In thinking it over, it seems a little presumptuous
on my part to think you'd really be interested in the
few books I manage to read these days. In my younger
days I read constantly, but now so many other voices
call to me and distract me from reading time. I do
squeeze in a little reading in the wee hours of the
morning during my time of devotions, and I crunch in
a tiny bit at the end of the day as I am falling exhaustedly
into bed, but that is pretty much the extent of my time
spent between the covers of a book.

However, assuming you are interested-here goes with the
few I've managed to make it through in the last several
bits of time I've had.

1. Robert the Bruce: King of Scots by Ronald McNair Scott.
This is truly a history book. It took me a few chapters
to get my bearings on who was who. I was a bit surprised
that William Wallace, though he was a big part in the
fight for the independence, really played second fiddle
totally to Robert the Bruce. The setting is definitely
Middle Ages, so if you have a squeamish stomach this is
probably not the read for you. But, if you like to know
exactly how and why things came about-go ahead and tackle
it. Now I understand where the Stewarts came from that
are so much a part of Scotland by the time of RLS's
Kidnapped.
I loved the Robert Burns poem that the book ends with.

Scots wha hae with Wallace bled
Scots wham Bruce has aften led
Welcome to your gory bed
Or to victorie

2. In the Name of Jesus:Reflections on Christian Leadership
by Henri J.M. Nouwen.
Here is a thought provoking book on the Christian leader
becoming a servant. While Nouwen does have a sense of
mysticism that I am uncomfortable with, he has a sincerity
of purpose that is commendable. How many Christian leaders
will purposefully give up lucrative and high-profile positions
in the Christian realm in order to follow the mandate of Jesus
to become a servant? I am afraid that most of our radio/
television personalities and book writing gurus wouldn't
come close to the humility and honesty that Nouwen offers
us.

3. Found: God's Will by John MacArthur, Jr.
You can't go wrong with John MacArthur. He is sound.
He is solid. No slippery slopes here, just a good
reminder of where we are and where we are headed.

4. I started a book last night that I picked off the shelf
in the library. It took about five minutes to decide to
shut it and forget it. It reminded me of most modern
day sitcoms on television. There were too many references
to s*x, even though they were couched in a playful, seemingly
rather harmless story. My time is too precious to watch
or read such nonsense. Now that leads me to speak of one of
the good things that has come about in modern day Mayberry.
A year or so ago the library got computerized. We now check
out our books electronically. Previous to that there was the
old library card you signed. My name is on some books that
I never read past the first page. I would be so ashamed that
others could see that I had even checked that particular book
out...of course, it could be fun to see who else had checked
out such horrid books and play the goody-goody who would
exclaim to herself, "Oh my, look what they have been reading.
How shocking!"