Reading List

It just so happens that today is the day for Ginny’s yarn-along (posting a picture of your current book and current knitting project) and a five-books meme over at Stuck in a Book. Killing two/five books with one stone, I’m combining them. Sorry for the giant pictures – wordpress flat-out refuses to resize images today.

1.) A book I’m currently reading:

My Uncle Napoleon  by Iraj Pezeshkzad A classic coming-of-age tale by an Iranian author. Pezeshkzad has a knack for capturing both the mental processes and the humor of childhood in a realistic way. So far, it’s a very enjoyable read. The knitting project is last week’s scarf. Does one get bonus points for color-coordinating one’s yarn and book?

2.) The last book I finished:

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet A gently comical, fresh, and inviting novella. The Queen of England discovers that the library bookmobile stops at Buckingham Palace. Out of duty, she borrows a book…then another…then another until she develops a voracious appetite for reading. Like many a bookworm before her, as Elizabeth grows more engrossed in literature she seeks any opportunity to curtail duties and get back to her current book. Meanwhile her staff work themselves into frantic levels of frustrated anxiety. I hesitate to use the word “charming” because it sounds so trite, but charming it is. Bennett successfully created respectful but inventive fiction about a living subject, which is no mean feat.

3.) The next book I want to read:

History in English Words by Owen Barfield A founding (but lesser-known) member of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Inklings” circle, Barfield was a linguist, not a novelist, but a story-teller in his own way. His History tracks English words to their origin, simultaneously conjuring up details of dead societies and hidden depths to our own.

4.) The last book I bought:

This Momentary Marriage by John Piper These days I use the library whenever possible. However, it’s worth owning Piper’s This Momentary Marriage, a clear exposition of the theological foundations and purposes of marriage. This, plus the extremely practical day-to-day married-life guides For Men Only and For Women Only by the Feldhahns make a valuable gift to any couple.

5.) The last book I was given:

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada My in-laws raved about this book when I visited them in Germany last month, then kindly sent me my own copy. One lone man tries to resist Nazi rule in wartime Berlin.