GreggTownsley.com

What I’m Currently Reading

A chronology of what I’ve been reading since January 2007, with a few comments where deserved or needed…

I’m more involved in ministry this year than in year’s previous. Some of that is because we’ve placed a manager in our Sherwood business, a very likable woman who believes her new responsibilities to be her “dream job.” So very cool. And then there’s the Bible survey course I’ve begun at our church in Forest Grove. I spend a healthy seven or more hours a week in preparing for the course, which explains much of the reading below.

Unfortunately, the first dozen or more books are in no dependably significant order–like that matters to you, right? I’m always curious to the order of what I’m reading as it recalls to mind the moods and movements of my life. We learn from these ruminations I suspect, but I’ve never had the discipline to maintain a journal of any proportions, save in more difficult times.

For “the good of the order” then–mainly my own internal order I suspect–these are the books I’ve read this year thus far…

Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My Story: the Life of Joseph Smith (New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1945)

This is perhaps the most important treatment of the life of Joseph Smith that there is. Former Professor of US history at the University of of California, Los Angeles, Brodie’s contributions are singular. Fairly written and adequately footnoted, Brodie’s book has been regarded as perhaps the most significant contribution to understand Joseph Smith in the last one hundred years. Eminently readable. A must read and a real delight to do so!

Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004)

Signature books produces a catalog of similarly qualified critical treatments of the LDS movement and this one is no exception. Southerton is a former Mormon missionary, bishop and enthusiast, but his scientific studies of the molecular genetic data that has been used to reconstruct a record of human migrations spoils his faith.

The book was a ground-shaking publication in 2004–I am only now getting around to reading about the research–and it’s caused a great many Mormon apologists to characterize the hypothesized Native American / ancient Israelite connection to argue that the Book of Mormon’s assertions might be more local than at first thought. Which has a familiar ring to it, as evangelicals in the last century had to conclude the same thing about Noah’s flood in order to stay literate and truthful within their own traditions.

Much recommended, Southerton introduced me to the plethora of speculation about Native American origins in the 19th century (an important consideration when dealing with the popularity of the Book of Mormon then and now). A necessary read for anyone who wants to know more about the historical and scientific questions undergirding LDS history.

Wayne Cowdrew, Howard Davis and Arthur Vanick, Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma (St Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing Company, 2005)

In all the reading and reflection I’ve done on the Latter Day Saints, I’ve never really delved into the Spalding hypothesis. Spalding was a minister / novelist in New England around the time of Joseph Smith. Folks who believe the testimony(s) suspect that Smith conspired to produce the Book of Mormon with a now lost manuscript written by Spalding.

Though the book is a very detailed treatment of the hypothesis it suffers from at least three perspectives: 1) too much orthodox Christian (primarily Lutheran) comments that the so to speak scientific intent of the book is less than, 2) an unevenness to the writing and treatment of the evidences so that the reader is left wondering whether the authors are intentially being dishonest or just don’t know enough about the historical context to make real sense, and 3) who are the authors anyway?

Cowdrew, Davis and Vanick are portrayed as “members of Spalding Research Associates” on the back of the book, as if that tells us anything. Nothing more is said about them in the preface or introductory comments which leads one to suspect that the writers are unqualified to comment on something so significant. All in all though the book produces sources better than any other that I know, there are better treatments of the question out there including the one listed here by Fawn Brodie.

Chris Rees, Original Alfa Romeo Spider: The Restorer’s Guide to 1300, 1600, 1750 and 2000 models 1966-1993 (St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing Company, 2001)

Great pictures, all of them color! A very detailed treatment of cars and car parts, including production data on every car. Too detailed for me, none the less it was a great read and seriously tempted my e-bay Alfa buying habits!

John Tipler, Alfa Romeo Spider: The Complete Story (Ramsbury, England: Crowood Press, 1998)

Wow. This is the book for folks who own an Alfa Romeo Spider. Curious about the minute differences between a model 4 1991 and 1993 (mine) Spider? Only in this book can you find out. Only drawback? Too many black and white pictures.

Frederick Nolan, Portraits of the Old West (London: Salamander Books Ltd, 1997)

Here’s a cool cowboy book, especially for the aging cowboy at heart. Big pictures, big print and short perspectives on the big personalities that filled the real old west. A great introduction to some reliable information about the trailblazers, pony soldiers, bank and train robbers, cattlemen, town tamers, shootists, lawmen and women who populated the American west during the late 1800’s.

Chris Enss, Hearts West: True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier, (Guildford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2005)

Cool book, in that it reproduces correspondence between mail-order brides and their intendeds during the late 1800’s. The little known fact of western expansion is that whereas thousands of men traveled west to open up the emerging frontier thousands of women didn’t. Only after they arrived did some of them realize what life without a woman might mean.

Interesting stories and a real compliment to some of the other reading I’ve been enjoying. Arranged marriages, so to speak, weren’t all that uncommon a hundred years ago, which should lend some rationality to those carried away by romantic and naive projections about the nature of love and all that. So much of what we have in later life with our spouses isn’t the product of loving rightly as it is of loving deeply, I suspect. But that’s another paragraph sometime…

Louis L’amour, Conagher, (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1969)

Okay, so I had a weak moment. We were traveling and I missed my usual dose of cowboy movies and what was I to do… Still interested in my opinion? A better movie than book, though western enthusiasts are indebted to L’amour’s contributions, without which the western myth wouldn’t be nearly as strong or appreciated.

John Bishop, Kajukenbo: The Original Mixed Martial Art, (Collier, TN: Instant Publisher.com, 2006)

I’ve corresponded with Mr. Bishop a couple of times. He’s an alert and informed voice in the debate about American Kenpo origins, my base martial art and a cousin to his Kajukenbo. The book is well-done! A compendium of Kajukenbo techniques and skills, he lends a great perspective to the origins of the Hawaiian martial arts just after the second world war. Though the photos are a bit static for the and speed Kajukenbo and Kenpo are known and appreciated for, they compliment an accurate recitation of one of the most remarkable hand-to-hand self-defense systems ever known. Nice job John!

John Taffin, Action Shooting Cowboy Style: An In-depth Look at America’s Hottest New Shooting Game, (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1999)

My second or third read of this book as it covers all of the details of Cowboy Fast Draw. A gift from my wife Nancy, inscribed “to my cowboy,” I continue to aspire to the cowboy myth. This year we even did our bedroom in cowboy style!

Taffin is of course the consummate shootist. And the effort, dedicated to “the shootists, men who stand in the gap,” lends a great deal more to the reader than simply shooting tools, costumes and safety. A recommended read to the few of us–0kay, something over 80,000 people at this point–who are attempting to do and become something other than what we are through the shooting sports, particularly cowboy-style.

Josh Townsley, Hurricane Katrina: A Look Back… (self-published, 2007)

Josh’s first book–his second attempt at publishing if you recall his experience publishing some poems with a vanity press when he was but a wee boy–Josh remembers some of his experiences in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Heavy with emotion and rumination–two of Josh’s more noteworthy qualities–the best thing about his book is his impatience with governmental systems, particularly as they impede the improvement of folks who suffered the storm. Another Christmas gift. Nice job, Josh!

Pat Braden, Alfa Romeo: Owner’s Bible: A Hands-on Guide to Getting the Most From Your Alfa, (Cambridge, MA: Bentley Publishers, n.d.)

A Christmas gift from Nancy’s father, Braden’s book is a wonderful summary of all of the systems in my 1993 Spider, none of which do I adequately understand even after reading Braden’s book. But as a resource, it’s been undeniably useful. Thanks, Del! At least I now know not to pry the door panels off in search of what’s wrong with my electric windows!