Annie Dillard

I've read a couple of books by Annie Dillard. Her words on paper are just beautiful. Dillard is lyrical, erudite, passionate, a keen observer of the natural world, a (Catholic) Christian who believes her God has a laissez-faire policy. Here's a summary of her latest book, For the Time Being:

"Here is a natural history of sand, a catalogue of clouds, a batch of newborns on an obstetrical ward, a family of Mongol horsemen. Here is the story of Jesuit paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin digging in the deserts of China. Here is the story of Hasidic thought rising in Eastern Europe. Here are defect and beauty together, miracle and tragedy, time and eternity. Dillard poses questions about God, natural evil, and individual existence. Personal experience, science, and religion bear on a welter of fact. How can an individual matter? How might one live?"

Another book to add to my wish list.