My New Books

I ordered these books with my Amazon Gift Certificates (Thanks Mimi!) I'm posting them up here for some sort of acountability so that maybe it will urge me on to read all these before my due date. (That is a lofty goal!) Anyway, here they are in no particular order:

I'm working on my photo placement. These are taken from Amazon. I'll establish hyperlinks to the pictures as soon as I figure out how to do so. I'got recommendations for these (at least the Gladwell books) from the Discerning Reader.

I'm really excited about them all and as always it will take me a few days to settle on just one to get started with. --Kathy

Fun Book Meme--Dirk

Kathy tagged me with this meme thing. But first the Houston Half Marathon update:

I SURVIVED! That was a big concern of mine, especially about mile 11. I was feeling good all the way until I got there. Then for some reason, going down the hill on Montrose right before Allen Pwky my quad started to cramp. Then my calves started to cramp. So I had to slow down my pace and stretch ever 1/2 mile or so. I have been around running long enough to see crazy runners that pushed harder and ended up with full leg cramps....I have vivid memories of lots of screaming from them. Besides the lack of preparation, the warm weather (70 and humid), and the dropping out of my running partner I survived. I also need to say that I think that picture was of me between miles 4 and 5. I was hurting more by mile 6. Maybe next year I'll train better and win the race...ok maybe just train better.

Back to this meme thing. Here are the directions:
1)Grab the book closest to you
2)Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence.
3)Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog
4)Name the author and book title
5)Tag three people to do the same

#1--The first book I picked up was a Greek Morphology book. Did you know there weren't four sentences on pg 123? So next was God's Indwelling Presence: the Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments by Dr. James Hamilton.

#2--In line with Romans 12:1-2, Skaraune points out, "the new people of God are not in a temple, attending a service led by priests, they are the temple and they are its priests, themselves conduction the service." Whereas formerly it was right to worship in Jerusalem at the temple (deut 12:5), God's people are now His temple through the indwelling of the Spirit. This salvation-historical order of events is precisely what we saw in John.
(There are a couple of footnotes in this passage of the book, but this blogger won't let me put them in.)

#4--God's Indwelling Presence: the Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments by Dr. James Hamilton

#5--Now I have to find three people that actually look here at this blog. hmmm.....I think these are the last 3:

1. Joe
2. Ryan
3. Jonathan

Pictures from the Houston Marathon

This is Dirk running the half-marathon at mile 6. Looking good!

Here is my precious niece cheering on her daddy running the full marathon. (She made the poster herself)

Dirk and I after the race.

Fun Book Meme --Kathy

Robin tagged me for a "Fun Book Meme." (I've never heard of this, but I'm a sucker for anything 'survey-esque')

Here are the directions:

1)Grab the book closest to you
2)Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence.
3)Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog
4)Name the author and book title
5)Tag three people to do the same

The book is How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

"Okay, so the heavy-metal sound isn't in the hymnal. And this character would be very hard pressed to take over Savior duty. No literary Christ figure can everbe as pure, as perfect, as divine as Jesus Christ."

(From the chapter, "Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too" I'm not even going to try to explain, but its a good read if you want some insight in literature) I'm tagging Dirk :), Jenny, and my dad (I know I'm being a little too optomistic) although I'm only pretty confident about Dirk responding. If you're reading this, you're included too. Join in the fun. :)

Does anyone read Flannery O'Connor?

I was inspired to read some of Flannery O'Connor's short stories after reading a post by Justin Taylor extolling her skill as a storyteller. So over Christmas I purchased a book of all her short stories at Barnes & Noble and dove right in. So far I've read 6 of the 31 stories included in the anthology ("The Geranium", "The Barber"-my favorite, "Wildcat", The Crop", The Turkey", and "The Train"). I like her writing style and she is an excellent writer, but I'm afraid I dont get it. Most of her stories are a little dark and I get the feeling there is more going on than I'm aware of. I would like to appreciate her work more--if only I understood what she wanted me to see in her stories. I feel like I'm too dense to understand what she's saying and I really want to love her stories, but I dont grasp her point.

In college I read her short stories "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", and "Everything that Rises Must Converge" but those were a little easier to understand. I liked those. I'm not really saying I dont enjoy reading her work, but I'm afraid its a little out of my reach at times.

Does anyone else read or enjoy Flannery O'Connor? Can anyone explain or offer insight to some of her stories preferably ones I've already read?