My bedside table

for Christina.

 

Sooooo.  From the top down:

• America: The Last Best Hope, by William J. Bennett.  I mocked the Wonder Hub through all of the looooong months it took him to read this book.  When he finally finished, he dared me to read it.  Never one to turn down a dare (don't ask), I dug in.  I'm a pretty fast reader and imagined that I'd blow through it like a Jodi Picoult novel.  Only, it's not a Jodi Picoult novel.  It's interesting, yes.  It's got plot twists and turns that even Jodi could envy, but it is anything but a quick read.  It's fascinating.  It's educational.  It might take me the rest of my natural life to finish.  (The WH just started reading Volume II.)
• The Possibility of Everything, by Hope Edelman.  I don't know where I got this title, but it was in my Blackberry, where I keep a list of books I'd like to read.  I have a fascination with memoirs, and I'm excited to read hers.
• Day after Night, by Anita Diamant.  Have you read The Red Tent?  Enough said.
• The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman.  Chapman has written several of these books, one for spouses, and others for children and teens.  The premise is that people give and receive love in different ways.  We are most likely to give love in the ways that we would like to receive it, rather than in the way our spouse or children receive it.  We're using this in our church home group (small group?) and I think it's outstanding.
• Living Faith, by Jimmy Carter.  This book is my nemesis.  I bought it for $.25 at a used book store in 'Bama, and have been trying to muddle through it ever since.  It's not that it's not interesting.  It's not that it's not well written.  It's me, Mr. President, it's me!  I promise!
• The Unfolding of Language, by Guy Deutscher.  Mel sent me this book, knowing I would love it.  We both think that it should be required reading for college English majors.  Mr. Deutscher has written a fascinating (and terrifying) history of language.  I, who lament daily that English is a dying language, was appalled to learn that pretty much every generation since the beginning of time has felt the same.  Our language is devolving, people.  It breaks my heart.  After reading Mr. Deutscher's findings, I am fully convinced that sometime in the near future, teenagers will have their way and Webster's will print the word Fail and designate it as a noun.  It will be epic.

So there you have it, folks.  Karen's bedside table.