READING REPORT #2 - Books I'm Reading Now

Actually, blogging on my current reading is rather like baking bread on a galloping horse (or something equally complicated). I can't pre-select the books on hand in precisely enough in advance for the subsequent blog to be completely accurate since I'm reading furiously, as always, and often behave like the little red blood cell who lost contact with his companion because he abruptly changed streams in the middle of the horse. OK, that's a really crummy pun, but... I rarely read all of one book without reading from other books in the same time frame, and I don't read every page of a ho-hummer anyway, preferring to pick up something else that catches my fancy instead.

Nevertheless, here are the main books I am currently reading at various rates.

The Song of Hiawatha by William Wadsworth Longfellow. This edition is the renowned publication that features illustrations by Fredrick Remington of scores of American Indian artifacts and Objects d' Lore. Since I was kid I could quote snatches of the epic poem and now I am seeing them again in context somewhat different than my childhood images. I'm really enjoying it this time.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. From the Isabel Dalhousie series comes the first story featuring a lady who edits an philosophical ethics publication in Edinburgh.
This inquisitive woman seems to pick up on seemingly inconsequential events and soon finds herself enwrapped in a mystery which draws her into the secret aspects and lives of those around her. I am assured that the series gets much better after the first couple of books in the set.

High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver. In my search and deliberate effort to explore the works of more women writers, I have been intrigued by this author's Poisonwood Bible and particularly by her ability to turn a catchy phrase. "High Tide" is a collection of personal essays written after several of her novels, and it gives an interesting look into Kingsolver's worldviews and attitudes, many times touching on topics and observations of high interest to me. I'm pretty sure this will impact my reading of her fiction work as I get to them later.

The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. Sometimes a book manages to hide on my shelves for years before it comes to the top of the list. Because a good friend once recommended Yancey to me I have not previously culled this text, always intending to get to it someday. Finally looking into the opening chapters, I am still looking for the hook I had been given to expect. Still, I suppose, any material that causes me to reflect upon the life of Jesus and compare the validity of its content to the truth found in scripture will be worth the time spent. It's too soon to render an opinion.

The Development of the New Testament Canon by Stanley Paher. Such a deep, complex and scholarly topic for such a small text. This is difficult, even ponderous scrubbing for facts and chronology and not at all designed for pleasure reading. The author openly reveals he bears bias against the common fundamentalist viewpoint about the assembling of the twenty-seven NT books, before he sets about a systematic consideration of the important major manuscripts and significant other portions from which the contemporary New Testament has been compiled. As always, one should compare each new source with proven and respected material as revealed in other trusted texts.

Here is my usual disclaimer: In a couple of weeks this list will likely be out of date, and a new set of books will probably have replaced most of these. Meanwhile, even if I compared these titles to what is actually on my shelves and at chairside and bedside, the lists would not be identical. Every errand day, and each visit to bookstores (or Goodwill) will bring home another handful of selections I will be eager to dive into. In fact, when I get to the list of books I am planning to read next, I have to face a stack of maybe twenty books which will conspire to complicate my decision.

Ain't it grand?