5 GOOD BOOKS

I thought I would give you a sample of what I have been reading lately. I read a lot but here are some of my favorites over the past six months. You know, these are a few of those books that you read but can't seem to get out of your head. As usual most of my favorites are non-fiction. Do you have any suggestions of what I should add to my reading list?


Dominion by Matthew Scully

Scully is a former speech writer for President George W. Bush. However, despite being very conservative politically he takes a very liberal approach to animal rights. I thought this book was fantastic because he examines animal rights from a variety of approaches but what really caught my attention was his look at this subject from a spiritual perspective. If you have really contemplated the treatment of animals this book is for you, it will make you think and is very philosophical but it is not overwhelming like some other animal rights texts. This is an honest, straightforward, and very sensible book.


Columbine by Dave Cullen

Well here's a depressing one for you. I was out of the country on a two-year church mission when this incident took place and heard very little about what happened. Little did I know but madness was took place and Cullen provides one of the first truly accurate, heart wrenching accounts of why this happened. I just kept thinking of a line from The X-Files. There was an Emmy Award winning episode where Peter Boyle guest starred as a psychic being hunted by a serial killer. When the killer finally caught Boyle's character the killer wanted to know why he kills people to which Boyle's character responded, "Don't you get it son, you're a homicidal maniac."


Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

Perhaps the most interesting of all the founding fathers. There is so much to admire about Franklin yet so much to be embarrassed about. For crying out loud when in Paris John Adams walked in on him and a French woman playing chess in the bathtub! He was a man ahead of his time, geesh, he was a man ahead of our own time and Franklin was a funny guy. His two characteristics I admire the most was his religious tolerance (Franklin donated money to every church in Philadelphia) and his incredible curiosity. But you can't beat the epitaph he wrote for his own tombstone (though he changed his mind at the last minute) which read:

"The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and Amended By the Author"

Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

This book is a couple of decades old but I only recently discovered it's existence. It is a western novel loosely based on individuals that actually lived. I include this book for two reasons. First, it was by far the most violent piece of literature I have ever read. I mean shockingly violent...I mean if you can think of a way someone could be killed in the 1800s it is in this book and then some. Maybe it is just me. Second, it introduced me to one of the most chilling and creepy villains I have ever encountered. "The Judge" is as evil, cold, and calculating as any baddie I have seen in movies, television or literature. His long monologues are creepy attempts to justify his actions but be especially concerned if you begin to share his logic.


Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frenkl

Finally, let's end with a book that will cheer you up...well, it is about the holocaust but I'm serious when I say it will lighten your load. There are so many reasons this book will inspire you. Frenkl was a holocaust survivor and wrote these thoughts down in 1956 about happiness and life in general. There are so many good quotes but here is one of my favorites:

"We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering."

One of my favorite stories from this book was about a Nazi commandant of one small concentration camp who was actually very kind to the Jewish prisoners. In fact, he was so kind that at the end of the war a group of Jews hid this Nazi commander in the woods and would not tell the Allied Forces where he was until they promised not to hurt him. As a matter of fact, the Nazi commandant was put back in charge of the camp by the Allies until the Jews could be returned to their homes.

There you go...what do you think? Too serious? I look at this list and must admit that it looks a little morose but I rotate between fiction and non-fiction just to make sure my imagination is still working but I just enjoy the true, or attempts at truthiness more.