The 1st "R"

I like to ask people what they're reading. You know, at that point in the conversation when most people ask, "So what do you do for a living?" I ask instead, "Read any good books lately?" It seems to take people aback. It's an unexpected question. I don't ask just anybody, mind you. Only people who I think might have interesting answers.

As for me, I'm reading George Marsden's Jonathan Edwards: A Life. A very satisfying book that seems to put the Great Awakening into a sound perspective, neither psychologizing the episode, as other historians have done, nor applying some current social theory fad, but simply describing the event and the various reactions and interpretations of Edwards and his contemporaries. Edwards himself comes across as a remararkable figure, not without faults and foibles. This book has stirred a desire in me to read some of Edwards own writings (never have, except of course for the famous Sinners in the Hands . . . sermon) and also to read more about the Awakening.

The Edwards book is serious and stimulating, so my other current read is pure entertainment. Stephen Lawhead's Taliesin. Lawhead ties together the Arthurian legend with that of Atlantis. I'm not familiar enough with this genre to know if that's a highly imaginative idea or just your run-of-the-mill fantasy trope, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the book. A highly-sophisticated and "advanced" Atlantis is the setting for one story-line, while the other is set against a backdrop of pre-Christian Wales. The book is the first of a trilogy (of course . . . it wouldn't be a "fantasy" if it didn't come in threes!). It's too early for me to give it my unequivocal thumbs up, but I'm definitely finding it difficut to put down.

BTW, read any good books lately?