Booklist

If you click on the video link you will find a little video that is currently on top

called "The Last Bookstore"  It will take you about 20 minutes to watch and it is worth the time.  It is well done and it speaks to an interesting idea.  All books are now electronic or computer interactive.  A little boy has to quit "reading" because of a "glitch" and discovers the only bookstore left.  He does not know what books are. There are no more books, no libraries, etc. This will never happen.  I have a Kindle and I love the convenience of being able to carry a lot of books with me on a little screen.  I also continue to purchase books and nothing will ever replace that.

It is true that there are fewer bookstores and more and more books are being sold by Amazon and other large retailers.  But they are selling books and some of us prefer them.  My reading tastes are eclectic.  I read a little of everything.  Some of my friends seem to read just one type of book but I range from fact to fiction. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

A listing of some of the books I have read this year - all are linked so you can read about them. * is recommended.

*Thomas Jefferson; The Art of Power by Don Meacham

*1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

*The Origins of Freemasonry - Scotland's Century 1590- 1710 by David Stevenson
*Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

I'll go Home then; It's Warm and Has Chairs - The Unpublished  E-Mails - David Thorne

Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England - Susan Higginbottom

Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbottom

The Devil Colony: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins

Proportionate Response by Dave Buschi

The Forgotten by David Baldacci

The Rosewell Conspiracy Tyler Locke #3 by Brad Morrison

The Racketeer by John Grisham

*The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantree

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

A Small Furry Prayer, Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life by Steven Kolter

*Witchlight by Marian Zimmer Bradley

The Inner Circle by Brad Mellzer

Six Years by Harlan Coben

Book of Souls (Will Piper) by Glenn Cooper

*Archangels - Rise of the Jesuits by Janet Tavakali

The Hit (Will Robie) by David Baldacci

The Divinity of Dogs by Jennifer Skiff

Raised Eyebrows: My Years inside Groucho's House by Steve Stoliar

The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombe

The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer

*Inferno (A Novel)  by Dan Brown

The Fifth Knight by E. M Powell

**Elmer Gantry by Upton Sinclair

The Tudor Plit: A Cotton Malone Novella by Steve Berry

*The King's Deception A Cotten Malone Novel by Steve Berry

And I am currently reading The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic by John Shelby Spong.

I got some of them towards the end of the year last year so I have not read them all this year but since I got the Kindle these are the ones I have read.

Reading - My new toy

The poster has nothing at all to do with what I am going to write.  I just like it.

I was wondering about what I could write about today and I decided to list some of the books I have read this month.

I have a Kindle which I fought getting but finally broke down and got it.

I love it.

There is nothing like reading from a book but the convenience of the Kindle is wonderful.  I can slip it in my pocket and take it anywhere.  Of course I used to take books anywhere also but the Kindle is so much easier than lugging around a large book.  And I can adjust the size of the print and the brightness of the page.  So here goes with the Kindle Booklist

The Origins of Freemasonry - Scotland's Century 1570 - 1710 by David Stevenson
[I found that this book gave me some insights into the shrouded origins of Freemasonry.  It goes past the mythology and gave me actual facts. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in our Fraternity]
I was watching Bill Moyers one Sunday and he had Jon Meacham on it and they were talking about Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power.  I went to Amazon and had it on my Kindle before the interview was over

Following Atticus (P.S.) by Tom Ryan
[I laughed and I cried as I read this heartwarming book about a man and the dog he followed through the White Mountains. One of the best books I have read this year]

I'll Go Home Then; It's Warm and Has Chairs - The Unpublished E-Mails by Dave Thorne
[Dave Thorne's quirky humor never fails to entertain me]

Stolen Crown, the Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England ...

Her Highness, the Traitor     both by Susan Higginbottom

[Susan Higginbottom does a marvelous job in describing the Medieval court and the machinations that always go on around the crown]

The Devil Colony: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins

[A fantastic story that goes from mummified remains of pre-Indian people to Ft. Knox to volcanos this is an entertaining adventure that kept me on the edge of my seat.]

Propotionate Response by Dave Buschi

[A page turner -  "A mysterious threat, known as Client 487, is intent on planting seeds of dissent that will dismantle our very way of life."

The Forgotten by David Baldacci

[I loved this book.  Fast paced, "the palm trees and sandy beaches of Paradise (FL) may hide a conspiracy so shocking that some will go to unthinkable lengths to make sure the truth is never revealed."

The Roswell Conspiracy, (Tyler Lucke 3) & Boyd Morrison

[Another action book In a desperate race against time, Tyler must unmask a conspiracy a century in the making to rescue the United States from electronic Armageddon.]

The Racketeer by John Grisham
[Grisham always entertains me.  I love the twists, turns and surprises at the ending.  "Nothing is as it seems and everything’s fair game in this wickedly clever new novel from John Grisham, the undisputed master of the legal thriller."]

The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

[This is one of my favorites.. Immortals, Religion, Vampires and a Mad Monk and it (best of all) is the start of a series so I can't wait until the next one comes out.]

Currently I am reading The Inner Circle which will be followed by The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer and then I will read Paul and Jesus by James Tabor.

I was actually going to read The Fifth Assassin when I discovered that it was the second book with the same hero so I got The Inner Circle.  And the nice thing about that was that it was only a couple of bucks.  I am right in the middle of that so I will get back to it now.

Shadow of Night

  This is the second book in a trilogy.  You can read a review here.  The reviewer calls it overstuffed but entertaining.

It is a longer book than Discovery of Witches and does not move as "fast" but it takes place in Elizabethan London and Prague.  The vampire and the witch have travelled back in time from modern times in search of a manuscript and also to help Diana Bishop learn how to use her powers as a witch.  A "who's who" of that era populate the book and I did enjoy it.  It did engage me and I spent several hours in the middle of the night waking up and then reading the book.  If I woke up I picked it up and started reading.
Saturday I did not even turn on the TV but read all day and most of the night.  I like it when I can do that.

I have started a new Alexander McCall Smith book and I know I will enjoy that.  And Amazon is sending me Gore Vidal's Creation.  I may have read it already but wanted to have it and read it again.  I am going to have to get rid of some books as the "read" pile is getting out of hand.

At least I have a new book to look forward to.  A trilogy implies three books and so far there are only two.  The name of the third one or the publication date has not been announced but I have bookmarked the page and will be watching it and will pre-order it as soon as it is announced.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week-end.

You know how I am supposed to finish one book before I start another. Well I am still reading the Lyndon Johnson book and I am enjoying it but it is rather thick and heavy reading....Heavy in that because it is thick it weighs a lot.  So Monday, since I had to go to the Doctor I decided to pick up one of the books in waiting and I chose The Third Gate by Lincoln Child..

Good Reads says this about the book:

"

 

Under the direction of famed explorer Porter Stone, an archaeological team is secretly attempting to locate the tomb of an ancient pharaoh who was unlike any other in history. Stone believes he has found the burial chamber of King Narmer, the near mythical god- king who united upper and lower Egypt in 3200 B.C., and the archaeologist has reason to believe that the greatest prize of all—Narmer’s crown—might be buried with him. No crown of an Egyptian king has ever been discovered, and Narmer’s is the elusive “double” crown of the two Egypts, supposedly pos­sessed of awesome powers. 
The dig itself is located in one of the most forbidding places on earth—the Sudd, a nearly  impassable swamp in north­ern Sudan. Amid the nightmarish, disorienting tangle of mud and dead vegetation, a series of harrowing and inexpli­cable occurrences are causing people on the expedition to fear a centuries- old curse. With a monumental discovery in reach, Professor Jeremy Logan is brought onto the project to investigate. What he finds will raise new questions . . . and alarm. "

I finished the book this evening. It was a relatively short book (320 pages) but the reason that I finished fast was because it was what is called a "page turner" one that you don't want to put down.  Well written and it kept my interest all the way through....(well duh Jay you already called it a page turner, now you are stating the obvious) and it has an ancient Egyptian theme - one I have always been interested in with a twist at the end.  I am going to recommend it to you if you want a good, summer read by a fine author.  I am going to explore his other books.

I had planned to go to Des Moines to see a movie at the Fluer theater that ends on Thursday but decided to put it off until Wednesday because I really wanted to finish the book.

Have a great day and Happy Reading..  God I love being retired!

The Lost Symbol

The book came yesterday and I sat down to read it. I read until 1:00 AM and had about 30 pages to go but by then my mind was boggling and my head was beginning to ache so I went to bed. Finished it this morning.

It was a good read.

It was favorable to the Masons.

I got my money's worth out of it.

Chris Hodopp has a review up about it (with no spoilers) here

There is a site here. That is a joint effort of the MSA, the George Washington Masonic Memorial, and the Masonic Society to address questions about the book.

I could write one but you can read his. He says it well. Come discuss it after you have read it. I will be glad to talk about the ideas. Thanks for stopping by, Hugs, j

A Curse Dark As Gold - Part two

Stephanie (Elizabeth C. Bunce) writes about her Iowa Book Launch Experience here.

Damages/Book

Glenn Close has a new TV show. It's on fx and is called Damages. You can read about it here.

I found it to be an intriguing show and look forward to future episodes. Glenn Close is one of the absolute best actresses in our world today and she does a masterful job with this character.

I had lunch with my friend Dallas this noon and mostly caught up on things around the house. I am reading "Sworn On The Altar of God. A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson". I am learning a lot about this fascinating man and his religious ideas. Surprisingly some of his ideas and mine coincide. I particularly like these thoughts.

How rational could it possibly be for the God of the whole universe to reveal himself solely to one small nation in the eastern Mediterranean and to leave the rest of the world in utter ignorance of his existence? It seemed even more irrational to believe that the Supreme Being of the cosmos had "sent his only begotten son who had not offended him, to be sacrificed by men, who had offended him, that he might expiate their sins, and satisfy his own anger."

These were not Jefferson's thoughts but those of Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke who had a great influence on Jefferson and the American Revolution.

There is a new poem on my Poetry Blog.  No great shakes but I wanted to write something. j
Be Loved and Love Someone - Hugs jcs

Done

I finished it. Thank You J.K. for a Great Series. Now who wants to borrow it. First come first served. j

Reading Harry Potter

More important than Blogging. Sorry folks
Be Loved, Love Someone -- Hugs j