Book #17

My couple's book club selected The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour as our March book.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the book club is actually a Gathering Project--a TJEd book club where we "gather" other parents and teach them about leadership principles through the books we read and discuss.  We've read a lot of great books and have had interesting discussions about leadership. 
As I read this book I was reminded how much I dislike Louis L'Amour's writing style.  It is choppy and doesn't flow.  But, I enjoy the stories and the messages.  The Walking Drum is about a young man, Mathurin Kerbouchard, who sets out to rescue his father.  It takes place in Europe during the 12th century and contains a lot of history.  Kerbouchard has many adventures and is able to solve problems because of his education. 

I am a lazy reader.  I often read just to read and forget that I should be thinking and writing as I read.  Sometimes I will underline and take notes and summarize, but mostly I read and enjoy.  This, unfortunately, means that I don't get as much from the book as I should.  I realized this at the book discussion.  There were 3 of us there, and only 1 person took notes and had stuff to share.  I wished that I had written down my favorite parts and thoughts so that our discussion could have been better.  I also wish that I knew how to identify themes and principles and could express my thoughts better.  That is part of the reason of this blog, though, to help me with writing. . .