The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Such a great audiobook--loved the narrator's performance. Takes you back into the days of the great British houses and their professional butlers, valets, housekeepers, etc. I think Downton Abbey's chief butler was modeled on the character of the protagonist. Listened to this on my iPhone; borrowed from the library.


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The Siege: 68 Hours Inside the Taj Hotel by Adrian Levy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well-written & documented book on the horrible terrorist attacks (perpetrated & controlled by a Pakistani terrorist organization that ISI ultimately sanctions) on Mumbai in 2008. A focal part of these horrific attacks that killed over 160 people was the seige of the world-class Taj Hotel. Part of what led to the high number of casualties--both killed & wounded--by the 10 trained terrorists was the inexplicable delay on the Indian government's behalf in getting their specially trained anti-terrorist troops to Mumbai (and the actual attack sites) from New Delhi. Inexcusable disorganization with deadly results. I listened to the audiobook, borrowed from the library.


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The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating (& disturbing) investigation into the effects of all the technological "advancements" that have come along with the rise & development of the internet and the digitalization of all things. Not to mention the 24/7 "on" button that streams everything, causing multiple interruptions & distractions. It is all having an effect on us and our brains & ways of living & working. Some great insights from neuroplasticity in this book--a relatively new science studying the incredible structure & adaptability of our brains. Bottom-line: the more distractions we encounter, the less our long-term memory is able to build/retain information & learn from it. We need times of deep thought, reflection, quiet, solitude in order to learn, gain understanding, and to inculcate ideas into our minds. I listened to this on my iPhone; borrowed from the library.


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Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Steve Coll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is Pt. 2 of Coll's series that brilliantly expose the events leading up to 9/11--and those following the dastardly 9/11 attacks. Coll does an excellent job of unpacking the issues & events & missteps of the US' government and various agencies in its response to 9/11--the focus being the on-going conflicts in Afghanistan & Pakistan (yes, still on-going in 2019 & not likely to be over soon...hey, we're still engaged in Germany & S. Korea after 60+ years!--what did you expect??). I appreciated the nuances Coll depicts in the US relationship (can't really be called much of an alliance) with Pakistan--and it's military & I.S.I. leaders. Mostly, there's lots of missteps & miscalculations exposed--and outright duplicity & forked-tongue speak. If you want to know why the on-going situation in Afghanistan is so complex, read this account by Coll, backed up by solid research and hundreds of interviews. And maybe do a little more in-depth thinking and research next time when you think that outright military might & money can solve complex & implacable issues on the far side of the globe.


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The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It really is an extraordinary story--27 years in the woods of Maine...and just a few minute's walk away from a bunch of summer lake cabins. Amazing that he went undetected for so long. Finkel does a great job of unraveling the mystery of the hermit of the Maine woods. Sad, sad in places; inspiring in other places. Borrowed from the library.


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Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My first NT Wright book--really enjoyed his biblical insights & overall exegesis. Wright also has a very engaging writing style, even though he's explicating deep & serious theological issues. Wright's reminder that Christianity's view of heaven & the resurrection is not gnostic or dualistic is very important--Christ's resurrection was the "first fruits" clearly demarcating that God's eternal Kingdom (the "Kingdom of heaven" Jesus announced) had broken into the kingdom of this world, and that those who truly believed & followed Him would also be fully resurrected bodily to be participants in the fully restored future "new heaven & earth." That hope now fuels believers & followers of Christ to work for the Kingdom of heaven that is even now breaking out all over the present earth. Borrowed the ebook from our library.


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Belichick and Brady: Two Men, the Patriots, and How They Revolutionized Football by Michael Holley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great read & insights into the depth chart & tactics of the "Patriot way" and the phenomenal success of the NE Patriots since all the magic started in the 2001 season. Yes, that's right, 18 years ago. Never been a dynasty quite like it...and, no, I don't believe it's over yet. Brady & Belichick are still going strong! Great & "mediocre" & bottom-wrung players on the Pats come & go--and the Pats have seeded/ceded countless players & coaches to other teams--but the magic just keeps on happening. Sorry, Patriots-haters in the 44 other states...you'll just have to read 'em and keep weeping. And shame on ESPN for their mistaken & un-retracted stories & tweets that fueled the so-called Deflategate--that's just wrong, as is the Commissioner, one too many times...maybe time for you to move on too?? Roger that?? Oh, you gotta love 18-1 season (!) after "Spygate" and then the sweet revenge & payback when Brady & Belichick & the Pats won their 5th Super Bowl (of 6 so far, don't forget) after the 4-game Brady suspension. Listened to audiobook, borrowed from the library.


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How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My third Mohsin Hamid book. I'm giving it a 3-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. I liked the narrator's voice overall, very chatty and witty. Quite a bit tongue-in-cheek, with a good dose of cynicism, the narrator outlays the challenges and difficulties of a fictitious person in a fictitious rapidly expanding Asian city (in South Asia) who is attempting to get ahead in life. The vagaries and ups & downs of life in the so-called Third World, with its corruption, cultural clashes, traditions, and fast-changing pace of life. Borrowed from the library.


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The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of the most unusual, unexpected, amazing, powerful testimonies I've heard--pointing again to the power of the Gospel to bring about a transformation that would otherwise be impossible. And an amazing testimony to the power of hospitality and, yes, relational/friendship evangelism (with a good dose of the Gospel & God's Word).


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SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating follow-up to their first book, Freakonomics. Some amazing insights--with humor--on things great & small in our world; e.g. an ingenious & relatively simple way to stop hurricanes from forming (and saving billions of dollars of damage done each year)...Loved the audiobook narration (by one of the authors)--borrowed the audiobook from the library.


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The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book by Rosaria Butterfield follows from her amazing testimony detailed in The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. It packs a powerful punch and includes very personal & specific stories of real people (the Butterfield family) doing real practical hospitality with their neighbors and fellow church members. It is an excellent example of how lives transformed by the Jesus & the Gospel can adorn the Gospel and draw people into God's Kingdom. In my opinion, a book that every Christian should read and prayerfully consider putting into practice, whatever their situation in life. A biblical call & challenge to a "radical" way of life, because, unfortunately, so many believers aren't living out the normal life patterns that are part of the ordinary call of being disciples of Jesus. Yes, it's just a call to be "radically ordinary" in how we live as Jesus followers in a fallen, broken world. I listened to this audiobook on my iPhone and enjoyed Rosaria's reading.


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The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness by Erwin W. Lutzer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm giving this book 3-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. It had some very good points & insights; it also had some that were a bit overstated, I thought. But, overall, a solid & good book with some practical recommendations for living out our faith in a relativistic world.


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Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times by Mark Leibovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book and the humorous voice of Mark Leibovich (as read by the narrator--excellent job!), even when talking about quite serious issues. Lots going on in the NFL in recent years--the so-called "Not For Long" league--and Leibovich does an excellent job in employing sarcasm and unflinching truths about it, in an engagingly irreverent tone. I gave it 4-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. Especially loved the "slant" that Leibovich has as an avid Patriots' fan, given that he grew up in the Boston area (and the olden non-golden years of the awful Pats), and the access he gained to both Brady, Belichick, and RKK (ah, Robert Kraft, as he likes to be referred to, while looking directly into people's eyes...or was it he being "directly looked" at in his eyes?). Published just prior to the season where the Patriots won their 6th Super Bowl--and seem poised, possibly, to going on with Brady & Belichick to win SB #7...we hope. And, surely, we'll watch those rewinds/replays over & over again...Borrowed this audiobook from the library.


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The Prestige by Christopher Priest
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not bad, but not great. I think the shifting perspectives and timeframes made for difficulty in reading continuity. Want to rewatch the movie--which, as I remember, has made some pretty significant changes to the book.


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Brave Companions: Portraits in History by David McCullough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm giving this 3-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. This is a collection of articles and some speeches of McCullough, and so not a proper book on its own. Some interesting characters highlighted in these portraits, some more interesting than others. Loved his commencement speech to the Dartmouth Univ. class of 1986. Study history--soak it up & learn from it. So much to learn; so many who have blazed trails ahead for us to follow and be inspired by. Borrowed from the library...and only makes me want all the more to go visit the Library of Congress in DC.


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Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Loaned from the library--listened to on my iPhone. Lamott is in her own category; some good stuff, some a bit fuzzy/relative...


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J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I gave this bio of J.R.R. Tolkien a 3-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. It was pretty good--though I would have liked more details on the long, drawn-out process and twists & turns of Tolkien's writing of The Lord of the Rings trilogy--and maybe more of how his son, Christopher, managed to finally finish up The Silmarillion book that Tolkien had labored over for so many years. Borrowed from the library.


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Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A well-researched, documented, and written account of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's reactor #4 meltdown. Higginbotham has done an excellent job interviewing all the main characters--still living 20 years later--who were there as the meltdown happened and/or were involved in the cover-up & clean-up. A damning look at the sloppiness, arrogance/hubris, mistakes, ignorance, and downright criminal actions of Soviet officials right up to the highest offices in the empire...a crumbling "empire" that was helped out of existence due to the long-lingering effects of Chernobyl's meltdown and its unbelievable associated costs. All the shining promises of nuclear were set back years & years by the events surrounding the bad design flaws and operator failures--and irreversible negative effects--of the meltdown at Chernobyl's reactor #4. Borrowed from the library.


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Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing read about the history-making voyage of Apollo 8 & its crew--the first manned space flight to the moon (they orbited 10 times) and back. What a thrill to read the details of how this unfolded and the challenges NASA faced in moving one step closer to the "giant leap for mankind" soon coming with the mission of Apollo 11. Borrowed from the library.


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Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent group of articles on various climbing adventures. Borrowed from the library.


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Shoot Me First by Grant Lock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some good stories & adventures detailed in a the Lock's 24-years of service in both Pakistan & Afghanistan. I gave it a 3-1/2 stars on my Reading Log.


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Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second bio I've read on Teddie Roosevelt, though this one is focused on his earlier life and does not include anything on his presidency. Roosevelt was quite an interesting character and his short (died when he was 60 yrs. old) was densely packed with such varied experiences. This is one of McCullough's earlier works and I found it not as well written or as engaging as most of his others. I gave it 3-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. Borrowed it from the library.


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