Progress

For those of you who have posted or e-mailed me book suggestions, many thanks. For those who haven't yet... I'm still waiting.

So here is the update on my reading given that I am no finished with school. That seems kind of odd. There is some much still happening. So much chance that I will be right back in the classroom in a couple years that I'm not sure I feel finished. We'll see. So reading.

I've gotten a couple e-mails with suggestions that once I have checked with the authors will post to the original post but if you have checked the comments you know I have a large list just there. Purchased 7 books, 4 today and 3 last weekend. The first 3 came from a visit to Powells with Mr Big who has yet to post or e-mail his list but who gave excellent suggestions.

That night I read Being Peace. Yes, you read that right, I read the book in its entirety last Saturday night in a what was a wonderful change in my reading habits. Being Peace is a Buddist text written by Thich Nhat Hanh who is a Vietnamese monk. It describes a Buddism that is intensely active and yet personally calming. Serving our world by finding our own peace and allowing it to work through us. This is the first Buddist text I've read since Sophomore year of high school but I find the same treasures in it that I found then. Not necessarily a new religion but a different way of approaching the spiritual journey that while specific to Buddism is beneficial in many situations.

The second book I purchased a week ago is Garrison Keillor's compilation of poems Good Poems. I enjoy this book differently than the average book that one sits down to with the goal of finishing before moving on to the next book. Instead of this format it is the book I grab in the morning, flip to a random page, and contemplate. Whether it is simple contemplation of the content of the poem that is before me or the oddity in the choice fate made when I randomly opened the book. I like this form of reading it best because I do not feel that it is something I must get through but little jewels each to be appreciated in its own time and for its own merits.

The third book that I received last week is The Autobiography of Malcom X (As Told to Alex Haley). This is the one that I am sure I will soon finish given that I no longer have classes, tests and studying to compete with it as I did this last week and I am already nearly halfway through it. I must admit an ignorance about Malcom X prior to the discussion of this book and my journey through it. My ignorance was neither positive nor negative it was simply a lack of any real knowledge beyond name recognition. At this point in the story my impression is that of awe and disbelief. It is an amazing story that almost seems to vivid to really be someones life and our Hero has barely made it to 18. I will be heading to a comfy couch as soon as I am done here to continue his story.

Given that I will soon be done with my first two full books and am lazily making my way through the third I went to the book store again today. I picked up 4 more books: Velvet Elvis, Zen and The Art of Motercycle Maintenance, Marx's The Comunist Manifesto, and Machiavelli's The Prince. Two of these, The Comunist Manifesto and The Prince are classic pieces I have been interested in since my first year at PSU and my first year at PUC respectively. The other two are suggestion of Rali that I find interesting me as I find myself in a seeking place spiritually once more.

I think I have blogged sufficiently to buy me many months before my next post :)
P.S. If you haven't posted yet please do so, I don't want to have to call in the mouse mafia on you.