Lucinda's Reading Challenge: Book One

OK, so 2011 is going to be a basement odyssey for me:
I'm working my way clockwise round the lower ground
floor shelves of the shop, section by section.
First up is The Case For God author Karen Armstrong's
new offering Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.
This probably knocks most New Year's Resolutions
into a cocked hat, given that it is a global call to er....
whatever the opposite of 'arms' is. The premise is
simple: individuals have the power to bring the world
back from its current 'dangerously polarised' state,
by overriding their instinctive aggressive, protectionist
tendencies and adopting a compassionate stance. For
such a mammoth aim, the prose is very easy to read.
Karen Armstrong's use of 'we' throughout the book is
both coaxing and beguiling. She is also very good at
casually dropping in some pretty big statements
about the development of world religion. Bearing in mind
this is my first foray into the Religion and Spirituality shelf,
I feel as though I've learnt some key aspects of religious
history (and am even inclined to read more in this area at
some stage). The daily mind exercises and suggestions
for group activities are perhaps a step too far for sceptical
readers - but I guess the proof will be in whether
colleagues and customers can discern a change in my attitude!
The big test for my post-Armstrong rosy outlook has probably
arrived in the shape of my Philosophy shelf choice: John Gray's
Black Mass, arguing why we are misplaced in thinking we can
make the world a better place...here goes...