Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[okalyddude]

I'm currently re-reading A Game of Thrones (song of ice and fire, first book) - to anyone who likes fantasy, i hope you've read this.

Also reading Harry potter 4 (i'm way behind, resisted reading them for a long time, but they're surprisingly decent, and haven't seen most the movies)

Getting back into Discworld (read some random ones before, starting with the first one now, but it's kinda 'meh' compared to the ones i read before)

Also quite addicted to Ender's Game at the recommendation of friends. Fantastic read so far.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

What was so bad about the Harlequin red cover books? Hard to tell apart?

Do you still try and fix books when you go to the bookstore? I went to Borders on Black Friday and while I was browsing YA with my sister, I saw all these books stacked on top of the books, and the girl working was laughing because I started to reshelve them.

That makes me crazy too. I've been known to take books to the section they belong in and shelve them there.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I started "The Evolution of God" by Richard Wright (non-fiction)

how are you liking that one? I've been dying to read this....

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I started "The Evolution of God" by Richard Wright (non-fiction)

I have to admit I'm curious too. I looked it up after it was mentioned here a while ago, and finally decided against buying it. I doubt very much that it can live up to René Girard's analysis of religion, which I'm still trying to decide (more than 20 years after I read it for the first time) how much I agree with...

[Moejoe]

I'm reading 'Matches' by Alan Kaufman.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I wouldn't even go to the darknet for that bloke's drivel.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I have to admit I'm curious too. I looked it up after it was mentioned here a while ago, and finally decided against buying it. I doubt very much that it can live up to René Girard's analysis of religion, which I'm still trying to decide (more than 20 years after I read it for the first time) how much I agree with...

I didn't buy either, it's an ebook checkout from my library.

[xianfox]

I'm just finishing up Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck.

I still have to finish The Church Unique, but I hit a wall about half-way thru (I heard from others I'm not alone) and needed a break from it. Crush It was a very easy read. Then back to The Church Unique, probably later today.

[Superlucky]

I just finished SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. If you read the first one (Freakonomics), then you'll like this one. It was a fun, quick read, if a bit too short.

Hey Kenny, have you read Karen Armstrong's A History of God? If so, how does The Evolution of God compare?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

.

Hey Kenny, have you read Karen Armstrong's A History of God? If so, how does The Evolution of God compare?

Sorry no and I'm still only 20 pages or so into EOG.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

I just finished SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. If you read the first one (Freakonomics), then you'll like this one. It was a fun, quick read, if a bit too short.

Hey Kenny, have you read Karen Armstrong's A History of God? If so, how does The Evolution of God compare?

OK, I'm not Kenny, but I have read both, although it's been around 15 years since I read Armstrong's book.

Both books are excellent, both cover similar ground, and both make use of modern scholarship. Both also believe that the various faiths of Abraham can co-exist peacefully, but for different reasons. Wright makes the case for what he calls "zero-sumness", which I suppose can be summed up briefly as seeking win/win outcomes. He believes that as our world gets smaller and as we recognize our shared humanity across an ever-expanding sphere of relations that tolerance across the board will increase. Some might argue that this is being Pollyannic, but he offers historical reasons for his optimism. Armstrong, on the other hand, looks to the mystical elements in all religions that seem to transcend the traditions in which they are rooted and unite the practitioners. She's a good scholar, in my opinion, but this aspect of her work strikes me as being somewhat in the New Age camp.

If I had to choose one, I would go with Wright; largely because the tone of his book is more agnostic (as am I). That being said; I think the former nun has the better writing style, and I always enjoy reading her works.

Here are samples from both on the topic of Yahweh's roots:

We can go further. It is highly likely that Abraham’s God was El, the High God of Canaan. The deity introduces himself to Abraham as El Shaddai (El of the Mountain), which was one of El’s traditional titles. Elsewhere he is called El Elyon (The Most High God) or El of Bethel. The name of the Canaanite High God is preserved in such Hebrew names as Isra-El or Ishma-El. They experienced him in ways that would not have been unfamiliar to the pagans of the Middle East.
— Karen Armstrong. The History of God (1993).


It’s even possible that Yahweh, who spends so much of the Bible fighting against those nasty Canaanite gods for the allegiance of Israelites, actually started life as a Canaanite god, not an import.
— Robert Wright. The Evolution of God (2009)

If that’s not a close enough link between Israelite religion and El, look at the word “Israel” itself. In ancient times names were often inspired by gods, and names ending in “el” typically referred to the god El. An especially intriguing biblical appearance of the word El is in the phrase El Shaddai, famously rendered in English as “God Almighty.” As it turns out, “Almighty” is a mistranslation; though the exact meaning of Shaddai remains cloudy, it seems to refer to mountains, not omnipotence—but that’s another story. For present purposes, what’s interesting is the way this name is used in the sixth chapter of Exodus, during one of Moses’s conversations with God. God says, “I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them.” Even Yahweh himself says that he started life with the name El!
— Robert Wright. The Evolution of God (2009)

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by okalyddude

I'm currently re-reading A Game of Thrones (song of ice and fire, first book) - to anyone who likes fantasy, i hope you've read this.

Also reading Harry potter 4 (i'm way behind, resisted reading them for a long time, but they're surprisingly decent, and haven't seen most the movies)

Getting back into Discworld (read some random ones before, starting with the first one now, but it's kinda 'meh' compared to the ones i read before)

Also quite addicted to Ender's Game at the recommendation of friends. Fantastic read so far.

I LOVED a Game of Thrones and am planning on re-reading it, but am trying to save my re-reading of the series to somehow coincide with the 5th book when it comes out - there are so many characters and plot-lines going on that I would like to have them fresh in my mind when the next book comes out (Hopefully soon. Hope dies last.)

I am reading the first book in the Percy Jackson series, and I quite like it! It is a fantasy series geared towards children and is a nice light read in the morning on my bus ride. I am also reading The House of Storms by Ian MacLeod, who does not get nearly as much recognition as he deserves.

[Superlucky]

Thanks, WT Sharpe!

I'm going to have to check out TEoG. I'm also thinking about Armstrong's new one, The Case for God. I don't think she's New Agey so much as she would like religions to focus on their mystical traditions (e.g. Sufism, Kabbalah, Mystical Christianity, etc.).

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Superlucky

Thanks, WT Sharpe!

I'm going to have to check out TEoG. I'm also thinking about Armstrong's new one, The Case for God. I don't think she's New Agey so much as she would like religions to focus on their mystical traditions (e.g. Sufism, Kabbalah, Mystical Christianity, etc.).

I was having trouble trying to find a phrase that mirrored my sentiments exactly in terms of how I felt about her overall outlook, and "somewhat in the New Age camp" probably wasn't the best one I could have devised. She is without doubt somewhat of a transcendentalist, and perhaps that's the word I should have used. This, of course, in no way impugns her credentials as a scholar, and I've learned a great deal over the years from her books and public appearances.

[Superlucky]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I was having trouble trying to find a phrase that mirrored my sentiments exactly in terms of how I felt about her overall outlook, and "somewhat in the New Age camp" probably wasn't the best one I could have devised. She is without doubt somewhat of a transcendentalist, and perhaps that's the word I should have used. This, of course, in no way impugns her credentials as a scholar, and I've learned a great deal over the years from her books and public appearances.

I hear you. I just wince at someone being thrown into the New Age camp undeservedly, because there's a lot of kooks in there.

[okalyddude]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I LOVED a Game of Thrones and am planning on re-reading it, but am trying to save my re-reading of the series to somehow coincide with the 5th book when it comes out - there are so many characters and plot-lines going on that I would like to have them fresh in my mind when the next book comes out (Hopefully soon. Hope dies last.)

I am reading the first book in the Percy Jackson series, and I quite like it! It is a fantasy series geared towards children and is a nice light read in the morning on my bus ride. I am also reading The House of Storms by Ian MacLeod, who does not get nearly as much recognition as he deserves.

I'm hoping the next book comes out soon, it's looking like sometime early 2010 at this point, and as I'm re-reading slowly (while reading many other books, I find that with my e-reader now I tend to read about 4-5 books at a time...) hopefully my timing will work out well.. I liked the 4th book, but so many characters were missing. The 5th will have Jon Snow, Lady Stark, we'll maybe find out what exactly happened to Brenna (I doubt she's really gone) ... were Jaime's chapters in the 4th? I know Danaery's were not either.. it'll be a fantastic book.

Also, the HBO pilot series should be coming out soon... Just hope that enough people watch it that they keep it going. Martin is actually working on the show, with some of the makers of Rome, so it should be fantastic. And the cast looks great.

I'll check out your suggestions.

And thanks to all above who were talking about EoG and HoG - I'll be sure to check out one or both.