Catching Up, The First Wild Knight Meeting, and More

Even though Claire has struggled with a severe sinus infection the last few days, this week before we take off for a working vacation in Branson has been eventful and enriching. The highlights include: slow dancing together at Linda Potter’s fabulous birthday bash last Friday night; writing a couple of articles and a gang of letters; sending out a few signed copies of The Christmas Room; getting in several days of my walking regimen; hosting the first of our Wild Knight book club discussions; and presenting the last of this month’s “When Swing Was King” shows.

But we still have several things to do before we take off for the Ozarks and among them are two items regarding The Book Den. 1) A quick recap of Monday night’s meeting of the Wild Knight book club. and 2) Updating my reading list for the year.

1) The Wild Knight club deals with fiction, meets only quarterly, and encourages participation even from distant friends. Thus, last Monday night’s meeting started with me reading a terrific review of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe from Dr. Greg Gardner of Birmingham, England. It provided a nice stimulant to the subsequent discussion of the novel by Linda Scheffler, Matt Troutman, former English prof at Grace University Leonard Johnson, and his wife Diane; and Claire and me. We had a great time discussing a genuine classic. And after the desert, we decided on next quarter’s book, Walter Wangerin Jr.’s The Book of the Dun Cow. Of course, if you’re interested in becoming a Wild Knight yourself, please grab a copy of Dun Cow and let us know.

2) I guess I’m a little tardy in keeping up with updating my reading list. (My last “catch up” post was on February 7.) The schedule has been pretty busy — which worked to keep down the numbers of books read. But then the weather (cold, windy, snowy, rainy) kept me from walking as much as usual — which worked the other way. Anyhow, in the last couple of months I’ve read:

* More than a dozen novels of Donald Bain under the “Murder She Wrote” banner. No, this isn’t great literature but the novels (which feature Jessica Fletcher, Cabot Cove, and all the rest from the popular TV series starring Angela Lansbury) provides short, easy, and entertaining reading for those (like us) who enjoy what are called “cozy mysteries.”


* Re-reading Anthony Hope’s most famous adventure novels, The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau were also a lot of fun.

* Re-reading Alice in Wonderland and (of lesser value, in my opinion) Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll was enjoyable. Of course these books provide interest for those who enjoy the sound and rhythm of words, humorous turn of phrases, clever word play, satire, the fruits of a vivid imagination, and an adult reinterpretation of things you’ve known since childhood.

* On much more serious topics, in these past few weeks I finished a couple of books by Swiss physician Paul Tournier. They were both re-reads also but as provocative and insightful as ever. They were The Meaning of Gifts and The Adventure of Living.

* Captivating and inspiring was To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom by Newt Gingrich & William R. Forstchen. It was the February selection of the Notting Hill Napoleons. (Unfortunately, we missed the March book.)

* Two books that I’d been going through slowly, carefully, and with great spiritual profit were No Little People by Francis Schaeffer (a re-read from long ago) and Happiness by Randy Alcorn. I recommend both very highly.

* More unsettling than ever was my re-read of George Orwell’s classic study of a humanistic, totalitarian regime, 1984.

* A quite different kind of book for me was Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon by California preacher Greg Laurie. It was a bit long-winded for me, covering the same territory too many times. And yet the stories of both writer and subject were quite compelling. And so I would recommend it, especially to those of my own generation. For as important as anything, is that the book has already created several opportunities for me to talk to others about McQueen’s conversion to Christianity. And I'm sure they would both be pleased to know that.

* And finally, there’s the re-read of Ivanhoe by Walter Scott that I make reference to above. Terrific stuff.

Okay, on to the next titles!