I just finished reading Philippa Gregory’s The Constant Princess, an historic novel about Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and first wife of Henry VIII. This is the third book of Gregory’s that I’ve read; I really enjoy them because I get to enjoy a well written story but I also […]
Reading over my first blog, I came upon this post on The National Conservatives’ Weekly list of the 10 most harmful books.
I think a lot of people would find this list incredibly frustrating, as I did. I mean, on the one hand, yes, some of these books have been linked to some very dark times […]
So, Mark’s post reminded me of an idea Grant and I had when he was in town. We were in a little independent bookstore in Asheville, NC, which had a “Banned Books” section - by the way, did anyone know that The Diary of Anne Frank is on the banned book list? That has to […]
I hate to admit it, but I am giving up on Catch 22. I’m a third of the way through it, and i just can’t get into it. I feel really guilty because I can’t remember the last time i gave up on a book I was reading for fun, but Vicki G brought up […]
You’ll notice in the sidebar at the left that, thanks to Mark-the-blog-god’s help, Daydream Believer has a new feature. Here, you can see the books that I am reading or have just finished. If you’re interested in the book, clicking on the picture or title will take you to the book’s Amazon.com entry. Granted, a […]
That landmark quote from Carrie Stalec seems a bit appropriate today as I reflect on my afternoon activities. In our circle of friends, Carrie is most definitely labeled as neurotic (but in the lovable way!), as evidenced by her day-long obsessive contemplating of that fact.
More and more, I think that if I […]
Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West
By Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
Warm Fuzzies: An amazing look at how Western culture has misunderstood and misrepresented the people of Tibet and its unique version of Buddhism. The book’s chapters each focus on a specific aspect of the religion (”The Book,” “The Spell,” “The Art” etc.), each […]
Taking Wing
By Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels
Warm Fuzzies: This is the first book in a new series called Star Trek Titan, taking place aboard Will Riker’s first command, the USS Titan (which you faithful ones will remember them mentioning in Nemesis). Deanna is, of course, at his side, as ship’s counselor and diplomatic […]
The Gunslinger
By Stephen King
Warm Fuzzies: This book is the first by King that I have read, aside from nonfiction, so I will refrain from commenting on the author’s talents or skills which, I assume, are not in dispute among many of you. This book is an intriguing, sometimes haunting, sometimes beautiful (sometimes both at the […]
One of my goals on this site was to regularly review books that I read and give them their own category to the right to sort of form an Al’s Book Club. I’m going to start the reviews in the posts directly after this, but I had an epiphany. Being in grad school, […]