What I've been reading, week 3

So here is week 3 of what I've been reading!

Finished:

Inside the Revolution by Joel C. Rosenberg.  I've been listening to this, on audio from the library.

Wow.  Don't even know how to begin to write about this one.

I've read some of Joel Rosenberg's fiction titles -- The Last Jihad and others in that series.  I enjoyed those, and thought the author seemed very knowledgeable about the Middle East.  So the thought of getting more information about this area, from a Christian, was quite appealing.

I'm wondering if I wouldn't have been better off reading this book though.  I had a hard time keeping track of who is who as we went through the book, and I highly suspect I am going to need to listen again.  On the other hand, hearing someone else pronounce all the names was a huge plus.

The book is divided into three main sections:  The Radicals (about people like bin Laden and Ahmadinejad, the segment of the Middle East that is out to destroy the West), The Reformers (about people like Karzai of Afghanistan and Talabani of Iraq, who are trying to stop the radicals from hijacking their peaceful religion), and Revivalists (who have become Christians, and are reaching out to evangalize their neighbors).

The first section made it tough for me to sleep at night.  The second and third sections gave me hope.  I am woefully ignorant of the history and culture in the Middle East, particularly of the past 40 years, and maybe a second (or third) reading of this book will help me feel less uninformed.

With my kids, I finished Adara by Beatrice Gormley.  This was a really fun book to read.  The premise is that Adara is the girl in 1 Kings 5 who was captured and became a slave in the household of Naaman, and who was then able to tell him that his leprosy could be cured by Elisha.

We really enjoyed the story, and especially enjoyed reading from 1 Kings 4 and 5 to compare and contrast the events.  Adara is pretty faithful to the Biblical events, and it did make most of us think.

If you want to see what other people are reading, head over to the 52 Books in 52 Weeks blog to see other Week 3 book reviews.

In Progress (I'm back to normal, with a million things in progress -- in progress means that I did read from the book this week):

The Iliad:  Connor has this assigned to him over four weeks, and I am reading along.
America-- The Last, Best Hope Volume II by William J. Bennett, my current audio book.

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell

There is no Freedom Without Bread by Constantine Pleshakov

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Hertzberg and Francois

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (listening with my kids)

The Hidden Flame by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke

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• What I've been reading, week 2 (debrakb.blogspot.com)
• What I've been reading, week 1 (debrakb.blogspot.com)