Just about to start The DaVinci Code - I've been told it's a real page-turner, so I need to make some time when I can just sit and read without interruption...

I'm mid-way through The Two Towers, which means I'm mid-way through The Lord of the Rings. My first read of the series. Definitely recommended.

Those considering Seabiscuit - good plan! I loved it, even more than the movie!

In terms of fiction. . .

I read John Grisham's new book, "The Last Juror" Friday night. It went very quickly. Not his best, but entertaining. It came out 2/3/04.

I read "The Zero Game" by Brad Melzer (sp?) about a week ago, while in Miami for a meeting. It was so suspenseful that it scared the crap out of me. And it mentioned FinCEN, so it got a point for that.

In addition to the Da Vinci Code, I read two other books by the same author -- Digital Fortress (encryption, the NSA, mystery, intrigue -- I loved it!) and Deception Point (not nearly as engrossing -- dealt with politics, space exploration).

Scads of terribly forgettable novels.

Nonfiction:

Classic Logic Puzzles
Edit Yourself
Undress Your Stress
The Ultimate Flower Arranging Book
30 Second Mysteries, Volume II

I love to read on airplanes and in airports, so anytime I've been traveling, my list is long.

Death of a Guru

The Mitford series by Jan Karon. I'm on book five of seven. And I'm just starting "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren.

I read Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" and what a thought provoking book. That lead to his "Angels & Demons" which I am currently reading. Yes, Dan Brown's book does lead to
research of traditional religious facts and beliefs. A great read for a free-thinker.

A Dan Brown Warning! He asks interesting questions. Do not rely on him for the answers. Newsweek a few months back debunked some of his ideas. I have read both the DiVinci Code and Angels and Demons - great reads! (The second book served a dual purpose. I used it to study Rome!)

"Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."

I haven't read it in quite some time but I loved it!

Bring on the Vogon poetry!

I'm reading Seabiscuit right now. I'm usually not a nonfiction reader, but this is very good. The movie left out so much!!

Currently reading "Heaven's Wager" by Ted Dekker - about a guy who wrote a software program for banks, then ends up turning it into something to help him scam the bank for $20 million. Kept ME reading! Also have "The Hobbit" going on the side - I've never been a fantasy fan, but it's a good read.

Personal favorites are "Deadline" and "Dominion" by Randy Alcorn, and the Mitford series -- I've read 'em all 4 times and can't wait to start over again.

I've heard of the DaVinci Code, but I don't know much about it. Anyone want to tell me real quick what it's about? That may be my next read.

The ACT enrollment instructions. Yeah, I know it's not exciting, but it's good for a whole evening to get it filled out and my daughter needs to start taking it this year.

Oh there is such a list of goodies so far!

I just finished "Nothing Lasts Forever" by Sydney Sheldon.
I just finished the "Key" series from Norah Roberts.
I just obtained "The DiVinci Code"
I am listening to the "Left Behind" series on CD in my car...

Oh......so little time and so many good books!

My mom and I are both hooked on the "Left Behind" series. I don't normally read religious theme books but these have me enthralled. It does me good to do a little serious thinking now and then - besides compliance, of course!

Mack - here's a hint - there's going to be an election this year. Clark dropped out last night. And Howard Dean is a complete idiot.

Since I know a lot of you are or have read "The Da Vinci Code" and thought you might be interest in this.

The Da Vinci Conspiracy
Distinguishing Fact from Fiction

BreakPoint with Charles Colson

January 20, 2004

Several months ago, a friend came to me outraged over Dan Brown’s thriller, The Da Vinci Code. He read the book, and while he found the story fascinating, it was filled, he said, with historical distortions and was nothing but an anti-Christian—specifically anti-Catholic—screed. Don’t worry, I told him, it will blow over like all fads. Besides, no thinking person will take it seriously.

Well, I was wrong. Since then I’ve talked to a lot of people who have read the book. And for non-believers, it confirms their unbelief. It turns off honest seekers, and it has confused and disillusioned even many Christians.

That’s because while Brown has a knack for creating suspense, breakneck pacing, and surprising twists, he also has a knack for playing fast and loose with the truth.

The Da Vinci Code begins with the murder of a museum curator. A Harvard professor and a French code breaker are called in to decipher a cryptic message that he wrote just before he died. They discover that he was protecting a powerful and dangerous secret.

So far, just your average thriller, right? We soon find out that the curator had evidence that could disprove the deity of Christ. Although the Church had tried for centuries to suppress the evidence, great thinkers and artists have planted clues everywhere: in paintings by Da Vinci, the architecture of cathedrals—even Disney cartoons.

That sounds like a loony conspiracy theory, except that Brown props up his flimsy edifice with impressive-sounding, supposedly historical “facts.” One of his characters even states, “The historical evidence supporting this [story] is substantial.”

But it’s not. Brown uses a combination of lies and half-truths, founded on a skewed perspective of Church history. In Brown’s view, the heretics in the early Church were the real truth-tellers, and the Church banned their doctrines because they threatened the Church’s power base.

Just in case readers go back to their Bibles to check facts, Brown has his characters claim that the Gospels aren’t historically accurate. Instead, it’s the Gnostic gospels—books discarded by the early Church as unreliable—that tell the truth about Jesus.

As Dan Brown knows, an adventure story like The Da Vinci Code is an ideal way to get past people’s guard. Between trying to guess who the real villains are and trying to decode the various clues scattered throughout the book, who’s going to notice that Brown’s religious theories are as phony as a three-dollar bill?

Christians need to notice, that’s who. And we need to do our research so that we can respond to the fabrications in The Da Vinci Code. (See the links at the end of this commentary to get started.)

Even though Dan Brown knows the techniques of writing a best-selling thriller, he uses them to reach the most banal conclusions. He apparently thinks it’s exciting to show Jesus as an ordinary human being with strong leanings toward goddess worship. But the biblical story of Jesus—God the Son coming to earth as a man to die and rise again for our salvation—is infinitely more exciting. If you know Christians who are reading the book, tell them, “Throw it away.” And if you have non-Christian friends who have read it, debunk The Da Vinci Code. Then tell them a much better story: one that has the added advantage of being true.

Thanks, Boomermom! I was trying to post a link to that Breakpoint commentary, but couldn't get it to work.

Food for thought, as usual from Mr. Colson.

I had read Di Vinci Code and really enjoyed it and
just finished Angels and Demons, which I think is
even better than Da Vinci. Two excellent books.
I will now go back and read his earlier two books that
were less controversial. But his da Vinci Code definitely
gave me new and an intriguing insight into such things as
the secret life of Leonardo da Vinci and the Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei. Yes, Dan Brown's books are controversial to some, but the majority of folks will just enjoy the suspense of a great novel. Everyone has secrets, even the church, and when someone starts reminding them of some of their very bad deeds, mainly during the inquisition & reformation, it of course makes some people uneasy.