Christmas Books

My most excellent brother in law got me a $50 Amazon gift certificate for Christmas. Since then I've whittled away hours trying to decide which 3-4 books I'm going to order. The issue isn't that I don't like books it's I love them a bit too much so choosing just 3 is torture.

Here's my constantly evolving short list:

1. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Once called the greatest novel ever written (Freud) this philosophical classic explores themes of God, Free Will, Morality, Doubt, Faith all set against a backdrop of murder. This one is here to stay.

2. When the Game was Ours - Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. One of the greatest rivalries sports has ever known- in their own words. This magical book has been flying off the shelves. (giggle)

3. God: A Biography. Jack Miles. This important 1996 book exploring the nature of God won the Pulitzer prize for Non Fiction.

4. The First Paul. John Dominic Crossan/Marcus Borg. Crossan and Borg team up once again to rediscover what we think we already know. They did this previous in The Last Week and The First Christmas, two other excellent books. The subtitle of this book is "Rediscovering the Radical Visionary behind Christianity's Conservative Icon." How could I not?

5. JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. James W. Douglass. I've always been interested in the truth behind the JFK assasination and this new book attempts to answer important questions as well as shed new light on these forgotten events.

These total $74 which means at least one must go. Oh the pain.

In the meantime I loved reading the free Bootstrappers Bible by my business Jesus Seth Godin. I am also just finishing Vonnegut's SlaughterHouse Five and am starting New York by Edward Rutherford, a handsome Christmas gift from my kids. I once read that if a person only read 1 book a week they would only read 3000 books in their lifetime. I was depressed for a week after. So much too read, but who has the time? I'm guessing this list will take me far too long, definitely longer then 1 a week.

John