The writing on **The Sparrow ** made me put Russell on my short list of authors-whose-books-I’ll-always-buy.
So what did you think of Children of God?
Um . . . it was so many years and so many books ago, I can’t remember how I reacted to it. I’m still a big fan, so I must have enjoyed it. (My response is kind of lame, isn’t it?)
I just finished The Sparrow last night. It left me feeling slightly nauseated, and I’m not sure I’ll read Children of God, although I am curious about the second expedition.
I’m still reading GWTW, and two new books came in today’s mail. Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary: Her Private Letters from Inside the Studios of the 1920’s – real letters, edited by Cari Beauchamp. The letters were written to a friend by Valeria Belletti, who was secretary to Goldwyn and DeMille.
And London 1849: A Victorian Murder Story by Michael Alpert, an account using trial records and police files. I hope it’s better than Kate Summerscale’s book, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. That one was way too dry.
Oh, I forgot – I also read a self-published History of Periscopes. Very interesting subject.
Nah…you’d remember if you had the experience I did with it. Maybe I’ll give her other stuff a chance.
Just put down The Shack.
I can’t say for sure that I believe in God, nor that I fully disbelieve. I guess the best word to describe me is Seeker. I have serious doubts about God, but also perhaps feel a void in my life.
And so I often read books with this type of review:
However this book is specifically for lapsed Christians. When they talk about the presence of God, they mean the Christian God.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely have no problem with Christians. However, I am not one, nor will I find my way back into the Christian fold. This book wasn’t for me, but if you are a lapsed Christian, perhaps it is for you.
My book club read this a few months ago, and we all liked it. It’s a little slow going at times, and the protagonist can be frustratingly unreliable at times, but it’s well worth a read.
Finished Tony Thompson’s Reefer Men: The Rise and Fall of a Billionaire Drugs Ring. A fascinating story of the beginnings of the Thai-marijuana trade into the US in the 1970s and the main smugglers’ attempt to import 50 or 60 tons in 1988, thereby leaving everyone involved fabulously wealthy (even though they were already pretty well off from previous proceeds). But it went horribly wrong, and all involved were eventually caught and jailed; the last one was sentenced just last year.
And I am always appreciative of new Bangkok trivia. Superstar Bar in Patpong was owned by some of the smugglers and is still there today. It seems quite a few deals were made over the bar there, with sample product weighed and tested off in dark corners. I’ve never considered Superstar anything special, just another bland go-go bar of the type that you tire of pretty quickly once you’ve been here awhile. But there is an open-air bar just outside its door and around to the side that stays open until 3:30 or 4am, and I’ll often stop there for one last drink in the wee hours before toddling home if I’ve been in Patpong that night. I’ll have to pay Superstar a visit now that it’s become more a part of Bangkok lore. Geez, you know, I was here back then, and I never even knew that particular bar was a center of drug smuggling.
Today, I begin The Last Executioner: Memoirs of Thailand’s Last Prison Executioner, by Chavoret Jaruboon with Nicola Pierce. The title is a bit disingenuous. They still do execute prisoners and pretty regularly too. It’s just that Chavoret was the last one to do it by machine gun. Thailand switched to lethal injection a few years ago. Apparently, Chavoret shot 55 prisoners, both male and female. The book has been favorably reviewed locally.
I Love My Dog, But…:The ultimate guide to managing your dog’s misbehavior, by Joy Tiz.
Eh, I liked it fine, but the dog is less than impressed. 
I got a few helpful things out of it.
Here is The August thread.