Drowning in words

Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written. — Henry David Thoreau

Think I set the record last week for number of UPS and FedEx book deliveries arriving at my house. In an effort to feed the religion book review beast, I’ve taken to finding interesting titles from the many publisher catalogs piling up.

My office is once more drowning in books. But I’ve got some very interesting titles from which to choose:

“Maimonides” by Sherwin B. Nuland
“Opus Dei” by John Allen Jr.
“Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens” by Neil Cole
“Mary Magdalene: A Biograph” by Bruce Chilton
“Facing Pain, Finding Hope” by Daniel Hurley, MD
“The Soul of Christianity” by Huston Smith
“God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church” by George Weigel

Of course I’m going to need to mix those titles up with some other faiths. Could use Buddhist, Jewish and I’m really looking for a good book about Islam to review. But going through these catalogs does take some time and I’m (once again) pressed for that this week.

Did get another letter from national mag saying my query was being considered. That makes two for the same publication. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one or both will bloom into actual assignments.

I’m amazed by bloggers who find the time to post on the weekends. With one or two exceptions, Creative Ink doesn’t post on weekends. That’s because A) I rarely have time to sit on the weekends (running from here to there with kids’ activities and household chores) let alone think coherently enough to post and B) I’m trying to keep Creative Ink a part of my job and so I try to confine it to the work week.

I noticed while checking out BFD this morning that not only is George prolific, but so too are his readers/commentators. Wish I had more time to engage with them because they are a lively and intelligent bunch that I hope I get to meet someday in person. I often feel incredibly out of their loop because I can’t afford to keep up, but I enjoy reading nonetheless.

While scanning my favorites I saw that Jeff Hess posted this event with Sen. Russ Feingold (and hosted by ACLU). Wish I could attend, but I’ll be at the SPJ Convention in Las Vegas. As Jeff points out, Feingold was the lone senator to vote against the Patriot Act. Should be a good event.

SPJ is hosting a workshop for reporters and writers this weekend. Hope you’ll consider joining us. Here’s the 411:

Ted Gup, a Case Western Reserve University journalism professor and former Washington Post and Time magazine reporter and Plain Dealer projects editor Dave Davis will lead morning sessions to help you improve your reporting skills.

Gup, a veteran investigative reporter who worked with Bob Woodward at the Washington Post, will focus on developing sources.

Plain Dealer projects editor Dave Davis, who was a Pulitzer finalist in 1995 and 1993, will talk about computer-assisted reporting and the Internet as a source.

A third session will bring together reporters and First Amendment lawyers to talk about getting information from government through Freedom of Information Act requests.

This is the first in a planned series of four programs sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists to help journalist improve their reporting and writing skills and advance their careers.

The program will be at the Middleburg Heights Library is at 15600 E. Bagley Road, Middleburg Heights. It starts at 9:30 a.m. and will run to about noon.

Bagels and beverages will be provided.

The cost is $25 for one session, $40 for two or $75 for all four. To RSVP contact Tom Moore at 440-333-7382 or by e-mail at tmoore56@msn.com. You can pay at the door.

Finally today I want to wish my Jewish friends a Happy New Year.