Beach Reading Round Up

Sadly, for me, vacation is over and it's back to real life.  All in all, it was a great trip.  The bulk of my time was spent with my nose in a book--either at the beach, on the porch, in the pool, or somewhere else.  Here's a quick rundown of what I read.  I think it was a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction, serious and frivolous.

The Sinner's Guide To Confession by Phyllis Schieber: The story of three friends, each with long-held secrets, who struggle to come to terms with those secrets.  A good "beach" book.

Putting Away Childish Things by Marcus Borg.  A religion teacher and her students struggle to understand the role of Christianity and the Bible in today's society.  It does a nice job of framing the important issues dividing Christians today.

Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.  Insights into and analysis of the 2008 election and the lead-up thereto.  I also thought it was an interesting view of how elections are run (and won).  The book does not play favorites--all of the players are at times portrayed in a negative light. 

Freakanomics by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt.  Real world application of economic principles from standardized test scores to real estate agent commissions to bringing down the KKK.  I've been wanting to read this book for a while now, and it was worth it.  Fascinating.

Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon.  An account of the forced servitude of convicts (often arrested for such crimes as selling cotton after sundown) to private businesses and forced to work in mines and at other hard labor during the period after the Civil War when slavery had supposedly been outlawed.  Graphic.  Sobering.  Heart-wrenching. Important.