Recent Reads

I'm delighted to have gotten some good reading time this past week.

1. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
I listened to the audio book read by the author, and was captivated from the start. I learned much, and it was fascinating to hear how he connects much of my feelings about God to rational thoughts. Feel better armed for future discussions on the topic. There were absolutely times that I felt I would be struck by lightning as I listened to the book, but will certainly revisit the book again to really let it all soak in. There is too much to take in the first time. I would highly recommend this book.

2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
An Oprah book club selection, but that is not why I picked it. I have read rave reviews about this author, and wanted to read his latest work. It's the story of a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic world. I simply could not get into it. He has deceptively simple sentences that convey much, but the story simply did not grab me. What was the point? Not sure, and I was disappointed by the book. Would be interested to talk to anyone who enjoyed the book.

3. Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
This is my book club read for this month. The story of 3 sisters who flee Iran, and end up in a little village in Ireland. All the recipes and writing about food made me ravenous - I ate constantly during the several hours it took me to read the book. The book has the seeds of a great story - an epic, but it does not deliver. The writing is not very good - in my opinion it is written at a middle school level - and maybe that was the intended audience. The juices of cultural mores, immigration, interracial relationships, etc, were simply not served up in any way that I found satisfying. Too bad really, because I would have loved a good read that gave me insight into this immigrant story.