difficult book to get through and one that requires the reader to go slowly, but you will not want to do so. The tale is so engrossing and entertaining that you'll have to force yourself to slow down and get the full meaning, and even then you'll probably need to reread sections to be sure you didn't miss something, or just to luxuriate in the language.

One of the things that make this book so enjoyable is the way it jumps around in time, so that you get the backstory woven into the modern story. In a way, you're getting a story-within-a-story, or I could even say three stories in one. First, you've got Jonathan's (the character, not the author, although maybe they're one and the same?) family story (told in 3rd person omniscient); then you've got Jonathan's journey (told from Alex's point of view); and you've got Jonathan's friendship with Alex (told through Alex's letters to Jonathan). With each, you wonder about possible bias from that section's narrator, which leads me to the second great thing about this book, which is the theme of the reality/perception/desire for truth. Sometimes this is obvious, as when Alex acknowledges his "not-truths." But sometimes it's more nuanced. For instance, is Jonathan's family story true or only a story? You often feel that it's part of Jonathan's life story and all the parts could be arranged chronologically; other times, you wonder if it's only made-up, which led me to consider how much of our own family histories are true and how much made-up, and does it make a difference? And can there be more truth in stories than in reality?

I won't go on in that vein, but I'll state the obvious and say that this book will make you think. Parts will make you laugh, parts will strike you as truisms and parts will make you question if they are truisms that you never knew were true. All told, a great book.

Challenges: 999 ("Dewey's Books"); Classics (future classic); Guardian 1000 Novels ("War and Travel"); Support Your Local Library

Summer Vacation Reading Challenge complete

This challenge was hosted by Molly at My Cozy Book Nook. The goal was to read either 3 or 6 books between May 22 (just prior to Memorial Day) and September 7 (Labor Day). Books could be from any genre, but they had to allow you to "travel" to a locale that you would like to visit. I love to travel and I love reading about traveling, so I was thrilled to join this challenge.

I chose the Globe Trotter option. Here's what I read:

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller -- completed 8/21/09; review here

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert -- completed 7/5/09; review here

Everyday Life in Imperial Japan by Charles J. Dunn -- completed 6/7/09; review here

A Fez of the Heart: Travels around Turkey in Search of a Hat by Jeremy Seal -- completed 8/3/09; review

Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey by Alison Wearing -- completed 6/12/09; review here

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik -- completed 8/15/09; review here

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

Title: Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood

Author: Alexandra Fuller

First Published: 2001

No. of Pages: 301

Synopsis: The author recounts her childhood growing up in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), Malawi, and Zambia.

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: One thing that this book has convinced me of, and that's that I never, ever want to live in Africa. I'll admit it, I'm a spoiled Westerner who loves all the comforts of "civilization" too much and I can't imagine living without constantly available electricity and running water. I also can't imagine the necessity of an armed convoy just to go shopping; the heat and bugs (and I live in Florida, so I'm used to heat and bugs); the animals that can kill you being close enough for you to hear them breathe. The author doesn't sugar-coat it and you get a clear picture of all the discomforts and dangers.

It was difficult for me to feel empathy toward the author's family. In spite of all their hardships, they just don't strike you as likable people, at least in the beginning. No, I take that back -- they never became likable to me, but I did warm to them after a bit. I also had to keep reminding myself not to judge them too harshly; who knows what kind of person I'd be in their circumstances?

At times, I didn't care for the author's writing style, particularly her use of incomplete sentences, and at times I wondered I wondered about her sincerity. This was due less to the general cynicism now felt toward memoirs and more due to the author's manner of expression. But to be fair, the parts that bothered me the most could just as easily be the result of the feelings felt by a child and attempting to be expressed through adult eyes.

Challenges: Summer Vacation Reading

What are you reading on Mondays? - August 17

You may have noticed that The Brothers Karamazov has been on my Reading This Week list for several weeks now. The book is a chunkster, so it's going to take me a bit. But it doesn't help that I didn't actually start reading it until two days ago. And I have to say that so far, I'm not impressed. I've previously read Crime and Punishment and didn't care for it either; maybe Dostoevsky just isn't for me. I'm going to keep plugging away at this one, though, and hope for the best.

Recent completions:

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis -- review

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik -- review

Reading this week:

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Up next:

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration by Antonia Fraser

Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Challenge progress:

1% Well-Read: 7/10
18th and 19th Century Women Writers: 4/5
A to Z Challenge: 22/26
Baker Street Challenge: 1/4
Book Awards 3: 0/5
Chunkster: 2/3
Classics Challenge: 4/6
Decades '09: 7/9
Elizabeth Gaskell: 1/2
Fill in the Gaps 100 Books: 3/100
George Eliot: 1/2
Guardian's 1000 Best Novels: 4/10
Nonfiction 5: 4/5
Orbis Terrarum: 7/10
Summer Vacation Reading: 5/6
Support Your Local Library: 28/50
TBR Lite: 5/6
Well-Rounded Challenge: 2/5
What's in a Name 2: 4/6

999 Challenge (overall): 57/81

999 Subcategories:

• 1001 Books: 6/9


• Booker/National Awards: 2/9


• Through the Decades: 7/9


• Dewey's Books: 7/9


• C.S. Lewis: 4/9


• Biographies: 7/9


• Travel: 9/9 ***complete


• Catholicism: 7/9


• Dewey Decimal: 9/9 ***complete
  

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog.

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

Title: Paris to the Moon

Author: Adam Gopnik

First Published: 2000

No. of Pages: 338

Synopsis (from B&N): "The comic-romantic adventures of an American family in Paris is penned by the New Yorker writer and author of the magazine's popular Paris Journal column. The private story is rooted in the sentimental reeducation of a weary American through the experience of his son's childhood in France."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: My favorite sections of this book were those involving the author and his son. The family moved from New York to Paris when the child was not yet one and the differences that the author finds (or doesn't find) between a French and an American childhood are highly interesting. I also enjoyed the insights into French culture and felt that the author did a wonderful job of giving cross-cultural reference points to make the insights more understandable. An example:

"Yet the government underestimated the extraordinary hold that the word student has on the French imagination, a little like the hold the word farmer has on Americans. In fact the phrase student movement has in France much the same magic that the phrase family farm has in America, conjuring up an idealized past, even for people who never took part in a student movement or lived on a family farm."

One of my favorite sections discussed soccer and completely captured the average American feelings toward that sport. I have to share this little snippet, which I found both funny and so much what I feel watching a game that I could have written it myself.

"The other, more customary method of getting a penalty is to walk into the 'area' with the ball, get breathed on hard, and then immediately collapse, like a man shot by a sniper, arms and legs splayed out, while you twist in agony and beg for morphine, and your teammates smite their foreheads at the tragic waste of a young life."

The book is not perfect, however. Some of the chapters felt not out of place exactly, but almost as though two books had been shuffled together and this is the result. You feel as though a few of the sections could have been magazine articles, such as the 20-page chapter entitled "The Crisis in French Cooking." I suppose I felt this way because these chapters are less about the author and his family than an overview of a cultural subject. Another example is the 15-page section on high fashion that would make anyone's (other than a dedicated reader of Vogue) eyes glaze over, especially during the detailed descriptions of the clothes. I generally enjoy fashion writing and I found this chapter a bit too much.

Challenges: Summer Vacation Reading; Well-Rounded Challenge

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

Title: The Great Divorce

Author: C.S. Lewis

First Published: 1945

No. of Pages: 80

Synopsis (from B&N): "What if anyone in Hell could take a bus trip to Heaven and stay there forever if they wanted to?

In The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis again employs his formidable talent for fable and allegory. The writer finds himself in Hell boarding a bus bound for Heaven. The amazing opportunity is that anyone who wants to stay in Heaven, can. This is the starting point for an extraordinary meditation upon good and evil, grace and judgment. Lewis's revolutionary idea is the discovery that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. In Lewis's own words, 'If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.'"

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: I loved this book! This more than made up for the disappointment of The Abolition of Man. The synopsis above nicely sums up the plot of the story, but doesn't go quite far enough in stressing what it terms the "revolutionary idea" -- i.e., that no one and nothing keeps us in Hell except ourselves, and that the only way to enter Heaven is to let go of ourselves. Lewis makes this point wonderfully well by displaying various human faults in individual characters. We're shown pride, insecurity, and power, as well as faults that may not always appear as such; for instance, the desire for knowledge that becomes an end in itself, so that the seeker is no longer interested in the answers, only the questions. The key to overcome all faults is, of course, faith. Faith in God, which is the same as faith in pure, unselfish love, will overcome all human weaknesses and is the one and only path to Heaven. A wonderful way to present moral truths. Along with The Problem of Pain and The Screwtape Letters, this is another of Lewis's works that I'll be rereading as soon as I can work it in.

Challenges: 999 ("C.S. Lewis")

How well read are you?

Well, at least how well read are you as according to the BBC? The BBC believes that most people will have only have read 6 out of the 100 books on the list below.

I got this from Becky at One Literature Nut. Instructions: Copy this and put an 'X' after those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (X)

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (--)

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (X)

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (X)

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (X)

6 The Bible (--)

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (X)

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (X)

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (--)

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (X)

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (X)

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (X)

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (X)

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (--)

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier(X)

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (X)

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk (--)

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X)

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (X)

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (X)

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (X)

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (X)

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (X)

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (X)

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (--)

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (X)

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (--)

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (X)

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (--)

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (--)

34 Emma-Jane Austen (X)

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen (X)

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (X)

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossein (X)

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres (--)

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (--)

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (--)

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (X)

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (X)

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (X)

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (--)

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (--)

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (--)

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (--)

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (X)

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan (X)

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel (X)

52 Dune - Frank Herbert (--)

53 Cold Comfort Farm (--)

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (X)

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth (--)

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (X)

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (X)

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (X)

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon (X)

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (X)

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (X)

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov (X)

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt (--)

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (--)

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (X)

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac (--)

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (--)

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (X)

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie (X)

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (--)

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (--)

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (--)

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (--)

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson (X)

75 Ulysses - James Joyce (--)

76 The Inferno – Dante (--)

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (--)

78 Germinal - Emile Zola (--)

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (X)

80 Possession - AS Byatt (X)

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (--)

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (--)

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (--)

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (X)

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (X)

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (--)

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (X)

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (--)

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (X)

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton (--)

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (--)

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (X)

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks (--)

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams (--)

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole (X)

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute (--)

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (--)

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (--)

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (--)

My total is 55; more than 1/2, not bad. There's also a number on my bookshelves that I haven't gotten around to yet.

What are you reading on Mondays? - August 10

I survived my vacation (see my post here) and even got in some reading. I didn't finish enough to complete any challenges, but everything I read counts for something, so I'm still making progress.

Recent completions:

The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis -- review

Catholicism Today: A Survey of Catholic Belief and Practice by Matthew Kohmescher -- review

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton -- review

A Fez of the Heart: Travels around Turkey in Search of a Hat by Jeremy Seal -- review

Gift and Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination by Pope John Paul II -- review

Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford -- review

Reading this week:

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

Up next:

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration by Antonia Fraser

Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Challenge progress:

1% Well-Read: 7/10
18th and 19th Century Women Writers: 4/5
A to Z Challenge: 22/26
Baker Street Challenge: 1/4
Book Awards 3: 0/5
Chunkster: 2/3
Classics Challenge: 4/6
Decades '09: 7/9
Elizabeth Gaskell: 1/2
Fill in the Gaps 100 Books: 3/100
George Eliot: 1/2
Guardian's 1000 Best Novels: 4/10
Nonfiction 5: 4/5
Orbis Terrarum: 7/10
Summer Vacation Reading: 4/6
Support Your Local Library: 28/50
TBR Lite: 5/6
Well-Rounded Challenge: 1/5
What's in a Name 2: 4/6

999 Challenge (overall): 57/81

999 Subcategories:

• 1001 Books: 6/9


• Booker/National Awards: 2/9


• Through the Decades: 7/9


• Dewey's Books: 7/9


• C.S. Lewis: 3/9


• Biographies: 7/9


• Travel: 9/9 ***complete


• Catholicism: 7/9


• Dewey Decimal: 9/9 ***complete
  

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog.

Madame de Pompadour by Nancy Mitford

Title: Madame de Pompadour

Author: Nancy Mitford

First Published: 1953

No. of Pages: 308

Synopsis (from B&N): "When Madame de Pompadour became the mistress of Louis XV, no one expected her to retain his affections for long. A member of the bourgeoisie rather than an aristocrat, she was physically too cold for the carnal Bourbon king, and had so many enemies that she could not travel publicly without risking a pelting of mud and stones. History has loved her little better. Nancy Mitford's delightfully candid biography recreates the spirit of eighteenth-century Versailles with its love of pleasure and treachery. We learn that the Queen was a 'bore,' the Dauphin a 'prig,' and see France increasingly overcome with class conflict. With a fiction writer's felicity, Mitford restores the royal mistress and celebrates her as a survivor, unsurpassed in 'the art of living,' who reigned as the most powerful woman in France for nearly twenty years."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I found this book to be one of the most readable biographies I've come across. The lives of royals and their hangers-on always intrigue me and this one is as full of intrigue and scandal as any other. A key difference is that the reader actually likes this royal mistress. She was intelligent, kind, loyal, and honest -- not at all how you expect to find one in her position. She seems to have truly loved Louis XV and did not use him for wealth or advancement. The author obviously likes her as well and does not shy away from allowing her own opinions to come out. My only complaint is that the author chose not to present the story chronologically, but instead grouped incidents by subject. This can be a bit disconcerting for the reader; for instance, the death of an individual is told in one chapter and a succeeding chapter then discusses the education of that same individual. But overall, I found this book very enjoyable and worth reading.

Challenges: 999 ("Biographies"); Support Your Local Library

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Title: Ethan Frome

Author: Edith Wharton

First Published: 1911

No. of Pages: 93

Synopsis (from B&N): "Ethan Frome, a poor, downtrodden New England farmer is trapped in a loveless marriage to his invalid wife, Zeena. His ambition and intelligence are oppressed by Zeena's cold, conniving character. When Zeena's young cousin Mattie arrives to help care for her, Ethan is immediately taken by Mattie's warm, vivacious personality. They fall desperately in love as he realizes how much is missing from his life and marriage. Tragically, their love is doomed by Zeena's ever-lurking presence and by the social conventions of the day. Ethan remains torn between his sense of obligation and his urge to satisfy his heart's desire up to the suspenseful and unanticipated conclusion."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: This is a beautifully written book and a departure from Edith Wharton's other works, in that its characters are not of the upper classes. But their problems are essentially the same -- do you do your duty or follow your heart? The reader connects with these characters on such a deep level, both through their words and actions, and even through the descriptions of the surrounding countryside and weather. I could almost feel the sting of the winter air and the corresponding coldness of Ethan's wife made me wince.

I made two mistakes with this book, though. First, I listened to the audiobook version over too great a time period. This is a book that should be completed in one sitting to get the full effect. Second, the lady who did the reading gave Ethan's wife the most irritating accent. She sounded just like Fran Drescher, which was totally off-putting and inappropriate. However, neither of these issues should detract from the value of the book itself. It was wonderful and I'll definitely be reading it again.

Challenges: 999 ("Dewey's Books"); Classics Challenge; Fill in the Gaps 100 Books Project; Modern Library 100 Best Novels (Radcliffe #60); Well-Rounded Challenge

Catholicism Today by Matthew Kohmescher

Title: Catholicism Today: A Survey of Catholic Belief and Practice

Author: Matthew F. Kohmescher

First Published: 1980

No. of Pages: 243

Synopsis (from B&N): "This volume is a revised [as of 1990] and substantially enlarged edition of a book published in 1980. It presents the major elements of Catholic belief and practice and the principal trends found in the Catholicism of our day."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I found this book to be okay overall, but not nearly comprehensive enough for either the Catholic or non-Catholic to get a true and complete overview of the faith. Granted, the book is intended to be and is even titled as a survey; however, the Catholic faith is so old and there is simply so much information that even a basic survey of the faith should be more in-depth than found here. I also had problems with the manner in which the author presented information -- he was very good at stating conclusions, but did not provide any support. This is acceptable occasionally, but occurred too often here. This work has value as part of a more extensive study of the Catholic faith, but I would not recommend it to someone looking for a basic understanding from just one work.

Challenges: 999 ("Catholicism")

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

Title: The Abolition of Man

Author: C.S. Lewis

First Published: 1943

No. of Pages: 41

Synopsis (from B&N): "C. S. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the importance and relevance of universal values such as courage and honor in contemporary society."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: This review will be absolutely worthless, as I must admit that after reading this book, nothing sticks out for me. Both while I was reading and after I finished, all I could think was "huh?" I really have no idea what I read or what the author's arguments were. I do recall feeling that a lot of what he wrote was over my head. To be fair, I read this while on vacation, so it's entirely possible that my brain just wasn't up to handling it right then. I have loved the other C.S. Lewis books I've read, so I'll probably give this one another try, but as of today, I have to say that it is my least favorite of his works.

Challenges: 999 ("C.S. Lewis")

A Fez of the Heart by Jeremy Seal

Title: A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat

Author: Jeremy Seal

First Published: 1995

No. of Pages: 334

Synopsis (from B&N): "Inspired by a dusty fez in his parents’ attic, Jeremy Seal set off in 1993 to trace the astonishing history of this cone-shaped hat. Soon the quintessentially Turkish headgear became the key to understanding a country beset by contradictions."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: This is one of the more unusual travel books that I've read. First, the majority of the book focuses on the history of Turkey, rather than on the author's traveling. I previously had no knowledge of Turkey's history, so this was an interesting introduction to the subject. Second, the author's use of the fez as the central theme around which all the history and travel revolves is unique, but appropriate once the reader understands the importance it played in the country. Third, this is the first travel book I've read that has made me NOT want to visit the place. I've wanted for many years, and continue to want, to see Istanbul, but this book has not encouraged me to be in a rush to see the rest of the country. It's not that the author is disrespectful or puts down the country; it's simply that he strives to show it in a realistic light which, unfortunately, is not a flattering one. However, given that this book is now 14 years old, it's entirely possible that the author's view would differ if he were to visit today.

Challenges: 999 ("Travel"); Summer Vacation Reading

Gift and Mystery by Pope John Paul II

Title: Gift and Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination

Author: Pope John Paul II

First Published: 1997

No. of Pages: 144

Synopsis (from Amazon): "In a personal spiritual testimony, Pope John Paul II describes his journey to the priesthood, discussing his childhood, education, the years of Nazi occupation that led him to dedicate his life to God, and his ministry within the Catholic Church."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: This book provides the Pope's first-person account of his childhood and early years as a priest. It's quite interesting and helps the reader to see this figure of international importance as a human being just like the rest of us. I was especially taken by the humility evidenced by the Pope throughout the book -- he continually gives the credit for everything good that ever happened to him to others and shows how important our human relationships truly are.

Challenges: 999 ("Catholicism"); Support Your Local Library

Back from vacation

We made it back in one piece after 10 days on the road. Everyone had fun, even though we're pretty worn out. We spent the beginning of the trip in Pennsylvania and New York, staying first with friends and then several days at a resort on one of the Finger Lakes -- it was beautiful! We swam, fished, rode horses, visited a winery, and went to a demolition derby. We also visited the Corning Museum of Glass, which is an amazingly cool place. My son got to make his own glass sculpture and he won a piece made at one of the live demonstrations:


Then my son and I flew to Orlando and saw Green Day in concert (one of the best shows I've ever seen), spent the day at Wet 'n Wild water park, and went to Medieval Times, a medieval-themed dinner theater, complete with jousting. Here's the kid being knighted by the King:


I also managed to hit a used bookstore and picked up 6 new books for my collection:

Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

Nana and Therese Raquin by Emile Zola

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens

During my time away, I completed 5.5 books and I should have the reviews up pretty quick. I'm a little disappointed because I hoped to finish more and knock out a couple of my challenges, but we were having too much fun to spend all my time with my nose in a book.