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It may be admirable to claim that I read only to learn and expand my mind, but to be perfectly honest, I read because I enjoy it! It’s fun. If I happen to learn or challenge myself during this pursuit—all the better. I’m the furthest thing from a book snob as you can probably get while still loving to read.
I’ve purchased heaps of books lately (both audio and paper) that must be read! Have you read any of them? Which should I pick up next?
Fiction
The Gray Man by Mark Greaney
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper [fuckme, some of these titles seem embaraassing, don't they?]
Naked in Death by J. D. Robb [I love naked stuff]
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Non-fiction
The End of Faith by Sam Harris [Are you shocked that I haven't finished this book yet?]
Why I Am Not a Christian & Other Essays on Religion & Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell
Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God by Carl Sagan
I’m leaving out a bunch of great options hiding on my shelves, but this is a good start.
What are you reading right now?
You guys! I found an atheist book on the Free Shelf at work today! *Dances a jig with jazz hands*
John W. Loftus, author of one of my favorite blogs, Debunking Christianity, and the book Why I Became an Atheist, has edited a collection of articles critiquing the claims of Christianity. The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails is shooting to the top of my to-read list!
Non-fiction—especially concerning subjects about which I am passionate—makes me yearn for an Amazon Kindle or similar device with which I could make highlights and notes about certain passages to remember for later. I revere printed books too much to write all over them; I even hate writing in pretty journals because I don’t want to sully them with my chicken scratch handwriting. A book about atheism, science, and faith is certainly going to stir up many ideas, and I would love to store those light bulbs of inspiration somewhere. Ah well; it’s on my wishlist 
for shitsn’giggles, here’s a not-so-intellectual book I also grabbed off the Free Shelf that’s sure to make you chuckle.
What books are you reading right now that I should add to my list?
I promise I’m not emo. I simply adore The Velveteen Rabbit. Thanks to my sister for reminding me about this quote.
Anne Rice was raised a Catholic and left the religion to do her own thing for many years. Much to the delight of Christians who like to name drop (and especially those who hate vampires), she reverted to Catholicism in 1998, dedicating her writing and life to Jesus.
“I Quit”
But twelve years later, the tide has turned once again. Rice recently spread this news via her facebook page:
Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten …years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.
As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.
–Anne Rice, author 2010
You can imagine all the atheists eating this for lunch, can’t you? Can’t you smell the delight over someone famous leaving Christianity? Everyone likes having a public figure on their team. Free endorsements!
However…
Not Good Enough
Good for Rice that she finally recognized the mess of this religion. I understand not wanting to identify with much of Christianity—especially the fundamentalist branches that make a business out of being anti-everyone–but that’s not good enough!
Rice is clearly not abandoning her mythology and superstitious delusions. She’s leaving conservative, fundamentalist Christianity behind and making a political stand out of it. But what about liberal Christianity that is still based on the same myths, but is dressed up in hipster clothing and a laissez faire attitude? When Rice realizes the whole shit n’ caboodle is based on a false premise, then perhaps she might leave for good. Perhaps.
What do you think?
Olin Thang on 
Cortez Frisch on 
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