Well, I haven't written anything in a while because I was out of town, haven't found any pennies, and have been busy reading. Since my last post, I finished two books and am in the middle of another and beginning one as well. I didn't write anything on The Venetian's Wife because it is such an odd book that is relatively unknown. It's not very long and is full of artwork, collages, designs, etc. It's somewhat of a mystery involving Indian (as in India) art, religion, symbols, etc. It was a quick easy read ... good, but weird. Then I moved on to A Knight at Maison Rouge by Alexandre Dumas (my favorite). The work was thought lost for and has recently been discovered and published with a new translation. I'm thinking "YEA!" Then I start reading it, and it's terrible. Not the story per se, which is a story of Marie Antoinette, with whom I hold a strange fascination. The translation by Julie Rose is disgustingly shameful. She has put in modern colloquialisms, slang, casual speak--nothing like the Dumas to which I've become so attached. I'm still bearing through it for the sake of the story but it's torturous. Meanwhile, I started and finished Angels and Demons in two days. The predecessor to The Da Vinci Code, this book was one of the most intelligent, clever, and searing novels I've read. My love for art and art history is indulged by the many references and descriptions, as well as background and meanings, behind some of the most well-known artists of the post-Renaissance period. And my own and tormented conflict and speculation with religion and the Catholic church (in which I was raised and taught) is brought to light. However, both sides of the debate of religion vs. science are given equal time, care and respect. And both sides make very good points. Unlike what many are saying of Dan Brown's work, I do not find the book to be an attack on religion and Catholicism attempting to persuade people away from the church. I find the story to be purely entertaining, based on some fact and grounded in an intelligent analysis of today's world. Can't wait to start The Da Vinci Code!