2 Thoughts on 1 Book Stack
(Note how artfully I included the receipt.)
Thought 1: This is actually restraint for me. There are at least 3 books I put back on the shelf and didn’t get today.
Thought 2: I am turning into my mother, buying books on religion and stacking them all over the house and not reading them.
Here’s why I got these particular lovelies today:
Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis: candidate for my group that reads books on myth and religion. Recommended by author Marlon James.
The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Candidates for the book group, and ones I used to own and couldn’t find when I went to look for recently. A scene in Peace Like a River reminded me of The Great Divorce, and I wanted to re-read it.
A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong. Also for the book group. Passed over Armstrong’s Buddha for this, though one member has been lobbying hard for the latter. Think we’ll read this alongside Ragnarok by A.S. Byatt.
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Also for the book group. (I’ve been nerdishly obsessing over what next year’s books are going to be. Alas, most were ones I didn’t already own.)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. On clearance for $2! Also, went to look for this after Stevenson’s books were mentioned in Peace Like a River, and found I didn’t own it.
August 30th, 2012 at 9:02 am
Heh. At least most of the potential books you mentioned were ones I do own! But I too would like to read Armstrong’s Buddha book.
August 31st, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Who can resist the Buddha? One reason I wanted to read it is that Nancy used to read little bits from it before yoga class, and another reason is that I own it. I think the myth book will be great though and I look forward to reading it!
August 31st, 2012 at 3:14 pm
I resisted Buddha, twice! Once in softcover and once in HC. But probably if I see it again, I will get it. If not him. Hee. I think reading Buddha alongside Siddhartha might be interesting.
September 6th, 2012 at 6:38 am
I listened to Screwtape twice in a row earlier this year. Great as an audiobook.
Have you read other Armstrong books?
September 8th, 2012 at 8:06 am
Jennifer, embarrassingly enough, as a religion/writer fanatic I haven’t yet read Armstrong. Past time, so this year I’ll finally get to it. My mom has read a lot of hers, and the name of my book group, Gods and Monsters, comes from a sentence in one of her books (but is unrelated to the movie that proved Brendan Fraser could act.) Who was the reader for Screwtape?