What I Have Been Up To: Reading, SRF, Kriya

I have not written in a while. The books I am reading now are both long and dense, so they are taking me a while to finish. I think they are well worth the effort - will write on them soon.

In the meantime, I will mention that I am well into the Lessons from SRF, the Self Realization Fellowship and am just about to start Kriya Yoga with this group. Kriya is perhaps more of a meditation than yoga in the way most people in the USA view these things. I am looking forward to beginning - the other techniques I learned from SRF have helped me greatly, and they say that Kriya is the best of them all.

For those unfamiliar with SRF, it is a group founded by guru Yogananda many years ago. He wrote the book, Autobiography of a Yogi, which I reviewed a while back. I think I reviewed at least one other of his other books as well. He comes from a Hindu background, but he does present things in terms of the teachings of Jesus as well, so people of Christian background can be comfortable with his teachings if they are not rigidly fundamentalist.

I'll be posting again soon.

Replay

This book by Ken Grimwood was published a while back, but I had not heard of it until recently. A radio interview I was listening to had people describing favorite books, and this was one that was mentioned. Sounded like a great premise, so I decided to try it out.

It was very good from the start. Actually got better as it went along too which is a plus.

In the book, the main character dies at about age 43 at the beginning only to find himself returned to age 18 with full memory of his later life and world events. He goes through several cycles of this, and he follows different paths. Since he knows things, he can place bets and buy good stocks and make lots of money. He does lots of soul searching along the way. I am leaving out some of the details so as not to ruin the story for people who have not read it yet.

Made me really think about what would I do if I got to live such a crucial period in life over and over. Not an easy thing to decide on I think.

Give it a try.

Lake Wobegon Days

This is a book by Garrison Keillor of NPR/Prairie Home Companion fame.

I had heard about this book for years, but didn't know what all the fuss was about until I started listening to Keillor's radio show recently. His Lake Wobegon stuff is funny, even though I am no fan of his or NPR's usual politics.

I did like the book, but I was surprised that it was not funnier. Although I did laugh out loud a few times, much of it seemed "serious". Perhaps, it would be funnier if Keillor read it to you, then you could hear the changes in his voice that might make it seem ironic and hence funnier. Just reading it to myself, he sometimes seemed anything but funny.

I think he should have toned down the long footnote on the "95 Theses 95" in any case, as it was very negative and hard to take as humorous for the most part - and as a footnote that went on for pages, it interrupted the flow of the text. I wish he had not used footnotes at all but included the stuff in them in the text, especially given how his story went all over the place anyway. Some reviewers were annoyed with the apparent jumping around, but it didn't bother me that much - this seemed to make it more realistic as in a friend telling you stories about their hometown over the course of many meetings.

I saw several of his books recently for the first time, and this was the first one I read. I think there are two others I will try and see how they go.

The People of Sparks

This is the sequel to the City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. I wrote about the previous book earlier this year.

Although written for teens, I really did enjoy the book. It is kind of like Harry Potter in that it can appeal to all age groups.

This book picks up where the City of Ember leaves off with the people of Ember finding their way to the outer/larger world and telling how they get along in it. Sparks is the town they come to live in. There is some explanation given on the way as to what had happened to world while they were apart from it. I am being a little vague here so as not to give too much away and spoil the story, especially if you have not read the first book. I think that there is a reason for using the names Ember and Sparks as well - see what you think.

There is a good story and a good lesson in it as well concerning how to break a cycle of escalating violence. I congratulate the author on making this timely point so well.

I recommend this book for both adults and children.

Star-Spangled Manners

This is a book by Judith Martin (aka Miss Manners) on the history of American manners.

Although there were some interesting points in the book, they were few and far between. The writing was convoluted as was the logic of the arguments made in too many instances. Ms. Martin seemed cynical and sarcastic in an excessive number of places. I also did not appreciate many of her comments and things she implied regarding southern manners.

It is beyond me how she got the positive reviews cited in the book.

If you want my opinion, do NOT read this book!

The Power of You

This book is by Rav Berg of the Kabbalah Centre.

Although I did gain a few valuable personal insights and learned some interesting facts from reading this book, I was a little disappointed in it overall. I am sorry to say this, because I do agree with so much of what the Kabbalah Centre says and would not want to interfere with their good work.

The main problem that I had with the book was that although it explained life's problems from an interesting perspective that I agree with for the most part, it was very weak on specifics as to what to do about them. More often than not, the book said that what to do was to study the Zohar (a 23 volume work) and practice Kabbalah without many specifics. The few specifics given are things one can find in all the other Kabbalah Centre books that I have seen (and explained better in some of these than in the book I am talking about here) - the importance of sharing being the main specific in all of these I think.

I am not saying that what the Kabbalah Centre people have to say is not worth your time. Actually, I think the basics are very valuable, but what I am saying is that their books are kind of repetitive and short on the details of the how to steps - at least the ones I have read and that is now several. This one is not one of the better ones of these either.

I have a few more books from them on my shelf to try. These are maybe a little different from the others I have read - at least I think/hope. One is on the essential parts of the Zohar; I don't think I am quite up to 23 volumes of the actual Zohar just yet - it is not that easy to understand for one thing, even in English.

In future entries, I will let you know how things progress. Let me know your opinions on the subject as well.

Meeting Jesus AGAIN for the First Time

This excellent book with the unusual title is by Marcus Borg. The title does make sense after you have read the book.

I truly enjoyed this book and learned a great deal from it. Some of it is very personal, but other things I do not mind sharing to some extent here.

Mr. Borg starts off by talking about his first understandings of Jesus which were very much like mine and probably many other people's as well - very "traditional" shall we say. He then went on to show how this changed over time for him and how he came eventually to some new understandings on the subject.

He makes many interesting points, but I think the major one has to do with how he believes (and I think I agree with him) Jesus saw himself, God and life. This is a human Jesus working toward and apparently succeeding in having a very personal relationship with a loving and accepting God and sharing this in many ways with others through teaching and (other) acts of compassion. Some may think this is not totally new and maybe it isn't, but Borg does express it very well and in a new way. Borg does seem to drop a lot of the "divine/second coming" trappings that many give to Jesus and that can get in the way at times. Borg made me feel like I could have something like this human Jesus had and in the here and now if I paid attention to what Jesus was really saying.

Borg discusses other points as well, and of these, one that stands out for me is the discussion of three main "stories" in the Bible and how they apply to our understanding of Jesus and life today. These are the "stories" of exodus from slavery in Egypt, exile in and return from Babylon and the priest/temple activities. They really can apply as Borg says!

I cannot do Borg's book justice in a short space, so read it yourself; it is under 150 pages and well written. I hope you will read it and let me know what you think.

The Peaceful Warrior Collection

This book contains both "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" and "Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman. Overall, I liked the collection even though I thought that the writing was a little rough in places.

These books give an account (of part) of the author's journey to spiritual awareness. The path he followed brought to mind those "Rough Guide" travel guides. Millman did not find an easy path here; I commend him for his apparent honesty - he does not seem to hide mistakes that he made on his way. Some people may find that his story is a bit hard to swallow in places; he does indicate that some liberties were taken, but it is hard to figure out how he meant this.

Hopefully, we all won't have to go through something this wild/rough to find our way. Maybe it varies with the person, and the speed with which they choose to travel the path. All this being said, there are some lessons that most people would probably find useful in the this book. Love is the key - see the book for the details as I would not want to spoil it for you.

I think that Millman now works to help others "along the path". I may take a look into some of what he has written since the collection here. Actually, I did read his book that has lessons based on a numerology of birthdays (the title escapes me right now, sorry) - I did see some truth in it for me, so don't laugh.

If you give Millman's work(s) a try, let me know what you think.

The City of Ember

This is a book by Jeanne DuPrau. It was written for young people, but like the Harry Potter books, adults can enjoy it as well.

In this book, Ember is an underground city that is cutoff from the rest of the world. The residents don't really know where the city is, or if there is anything outside of their city, however. They do know that there is no light outside the city, so they cannot leave. They have electric lights, but no portable lighting of any kind. The city is running out of supplies, and their electric supply is starting to fail.

Two residents of the city find a document that explains how to leave the city, but it is damaged. They do figure it out in the end and go.

There are three other books in the series. Looking forward to reading the others as well. Recommended.

The Yoga of Jesus

This is a book by Paramahansa Yogananda. It shows how the teachings of Jesus are actually similar to and in-line with Yoga (meditation) teachings from India.

Actually, the book described here is a collection of selected excerpts from a larger two volume work "The Second Coming of Christ ..." by Yogananda. It is meant to give readers a flavor of the much longer presentation in the two volume work. The larger work goes through all the Gospels.

Yogananda makes many very interesting points that I think make a lot of sense. I especially liked the last chapter "The Kingdom of God within You", although others were good as well. It may be worthwhile tackling the 1700 pages in the two volume version some day.

Give it a try if this seems of interest. Let me know what you think.

Studying French (Again)

I am from south Lousiana and am of Cajun ancestry - which means that most of my ancestors were French and/or French speaking. When I was growing up, parents were discouraged from teaching their children French at home, and my home was no exception. I learned English only. Adults used French to talk about things they did not want children to understand.

By the time I got to college, most people in south Lousiana felt that it had been a mistake to suppress the French language there. As I had to take three semesters of foreign language to graduate, I took French.

I did very well and had a much easier time than students who had not grown up with French speaking relatives. I had the "ear" I guess, even if I did not know many words when I started French 101.

Here we are about 30 years later and like most things you don't use, I have forgotten most of the French that I learned. As most of my old relatives who spoke French are gone, I decided that maybe I should make an effort to learn or relearn to keep it alive in the family.

I found a really good book in a used bookstore and have started up with it. I am also reading simple articles on the internet in French to practice. It might be a little like riding a bike after all, because I am picking it up again very fast after a little review and practice.

We'll have to see how far I get, but I hope it is pretty far this time and that it sticks.

A Disturbing Book

I saw this book by Claudia Koonz in a bookstore a while back, and the title caught my eye. When I saw the title, I wondered what the author was up to naming it this. "The Nazi Conscience" does seem to be a bit of an oxymoron.

The author's premise (and I do think she might be on to something) is that one reason the Nazis were able to do all the bad things they did with so little resistance was their use of a slow campaign before WWII to make the German people believe that "undesirable" groups were "other" until they fell outside of the German "moral space". Conscience was adjusted so to speak. This may have been easier to do than what might be expected given the German people's weariness, shame and anger over the loss in WWI and the subsequent moral, political and economic crisis.

I was surprised to learn just how chaotic Nazi philosophy was on the subject of race and how most of the big Nazis condemned overt violence and crude verbage against groups they did not like - before WWII started at least. It was interesting to learn how much dissent the Nazis tolerated within Germany itself albeit within some limits. Perhaps this was a master stroke by Hitler in reality.

I think that there is a lesson to be learned from this book that is very applicable to the world situation today. When people start to feel that they are in the midst of a moral crisis, especially when the political and economic situations are bad, then extreme groups could come in and start a dangerous backlash; moderation in all things seems the way to go to avoid this. The author seems to recognize such dangers given statements on the very last page of the book at least.

As to the writing in the book, it was better at the beginning. Later in the book, it seemed to me that it would have been better if the author had summarized things more than she did.

Give it a try, but be warned that some of the illustrations and things the books tells about are quite disturbing.

Taming Chaos

This is a Kabbalah book by Rav P. S. Berg.

I have read several books by authors associated with the Kabbalah Centre as is this one. I find them to be organized in a strange way, but they do offer many interesting and useful insights. This one is no exception.

It would be difficult to summarize this book and do it justice. Let me just say that it offers good ideas on how to change your outlook on life that might really help.

Give it a try.

The Burgermeister's Daughter

This is a book by Steven Ozment.

We had a power failure the other day, and I had to find something to do where there was power. Don't ask me why, but I visited a university bookstore, and I noticed this book was being used in a graduate history class. It looked really good, and they actually had it at the library near my house.

This book tells the story of Anna Buschler of the town of Hall in Germany in the early to mid 1500's. She was the burgermeister's daughter (hence the title) and a bit wild. She and her father had a falling out and he threw her out and they ending up suing each other. Things got worse when he died - there was litigation over his will. Like a car wreck, you have to look!! Really, it is an interesting story, and the author tells it within the greater historical and cultural context existing then.

I liked the book, but was a bit surprised that it got out of the publishers without better editing. Ambiguous language and small contradictions were common. The author is a Harvard professor - hmm?

Anyway, it is worth a read if this sort of things interests you.

Blasphemy

This is a novel by Douglas Preston.

Looking through the reviews on amazon.com, one sees a spectrum of opinion. This is one of those kinds of books. I find myself all over the place about it.

I found that the book started off very slow and is a choppy read in many ways, but reads better nearer the end. It is hard to tell in some ways what Preston's message might be.

I won't go into details so as not to spoil the book for people who have not read it, but the book is really about God, the meaning of life and maybe even science versus religion. Preston depicts certain Christians in a truly bad light in the process and may even suggest in some way (I think unfairly) that most are like them. The "alternative" presented in the book seems to be based on a sham, but then it is hard to say if that is truly the case as well. Read the book, and this will make sense. Again, it is hard to tell exactly what viewpoint Preston meant to support, but it seems he leans toward the new religion depicted, if anywhere.

I got mad at Preston at several points in the book - parts of the book seemed divisive and unfair. But then he would back off a little and I'd continue. He would then present some rather appealing ideas.

Suffice it to say, I have an educational background in science, engineering and the law and do not find that science and religion have to be at odds. Maybe the Big Bang and the expanding universe is how we perceive an unfolding thought of God. Maybe evolution is another of these unfolding thoughts or part of a bigger one. That seems easier to me to accept than the alternatives. I think that Preston might even agree with me that God is behind what science is discovering; he might also agree with me that we should be careful about how we interpret what we read in the Bible. I think that I am just more respectful of more traditional religious beliefs (even if I disagree) and those who hold them.

Take a look at the book if this sort of thing sounds to your liking and let me know what you think.

Conversion

During my recent readings in the Bible and searchings for the meaning of life, I wondered exactly what it was that propelled Christianity from an outcast religion to a true power in the Roman Empire and beyond. Maybe the key to what I was looking for lay in that. I thought long and hard about what I had read in the Gospels.

Then, it struck me. It must have been the analogy between God and a loving father. OK, I might seem a little slow to some of you, but hear me out.

Growing up with this idea makes it seem like no big deal to many of us, but let's put ourselves in the shoes of the Romans. Their gods were sort of like larger than life humans with larger than life bad habits who did not care much for humans. Although the myths are good stories, there is not much to hang your hat on there about the meaning of life.

The picture of God related by Jesus (and even the earlier, standard Jewish one) was certainly a big improvement. Add in all the good Jesus stories, and things all start to make sense - about what the Romans saw and maybe what I am looking for in my search. Sort of a restart with the fundamentals and go from there perhaps for my part.

Maybe in the fairly empty age we find ourselves in, we need to consider this message that God is a loving father and all that flows from that and get with the program.

The Bible

I finished reading the Bible today - the Oxford annotated edition of the RSV. Actually, I read only some (but still many) of the books from the Old Testament and Apocrypha, but did read the entire New Testament. It took me a little over 2 years to do it. I had some help getting through it besides the annotations in the edition I read - some commentary in two other books.

It was an interesting project, but not really what I expected when I started. I've already made comments on each part of my Bible reading before, so I won't repeat this.

I will say this here though. The understanding of God really changed between the Old and New Testaments as most people know, but I think not as much as might have been warranted by what Jesus actually taught.

Suffice it to say, I have more searching to do, but the Bible will be my basis in many ways. Stay tuned.

The New Testament

I finished reading the New Testament today - the Oxford annotated edition of the RSV. This was the first time I had read the entire thing.

Even though I had probably seen most of it piecewise over the years, it seemed different when read all together. Surprisingly, I found that a number of famous and familiar quotes in context were somehow less powerful. The gospels seemed a little choppy, and the letters seemed a bit "way out" in many ways. Revelation, which I had once read as a whole, seemed more bizarre and alien than I remembered or expected.

I had hoped to better understand who Jesus was/is after finishing, but I don't feel I was very successful. I think that I will have to keep looking to figure this out, but I do have some ideas on how to do that. Stay tuned.

Rhett Butler's People

This is a book based on Gone with the Wind. It is by Donald McCaig.

I saw this book in a bookstore a while back and didn't even put it on my list. I am not sure why. Then the other day, I saw it while I was at the library and decided to read it. I am glad I did.

Gone with the Wind is a great book and movie. The characters are very memorable. Some may argue that many unpleasant details were papered over, but then we live in very negative times.

Sequels and the like for it are a good idea.

Scarlett, the actual sequel to Gone with the Wind from a few years back, was also a good book and a pretty good movie as well. The book here, Rhett Butler's People, seems to ignore some of what went on in the Scarlett book.

As to the Rhett Butler book itself, I liked a lot of things in this book, but I would have preferred if it had spent less time on battles, deprivation and KKK activities and more time on other things. Belle Watling is a great character, and it was interesting to learn more about her and see things from her side. It was a real shame that Mammy and Prissy did not pay larger roles in the book; I especially loved the Mammy character in the original book and movie as she reminded me of a housekeeper we had when I was very young who I liked very much.

I think the book is really worth a read and hope you give it a try.

Thirty Years

Tomorrow, it will be 30 years since I graduated from high school. Seems like it was yesterday and a thousand years ago at the same time. A lot has happened since then, some good, some bad, and a lot very unexpected!

This has been a month of many other anniversaries for me as well. 40 years since my first communion, and I can still remember the day quite well. 20 years since finishing grad school, and 10 years since finishing law school.

When I was getting my diploma 30 years ago, I guess I thought I would be "further along" than I am now in life, but then maybe my definition of that has changed - as it should have. There is still time to meet that new standard.

I'll let you know later how that turns out if I get a chance.

The Teahouse Fire

This is a novel by Ellis Avery. Overall, a great book.

It is the story of a French American girl who goes to Japan with her missionary uncle. There is a fire soon after they arrive in Kyoto, and the little girl runs away. She is taken in by the Shin family who teaches and performs the Japanese tea ceremony. This may seem a little far-fetched, but the author makes it believeable in the book.

The girl is given the Japanese name Urako and becomes a servant/companion for the young daughter in the family, Yukako. Urako remains with the family for about 25 years while many big changes go on around them in the Japan of this time (1866-1891).

As the story moves along, the reader learns about Japanese customs and attitudes of the time, including its rigid social structure and racism. The Shin family is very devoted to the tea ceremony, perhaps as is suggested in places, too devoted. I found them to be a bit extreme myself.

The close relationship between Urako and Yukako deteriorates and comes unraveled near the end of the story, and Urako returns to the United States. Yukako dies many years later without the two speaking again, but a package from Yukako eventually reaches Urako after Yukako has died. The contents of the package seems to heal the rift between them.

Overall, the book was very good, although it was hard to follow the time sequence now and then. I do think the author made a mistake ending the book with that scene with the two flapper lesbians. Yes, that is what she did.

Let me know what you think if you read the book.

The Gnostic Gospels

This is a book by Elaine Pagels on important Gnostic literature and its context in the ancient world.

I liked the book and found that I have a lot in common with the Valentinians! The book was a little short perhaps given the amount of material covered, but I think Ms. Pagels probably still did her subject justice.

The book tackles the subject via a set of themes, such as the Resurrection, not by individual works or authors. This probably was the way to go to keep things straightforward in a short format.

I think what surprised me the most was how closed minded the "orthodox" church fathers were about gnostic ideas. Some of these were pretty way out, but many really weren't and made quite a bit of sense to me.

Ms. Pagels seems to believe that the structure of the "orthodox" church and its relatively simple, if authoritarian approach, as set up by the "orthodox" fathers, was what helped it win out over the gnostics and survive to this day. Her argument is pretty convincing.

The wholesale rejection of gnostic ideas, even for those "capable" of appreciating them, seems to me to have been a real tragedy, however. Jesus seems to have said things to support both viewpoints and maybe he really meant to do that. Ms. Pagels gives good examples as to how there is support for both in the New Testament; even if you don't buy these (I did), recall for example, that Jesus spoke in parables and only explained them to some people.

It was not until recently that we really had a chance to see what this second path involved. Maybe it is what many who are leaving Christianity today find missing.

If you give the book a try, let me know what you think.

Hidden Moon

This is a book by James Church and is the second book in the Inspector O series that started with A Corpse in the Koryo which was reviewed here a few months ago.

I liked Hidden Moon, but it was not as good as Koryo in my opinion. Koryo had a lot more North Korea background/local color that made it more interesting. In both books, there is no clear solution to the crime and a heavy "political" angle. Hidden Moon centers around a bank robbery which seems to be a new thing for North Korea, but there are other things involved as becomes apparent as the book progresses.

Hopefully, there will be another book in the series and one more like Koryo. Hidden Moon is still worth a read, so give it a try if you like detective stories with political angles. Let me know what you think if you read it.

Maximum Achievement

This is a book by Brian Tracy.

A friend recommended this book to me a few years ago. I recently bought it and after a while started reading it. Even though I liked the book, it took me months to get through it - maybe it was a lot for me to process.

In any case, the book is very good. I liked the first part of the book better than the second (even considering the sales examples in the first part which I kind of groaned through), but the second does make many good points if in a somewhat overly repetitive way at times.

I think the main thing I got out of this book is that you have to really, and I mean really, decide on what you want before you can surely have it. This was something I had not been doing, even though I thought I was, and as soon as I did it, people started coming to me with what I needed with little or no effort required on my part. It was pretty amazing and happened like the book said. I hope this continues!

There are other important points covered as well, like forgiveness and giving. I had some winning moments on these as well. This book is not all about getting.

I do highly recommend the book! Let me know how it works for you if you decide to read it.

Courageous Dreaming

This is a book by Alberto Villoldo. It has a subtitle, How Shamans Dream the World Into Being.

I liked the way the book started off, but I liked it less as it progressed. To me, the author let his politics show a little too much as the book went on which was distracting and can take readers off focus.

That being said, the book does offer many points worth noting. I guess these might be summarized in that one should find his dream and break free of what holds him back. The practices of (real) truth, beauty and living today (in a good way) knowing that it could be your last are important to this process.

Let me know what you think if you try it.

The Secret of Scent

This is a book by Luca Turin on the science of smell and perfume chemistry as well. It is a sort of scientific companion more or less to Chandler Burr's The Emperor of Scent that I reviewed a while back; it isn't that scientific, so don't panic if you aren't great at science. Turin's work is a main subject in both books.

Turin's book gives a lot of background into the perfume industry, especially on materials in important smell categories. Perhaps the main focus is to demonstrate that the vibrational theory of smell makes sense as opposed to the shape theory.

Turin writes in an irreverent and amusing way. The book is somewhat technical, but never dry and boring. Give it a try if you'd like to know a little more about the science in this area without getting overly technical.

The Optimist's Daughter

This is a book by Eudora Welty.

I found a copy of this book a while back in a "give-away pile" and got around to reading it this past week. It is fairly short, so it can be read quickly.

Ms. Welty was what I guess you could call a great "Southern" writer. Even though I am a southerner myself, I usually don't care for the works of such authors - usually too slow, wordy and tragic for me. Maybe my Cajun roots are showing.

Anyway, I thought this book by Ms. Welty was OK. It had some interesting subplots, characters and settings, but it seemed to end rather abruptly to me and not say as much as it seemed to have the capacity to say. I gather she liked the short story, so maybe this was just her way - this was a very short novel. I think that the title may be a bit ironic.

It does offer a view of the South in a transitional time of recent years, but it concentrates on issues other than race. That might make it of use especially to people from outside the region; the South is about more than just racial issues.

If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

WFB's Passing

As many probably have heard, William F. Buckley died recently. I read through the memorial issue of National Review that paid tribute to him. Very interesting read it was.

I remember watching him on Firing Line once in a while, but he was a little hard to understand at times. He did overuse some very obscure vocabulary, but he could be quite amusing to listen to very often. Since I am not a liberal, I usually agreed with him as well.

After reading the tributes to him, I came to realize that I had not come close to appreciating what a character (the good kind) he was. I was especially intrigued about the book he wrote long ago called God and Man at Yale - this is the book where he condemns the misuse of "academic freedom" at Yale and suggests that the alumni cut off donations to control it. And this was in the 1950's. WOW!!

Well, he was one hell of a guy, and I am sorry he is no longer with us. On this note, see the National Review tribute issue (one of the March issues) for the mock memo to Buckley in heaven from St. Peter - it is hilarious!!

The Rug Merchant

This is a novel by Meg Mullins.

I first noticed this book on a table at a bookstore in Lousiana when I was visiting family in January. It has a picture of a very beautiful Persian rug on the front. I have had an interest in those rugs for many years, so I decided to take a look at the book.

While the backdrop for the book does have to do with these rugs, it is more a story about a man trying to find a place in another world - here an Iranian in New York City. There is a romantic part and lots of tragedy. Overall, it was a good book, but maybe a little more "chick-lit" than I bargained for perhaps. Rather interesting that it was written by a woman, but from a male point of view.

Anyway, it has much to recommend it, but I do warn you it is a little on the "chick-lit" side. Give it a try if that doesn't put you off.

Your Soul's Compass

This book is by Joan Borysenko and Gordon Dveirin. The subject is spiritual guidance, also known as discernment.

The book is based on the author's interviews with a group of people that they consider to be "sages". I was not wild about the way the book was organized, so I only skimmed most of it, but it did offer some good tidbits here and there.

I guess the main points were to look at what your heart is telling you, don't get too attached to things and be patient. Hopefully, I am not overly simplifying things.

Give it a try if it looks good to you. If I missed anything important, please let me know.

A Corpse in the Koryo

This is a great book!!!

Written by James Church (not his real name), a former western intelligence officer, it is a fictional account of a North Korean police inspector involved in a very complex murder case. The Koryo is a hotel in Pyongyang where the body is found.

Lots of twists and turns and several other incidents all come together as the book progresses. Throw in some apparently realistic local color, and you get a very interesting read.

I found this book after reading about the sequel in the Washington Post last Sunday but decided to read the first in the series first. I look forward to reading the second book; it has to do with a bank robbery in Pyongyang. Will keep you posted.

The Mousetrap

This is a play by Agatha Christie.

From what I have read, this play has been performed since the 1950's at one theater in London and has broken many records as a result. Audiences are asked not to reveal the killer to others after they leave. The secret has leaked, because I saw the killer revealed on the internet. I decided to read the play anyway.

It was hard to read compared to a novel with the stage directions and all that. I thought it choppy.

The killer was as expected from the internet "reveal". Things came to a head in the play very suddenly in a "not very well done" way, if you ask me. Maybe it was because I knew who the killer was from the start.

I think I would pass on this one if I were you. You might read the plot summary and reveal on the internet and save the time of reading the whole thing.

The Secret Adversary

This is a book by Agatha Christie.

I have read many of Ms. Christie's books and liked some better than others. This is one of the better ones!

It was written a long time ago (1922) and was one of her first. The "modern" language (slang) of the book sounds a bit funny at times and at others is a bit hard to comprehend, but this is a very good story.

The basis may seem a little hard to accept today - early Red Terror - but the plot is well done. This was one of the few that I figured out before the "reveal", but I think it may have been just luck.

Lots of twists and turns. Give it a try if you like mysteries.

The Scent of Desire (A Book on Our Sense of Smell)

This book by Rachel Herz is subtitled "Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell". I heard an interview with her on the book recently and happened to see it at the public library, so gave it a try. Overall, the book is OK, so I recommend it if the topic appeals to you.

There are many interesting items brought up in the book - like how much our emotional well being depends on our ability to smell and how smell and taste are related. However, I did not like how the book was organized, and how it was tentative on conclusions in many spots - sort of left me feeling confused and unsatisfied in many places.

About a year ago, I wrote about another book on smell that I liked better - the Emperor of Scent I think it was called. It was more "scientific" than Ms. Herz's book, and I thought better organized, which made it a better fit for me perhaps. Note that these two books do not overlap completely on subject matter. There is value in reading both; it is the approach that differs.

Let me know what you think.