I'm not one for ranking things in terms of what is better, etc., though I don't shy from comparison. Lists, for me, only serve to introduce me to books I might possibly be interested in reading. Who knows, I might look into a couple of these titles and add them to my wish list. But, this list makes far more sense to me than the other one.  Not saying that I agree with the order or anything, but the other one made little sense to me.

Hmm. . . Alright, let's go.

So, food for thought:

China and Russia are both fairly consistently anti-muslim. Much of Europe is very supportive of Muslim immigration but there is a nationalist backlash movement that's been active. If the US was out of the picture, I actually think it would not necessarily be a good thing for Islamic governments, as China and Russia would not be ideologically opposed to open, large scale war if they thought they could, I'm guessing.
If Europe were the only entity opposed to such interventions by the military operations of the East, I don't think they would have the cultural gusto and military infrastructure to oppose (not unless they do a LOT of military work VERY quickly). I think we'd see China and Russia dominating a lot of oilfields very quickly.
Without the US, lots of countries would suffer from lack of the global aid dollars the US provides.
Additionally, it depends on how the US dissolves. Do the states succeed but remain intact and operational, perhaps in more regional conglomerates? Or does chaos break out and total societal breakdown occur (it would be hard to imagine this happening in the US without it also happening to a degree globally).

I just finished Grendel by John Gardner. At less than 200 pages, it was a quick read. While it was worth the read and interesting, I have to say I'm glad it wasn't longer. It was not a character in whose mind I would like to stay for long. There is also a lot of strange intermingling of 20th century and Anglo-Saxon linguistic usages in the book, and considering the fluency of them I can only assume it was entirely intentional and done as a kind of commentary. The character Grendel has a way of slipping in an out of millennia in terms of vocabulary and usage, and this is an element in the overarching philosophical character study of the book. 

I just finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It was a serious page turner. This fantasy book has its roots (har har) deeper in European folk tales (think Grimm, although her influences seem to be more eastern European) and the shades of horror, suspense, and enchantment than anything resembling a Tolkien-influenced world. In short, it was a suspenseful read and a mysterious world full of lurking danger and a real sense of a truly horrific evil that was being combated. I do have a couple small critiques, but I don't want to include them as this is a book that could really be hurt by spoilers. I'd recommend for adult readers.


As an addendum, I did finish Six of Crows. It was not on the same level with Novik or Rothfuss' books, but I still may get the sequel as it kind of finished mid-train in the narrative. Six of Crows started slowly and took me some time to get into, but it was a page turner by the end, and despite its flaws, there are some quality aspects to it. As I said, I may get a copy of the next book so I can finish the story arc.

A big one right now -- I put in three new windows this winter in my attic and I have to repair and seal the siding on the outside of the house around the spots where I put them in. I'm kind of not looking forward to it, even though I could theoretically have it done in an afternoon.

I've been meaning to do more writing/revising to get a few more of my books printed up and released and finish up some others that I haven't completed.
I also want to spend more solid time playing music.
I also want to get my harp fixed.

There are other things I like to do that I haven't in a while; journaling, archery.

Life is quite full right now, and I've mostly been thinking of gardening the last few weeks.

Not a bad idea, Roemer. I think it's one I should pick up, too.
(Welcome, by the way)

So, I'm currently reading Six of Crows, which is a fantasy heist story. So far so good.

But I wanted to write that I also finished The Wise Man's Fear. This is the sequel to The Name of the Wind, bringing me up to date in that series. Now I'm stuck in the same position as with Game of Thrones -- hoping for a finish to the story. I think there is a much better chance with Rothfuss than with Martin. At any rate, The Wise Man's Fear, ca 1100 pages in my copy, was also a page turner but I do not know how Rothfuss plans to cap off this storyline with just one more book. I could see it done with another 2,000 pages or so (as in, two books), but at the pace he's been going I do not see how we can reach a conclusion with just one more book. Maybe that's why it's taking a while.

The later part of Wise Man's Fear had some issues, I'll say. This includes a somewhat adolescent-feeling take on sexuality (and the herb-chewing contraceptive was an easy out) and I'm also a bit confused by some of the spots that Rothfuss breezed over. Did we not get the trial scenario or the shipwreck and pirate stuff just as a matter of time considerations? It felt a bit clipped.

Any thoughts?

I just finished The Name of the Wind. I'm not sure if "finished" is the right word because I devoured it. I even stayed up until well after midnight reading by the light of a lamp one night, which is not something I've done in a good while. Quite an enjoyable read and I will be ordering the next in the series. Something Coir said, though, may apply. The third book is not out yet, and that makes me a bit nervous. Hopefully, Rothfuss will not prove to be a Martin when it comes to completing a series. . .
I would be displeased by that.

As an addendum to the above, I've moved on to Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. After the first 50-or-so pages, I can see why Bear was recommending it so thoroughly on the basis of writing style. He is, for the most part, a good word-smith. The story is also engaging to this point (though can't help but acknowledge the fact that it is a fantasy novel that begins with a tavern. . .).

The movie I have seen. My daughter has  watched the new live action one but I do like the original, although we don't own it.

This is a good question. Considering we have had the scriptures for thousands of years, there are different traditions in existence for reading. For example, Lectio Divina is one traditional meditative way of reading.

Right now, I'm in a three man group where we read the same passage of scripture every day in between meetings. If, when next we meet, we have all done this every day, we move onto a new passage. If any of us haven't, we all do the same passage again. This is designed to have us sit with the scripture and gain a deeper knowledge of it.

One church elder I was speaking to recently said he reads one chapter of the psalms and one chapter of Proverbs every day, corresponding to the day of the month. So, if it is February 1st, he reads the first chapter of Proverbs, first Psalm. Of course, there are more chapters than days of the month (in Psalms at least) so he cycles through over a period of months, it seems like.

I tend to return to Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes pretty often compared to a lot of other passages, and I do re-throughs of the New Testament every so often. Lately, I've been listening to the scripture as an audio book on part of my commute to work. What parts I listen to depends.

I like the idea of the kind of Bible you're referencing -- one that formats it like a "normal" book. I definitely could see it's usefulness. Could you tell me, how does it handle formatting the Psalms and Proverbs and other poetic passages? Does it format it like poetry?

I do need to read Grendel. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I heard of it before but never read it. I need to put it on my wish list.

I Just finished reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairy Land in a Boat of Her Own Making. Yes, it took me a long time but I've been keeping busy in other ways.
I'd recommend the book. It was a good read. If she writes a sequel I'd probably read it, too. It was a mix between Lewis Carol, the Never Ending Story, and The Chronicles of Narnia. Something in that realm.

Interesting choices for the month. I must say, I'm hard up for time right now and struggling to finish a book I started quite a while ago (I'm almost there). I'm actually in the process of building a physical location to house my library, most of which is packed up, so I've been more occupied with hammers and nails than reading, but I hope that will be changing before long.

I used to work in the literary archive called the Wade Center which houses a lot of Lewis' and Tolkien's possessions. I got to be up close and personal in some cases. Not sure I've got the money to drop on something like that, but it is an interesting idea. I'm sure the exhibit was good.