Reader’s Diary

Thomas A. Kempis, Joseph N. Tylenda (translator, introduction), Sally Cunneen (preface)

This spiritual guide is as valuable today as it was when it was written six centuries ago. It is not modern. It advises us to humble ourselves and think of ourselves as worthless. It tells us to submit to God’s will. It’s a beautiful book worthy of close reading and frequent re-reading. Following its teachings would make us better people.

There have been many editions of “Imitation of Christ”. This is a new translation that does away with the “thees” and “thous” of older editions. The introduction and preface provide valuable context. An especially useful feature is the italicizing and footnoting of Bible passages that are embedded in the text.

Jon Ronson

Ronson is a tourist in the world of extremists - neo-Nazis, guys who publish conspiracy newsletters, and KKK leaders. Like many good travelogues, this book manages to be funny while taking its subject seriously.

Howard Means, Susan Sheehan

Each chapter of this book is about somebody with a “pasionate pursuit”. Some are athletes, like the man who swims the Great Lakes, some are hobbyists, like the guy who’s restoring a steam locomotive, others are just plain weird, like the guy who is determined to eat in every McDonald’s. Somehow it’s reassuring to know that regular folks have such varied interests

Lincoln Child, Douglas J. Preston

This book opens with the discovery of the remains of dozens of murder victims at a New York construction site. When similar killings start to occur the question arises: is the 19th century murderer still alive and stalking victims in the 21st century? The book features characters and settings - notably the New York Museum of Natural History - from the authors’ “Relic“. It’s a page turner with lots of plot twists and creepy settings.

Grace Lee Nute

This is a good introduction to the voyageurs’ lives and culture. The voyageurs were the muscle of the huge enterprise of the fur trade. They were not highly literate and what we know of generally comes from non-French writers who tended to see them quaint or picturesque. Nute treats them with more respect, telling us about their homes, lives, skills, and songs.

The book is anecdotal, and there are times when I wanted more information than Nute provides. For example, there is little here about the voyageurs’ relations with their employers or about how their lives changed over time. The chapters on the voyageur as soldier and settler show that the voyageur was not simply a boatman and hint at the extent of French-Canadian influence over vast areas of North America.

David Poyer

This is another story about navel officer Dan Lenson. Poyer’s earlier novels about Lensen had an aura of authenticity, but this is just another special ops in the Gulf War tale. Poyer puts Lenson in a group of Marines along with a crazy killer SAS officer and a female biological warfare doctor. They’re given the job of finding an unknown weapon of mass destruction in the heart of Baghdad. All the hackneyed Gulf War novel plot elements are present: team discovered by wandering child shepherd, characters tortured by mustached Iraqis, and so on.

It’s not a bad story in itself, and the team’s passage through the Baghdad sewers is suspenseful, but compared to the earlier books about Lenson, it’s a disappointment Poyer was just going through the motions when he wrote this one.