It's a non-fiction, politico summer for this cowboy. State of Denial, The Looming Tower, The Assassins' Gate, and Thank You for Arguing are all in the pipeline.

I'm starting "Train Your Mind Change Your Brain" How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves by Sharon Begley with a preface by The Dali Lama. This book reveals how pioneering experiments how the brain is capable of altering its structure and generating new neurons, even into old age.
http://www...1400063901


I also want to read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins. It's the true story of an "Economic Planner" for an international firm that convinced and bribed countless foreign officials to take World Bank loans that they could not afford resulting in defaults for the taxpayers. That's when the officials at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would place the countries in trusteeship and begin dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes.
http://www...ssions.htm

I'm currently enamored with historical fiction. I read "Pope Joan" over Christmas and "Year of Wonder: A Novel of the Plague" on the long flight to Hong Kong. I would recommend both. Anybody have any suggestions for others?

I like semi-dark ones such as: 'The Historian', 'Birth of Venus', 'Sleep Pale Sister' and 'The Witch of Cologne'. All were a lot of fun and informative.

Later
D

After seeing the spectacular opera, "Grapes of Wrath," that Utah Opera put on, I'm planning to re-read the great tome. The topics seem very timely: immigration, poverty, economic down-turns, drought, flooding, etc.

From RadioWest Inbox

I am currently reading and very much enjoying the new non-fiction book by Barbara Kingsolver entitled Animal , Vegetable, Mineral : A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver shares a year of her family’s food life with the reader as she takes her family from an industrial food life to a rural home grown life where they vow to eat only food they have grown themselves or what they can buy locally. This is a great book especially for this time of year with our own garden’s starting to produce. Kingsolver is witty and articulate as always and leaves the reader with much to think about and act on. And it includes delicious recipes.

Andrea in Ogden

TEAM OF RIVALS about the Lincoln administrations
and, for our Congressmen and Senators who think that just because you tell a country, "You have six months to have your Democray in place, or we go home"
JOHN ADAMS
A poor political animal, but a great Statesman, maybe that's what we need now!

Recently I finished reading two books. Ishmael and My Ishmael. All to often books follow a formula that is repeated over and over. These books are refreshing for their failure to do so. Moreover through a fresh and entertaining approach these books tackle culture/civilization and it being our downfall. Who would of thought insight about the human condition could be gleaned from a conversation with a 800 pound gorilla?

Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon. It was written several years ago, but it still resonates. The author is a divorced college professor. He chucks what he can into the back of his van, sells the rest, and takes off across America, traveling the "blue highways"--the minor roads that are drawn in blue on the map. The book is a compilation of essays about the people he meets along the way. Mr. Heat Moon is my role model (observe the user name). I have to re-read this book every few years simply because it's so beautifully written. This man makes the language sing.

"America Alone: The End of the World As We Know it" by Mark Steyn. This is a witty and at the same time sobering look at the increase in population and influence of Islam in Europe.

I enjoy The Book of Mormon, it takes years to comprehend the message and is a life long companion. On the fictional side of life, I enjoy Vince Flynn's serios of Mitch Rapp. A flawed hero for modern times.

A couple of years ago, I read Jeffrey Eugenides' book "Middlesex" It's the story of an hermaphrodite named Cal Stephanides. This book was so texured that I could not put it down. More than just the story of Cal, but it's also a story of Cal's family that spans three generations, from Cal's grandparents to his own generation. I don't do this book justice here. Pick it up and read it!

Another favorite which has the same generational theme is "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner. The prose of Repose are without question the best that I have ever read. An oldie but a danmn goodie!