Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose

 

10/10

I read this one over seven months ago and I loved it so much. It was extremely informative and presented in an entertaining narrative that moved the story along without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. While I obviously knew the basic story of Lewis & Clark, I realized that I actually knew very little about it. Ever since I was a kid I always thought it would have been so fun to be an explorer and this expedition is always one I imagined would have been so fun to be a part of. It was awesome to learn about this amazing expedition, the route they took, the natives they encountered, and all that was accomplished. I loved tracking their progress on the maps that were included in the book and picturing what it looked like at that time. One fun part was when they got to Independence Creek in Missouri, about 65 miles northwest of Independence, Missouri. Clark wrote that it was "one of the most butifull Plains I ever Saw" and Ambrose commented that they found themselves in the Garden of Eden and they "puzzled over why God had created such a place and failed to put Virginians in it, or put it in Virginia." It was fun hearing this because you always hear how Independence, Missouri was not at all a beautiful place, which I think is more an opinion about the ruffians currently living there and not so much the landscape more on the outskirts of the city. When they got to an Indian tribe called the Arikaras, they offered them whiskey, "but the Arikaras not only said no thanks, they shamed Lewis and Clark by remarking that 'they were surprised that [they] should present to them a liquor which would make them act like fools.'" It was also nice learning details about how Sacagawea joined the party and just about how the expedition would have certainly failed without all of the help they received from different Indian tribes along the way. It was pretty sad to learn about Lewis's life after the conclusion of the expedition. For some reason, he never published all of his many findings and discoveries and died only a few years later. Ambrose concludes that he committed suicide and mentions that there are others who argue he was killed but Ambrose dismisses that possibility without really exploring that possibility at all. I would have liked to hear that argument at least a little bit more but I guess I would have to look at other sources to learn more about it. Very glad I read this book and learned so much about this amazing expedition. 

From Clark: "As I have always held it a crime to anticipate evils I will believe it a good comfortable road untill I am conpelled to believe differently." 

A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller

 

7/10

I read this one more than eight months ago. It was pretty decent. Having watched and very much enjoyed the Rebels series, I was excited to see how Kanan and Hera first met. Overall, it was a pretty fun book and nice to see these two characters in their early stages, but nothing too spectacular. Although the book did have some exciting moments toward the end, including Hera finally learning of Kanan's ability to use the force which he had kept hidden from her for almost the entire book. The Count Vidian character was a pretty fun bad guy as well. Middle of the pack Star Wars book from the five I've read so far as shown in my rankings below. Still recommended for anyone who has watched Rebels.

Star Wars book rankings:

1. Lost Stars

2. Aftermath: Life Debt

3. A New Dawn

4. Battlefront: Twilight Company

5. Aftermath

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

 

10/10

I read this one 7 months ago. It's my favorite book I've read this year. Totally captivating from the beginning. Wonderful storytelling. I love when books are able to make you root so hard for the main character. It's a book that I can confidently recommend to anyone because it seems impossible that anyone wouldn't love this book. This is two years in a row where my favorite book of the year has been a South African novel, with Too Late the Phalarope from Alan Paton being my favorite last year. My Dad served his mission in South Africa and gave me both books. I'm not sure how long ago he read this one, but I liked that I found a little note card in his recognizable cursive handwriting where he had written a beautiful line from the novel: "The loneliness bird has entered to build a nest of stones in the hollow place inside of me." Just a beautiful, powerful book. Such a satisfying ending as well. If you happened to stumble on this blog post and haven't read this book, then go read it now. You will not be disappointed.

Some quotes:

"[T]he power of one...in each of us there burns a flame of independence that must never be allowed to go out. That as long as it exists within us we cannot be destroyed."

"The smallest sign that someone is worried for him is like a fire on the dark mountain. When a man knows somebody cares, he keeps some small place, a corner maybe of his soul, clean and lit."

"[A]s far as I knew, God was a man, and therefore He'd obviously like boxing a lot better than dancing."

"[I]n this world are very few things made from logic alone. It is illogical for a man to be too logical. Some things we must just let stand. The mystery is more important than any possible explanation.... The searcher after truth must search with humanity. Ruthless logic is the sign of a limited mind. The truth can only add to the sum of what you know, while a harmless mystery left unexplored often adds to the meaning of life. When a truth is not so important, it is better left as a mystery."

"The power of one is above all things the power to believe in yourself, often well beyond any latent ability you may have previously demonstrated."

The Holy Invitation by Anthony Sweat

 

10/10

I read this one about 7 months ago. One of the better books out there about the temple and understanding it better, if not the best. It's just a short little book around 70 pages. I can guarantee that I will have each of my kids read this book as they prepare for the temple themselves. I wish I had this book as a resource as I was preparing myself. The metaphor story in Part 2 about the commoner and the king was so on point.  I also liked the part where he connected ask, seek, knock to know, feel, do and how we can take that approach into the temple. Just lots of good stuff packed into this short little book. Highly recommend.

Quotes:

"You can't be a lazy learner with symbol, imagery, and ritual."

"Mystery is the revelatory vehicle to help transport your mind and heart to other realms - in this case, the realm of heaven. If at first you find yourself bewildered about some things, and that causes you to study, think, and pray, then the endowment ceremonies are effectively doing their job."

"You simply cannot be mentally passive in the temple and expect to learn the mysteries of God."

Feasting on the Word by Richard Dilworth Rust

 

7/10

I read this one a little less than 7 months ago. I purchased it from a church bookstore during my mission and finally got around to reading it two decades later. It's a book about the literature of the Book of Mormon and had some very interesting insights. The topics covered were (1) Narrators and Narratives; (2) Epic Elements; (3) Poetry; (4) Sermons; (5) Letters and Autobiography; (6) Imagery; (7) Typology; and (8) Larger Perspectives. The Typology section was probably my favorite. I enjoyed this book for the most part, but you are bound to endure at least a little bit of less than entertaining moments in a book like this. Overall though, there were some very interesting insights that I had never seen before which were fun to discover.

I'll share one fun example from the Narrators and Narratives chapter. Rust talks about how there is an "ancient principle that repetition can help alert and convince people," especially threefold repetition. He uses the Ask, Seek, Knock as a common example where a person is to speak, then move, then use "vigorous action - each operation more intense than the last." He then points out several examples of this concept that is found in the Book of Mormon. One example of "a given event happening three times with a crucial change introduced the third time" is with the three visits to Laban to get the brass plates. "Each effort is put into motion by a pledge, and the pledges become more and more intense." "Nephi is three times 'constrained by the Spirit' to kill [Laban]." "Nephi thinks of three reasons why he could be justified in taking Laban's life" After Laban is killed, "Nephi then makes three levels of appeal to Zoram." Before they return to their parents, "A three-part pattern is found as well in Sariah's lament to Lehi" which is "counterbalanced by Sariah's three-part praise uttered at the return of her sons." "For his part, Nephi affirms that he and his father [(1)] obtained the records, [(2)] searched these scriptures, and [(3)] carried the records with them so the Lord's commandments could be preserved."

Fenway and Hattie by Victoria J. Coe

 

3/10

I read this one over six months ago. Each year, the Elementary school gives out a book for all the kids to read. This was the book for last school year. So far, the books have been ok with one that I thought was quite good (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon). This was my least favorite so far which is disappointing because the previous year's book was also below average (Brambleheart). This one was easily the least challenging book they've chosen. I try not to be too critical of these young books and just hope the kids are enjoying it, but it was so repetitive. It was a fun, cute concept at first with the silly names the dog came up with but you can only take so many encounters with the slippery wicked floor seemingly every other page. I think my favorite part, as someone who is not a dog person, is just how much it reinforced how dumb dogs can be.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

 

4/10

I read this one nearly six months ago. I was really intrigued in the early goings of this book. I really liked how the book started with an army officer returning to a place that he has a history with and was excited to learn what that history was. Then we're introduced to Sebastian who seems to be a fun, quirky character and everything was going well. After this great set-up, the remainder of the book was a disappointment as we're introduced to Brideshead and Sebastian's family. Just a bunch of unlikable characters sitting around not doing much, including the narrator. And then the Sebastian character himself became unlikable at that same time as his family brings out the worst in him. This is the kind of book that is written for book critics and literature professors who worship diving in to all of the flawed characters and what it says about society, etc. But that's never been my kind of book. Overall, just disappointed as there seemed to be some real potential for a very enjoyable book but it was squandered. Probably won't read any more from Waugh any time soon, but maybe I'll give him another try some day.