at the beginning of the month – the beginning of the year – I mentioned a book I had just finished – @ Home for the Holidays by Meredith Efken.

Shortly after I finished that book my boss brought in a tub chock full of books to share. I snagged a grocery bag’s worth. She has great taste in reading and is generous with her bounty. I am always out for a new read and so snagged away.

So, in the  past two weeks, these are the books I have finished and highly recommend to you all.

The first I completed was Pigtopia by Kitty Fitzgerald. This poignant and thought provoking book was also a bit disturbing. It is hard to read of cruelty – against a human being – by other (so-called) human beings. Fiction – but oh, so believable.

I began to read Gilead by Marilynn Robinson, only to be introduced to another before I could finish it – so I read them simultaneously. It depended on the time of day and where I was which book I had in my hands.

First, Gilead. This is a long letter from a dying old preacher (77 years old) to his 7 year old son (by a second marriage after his first wife and child died.) There is much angst over what he would have his son know – and what he learns about himself and those around him while in the process of writing the letter.

Absolutely wonderful read! I know such a preacher and I found myself thinking I wish he would read this book to get an insight to himself. Then realized I was getting an insight to my pastor/preacher by reading about this one. It’s a good read – not overly religious – very human – and heart-touching. I finished it today.

And, the book my boss handed me just after I began Gilead was New Stories from the South: the Year’s Best, 2006, edited by Allan Gurganus and Kathy Pories. I finished it yesterday and returned it as was requested by my boss. (all of the rest of the books are welcome to find new homes, although I do take them back as I finish them – to allow someone who wasn’t as quick or sticky-fingered as I to enjoy them as well.)

As can be figured out by the title – it is a book of short stories and they have an underlying current running through them – the South. All happened either IN the south or TO southerners. Pathos, angst, “the” war, slavery, humanity . . . all are covered. It is a wonderful read. When you click on the link you will see that there are other issues as well – seems there is a volume published every year.

Okay – here it is just the 24th of the first month of 2007 and I have read four books this year! I’ll report later what my next selection has been.

Our receptionist is out this week so I am doing desk duty. It’s a lovely thing to be paid to sit and read all day. And, I am free to do just that – as long as the phone gets answered, the mail gets sorted, faxes handled, people let in and out of the door, coffee made, etc. Lovely, just lovely.

So – what are YOU reading?????