Summer Reading

So now that summer is almost gone, I have to tell you I really enjoyed the opportunity to do some great reading over the summer months. I belong to two book groups, one for my church and one of History teachers. We get together monthly (Church group is just in the summer) to discuss our collective take on our selections for the month. Of course, summer is a great time to read and I wonder if the history group will function as consistently during the school year.

Nevertheless, here's what I was reading this summer and highly recommend to everyone:

The Prayer Chest - a beautiful story of loss and heartbreak, but also of discovery and awakening as one man learns that those around him represent God's answers to our prayers, only we do not always recognize. Saw a lot of myself in this story.

Take This Bread - a nonfiction work by Sarah Miles. Fabulous story of an atheist surprising herself in a journey of faith. Miles wanders into a church in San Francisco, feels welcome and comfort, and is drawn to the eucharist. In her journey, her faith blossoms but not without many moments of doubt. She comes to realize that it is her(our) job to feed each other...to be eucharist for each other. Great story and I highly recommend it.

Thirteen American Arguments - LOVED this book! We all did in my history group. Howard Fineman traces 13 arguments that have been significant throughout our history. He uses contemporary and historical scenarios to illustrate the role each argument has played and still plays. Great overview of our entire history.

Post-American World - Fareed Zakaria's latest work, in which he brings a global perspective to our role. It is not any where close to the pessimistic sound of the title, and Zakaria is very optimistic about our coming role in the world, but recognizes that we must recognize that the world has changed, not only because of terrorism but because of the rising of other nations (China, India, Brazil, Japan, and Russia) as economic influences. Interesting and thought provoking reading.

Freakonomics - a sometimes offbeat sometimes dead-on serious discussion of what makes our ecominc lives tick. The authors have some fun but also make some great points. What I liked best about this book was that if you are not comfortable with economics (and many are not, that's why it often is referred to as "the miserable science"), this puts it in real life terms so that you can see/understand how economics impacts society, without having to first understand all kinds of econ-vocabulary and confusing concepts.

All in all, a good summer of reading. What did you read this summer?