Media Consumption Weekend Part 2: Books read in Hawaii

Here they are:

Unknown

Originally there was an image here, but it’s gone and I didn’t put the title in text anywhere

I thought this was an interesting book. I picked it up thinking that it would be a book on the “clash of civilizations” perspective on the West versus Islam (see Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations). Interestingly enough, the thesis was different than I expected.

Thesis: The globalizing marketplace creates conditions which accelerate and abet Jihadism (not strictly Islamist but Nationalist, Segregationlist, pro-Quebequois, etc.). Their interplay is bad for democracy.

The Gnostic Gospels

I’m interested in the plurality of Christianities at the dawn of the religion, but it was mostly familiar territory for anyone who’s seen a few documentaries on the Essenes or the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

This was an amazing book! Brilliant, beautiful, Romantic, touching…I’ll be reviewing it in its own post. Recommended by counselor James Dedman.

Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

A funny and sardonic, Edward Gorey-esque, story. Ostensibly a kids book, i
t’s Victorian mort noir sensibility was a lot of fun.

The Rule of Four by Caldwell and Thomason

What a pleasant surprise! I was expecting something along the lines of The daVinci Code - old artifacts, researching, shadow conspiracies, etc. There was an element of that, but what I thought was special about the book was the way it dealt with the topic of students in their senior year of college.

The students were hard working and intelligent, but they were all questioning against that great mysterious wall of graduation.. I loved the dynamics of 4 guys in a house – the disparate interests united by intelligence and ambition – it really captured the magic of your last semester – well my last semester (and year), anyway :)

Books