What I'm reading this summer 

I have very eclectic reading tastes.  The summer has been very busy but I've managed to finish a few books.  Admittedly I am a bit of an Amazon junkie.  I just ordered and received (thank you Amazon prime) two books on Canadian finance.  Larry Bates Beat the Bank and Wealthing like Rabbits by Robert R. Brown. I like reading about finance because money is of interest me. I equate making and managing money with creating choice. Choices mean work can be an option as opposed to a sentence.  Please don't judge me for my Amazon habit.  I go to bookstores regularly.  Whenever I travel I make sure I stop at the local bookstore ( N helps with this too, the Borders at LSU was awesome) and I always buy a book or two.  Usually I take tons of pictures, approximately ten per store.  Otherwise I will forget titles and this is a good way to keep a list.  There are boxes showing up at our house weekly.  I rationalize my Amazon addiction with the argument that I read so much it would honestly be too expensive.

I finished a light one in Texas.  Liane Moriarty's The Last Anniversary.  I always love her stories.  She wrote Little Big Lies which the hit  HBO series is based on starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.  Then I started John Grisham's The Reckoning but I've since put it down.  I'll get back to it in time but it was a bit heavy.  N and I were at a great bookstore in Houston called Brazos Bookstore.  I came upon Spiritual Rebel: A positively addictive guide to finding deeper perspective & higher purposee by Sarah Bowen.  This book caught my interest because I read a lot on Buddhism.  A fiercely devoted atheist I may be veering towards agnostic.  Bowen's book is a gentle approach to embracing spirituality without being preachy.  It's a quick read.  Essentially a reminder to be more open and kind.  To consider that we are all interconnected.  I was intrigued by the stories about her friends who have established charitable foundations.  The book is a three week workshop encouraging the reader to explore their own sense of spirituality without having to follow one rigid path.  I will refer to this book regularly.  When I am ready to do some volunteer work I will go back and page through the recommendations.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for Bowen's out of box approach to spirituality.  It's hard to simplify complex theories but I think this book does a good job.

In the meantime I am also listening to the audio version of Robert A. Caro's, The Years of Lyndon Johnson; The path to Power.  This is volume one of four volumes. My commute is roughly 90 minutes a day,  it's a good opportunity to absorb something more challenging.  My life is too hectic to read historical biographies.  Caso's biography is riveting.  The details and analysis on LBJ are insightful and intriguing.  Johnson was a brilliant and complicated man.  His influence on America is arguably one of the most powerful since FDR.  He shaped the country until Reaganomics altered the country's path yet again.

Recently I purchased my tickets for Read for the Cure.  I think this is the fourth year I've attended the event.  There are three books per event that should be read.  They will arrive by mail in early September.  I will make a valiant effort to have them all read.  While I wait for those books to arrive I am almost done Delia Owen's fantastic book Where the Crawdads Sings.  I noticed a young woman reading it around the pool in San Antonio and found the book at a Costco in Houston.  Excellent summer reading. Hope you're enjoying some good summer reads.  Let me know if you have any good recommendations.