21
Nov
2009
Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell
Oh Joseph Campbell, how I love you. If you weren’t dead, I would find you and stalk you until you married me. I want to live inside your head. No other one scholar has influenced me like you have. It was your work which inspired me to major in Comparative Religion, possibly the most useless of all liberal arts degrees (except maybe Art History), and I have never really regretted it.
20
Oct
2009
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
It’s tough when you have a understanding of something to not let inconsistancies or violations bug you when you just want to be entertained. For example, whenever we watch movies about, say, the American Revolution, my husband will point out that they are using the wrong guns. And so, because of my basic knowledge of anthropology and evolution I was often irked while reading this book.
28
Sep
2009
Strange But True America by John Hafnor
Here are some of the things I learned reading this book: Read the rest of this entry »
16
Jun
2009
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
You can’t call this Revisionist Christian Fiction, mainly because Anita Diamant is Jewish. You can call this revisionist fiction, of just fiction fiction, depending on your own perspective. Diamant’s chosen topic, Dinah, the daughter of Leah in the Old Testament/Torah, is obscure, even to most scholars. So, while Diamant did extensive research into the fields of ancient mediterranean and early Jewish history and archaeology, she did make the story up.
8
Jun
2009
The Pre-Printing Press Challenge
I’ve never done a reading challenge before. I don’t know why, I just haven’t. But I’m already hooked! I’ve just begun and have already signed up for three of them. I know everything that I’m reading for the first two, but I want to give them each their own special post.
20
May
2009
Dead Men Do Tell Tales by William R. Maples, Ph.D. and Michael Browning
Admit it: Not only do you like watching Law & Order/CSI/NCIS/Cold Case/Bones, but you also watch the the “real” shows like Forensic Files. You’re a little bit morbid, aren’t you?
27
Apr
2009
Thou Art That by Joseph Campbell
I really try to use the tag, “must read” sparingly. Of the over forty reviews I have written as of this one, I have only used the tag three times. I used it on White Teeth, because it is probably my favorite favorite favorite book; it on Three Cups of Tea, because it offers a different perspective on the war on terror, particularly in Afghanistan/Pakistan, and thus is relevant to our political climate; and I used in The Ancestor’s Tale, because of it is a comprehensive, easy to read guide to evolution. I now use it again, for Joseph Campbell’s posthumously published Thou Art That.
24
Apr
2009
The Book of Q by Jonathan Rabb
As promised, I’m giving a review of a book that is both similar to and better than the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I’ve suggested other books in lieu of this travesty of fiction, but I realize that a lot of those books are not light, beach-friendly reading (the exception there being Lamb by Christopher Moore). So, here is a review of The Book of Q by Jonathan Rabb, which uses many of the same tropes as Brown, but pulls it off so much better it gives you a little bit of hope for humanity. And that’s what the book intends to do in the end, so good on him.
15
Apr
2009
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
It’s hard enough to condense 30,000 years of human culture, movement, and industry into one book, let alone one review of said book, but I’ll give it my best shot.
15
Apr
2009
Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan
I’ve heard some people say that this book is indeed revolutionary, and some say it’s not. But nobody can say that Crossan doesn’t present anything new. He roots around in texts, scholarship, and archaeology to present a persuasive account of who this Jesus of Nazareth guy really was. Did he live? Yes. Was some sort of preacher or healer? Yes. Did he get his disruptive-ass crucified? Yes. Other than that… Let’s just say that Crossan and Thomas Jefferson would’ve gotten along smashingly.
