What book are you reading at the moment?

[lunamoth]

I finished How the Irish Saved Civilization--an excellent and quick read. I loved it how it gave such a nice brief history of the great literature that was saved by the Irish scribes. Truely amazing! Evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit, in my opinion.

Also read the fiction A Monstrous Regiment of Women, by Laurie King. It's part of a series by King featuring a young woman, Mary Russel, who becomes Sherlock Holmes new sidekick (and romantic interest, even though she is just twenty-one in this last novel) in his retirement years. King has an interest in theology and each of these books also has a theological theme to it in some way. In the Monstrous Regiment a new Christian society for the empowerment of women is investigated. The leader of the society is a mystic who pricks the soul of Russel, whose interest in theology is primarily academic up to that point (she's a theology/chemistry double major at Oxford in the novel, my kind of gal!).

lunamoth

[foreversearching]

I've just started reading the English version of the Qur'an, i'm finding it fascinating so far.

I've just finished reading 'spirit messneger' Gordon Smith, which is just basically describing how he got into mediumship and spiritualism, and also i've just read Jordan's autobiography - has anybody read that?! I lent it to my grandma - it probably wasn't such a good idea at her age, she was shocked! Very entertaining anyway.

[path_of_one]

So, I finished "Liberating the Gospels." Interesting, to say the least. Maybe I'll post in the Christianity forum on it in a bit. Also wound up reading "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice"- I re-read these every year or so. I just love Jane Austen.

Not sure what "fun" reading I'll do next- I think I'll pick up some Stephen R. Donaldson from the library if they have it. Someone told me that a lot of my dreams are just like this place in a fantasy series he wrote, so that piqued my interest.

Currently I'm reading "Listening to the Heartbeat of God," which is on Celtic Christianity. Just started it last night- already fascinated and very excited about it. Hey- it's folks that believe like me!- is my first thought.

[thipps]

After finishing my last book on the weekend, I took a breather but by nightfall, i had started to read my next one. The subject of the creation of sects has been of much interest to me but i wanted a one-in-all book....obviously this was hard to find i.e. until now. With 330 pages, the book entitled (translation) 'The Originators of (religious)innovation and misguidance in Islam' is proving to be quite informative and things are falling into place as i read along. From the origins of the Shi'ites to the various stages of development of the Sufi movement, the book takes you through a historical journey that will remove the clouds of confusion so that you can pass through this life without being pricked by the thorns of innovation & misguidance.

[dauer]

I'm in the middle of a book by Lawrence Kushner called The Way into the Jewish Mystical Tradition which I'm finding very helpful. It takes all of the currently key concepts within Jewish mysticism and goes over them one at a time, with a primary text to accompany each. It's helping me to digest some of my summer, loose ends getting tied together.

I'm also reading a book called Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West. It's translated by Daniel Ladinsky, a collection of poetry or prose set to poetry by Rumi, St. Francis of Assisi, Hafiz, Kabir, St. Thomas Aquinas, Meister Ekhart, Rabia and the like. Each night before I go to bed, after I do my evening practice, I read a few of the poems. They're very beautiful.

I have a couple books waiting for me too. I bought a translation of Mei Hashiloach by the Izbitzer Rebbe. It's a hasidic commentary on the Torah by an amazing amazing guy. That's not a typo. He gets two amazing's. And I also picked up a copy of "A Student's Obligation" which is an instructional text by Reb Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, also amazing. And also in this case hasidic. He died in the Holocaust. His books were found in the Warsaw Ghetto. I like the look of this one because the chapters have names like, "laziness and its cure", "some specific advice for the lazy", "the ill of egotism", "the ill of false humility and its cure", "advice for growth and self-improvement", "to transform bad character into light", "consistent work, consistent searching, exalted atitude", and the like. He's also got some essays on different issues but I'm in the mood for some good Mussar (ethical teaching.)

Dauer

[lunamoth]

I'm going to look for the Love Poems from God--sounds excellent!

I just finished 1) Ascent to Truth by Thomas Merton (was great, about St. John of the Cross and faith, but very heavy) and 2) A Letter of Mary by Laurie King (fun fiction, new Sherlock Holmes from the voice of his new young wife and fellow sleuth--history, mystery, and theology--great fun).

lunamoth

[InLove]

I was really excited about finding one of J.H.'s old seminary books (which I could tell had never been cracked open) and this is the one I was reading (Christian Theology--Hodgson and King).

But then I found less time to read (and look up words). So I purchased a book entitled "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek (I believe Geisler is the author of "Christian Apologetics") (fifty % off plus 15 % discount). Looked like light reading, compared to what I had been doing.

Funny--everyone I have told so far about the title of the book I am reading just laughs. I am not sure whether they really think it is funny, or they just do not know what to say.

Anyway, although I do not have time these days to read more than about a chapter at a time, I am finding it interesting, and quite relevant to the things we discuss here in CR.

InPeace,
InLove

[pohaikawahine]

'FU' - my grandson and I are reading this together .... about the five ancestors of marshal art forms ....

About 7 books on the Zohar and several on the Song of Songs

several books on the Quest for the Holy Grail and one on the world of Guinevere

Hawaiian Antiquities and the Kumulipo (the Kumulipo is one of those books I will read for my lifetime as it is the chant of creation and I have massive notes and re-reads going back over 20 years)

the new Harry Potter

Who Moved My Cheese - small book about change (fun reading)

The Sacred Remains, myth, history and polity in Belau

The Divine Comedy of Dante

Alchemy and Mysticism

I am usually in the process of reading about 20 books, seldom do I read one at a time .... and I usually read from back to front (don't know why, but I have always done this) ....

me ke aloha pumehana, pohaikawahine

[Awaiting_the_fifth]

I am just getting stuck into Frederick Nietchze's "Thus Spok Zarathustra" I bought a load of his books at together and Ive still got, The Antichrist, Twilight of the Idols and The Gay Science to read when Im done with this one.

[thipps]

A few days ago I finished reading THE HITCHHIKER'S GIUDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams, which was a trilogy in 4 parts. I admit that i enjoyed the 590 pages but I must also admit that the author's sentiments as well as mine were identical at the end, which he wrote quite openly as the last line.And I quote:
"There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind."

[Pathless]

Originally Posted by pohaikawahine

I am usually in the process of reading about 20 books, seldom do I read one at a time .... and I usually read from back to front (don't know why, but I have always done this) ....

Haha, meeeeee too. I've been a little bit better about it lately, though. A little bit.

Here's what's currently on my plate:

The Twelve Wild Swans: Rituals, Exercies, & Magical Training in the Reclaiming Tradition by Starhawk and Hilary Valentine
>>>This has slowed down my reading some, actually. Not that it's a bad book, not at all. It's just a bit different than the books that I've been reading lately, and different than Starhawk's Dreaming the Dark, which is what propelled me into reading this book. Wild Swans is based on a fairy tale about a girl named Rose and her twelve brothers, who were turned into wild swans by an ill wish on their mother's part. The book shortly narrates the fairy tale, in which Rose embarks on a difficult quest to find and save her brothers. The rest of the book is devoted to exploring the fairy tale and encouraging the reader to apply it to her/his life as a template for magical and transformative work.

Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Split Minds & Meta-Realities by Joseph Chilton Pearce
>>>Just started reading this one last night. It has sat on my shelf for about two years, and I think I know why. Big words. The book is written in a style that is one of my pet peeves: the author uses complex and relatively difficult words to create complex and relatively difficult sentences to get across a point that could be said in much simpler language. Perhaps the book should have been entitled: Exploring the Crack in My Cosmic Ego Trip. Ultimately an interesting book, I'm not sure if I will be able to read it due to series of sentences like:

"In the following chapters I will show how culture forces each of us to create this 'pseudoreality' structured around the semantic effect of language, and how culture 'substitutes' a semantic reality for a direct reality interaction. Culture's word-built world acts as a stimulus substitute that replaces, changes, curtails, or mutates stimuli from a real world. What we experience as acculturated people is never the free interaction with our life flow, that for which we are designed by our 'primary programming.' Rather, we experience a life flow filtrered through an ideation scheme sharply altering our real world."

I mean, damn. Why not just say: "We are disconnected from true, immediate reality by the constructs of culture." He'd still get to use some big phrases and get his point across in a more concise way. Egghead.

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation by Thich Nhat Hanh
>>>My Buddhist friends and I have been reading this one for quite a while now. We meet for coffee, tea, muffins, bagels, and scones on Friday mornings and talk about the various chapters, like 'Right Livelihood,' 'Realizing Well-Being,' 'The Noble Eightfold Path,' and many more. Good times, good times.

[wil]

Biology of Belief

The Prophet

Prayer of Jabez

Secret of Shambala

Universe in a Single Atom

2 are new reads, three are rereads...

[InLove]

I am currently reading Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard. Interesting.

And I recently read a great book entitled Second Calling (already loaned it, and the author's name escapes me at the moment--I'll get back to y'all on that, because the writer inspired me to re-read the book of Ruth and glean (pun unintended, but fitting) deeper meaning from it.

Just finished Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. (The book is quite different from the movie, but pretty darned good, IMHO.

Also, when I was in the hospital, there wasn't much to choose from in the gift shop. I picked up a copy of The Devil Wears Prada. It was okay. I haven't seen the movie, but I am wondering if it might be better.

I have put in my order for some Meister Eickhart (sp?) material, as I have never read any of his stuff. And I am looking for another copy of The Heartbeat of Christianity (can't recall the author's name at the moment.) I seem to remember starting it before, but if memory serves me, it disappeared somewhere. I am quite sure it was recommended to me by Path of One. The title may sound as if it would easily be found in a Christian book store, but it is not necessarily conventional, so maybe a little difficult to track down. I will look for it on the Net.


IP,
IL

[I, Brian]

Currently reading "A Mad World, My Masters" by John Simpson.

[InLove]

Hi, Peace--

Intriguing title on the book you're reading, Brian.

The book that I am looking for that Path recommended is not The Heartbeat of Christianity. It is, I believe, Listening to the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality, by John Philip Newell, and I found it on Amazon this morning. (If you see this, Path of One, and I have got the wrong book, let me know, please?)

And isn't it amazing what a few hours of sleep can do for one's memory? The author of Second Calling is Dale Hanson Bourke. (She has done lots work to help AIDS victims around the world.)

InPeace,
InLove