Sunday, March 4, 2007

Where was I?

With the flu making its rounds, I had a lot of catch-up to do after my own recovery. Still not 100%. Nevertheless, I am making progress on my self-education.

I said I took a break after finishing Don Quixote in 2005. I had stacks of other books I wanted to finish and, frankly, I needed something light. Often after reading something that takes some thought I need to unwind by reading easy stuff. So from the end of Don Quixote to the end of 2005, I read:

Pathway to Purpose for Women: Connecting Your To-Do List, Your Passions, and God's Purposes for Your Life by Katie Brazelton. Read this during my daughter's swim lessons at the city pool.
Mary Schaffer: An Adventurous Woman's Exploits in the Canadian Rockies (An Amazing Stories Book) (Amazing Stories) - we vacationed in Banff that summer. A facinating woman explorer.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) (finished in one week)
The Presence (Mira) by Heather Graham (romantic suspense)
The Seven Daughters of Eve - a facinating book about genetics by Bryan Sykes
• Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5), Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, Book 6), and The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7). Besides On Writing, these are the only Stephen King books I have read because I was terrified by the Carrie movie when I was young.
Sister Genevieve: A Courageous Woman's Triumph in Northern Ireland- an inspiring woman!
Living the Life You Were Meant to Live by Tom Paterson (OK, in case you haven't figured it out, I was doing a little soul searching)
Praying for Purpose for Women: A Prayer Experience That Will Change Your Life Forever (Pathway to Purpose) also by Katie Brazelton
The Da Vinci Code
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

For the record, I read 28 books in 2005.

Out of all those, I was really intrigued by The Da Vinci Code. I know a lot of people questioned the historical validity of this book. It got me to start another reading plan: read the bible, starting Jan. 1, 2006.

I've read many parts of the bible but never read it straight through. First I had to find the right bible to read, and I decided on TNIV True Identity: The Bible for Women (Today's New International Version). Next I had to find a plan, and found one at the Purpose Driven Life website (under free tools). I have The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life) by Rick Warren - so many people we talked to for a while raved about it so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I have read about half of it and pick it up occassionally. Warren's wife, Kay, wrote the foreward to Pathway to Purpose for Women: Connecting Your To-Do List, Your Passions, and God's Purposes for Your Life, which I found some peace in.

I did really good following the plan in 2006 until April when we took a trip to Costa Rica. Then our son arrived in May and I got behind. I made it nearly half-way - to the book of Esther - by the end of 2006. Now I am working my way through Psalms.

And that little project was set aside when I found the reading group for The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had and started The Pilgrim's Progress (Oxford World's Classics) in early 2007. I thought I could keep up on the bible reading while reading PP, but have not been able to.

I finished reading The Pilgrim's Progress (Oxford World's Classics) last week. The TWEM's plan calls for reading once and taking notes (the grammar stage, or what the author says), then reviewing and evaluating (the logic stage to understand how and why) and finally, So What? (rhetoric stage). I have finished the logic stage and am starting on the rhetoric stage, to be finished this coming week.

Finally, have you seen how much press The Secret is getting?