The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary by Ben Witherington

It was fun to work through Acts with this book and Fitzmyer's. They were a good balance: Fitzmyer solid and predictable, Witherington with an eye toward feminist and literary concerns. If you think you can stomach 1600 pages of commentary on Acts, working through the text passage by passage as you read these two books is a great exercise.

The Acts of the Apostles by Joseph Fitzmyer

This was a solid commentary on Acts. There were several annoying formatting issues (I think that 'notes' belong before 'comments' and that an entire paragraph of citations--plunked in the middle of the commentary--is irritating.)

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

I read this on the beach. It was completely vapid.

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

This was a wonderful book--it is a real mark of a good author to make an uninteresting (to me, anyway) topic fascinating. Recommended.

Material World by Peter Menzel

This was fabulous--I enjoyed it as much as Hungry Planet, its sister book. The premise is simple if bizarre: families were found who represented the average income in their country. All their posessions were lugged into the yard and photographed. Wow. Highly recommended.

Blue Blood by Edward Conlon

A flawless cover (don't tell me you don't judge a book by its . . .), a rocking first chapter, and then . . . pffffft. I couldn't get through it. Reject.