Living spiritually....and enough with the vampires!

I finally finished Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton. It seems like I’ve been reading it for months. Perhaps because I have been? While not really a lengthy book, I was having a hard time making myself finish it - mostly because I am over the character and the crazy storylines. While I understand that a reader should expect gore and graphic scenes in a series whose main character hunts vampires and raises zombies for a living, I think that in this novel the author went a bit too far. Namely the scene in the hospital nursery.

So, this is the last book I plan to read in the Anita Blake vampire hunter series. I might try Hamilton’s other series…but not for a while!

The other book I finished reading on Monday was The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs. This was an impulse buy. Recently, Borders had their educator appreciation week. As a public library employee, I can also use the 25% discount. Awesome! I think the hubby and I spent about $85 on books the weekend he was home!

So, I saw this book as I was walking towards the front of the store. It looked funny and intriguing. I started reading it about 15 minutes after I bought it (while I was out eating dinner), and was instantly sucked in.

The book is a memoir (of sorts). The author decided that he might be missing something in his life by not raising his son with religion. So, he decides to do some major research…and to live life for one year by the rules of the Bible. The literal rules. You know them…thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not wear linen and wool in one garment, thou shalt not cut your beard…

The spiritual quest is documented throughout the book. Jacobs has a crew of religious advisors, ranging from Orthodox rabbis to a “Pastor out to Pasture”. He visits a Creationist Museum in Kentucky, stays at an Amish Bed and Breakfast in Pennsylvania, and meets his infamous ex-uncle Gil in Israel.

I thought this book was excellent, and am looking forward to reading his other book, Know it All.

Current reads: Right now I’m listening to Drums of Autumn – I’m about a third of the way through…I think. Maybe just a fourth. It’s a long audiobook!! I’m reading The Shadow in the North by Phillip Pullman. I want to finish it this weekend so I can watch – and return – the BBC movie based on the book.

I have a growing stack of books in my office, and am unsure which I’ll start reading next. There are so many to choose from!