If This Was an Oops Week, Would My Extension Last Until Next Sunday?

Week:  10
Mission:  Prove to Mr. Strusz that I read over break.
Books:  The Case for a Creator, Dog on It, The Centurion's Wife, Into the Wild
Authors:  Lee Strobel, Spencer Quinn, Davis Bunn & Janette Oke, Jon Krakauer

     I believe that we have spent more than enough time discussing The Case For a Creator.  Let us move on with our lives.  Suffering from a non-fiction overdose, I decided to go in the opposite direction with a book that had no real moral or literary value, Dog on It.  Two detectives, Chet and Bernie, find themselves investigating the disappearance of a teenager named Madison Chambliss.  Encounters with bikers, Russian gangsters, and a drug dealer are narrated by Chet as he follows wherever Bernie, his nose, or his stomach leads.  This book is perfect for anyone with an appreciation for dry humor and a love for canines--did I mention that Chet is a dog?
     The Centurion's Wife is historical fiction, set in and around Jerusalem in 33 AD.  Alban, a Gaul, has been commanded by Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas to investigate the disappearance of the body of the prophet who had been crucified to preserve the powder keg known as Jerusalem.  In return, Alban is promised the hand of Pilate's niece, a strategic marriage in line with the centurion's ambitions.  Leah, faithful servant of Pilate's wife, has been ordered by Procula to infiltrate the band of disciples following the prophet  that invades her mistress's dreams.  Leah abandons all hope of an endurable life when she is informed that she will be marrying an unknown centurian.  She fears that, like her sisters, she will be chained to a man who does not care about her and views her as a pawn to be manipulated for the sake of success.  Will Alban find acceptance and love?  Will Leah be able to trust a man?  Will they find the truth about this prophet, and if they discover the unthinkable, will they allow this message to control their lives?  Well, duh.  Why else would this book be written?  Nice how the title didn't give that away.

The bus where Chris McCandless lived in Alaska .

     Into the Wild is non-fiction about Chris McCandless, a college graduate who traveled western North America with only a backpack, living off the land and occasionally joining civilization for a few months before feeling the need to move on.  His last great adventure was attempting to survive in the Alaskan wilderness.  He lasted over 100 days, but made two fatal mistakes.  He knew that wild potato plant roots were safe to eat, but did not know that the seed pods of the same plant were toxic.  His second mistake was not having a map.  If he did, he would have known that there was an abandoned zipline downstream that he could have used to cross the river to safety and civilization.

Books read:  14
Time this week:  24 hrs
Total time:  83 hrs