Get Lucky

Get Lucky by Katherine Center

Sarah has always been career driven. Suddenly she gets fired, leaving her feeling bereft. In her altered state of mind she decides to move home to Texas. While she is there why not carry a baby for her sister? The characters were amusing and the plot kept me reading.

Another cute, humorous story from Center.

Monday Recommendations

Monday Recommendation List

Random list of 10 books Monday! I have read and enjoyed each of these enough to flag for a potential personal library purchase.

Be bold and just choose randomly, stick to your normal genre...or step outside of your normal reading zone and try something you usually wouldn’t. You can look up the descriptions at Amazon.com, or search my blog for old posts by entering the title in the little search box in the top left-hand corner and clicking the magnifying glass.

This weeks 10 recommendations (in no particular order):

1. Autobiography: The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
2. Spirituality from a Medium’s Perspective: Talking to Heaven by James Van Praagh
3. Simply Amazing: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
4. Subprime Meltdown Knowledge: The Big Short by Michael Lewis
5. Powerful Women:  Day After Night by Anita Diamant
6. Sweet Romance: Kiss An Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
7. Holocaust Drama: Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
8. Simple Living: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
9. Humorous Romance: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
10. Police Series with Female Leads: Rizzoli and Isles series (starts with The Surgeon) by Tess Gerritsen

The Concrete Blonde

The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly

This was the next installment starring Connelly’s Harry Bosch character.

I think I’m going to pause on this series. Connelly is a strong writer, but these books are too lengthy for my taste, and I have started to get bored. I might pick back up in the future, though!

Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate by Sister Helen Prejean

Amazon Description:

“In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. In the months before Sonnier’s death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. She also came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute—men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing.
Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Here Sister Helen confronts both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the fears of a society shattered by violence and the Christian imperative of love. On its original publication in 1993, Dead Man Walking emerged as an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty. Now, some two decades later, this story—which has inspired a film, a stage play, an opera and a musical album—is more gut-wrenching than ever, stirring deep and life-changing reflection in all who encounter it."

My Thoughts:

I love to read passionate words on controversial issues. The death penalty is one of those ethical issues that has so many variables. Is it right? Is it wrong? Can anyone even make that determination? It is not a black or white issue and if anyone makes it out to be they are missing the point. You can look at it from the perspective of the victims, the perspective of the perpetrators, the perspective of religion, the perspective of law and justice…so many variables.  

A note on Sister Prejean, who takes the perspective of religion from the above list—She is trying to change the world through her beliefs. I love the conviction she shows to the religion she has chosen. Prejean is a Christian that I admire and, sadly, I have met very few like her. People like her are rare in today's world.

My feelings on the death penalty are varied—seeming to lean mostly on the fairness/justice spectrum. One quote to share along these lines: “Millard says the application of the death penalty is like a lottery because such a small percentage of murderers get the death penalty—1 or 2 percent of the thousands who commit homicide every year. And of those receiving death sentences, only a fraction are executed…Finally, Millard says, summing it all up, race, poverty and geography determine who gets the death penalty.” If it could be applied fairly would it be more ethical? Then my mind moves to the religious perspective…in my mind I never come down firmly, for or against. But I do lean toward being against…as an ethical matter.

Billions and Billions

Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium by Carl Sagan


Amazon Description:

“In the final book of his astonishing career, Carl Sagan brilliantly examines the burning questions of our lives, our world, and the universe around us. These luminous, entertaining essays travel both the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of the human mind, posing such fascinating questions as how did the universe originate and how will it end, and how can we meld science and compassion to meet the challenges of the coming century? Here, too, is a rare, private glimpse of Sagan's thoughts about love, death, and God as he struggled with fatal disease. Ever forward-looking and vibrant with the sparkle of his unquenchable curiosity, Billions & Billions is a testament to one of the great scientific minds of our day.”
My Thoughts:

An intriguing and thought provoking read.