Reader? Reading.

Many of my friends know I'm an avid reader. Not as rabid as some, but more than others. Usually I've got two books going at once (when my eldest daughter and I read a novel it gets to three like now). So, in lieu of placing what I'm currently reading under "Favorite Books" I'm going to try and slip it in my blog. I'll do two things with this: 1) I'll tell you a smidge of what I know about the book and why I want to read it, 2) If you are remotely interested, I'll do a paragraph, or so, on what I thought about the work when I finish. Maybe it will peak your interest. So, if your a reader I'm going to occasionally share what I'm reading.

Just Finished
My Friend Leonard, James Frey. I read Frey first book, A Million Little Pieces, and felt like I had to read the sequel. Frey has come under attack lately for assumably falsifying many of the "facts" in his books. Fine. Even if he did, the reads are raw and emotionally racking. The books style reminds me of an E.E. Cummings poem. Frey and his editor by-passed many traditional structural elements common in prose to make room for sentences (or what pass for sentences) that run/stream/flow. Once you realize what the style is trying to accomplish (intentionally like poetry) you can get into the Frey-groove. If you want to know how an addict thinks and feels pick up the first installment, Little Pieces. Be warned, the language isn't for the faint of heart. If you want a trans-continent, rags to riches, friend to grave story, pick up My Friend Leonard.

Now Reading
Forever Odd, Dean Koontz. I love Koontz. Yes, he is bent. Yes, his books are, at times scary, and deal with the super-natural/unreal, but when it is all said and done, in every book there is a good guy and a bad guy (no confusion) and the good guy always wins! This is a sequel to Odd Thomas, and the protagonist is a lovably simple fella who struggles to do the "next right things" for those he loves. I hope Forever Odd is as good as the previous Odd.

On Poetics, Aristotle. I'm doing this in the Loeb Classic Series which is a Greek/English text. Reasons: 1) I like the classics and I read On Rhetoric by this guy, and realized again how formational the classics are on modern ideas (logic, composition, etc.), 2) I enjoy seeing where the NT Greek concepts draw there force. For example, the Greek word translated as "sin" (harmatia) is not new with Jesus or Paul. The word had a life before Paul imbued it with such theological importance. Aristotle and many others use this word and it is helpful to see it in its original context - at least for me.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling. - reading this (Number 4 in the series) with Rachel. We've read the first three and we love them.