Two questions from a beginer

Howdie list,

Even though I have been on this list on and off for about a year, I am still
blown away by much of what is discussed here. I have Mallory's book and it has
helped me follow the conversations to some degree but I must admit that much
goes over my head. Still I am absorbing some so I won't complain:-) I have
finally decided to ask a couple of questions so bear with me if they have been
gone over before.(I have spent hours in the archives and my brain is mush from
it)

First off...can anyone recommend some books that are not too technical? I
guess along the same lines as Mallory's book. I want to get further into this
study but really do not know what books to trust. Any suggestions would be
appreciated.

Second....The lack of an Irish Thunderer. It seems to me that in just about
every different IE pantheon that there is a deity that is associated with
thunder or at the least weather. I do not see this in the Irish material.
Obviously the Continental Celts had Taranis...I have seen some new agey fluffy
pagan sites talking about Taraneach as being the Gaelic equiv but I don't
think there is a lick of evidence for this name as a god in Ireland or
Scotland and Man. The only named that is even close in Irish myth(that I have
found) is Tuireann the father of Brían, Iuchar and Iuchabar but I have been
told that even though it sounds like Taran that it does not work out when one
does the entymology. I understand that the Irish pantheon has a different
flavor than most of the others but it just strikes me odd that such a major
function is either missed or so obscure.

thanks in advance for putting up with my new guy questions

Ken