Reading, Listening, Not Writing

I haven’t written much lately, but I have been very busy burying myself in a cornucopia of books and audio educational information.

I am currently reading a best seller from a couple of years ago: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Having recently read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, I was pressed to find another book relevant to the world outside of the central corridor of Phoenix, Arizona.

Ishmael Beah’s book is an autobiography of his life as a twelve year old in war-torn Sierra Leone, from innocent child to ruthless killer and eventual redemption. It is a great read and insight to a familiar theme. The stark contrast of innocent child versus the stark utter evil of war reminds me of other reads, in particular, The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski or even Cormac McCarthy’s novel (and soon to be movie) The Road. If you need a break from the “great” difficulties we face today in America, A Long Way Gone will help put them into perspective.

In fact, all this has reminded me of another book my Grandma Em made me read as a kid, Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. Somewhat reminiscent of The Diary of Anne Frank--and also set in WWII Europe--this book also deals with the evils of war.

I will have lots of other reading to do as well. I haven’t read a political/economic book in months. I am also looking forward to receiving my collection of books from cousin-in-law author Cindy Thomson. More on that later.

I have also been working my way through an audio Yale Political Philosophy course I stumbled on in iTunes. I whipped through Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli, but have stalled a bit on Hobbes. I am guessing I am just losing interest because I am so looking forward to the lessons on Locke and Tocqueville coming up.

I have also downloaded a free Yale course on The Civil War, but haven’t started that yet. So much to do, so little time...

I am astounded at all the free audio podcasts and books you can find on iTunes and other places and will be chronicling more on that later as well.