Del DeVries : Reading List

Reading List

Serenity Prayer Pauline Criteria-A Personal Checklist

Modern Library 100 Best Novels -- Board's list and the Reader's list. Similarly the Modern Library's 100 Best Nonfiction

October 2008

The Navigator (The Numa Files) - Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

A Man in Full - Tom Wolfe
Another major novel which weaves story lines together in the last 20% of the book. Excellent writing with a 90' view of economics, race, and politics.

Better Than Good - Ziglar, Zig (CD)

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - Grisham, John
His first non-fiction book, and in my opinion - although an interesting story - not good enough to hold my attention past the first 1/3 of the book.

You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management - Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen

September 2008

The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations - James Surowiecki

Watering Systems for Lawn & Garden: A Do-It-Yourself Guide - R. Dodge Woodson

Landscaping With Herbs: Beautify Your Yard and Garden With Easy-Care Herbs - Ondra, Nancy

Your best life now - Osteen, Joel (CD)
Interesting to listen to the ideas of a TV preacher without training. And a theology that doesn't match mine - but he fills the house in Houston!

August 2008

Southeast Home Landscaping - Holmes, Roger

Landscape Planning: Practical Techniques for the Home Gardener - Judith Adam

July 2008

The Dreaming Void (The Void Trilogy, Book 1) - Peter F. Hamilton
Great tale in the future. Science fiction as a grand story ... and part of a larger story as well. Riviting tale in 600 + pages!

Good Poems - Garrison Keillor

April 2007

The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War - Elisabeth Sifton (2003)
The author is the daughter of Reinhold Niebuhr, the author of the Serenity prayer. Authorship of this famous prayer has been misattributed over the years, but Sifton tells the story of her parents lives, the influence of a German background and people and places in the U.S., and the importance of prayer to Niebuhr. The prayer was written and delivered in 1943 at the height of WWII. Although a bit cranky in places (particularly regarding misattribution, changes in the text, questions of why didn't your father make money with this), this is an interesting bit of history placed into the context of the life and times. I imagine that for Elisabeth Sifton the book satisfied her urge to tell an important story in her family history. In this case, it also has significance for everyone who has heard this prayer.

God, give us grace
to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things
that should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Reinhold Niebuhr

The Hammer of God - Arthur C. Clarke (1993)
Great writing style, I enjoy the easy science fiction style - good story, well written, and enjoyable!

March 2007

Create your own photo blog - Catherine Jamieson http://www.catherinejamieson.com/

The Street : a novel - Lee Gruenfeld

2001, a space odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke (1968)
The classic story of man, computer and space exploration. Based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.

Timeline - Michael Crichton

February 2007

Los Alamos - Joesph Kanon
A novel, place setting is the research labs at Los Alamos near the end of WWII. A view of the inside life with some linkage to Oak Ridge. Surprise to me was how many of the scientists were German and European. Light read - but I took my time starting on Thanksgiving weekend and finishing before the end of Feb!

Constantine's Bible: Politics And the Making of the New Testament

January 2007

December 2006

MereChristianity by CS Lewis
A classic book, but more important are the arguements for Christianity that CS Lewis has crafted. Full of rich content and delicious to chew on a chapter at a time. This is a book to keep on the shelf to savor a bit of again and again. A classic to actually read!

How to paint : a complete step-by-step for beginners covering watercolours, acrylics and oils - Angela Gair and Ian Sidaway

Cure for the common life : living in your sweet spot - Max Lucado (CD)

November 2006

How to listen to & understand great music - Robert Greenberg (CD)

How to paint expressive landscapes in acrylic - Jerry Smith

September 2006

The greatest generation speaks: letters and reflections - Tom Brokaw (CD)

The divine indwelling: centering prayer and its development - Thomas Keating (CD)

House - Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker (CD)

August 2006

Flipping the switch-- unleashing the power of personal accountability - John G. Miller

QBQ! : the question behind the question : practicing personal accountability at work and in life - John G. Miller

The 80/20 individual : how to accomplish more by doing less - the nine essentials of 80/20 success at work - Richard Koch

The power of purpose : creating meaning in your life and work - Richard J. Leider

Spiritual literacy : reading the sacred in everyday life - Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The family CFO : the couple's business plan for love and money - Mary Claire Allvine and Christine Larson

July 2006

The gospel of Jesus / read by Garrison Keillor; edited by Daniel L. Johnson. CD version.
Garrison Keillor is the perfrect story teller for the gospels.

Success: advice for achieving your goals from remarkably successful people / J. Pincott, editor
Excellent little volume with bits and pieces from numerous sources captured and categorized into a coherent whole. A nice reference for idea's.

American legend: The real-life adventures of David Crockett - Buddy Levy
Biography of the man and the legend! Born in East Tennesee, roamed the state - steadily moving to the West, until keeping a campaign promise left the state for Texas. His life ended in the chapel at the Alamo -- and the legend grew!

The Templar legacy: [a novel of suspense] - Steve Berry
CD book in the same vein as Dan Brown books on the DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons. Take a bit of history and weave fiction around multiple characters, each with their own agenda, culminating in the final chapters where the story reaches the peak of suspense. A good tale!

The Great Train Robbery - Michael Crichton (1975)
Excellent novel of an early fraud accomplished by lockpicking and social engineering to defect controls over gold shipments. Extensive analysis by Pierce, the mastermind, was required over many months to accomplish the task. Historical setting in the UK is perfect for this tale.

June 2006

Retire on less than you think: the New York times guide to planning your financial future - Fred Brock

The retirement savings time bomb and how to defuse it: a five-step action plan for protecting your IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement plans from near annihilation by the taxman - Ed Slott

Avenger - Frederick Forsyth

Blood and whiskey: the life and times of Jack Daniel - Peter Krass

May 2006

Local man moves to the city: loose talk from American Radio Company - Garrison Keillor

Flipping the switch - unleashing the power of personal accountability - John G. Miller

The 5 lessons a millionaire taught me - Richard Paul Evans

Don't know much about the Bible: everything you need to know about the Good Book but never learned - Kenneth C. Davis\\ (not recommended - poorly written and rather boring!)

April 2006

One to one: self-understanding through journal writing - Christina Baldwin

The power of full engagement: managing energy, not time, is the key to performance and personal renewal - Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz The Energy Project

Spring into digital photography - Joseph T. Jaynes, Rip Noel

Stocks for the long run: the definitive guide to financial market returns and long-term investment strategies - Jeremy J. Siegel

The Wall Street journal guide to the business of life - Nancy Keates

March 2006

Answers From Within - William J. Bryon, S.J. (1998)

Retire early? make the smart choices : maximize your social security benefits and plan your financial future / Steven Silbiger

The on-time, on-target manager : how a "last-minute manager" conquered procrastination / Ken Blanchard, Steve Gottry

The next great bubble boom : how to profit from the greatest boom in history 2005-2009 / Harry S. Dent, Jr

The family CFO : the couple's business plan for love and money / Mary Claire Allvine and Christine Larson

Homegrown Democrat: A few plain thoughts from the heart of America] - Garrison Keillor (2005)

The future for investors: Why the tried and true triumph over the bold and new - Jeremy J. Siegel
Excellent analysis of international financial markets. Focus on high growth industries, companies, and countries vs high return companies. Emphasizes the fact that many companies perceived as high growth (even extremely high growth) have low returns. Leads the reader through an analysis of steady companies, paying growing dividends, which have very low PE's and ultimately earn good returns.

The Myth of Laziness - Mel Levine (2003)
A pediatrician's analysis of learning difficulties in children (and adults) with the objective of understanding how we can become more productive. Levine says that laziness is a myth and that output failure is a measurable event which may have numerous reasons (and solutions which is the focus of the book).

Feb 2006

Ordinary Heroes : A Novel - Scott Turow\\ WWII setting for the main events of the story. A spy novel of sorts, although more coming of age, growing up, falling in love, and learning about personal choices in the midst of terrible events. Told by the son reading his father's journal years later. Surprises of course that include both of his parents.

The art of the steal - Frank Abagnale\\ A great place for stories about internal controls! Abagnale covers a broad variety of cash, check, and electronic fraud examples. He makes effective use of his 25 years of consulting for the government, financial institutions, and business. Some of his comments on Internet security become dated very quickly.

Healthy Aging : A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being - Andrew Weil, M.D.

8 Weeks to Optimum Health - Andrew Weil, M.D.\\ Another great title from Dr. Weil, read it a few year ago!!

Tags: books

It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.

Alfred North Whitehead

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