The Nature of Things

I am what might be fairly described as a voracious and eclectic reader. I'm always reading at least one book and occasionally two. But does all that reading make me a better person? This came to mind because of an article by Laura Miller that I read in Salon.com today. It's title was " Does reading great books make you a better person? " Miller was, in fact, writing about a new book by William Deresiewicz, A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship and the Things That Really Matter . Deresiewicz's theory, which is made clear by the title of his book, is that great books can make you a better person. Miller disagrees, saying that she knows many well-read people who are real jerks. Personally, I'm on the fence here. I'm not sure who has the better argument. I am in a unique position to judge the Jane Austen theory though, because, in the past year, I read all six of her famous books. I don't know if they made me a be...

The notorious Westboro Baptist Church was at it again this Memorial Day, the day when we honor the memory of all who have died in defense of our country. They were out to demonstrate in front of Arlington Cemetery, carrying their signs that say "Thank God for dead soldiers." As has often happened at Westboro's demonstrations in recent months, they were met by counter-demonstrators who attempted to block their view of the cemetery and to shout them down when they yelled out their slogans. Interestingly, one of the groups countering Westboro today was a klaven of the Ku Klux Klan! I never thought I would find myself in agreement with anything that the KKK did. Just goes to show that wonders will never cease I suppose. Various courts have held that the Westboro Baptists have a legally protected right to do what they do, but just because one has the legal right to make heinous, hurtful statements and acts does not mean that one has the moral right to do so. I wonder wh...

The herbalist and amateur investigator China Bayles has a knack for getting herself involved in sticky situations. In Mourning Gloria , she happens upon a house fire just in time to hear a woman trapped inside screaming for help. China calls 9-1-1 and tries to get in to save the woman but the heat drives her back. The investigation of the event by fire marshalls and police reveal that it was no accident and that the woman had been shot and tied up before being left to die in the flames. Who in the peaceful town of Pecan Springs would possibly be guilty of such a gruesome act? One who tries to piece the story together and find the solution to that question is a young woman intern-reporter at the local newspaper. Jessica Nelson tracks down leads and clues to the story, but then she suddenly disappears. Did she find the murderer and will she meet the same fate as the first victim? Her friend, China Bayles, is on the case and sets out to track her down, find out what has happened and save ...

Scientists warn us that we should not try to relate any one weather event to the phenomenon of global warming, but what about a whole series of weather events? When does a series of "coincidences" become a pattern? Consider these coincidences: * The Amazon has just emerged from its second hundred-year drought within the last five years. * There have been unprecedented floods in Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan in the past year. * The Arctic has melted for the first time in thousands of years. * Last month was the most active April in U.S. history for tornadoes. And looking at the Midwest this week, it appears that record of activity is continuing into May. * Texas and the adjoining parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico are drier than they've ever been . The drought is worse than that of the Dust Bowl years. To make matters worse, much of Texas is being devastated by wildfires. * This year's record snowfalls and rainfalls across the Midwest have resulted in reco...

In Kurt Wallander, Henning Mankell has created a seriously flawed but ultimately sympathetic character. This book, published in Swedish in 1991 and in English in 1997, is the first in the series featuring Wallander and I will be interested to see how the character changed and grew as the series progressed. Wallander is a police inspecter in Ystad, Sweden, and in this introductory book, he has a particularly violent and seemingly senseless crime to solve. An elderly couple have been brutally murdered in a remote farmhouse. Before she died, the woman uttered the word "Foreigner." Is that a clue to the identity of the killer or killers or was it just a meaningless sound from a dying and delerious woman? The murders occur on a cold night in January and the bleak cold of the Swedish wintry landscape permeates the story. Wallander assembles his team and they begin to work the case, but soon they are distracted by another murder. Information about the dying woman's final word ha...