Candide

Author: Voltaire
After I finished reading The Last Symbol, I needed another book, but didn't have a chance to pick anything up.  We were headed out of town and I thought I'd have some time to read.  I didn't want to take what I was reading at the time, The Power of Pause, because I wanted something different.  We have quite a few books around the house including a bunch of "classics" that we've acquired over time.  I've attempted to read a few of them in the past, but really struggled to get into them.  I needed something though and Candide looked short enough that I didn't think it would be too much of a commitment.

Needless to say, I didn't have the time while out of town that I thought.  So foolish of me thinking I'd have time for myself while on vacation with my boys.  Not that I'm complaining.

Anyway... Candide was more dense than it appeared.  It was easy enough to read as far as the language went, and it contained numerous historical references and footnotes, which were interesting at times.  It was odd in how the timeline of the book raced and paused.  One sentence would be describing a conversation about the struggles of life and the next would say something like "Candide and his company arrived in Portual two months later."  Huh?  What just happened to the conversation.  I can't say I got anything from the book other than the satisfaction of having finished one of the "classics" that's been sitting on my shelves.

The Power of Pause

Becoming More by Doing Less

Author: Terry Hershey
Loyola Press

We heard Terry speak in Seattle at the EE convention in 2010 and really enjoyed his presentation. The idea of slowing down some to smell the roses struck me and this book talks about finding the sacrament and grace in all the ordinary of our daily lives.

While the book was quite different than I thought it was going to be (I expected it to be more of a self-help book), I certainly got a different perspective from it, and I'm sure Terry would agree that it's not intended to be a self-help book.

The Last Symbol

I've decided I need to start keeping track of the books I read.

Author: Dan Brown
Much like the other books by Brown that I've read (The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons) which isn't saying much as it involves the same character, Robert Langdon. I certainly enjoyed the book and was able to breeze through it quite rapidly including some late nights where I couldn't put it down.  Brown's short chapter switching back and forth between plot lines contributes to that quite a bit. It made we want to go back to Washington DC for another trip and see some specific sites.