Tuesday, June 07, 2005

New Books

Well, in the past two days I've finished reading two books that are pretty far apart in terms of genre and belief/moral systems
They are:
The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte and Traveling Light by Max Lucado. Interested? Read on...

The Club Dumas is about a man who is a book detective. He is basically a book mercenary, hired to fund rare editions for book nuts. One of his sellers brings him a part of the original manuscript of The Three Musketeers (by Alexandre Dumas-- hence the title for those of you who are familiar with the movie and not the actual book). Along with the extensive plot line about the manuscript, there is another story that makes the book more interesting-- a book that was written for the purpose of summoning the devil.
I must admit, at times this book was a bit creepy (devil worship and occult practices are not my cup of tea)... However, the book was an enjoyable read. There's a bit of mystery and a puzzle to be solved, so the reader gets very involved in the book. To quote a critic of the book, "Think of The Club Dumas as a beach book for intellectuals."

Traveling Light is about the burdens we carry in life that keep us from enjoying what we are called to do while on this earth. It is based, cleverly I might add, around the well known twenty-third Psalm. (The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.) Lucado talks about rest from endless wants, arrogance, fear, shame, loneliness, disappointments, envy, doubt... the list goes on. He reminds the reader of one of Jesus' greatest promises (in my opinion), "Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28). This book is worth the read and reflection it brings with it.

That's all for now-- more books to come! :)

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