Gini > Recent Status Updates

Started with Stoner which is the middle work in this book. Hope the rest of this reads as well as the first few chapters. He's a writer.

Getting started with this one. It's feel is quite different from the Hobbit. More ominous. Well done, I think, to set the tone and urgency of the situation. Even the Shire has begun to change, more apt to discount what they see happening.

Thoroughly enjoying this and watching Bilbo grow in his role.

Second Graham Greene for me. And this one was written as a book, not for screen. It's just a nice kick back and read sort of work. Aunt Augusta is quite character. Her nephew is beginning to grow on me now. Extremes of the scale. Enjoying it so far.

This takes off and keeps on moving forward. Wish I had read this a long time ago. And even if this is from the 90s it's still relevant. I guess nothing new under the sun includes my time on this planet, too.

A re-read and I had forgotten how well written this is. Enjoying the time with it again. About to enter Mirkwood with dwarves and Bilbo. Gandalf has gone to take care of business elsewhere. They are on their own now.

It's Murakami, so I had to read it, even though I'm not a fan of short stories. So far these have held my interest and had me thinking a little after I'd finished. That's an accomplishment in itself. One of them, An Independent Organ, was quite touching. And no, that organ isn't want you think. ;)

Just discovered the copy I'm reading has a few more pages than the one shown. Oh well. The seriousness bordering on sadistic stuff has been replaced with a more crazy set of events now. Seems as if the our favorite time traveler has engineered a new social idea for earth and is calling it a religion. Lots of toes gonna stepped on soon I predict. We'll see if I'm right.

Hmm. Got serious on me and I was enjoying the craziness. Oh well. See how it works out. Too far in to quit.

Just started and having great fun with. Reads like it's from today's news. Total craziness.

This is a different sort of commentary. There's none of the discussion related to verb tenses, whether an editor added a comment. That sort of thing. There is a very straight forward discussion of the biblical text itself. Clearly written with no doubt what this author intends to say. In language that a non-scholar like me can follow. I've found that he enjoys lists, too. And uses them regularly.

Just finished the chapter related to John 17. Could be used as a meditation guide. Still recommend this commentary to whoever would be interested.

Took a break and back at again now. More information than I can absorb generally, but still catching enough to learn from it.

Hmm. Not much progress here. Might be time to set it aside for a while. Or get serious about it. The first suits me better. Very weary of all the musings and navel gazing. Send Albertine home and get out with life! Can't remember from prior read how that goes. For now it's a giant yawn.

Much different from her other books I've read. Stronger prose. More tension. And presented in fragments from different perspectives. Beginning to get the rhythm. Probably will need to read it again to catch what I might have missed.

Not surprised at finish of the Cities or chapter 4. Yes, I'd read this before but remembered very little of it. And that vacillation at the end...yeah this is not my favorite part of this saga. Growing up is hard for our narrator. But that part is done, and I can go on now.

Forgot to update. Excellent read. It's a commentary that ordinary folks can read with some effort. Greek would be good, but not that necessary. I give it a scan and move on, rarely missing anything I consider vital. The scholar or student probably would not agree. I am neither and this works for me.

Cities of the Plain and that unending chapter 2! Finally got to the Verdurin event. The Dreyfuss affair isn't the main point of conversation. Nor is sexual orientation, but the unspoken speaks still.
Can't say I'm enjoying this and that may be the whole point the author's making. Neither is anyone else. But they keep on doing it. Just like I keep on reading it.

The first 100 pages or so are introduction. Very readable, but dense, very dense. The reader gets to meet some of the issues, names, context, background and more. Appreciate this for it's apparent thoroughness of the material available at the time of writing. I can begin to see how some ideas presented could gain traction and cause a stir in the scholarly world.

My plan was to read this through and then come back for the exercises. But, not the way to work with this book. Tried the first exercise and thought I'd missed the point entirely. Went on. And came back to it. Watch and wait. OK. Sure enough the author knew what he was saying. Now I'm on a different time table with this one. Worth it, too.

So far so good. Quite readable for the lay audience. Definitely some food for thought there. And a peek into the thoughts of the era, especially some of his asides.

Well, grandmother has died. The scene all around that event described the event and reactions thoroughly. Not very pleasant reading, but well done.

Just started this one. So far, gentle prose and some background to guide the reader into the practices. Bought this after listening to his devotionals on substack.

Wrong version but it's listed as having been read before so I'll use it again even if i can't read French. Wish I could sometimes and this is one of them.
Just getting the the gist of the storyline. Forbidden love, suicidal wife, confession to companion. Enough to carry the plot forward. And for me to read more.

Just finished a discussion about the significance of the Temple and Jesus actions toward the arrangement to convert money and sell sacrifice animals within the outer court. Quite thorough and well woven discussions. And quite readable. Agree or no, Wright can state his case thoroughly.

Listened to it and followed the print copy I had. Older version with Richard Burton reading the first voice part. Have to say that little town had an interesting population. Now I'm off to read it more slowly.

At the theater for a presentation of Phedre, his second time several years apart. Musings about art, presentation, appreciation dissolves into admiring the occupants of the boxes. He glides from one to another and the reader trails along behind him. Or this reader does. Glad I decided to revisit this book.

Tough section to wade through, but not impossible. Full argument mode executed. He's satisfied that he has made the case. I'm pretty convinced, too. For whatever that's worth. It makes sense connecting the dots. More so than anything else I've read, at least.

There's enough in any one of the chapters of this book to keep me busy,p but this last one could rearrange my ideas of who Jesus was and what were his aims. The neat little phrases we learned in sunday school don't cover the topic at all. Prepare to have a brain cramp or two. Just the reading and study Wright has done for this is staggering. And it's still acessible and engaging. Onward!