false 21 189 188 true 5908418 read 0 true 726517 currently-reading 1 true 726516 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78518160 Bryson's review of The Road
by Cormac McCarthy

Seriously, besides the completely depressing wasteland that is the backdrop, have you ever encountered much worse than when they descend into the dark, dank basement of that house and are jumped on by the legless people?!

Unreal. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74971492 to: The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3) by Dan Brown
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74580067 to: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (Paperback) by Max Brooks
Took a chance on this one, didn't disappoint. Terminator meets Tarantino plus McCarthy's The Road. Recommend the audio version, with several different actors reading parts. Fun, frightening, thought provoking... ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74579909 to: Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle (Hardcover) by Mark Gonsalves
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74579797 to: Outliers (Hardcover) by Malcolm Gladwell
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68686456 to: The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education (Hardcover) by Craig M. Mullaney
Interesting and inspiring journey through West Point, Oxford, Afghanistan from a soldier-scholar. Will leave the reader with a better understanding of and appreciation for the U.S. Armed Forces, tough duty and sacrifices made in Afghanistan. Has received rave reviews from several well-known generals/admirals, policymakers and legislators. Recommended. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26352837 to: How the New Testament Came to Be: The 35th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium (Hardcover) by Frank F., Jr. Judd
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69716475 Flash for Freedom! (The Flashman Papers, #3) by George MacDonald Fraser
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68686646 to: Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty (Paperback) by Steven Waldman
Normally can't get enough of this controversial topic anyway, but the several laudatory reviews, particularly Ellis's recommendation of this book over all others on the topic, prompted me to move it up in my queue. Particularly enjoyed the close examination of the theological and religious preferences (or non-) of Adams and Washington on one hand, Franklin something of an enigma, and Madison and Jefferson on the other end. I've been disabused of the notion of the Founders as deists, likewise as holding to any organized religious affiliations. The "Jefferson Bible," Adams' intolerance that mellowed over the years, Washington's belief in an Interventionist, Guiding hand, and Madison's political genius in securing the compromises necessary to secure religious freedom and tolerance (and to protect not only the state from religion, but vice versa) are a few of the many concepts ably illustrated by Waldman. Particularly enjoyed the point that Madison's preference was to err on the side of a high wall between church and state, not because he was antagonistic to religion, but rather to his fear that intermingling would lead to corruption, oppression and mutual decay, as seen often around him in colonial America and throughout history. Unsupported, religion and faith (of any, every or no stripe)would flourish in the free marketplace of ideas, which history has borne out. Tend to agree with the author that this history viewed through the lens of the day's culture wars tends to distort it, and that the Founders' intent, such as they even knew what it was, falls somewhere in the middle of the debate. Lots of original source material. Thought-provoking read. ]]>