A good book(s)

I went to the library the other day. Books were over due. Some I finished. Some not. They'd been renewed to the hilt though so they had to go. It was hard. I hate giving up a good book before spending the time with it it deserves. I usually overload myself though. Perusing the non-fiction shelves many titles pique my curiosity. A cursory scan of the inside jacket summary, a glance at the back cover reviews and I'm hooked. Stories in the news are short reviews at best. If the subject intrigues me a book offers a more in depth look and to really be informed you have to go deeper. I returned four books and left with three new loans. Added to the pile of 5 or 6 waiting their turn on my living room floor and the readings for this and two other media courses, well, I have lots of text to absorb. My current list includes; Jihad vs McWorld, We're All Journalists Now, the transformation of the press and reshaping of the law in the internet age, Book of the Hopi, In Defence of America, the fight for civil liberties in the age of terror, What Good is Journalism, how reporters and editors are saving america's way of life, Storm World hurricanes, politics and the battle over global warming, The Wealth of Networks, how social production transforms markets and freedom, Encore, finding work that matters in the second half of life, Dumbing Down, the strip mining of american culture and finally Waiting for the Barbarians, a novel I just haven't gotten to yet.
Now, my library gives three week loans with a three week renewal available ... Whoa, I gotta go! I have some reading to do. No time for American Idol. Geez I barely have time to shave.

By the way, good article in the "Crossroads" section of Sunday's Journal. "Foreign policy shouldn't be based on U.S.-centric coverage," is the title. Two authors, Claudia Rossett and David Marash discuss media and unfulfilled potential in international coverage. Both will be speaking at the Pabst Theater Thursday from 4 to 6 pm. The subject "Election 2008: Foreign policy and the media." Students with ID get in free.