Pawing through the Past, by Rita Mae Brown

Summary: Harry is helping to plan her thirtieth high school reunion when several of her classmates get murdered.

Comments: Yay mystery! I'm not sure I had any hope of predicting the ending. I think that's all I have to say. Besides the following

Disclaimer: No, this book didn't take me what, three weeks to finish. Well okay, it did take two weeks, but that was only because I've been trying to read another book and it actually requires large chunks of time and not getting distracted and actually having time to read, so ...yeah.

Princess on the Brink, by Meg Cabot

Summary: Mia's boyfriend is about to leave for Japan for a year. I'm not sure it's quite accurate to say chaos ensues, but that somehow seems fitting.

Reaction: Wait, what? It's amazing how complicated the various inter-personal relationships end up in this series! The first half of the book I was wondering why I'm continuing to read the series and by the end, well that may be true, but I still want to know what happens next because it's a total cliff-hanger type situation. Not that I didn't see the gist of it coming, but still.

Misquoting Jesus, by Bart D. Ehrman

This book, as its subtitle says is about "who changed the Bible and why". I focuses on a few examples of signifiant changes as well as describing how people come to identify these and other changes and outlining the reasons behind the largest groups of changes. The first ~2/3 I found very interesting. The last part, which was mostly examples of changes and the process of finding the "real" version of the text, kinda got on my nerves. I think that was mostly because I couldn't be bothered to take the time to convince myself that the author had the right interpretation, and I wasn't willing to just accept that he did. And either that part of the book had more reiteration of previous points, or I was just more inclined to get annoyed with them. In other words, if I was writing this last night, I would probably be gushing about how informative this book is on a subject I know little about.

Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis

A straight-forward discourse on Christianity, originally written as a series of radio broadcasts. Amazingly thought-provoking. One of those books that makes me feel like I understand something only to realize after some time has passed that I really don't. The whole point of Christianity is to become one with Christ. Makes sense. But how does one accomplish this? What can I do in my own life? How much have I done already? In a way, this kind of explains my realationship with Christianity: it oscillates between a feeling that Christianity is 'right' or 'true' and a drifting apart mostly because of unanswered questions. But that's not entirely right. It goes beyond what I can pin down with words.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this book made me think seriously about my relationship with God and the necessity of living as a Christian. And it also answered questions that I know to ask. And above all, it made sense. This could easily be one of those books that has a profound influence on my life if only I could keep in mind what it said.

Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: Rock music, or rather Music With Rocks In, has come to Discworld with much the same result as rock music in 1960's America. Also, Death has gone on a mission to forget leaving Susan to take over his job while he's away.

Thoughts: In much the same way that hearing Music With Rocks In made various characters wish to learn to play the guitar, reading about it made me want to make music as well. And elaboration on that topic is being carefully avoided for reasons that probably make sense if ....Anyway, once again, Terry Pratchett has created a masterpiece of amusing comments and gripping storyline and satire (if that's the right word).

Making Money, by Terry Pratchett

Summary: When Moist von Lipwig (remember him from Going Postal?) ends as head of the National Bank and Mint and applies his usual flair to the job, things start getting horribly messy.

Thoughts: Gripping storyline, amusing comments, uncertain ending, unexpected plot twists...what more could a person ask for? This really is an excellent book.

The Hidden Language of Baseball, by Paul Dickson

A history of signs and sign-stealing in baseball. Quite interesting. I didn't realize there was so much going on "behind the scenes". Maybe I should try to look for such things next time I'm at a game.