Summer Reading

Pictured are some of the current books we have read along with the book issue of World magazine with columnists book reviews.

Summer is a time of reruns on the television and most of them were not worth watching the first time, so we do even more reading. We take turns reading to each other while working on our hobbies in the evenings. Most books we find to read are from used bookstores or thrift shops.

Lately our reading has included a lot of fiction and some on financial planning. We think it is a good idea to review our financial goals and plans to see if we are on the path to achieve those goals. Two books on this topic we are currently reading are “Investing for the Future” by Larry Burkett and “Splitting Heirs” by Ron Blue with Jeremy White.

Fiction is something that helps take our minds off the pressing issues of the day and just relax. Recently our choices have included books written with a bit of mystery and humor. An author we recently came across, Robert Whitlow, writes legal thrillers set in the South. The first book of his we just finished is titled “Jimmy.” It is about a boy with special needs. It has unexpected twists and turns beginning in the courtroom, seeing life through Jimmy’s eyes as he experiences everyday events, and ends with a bitter-sweet finale that was not predictable. We intend to keep our eyes open for other books by this author including: “Life Support,” Life Everlasting,” The List,” The Trial” and “The Sacrifice.”

Another author we found in our latest search is Rene Gutteridge who has written a series including the titles “Boo,” “Boo Who,” Boo Hiss.” The fourth book is set to be released in September called “Boo Humbug.” We found the third, “Boo Hiss,” and read it first. After we finished it we decided to find the first ones. We are now reading “Boo.” This series is light reading and adds a little romance in with mystery and humor.

We just received the latest copy of the “World” magazine in the mail and this is their 2007 book issue. It looks like if we keep this issue on hand to refer to we could have enough reading material to last us until next summer!

Included is a column by Marvin Olasky on the notable anti-religion and anti-Christian books of the past year including: “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, “Letter to a Christian Nation” by Sam Harris, “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges, “Kingdom Coming” by Michelle Goldberg and “God is not Great” by Christopher Hitchens. Olasky also reads many books while working out on a treadmill and has made a list of his all-time favorite 100.

Other columnists review “The Gospel According to The Beatles” by Steve Turner, “Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America’s Eagle Scouts” by Alvin Townley and “How to Raise an American: 1776 Fun and Easy Tools, Tips, and Activities to Help Your Child Love This Country” by Myrna Blyth and Chriss Winston. Nancy M. Tischler writes about inspirational fiction, many of which the outcomes are foreordained, but others are less predictable. Tischler highlights novels by Karon Mitford and Wendell Berry who both create their novels using settings in small towns – like William Faulkner, with his famous Yoknapatawpha novels.

Well if we haven’t tempted you to run out and pick up a few good books to read, you don’t know what you are missing. There is always the public library which offers a variety of topics from which to choose. This week we celebrated the freedom of our country, which gives readers the opportunity to read any type of book they choose and lets writers write any style and opinion that they want to.