Book Review

Last year I made a goal. Finish the Book of Mormon. I know that it was a pathetic goal and even more sad that I'm admitting said goal, but there you have it. I've read it many times before, but it's been a long time since I'd done a "cover to cover" read. I'm pro at getting to Mosiah, then letting too much time go by so when I start reading again, I go back to the beginning. Anyway, the other part of the goal was to read every day... even if it was just a verse. Perhaps I used the fall back {verse} option too often because by December I still had over 100 pages to go. Now, I'm actually grateful, because I realized I really enjoyed reading it more like a {book}. You know, reading big chunks at a time instead of a measly chapter. It flowed so much better and I realized I truly loved reading it. Not just out of obligation, but because I loved what it said and knew it was true. And by the week of Christmas, I was done. Now I'm reading it with commentary from David Ridges and it's pretty interesting. Kind of like reading it in seminary. I just wish I had my BofM from seminary. Me, the pack rat, can't find it anywhere! What a waste.

My mother in law gave me this for my birthday and even though it took some time, I ended up liking it. I don't know if it truly qualifies as historical fiction, but it's pretty close. It's sort of a love story that takes place in Seattle and delves into the time of Japanese internment camps. It's a slow moving story, so that's why I didn't immediately love it, but by the end I was glad I had read it.

 I had heard great things about this book and even got it for my dad on CD last year for Christmas so I figured I'd better read it myself! Even though I think it's aim is to improve businesses, it uses a lot of family examples. The main idea is to overcome our tendendcies to see people {in the box}... meaning to see them as objects that get in our way or cause us problems. When we see people {out of the box} we see them as people. We remember that they have feelings and are just like us. It speaks very simply... almost to the point that I felt I was being "talked to" like a child as it illustrated it's points. Very good ideas, but I think if you read How to Win Friends and Influence People you would come away with the same principles plus more.

I was gypped! I never got to read this book in high school! I'm pretty upset about it actually. The only "classic" I remember reading is the Scarlet Letter and that was simply a horrible, horrible book. I HATED it. Anyway, I decided it was high time I read this book and I'm glad I did. It ended up being picked for book club the month after I finished it, but I'm glad because the girl who chose it, teaches this book in her high school English class, so I'm sure she'll have lots of insights that I missed while reading it. It seems the first time you read something, it's just a {surface read}. Like watching a movie for the first time, you only catch some of what is going on. With each viewing you pick up more and more. 

It takes place in the 1930's in Alabama and is told from the perspective of a young girl named Scout. Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer who ends up defending a black man on trial for raping a white girl. Atticus, of course, is the most intruging character and I think, is truly Christlike. I think the book is like a puzzle that is being pieced together as you go. And of course I'd recommend it! Next time I read it though, I'll make sure I have a dictionary on hand for all the words I didn't know!

 This was a book club pick and to be honest, I can't say I really liked it. It was ok. It's juvenile, but then, that's who it was written for, so I can't really pick on it for that. The moral of the story is, everybody is different, but we should accept all personalities, because everyone is of worth. It's about an eccentric high school girl that "rocks the boat" with her crazy personality. In all honestly, it was pretty weird. Interesting in parts, but overall... a bit weird. 

 Another book club pick! It took me a LONG time to get into this book. I was well over half way before I started liking it. It's long, but a quick read. It's about a post apocalyptic world where at 16, everyone has a surgery to make them beautiful and perfect. Before that, they are an "ugly". So like I said, I got sucked in during the last 200 pages, so right after I finished, I request the 2nd book in the trilogy...

...Pretties! I thought the sequel flopped. Most of the time I was reading it, I felt like I was wasting time. (I love a good, mindless novel...but if it's not amazing then I feel like I'm wasting time since I'm not learning anything. Books are best when I feel like I learned something) Thus, I will not be reading the third book, Specials. It seems there is something about trilogies. This was how the Hunger Games went too. I love the first one, am wishy washy on the second, and have no desire to read the third.