January reading

Time to join Tamie's excellent reading adventure, although I don't think I'll compete by posting page numbers, etc. Tamie has recommended to me some of the best books I've ever read, so it's a no-brainer for me to pay attention to her new reading site!

I asked for and received several books for Christmas. But before I could get around to them, I had to finish The Rains Came by Louis Bromfield (my husband's favorite author). Bromfield is perhaps better known for his writings on conservation, but he also won the Pulitzer Prize for his fiction work Early Autumn. The Rains Came is a novel that takes place in India during a flood caused by an earthquake and the breaking of a dam during the monsoon season. It was made into a motion picture, which I have yet to see. Excellent characterization, which is what I find most interesting and appealing in fiction.

Now I've begun a fascinating book given to me by my sister-in-law, Coreen Gilbert, the librarian. It's called Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations, by Georgina Howell. I can't believe Gertrude's not more well known anymore, considering she was the first woman to receive a First in Modern History at Oxford University (in two years instead of the usual three). She worked with the Cairo intelligence office of the British government during WW I. The cover blurbs say that "she was the woman behind the creation of modern Iraq . . . promoting and engineering the election of King Faisal to the throne and helping to draw the borders of the fledgling state." From the preface: "Lawrence [of Arabia] kick-started the Arab Revolt, but it was Gerturide who gave the Arabs a route to nationhood. She cajoled and intruded, guided and engineered, and finally delivered the often promised and so nearly betrayed prize of independence." In the cover photo, Gertrude is between Winston Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia—all three seated on camels in front of the Sphynx!

I just finished a book recommended to me by Tamie, called How (Not) to Speak of God, by Peter Rollins. I'll be quoting passages from this book for years to come, such as: "revelation is often treated as if it can be deciphered into a dogmatic system rather than embraced as the site where the impenetrable secret of God transforms us. In the former, revelation is rendered into an eleoquent doctrine, while in the latter revelation is that which transforms."

And now I must stop typing and get back to proofreading my husband's forthcoming book called Indiana. Jerry is a photographer and is compiling his photos into several "coffee table" books. Future books will be on Kauai, Sweden, and Arizona. This first one is a visual feast and will soon be available at his web site, JerryMcCoy.com.

I'll be back!

Bev