Books are pleasantly engulfing my world as of late. I received lots of books for Christmas and I bought even more books with money I received for Christmas. Here are some of the books I am reading:

+ All Hallows’ Eve by Charles Williams (my brother M. secured this out-of-print treasure for me as a Christmas present; he also presented me with a very nice hardback edition of Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. I look forward to reading that soon)

+ The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard (my diggings in this tome are only preliminary, but already I’m excited for more. This one is being read with the Neo Whist & Ciderers)

+ The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (this one is for my History of Mod. Russia, but one of the reasons I’m taking the class is my deep love for Russian literature and my fascination with Russian culture–definitely excited)

+ Adventures of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton (I found 3 collections of these mysteries at the Book/Coffee heaven in KC otherwise known as Bloomsdale/Axois; superbly entertaining and wonderfully crafted)

+ Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance by Donald Miller (his first real book, though I’m undecided if I think it’s actually any good)

Those are the books I am actually in the process of reading; alas, I have others that were just added to my shelf and several that are speeding on their way to me. The “to-be-read” stack is growing at a delightfully feverish pace. Here are some of the new additions:

+ Brideshead Revisited by E. Waugh

+ Complete Works of Shakespeare (beautiful leatherbound masterpiece)

+ The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

+ Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context by G. Stassen and D. Gushee

+ Candide by Voltaire

+ Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

+ War in Heaven by Charles Williams (a hardback first edition!)

+ 3 Volumes of the Excellent Father Brown Mysteries by Chesterton

+ Various “Lord Peter” volumes by Dorothy Sayers

+ What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis

Along with all this text, I have added one blog to my habitual digi-reading. Up to now, I haven’t been much interested in Political or News blogs. This might be changing, though the this particular blog may not be classified in either of the formally avoided rubrics. If anything, the Belmont Club is exactly what its tagline claims: History and History in the Making. Belmont offers superb analysis with historiographical nuances that deepen its political science focus. Excellent reading. Check it out.