How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

7/10

I read this close to ten years ago. And yet, I have very few friends and have influenced even fewer. So I must be doing it wrong. But the book is pretty good. It has lots and lots of good quotes and ideas. And should probably be read by everybody.

Here are the listed Principles discussed in this book:

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
Principle 1: Don't criticize, condemn or complain
Principle 2: Give honest and sincere appreciation
Principle 3: Arouse in the other person an eager want

Six Ways to Make People Like You
Principle 1: Become genuinely interested in other people
Principle 2: Smile
Principle 3: Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language
Principle 4: Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
Principle 5: Talk in terms of the other person's interests
Principle 6: Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely

Win People to Your Way of Thinking
Principle 1: The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it
Principle 2: Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong"
Principle 3: If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically
Principle 4: Begin in a friendly way
Principle 5: Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately
Principle 6: Let the other person do a great deal of the talking
Principle 7: Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers
Principle 8: Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view
Principle 9: Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires
Principle 10: Appeal to the nobler motives
Principle 11: Dramatize your ideas
Principle 12: Throw down a challenge

Be a Leader
Principle 1: Begin with praise and honest appreciation
Principle 2: Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly
Principle 3: Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person
Principle 4: Ask questions instead of giving direct orders
Principle 5: Let the other person save face
Principle 6: Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise"
Principle 7: Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to
Principle 8: Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct
Principle 9: Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest

So now go out there and win some friends and also influence some individuals as well while you're at it.

And now here are also a few good quotes:

"The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition."

"[Y]ou can make more friends in two months by becoming generally interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

"Most people don't remember names, for the simple reason that they don't take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. They make excuses for themselves; they are too busy."

"You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it."

"The way to develop self-confidence... is to do the thing you fear to do and get a record of successful experiences behind you."

P.S. I am leaving on holiday and so this will be my final post of the year. Check back with me for another post on the second Sunday of 2016. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith

8/10

I finally finished this one a few days ago. It's a manual from a few years ago. Also, three of the manuals have 48 chapters and the rest have 24, except this one randomly has 26 chapters for some reason. It's obviously good, just like all of them. He is one of the more doctrinal focused prophets which I enjoy.

Here's a couple quotes:

"We sometimes hear the complaint, 'I haven't time.' But we all have time to read and study which is our solemn duty. Can we not arrange to find at least fifteen minutes in each day to devote to systematic reading and reflection? This would be but a trifling amount of time, yet it would be one hour and forty-five minutes in a week; seven and one-half hours in a month of thirty days, and ninety-one hours and a quarter in the year."

"The Spirit of the Lord will not continue to strive with the indifferent."

"The supreme act of worship is to keep the commandments."

"[O]ne of the chief purposes of our mortal probation is to see if we can learn with the spirit of prayer always in our hearts so that when the Lord chooses to speak, we shall hear his voice in our souls."

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

4/10

I finished reading this to Mallory a little more than two weeks ago. I had been wanting to read a chapter book to Mallory for a while now and she got pretty pumped when I suggested this book because she is fairly familiar with the Alice story. She was really into it at first because she is mostly familiar with the start of the Alice story. But she certainly had moments of disinterest once it started getting to the more obscure parts of the story and the parts that are not in the movie. Plus, much of the story is super random, silly, and hard to follow logically that I also had my own moments of disinterest as well.

The book was so-so for me. I appreciated its originality/creativity and enjoyed a lot of the word play throughout but there are just a few too many over the top nonsensical moments for me to really get behind it as a whole. There sure are a lot of growing really tall and shrinking really small moments. Lewis Carroll, a.k.a. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, really is a super genius though. The word play antics were really quite something at times. One of my favorites is when the Duchess tells Alice this: "[A]nd the moral of that is - 'Be what you would seem to be' - or, if you'd like it put more simply - 'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'" Ha ha. There's for sure some good, fun, light-hearted and enjoyable moments.

Also, I learned that Tweetledee and Tweetledum are actually in the sequel "Through the Looking-Glass" and not the original "Alice in Wonderland." Who knew?

I will now post the classic Alice in Wonderland quote:

"'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
'I don't much care where -' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat."

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff

9/10

I like this one. I taught a few lessons from this one when I was called as an Elder's Quorum Instructor while I was home for the summer from University.  Two of the lessons I taught was the missionary work chapter and the journal keeping chapter. Those were fun chapters because he is known as being one of the best missionaries ever as well as one of the most thorough journal keepers ever. I like this book based on his thorough record keeping. There are so many detailed and interesting stories taken from his journals. Glad he wrote all that he did because our knowledge of many of the early events of the church come from him.

One quote from the missionary chapter which shows why he was such a great "converter of souls":

"[N]ever attempt to tear down a man's house, so to speak, before you build him a better one"

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

4/10

This is a great book cover, one of my favorites. I read this over a decade ago. I didn't much like it. But when looking back I think I was overly critical of it. It was very different from the Frankenstein we know today (that is, the guy with a bolt through his neck who walks like a zombie; and no, there is no Igor in this story). The Frankenstein in this book is a super intelligent creation, which makes him scarier when you think about it. I think I would like this book much better if I read it today than when I read it ten years ago. Plus, props to Mary Shelley for creating a horror story and monster that has lived on for generations.

I have one quote to share which is from the Intro to the 1931 publication written by Mary Shelley where she tells about what led up to her writing this story:

"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos; the materials must, in the first place, be afforded: it can give form to dark, shapeless substances, but cannot bring into being the substance itself."

A young Joseph Smith was teaching the same principle about the creation of the universe at about the same time period.

To Make Thee a Minister and a Witness

7/10

This is an old Priesthood/Relief Society book that was used way back in the day before they started doing the Teachings of the Presidents books. I acquired this and two other manuals in this group on my mission when a meetinghouse library was giving away free books to clear up some space. Unfortunately I only got Study Guides 2, 3, and 4. This is Study Guide 2. I posted Guides 3 and 4 previously in this blog. These books seem pretty good and it's interesting to see how some of the older manuals were structured.

Quote from Harold B. Lee:

"The most important of all the commandments of God is the one that you're having the most difficulty keeping today. If it's one of dishonesty, if it's one of unchastity, if it's one of falsifying, not telling the truth, today is the day for you to work on that until you've been able to conquer that weakness. Then you start on the next one that's most difficult for you to keep."

The Client by John Grisham

7/10

I finished reading this just yesterday. It is my very first Grisham book believe it or not. It was largely what I expected it to be - a quick and mostly entertaining read with a few flaws.

The book starts off very well and grabs the reader's attention with a suspensful first couple chapters. Unfortunately there weren't quite enough of these kind of nail-biter moments throughout the book. There is another similar moment but not until near the end of the book.

The main flaw of the book is pretty obvious. The 11-year old boy is told a secret about where a dead body is buried. He for some reason doesn't want to tell the police or the FBI. The explanation being that he is scared of the mafia. But if he just tells the police at the very beginning then the body would have been found before the mafia would have known what's what. Instead he keeps it a secret which allows the mafia to begin its intimidation tactics to keep him quiet. But obviously the story would have only been like 75 pages if he doesn't lie about it. Also, I feel like Grisham recognizes this issue and he tried to explain and justify the kid's reasoning several times throughout the book. I just chose to go along with it in order to not be too bothered.

Also, any time that the main character is a super mature young kid there is bound to be some cheesy moments. You just gotta roll with it.

All in all I actually enjoyed the book for the most part. And I'm sure I will read some other Grisham's some time down the line.

Saturday by Ian McEwan

4/10

I read this back in about the year 2007. It was my first Ian McEwan book. I didn't love it. In fact, I didn't much like most of it. Any lengthy book that takes place in one single day just isn't going to do it for me.The first two-thirds of the book is fairly boring and uneventful. The last third of the book picks up and saves it from being a mostly useless book to being an ok book. The writing is good but the story isn't. Fortunately I gave McEwan another chance by reading 'Atonement' which is a far superior book to this one.

The Long Valley by John Steinbeck

6/10

I read this ten years ago. It is a collection of 12 short stories. Steinbeck is one of my favorite writers but this one is by far the least memorable of anything I've read by him. I remember really liking maybe one or two of the stories. The rest were either ok or pretty boring  and uneventful overall. This book contains 'The Red Pony' which is more of a novella. It's a fairly popular story by Steinbeck but I wasn't too keen on it.

But I struggle to enjoy lots of short stories. I'm not sure why. I think the problem is just that - the stories are too short. There just doesn't seem to be enough time for plots and characters to develop.

One quote from a story called 'The Harness':

"[H]ard work is the thing to kill sorrow."

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith

9/10

I believe that this was the first "Teachings" manual that I read cover to cover. It is also one of three "Teachings" manuals that spans two years having 48ish chapters (the others being Joseph Smith and Brigham Young). It's a good one and he was definitely a very inspired individual.

I will share some quotes:

"If you do not forget to pray God will not forget you, and He will not withdraw Himself from you if you do not withdraw yourselves from Him."

"[W]henever ... temptations became most alluring and most tempting to me, the first thought that arose in my soul was this: Remember the love of your mother."

"Death is really a necessity as well as a blessing, and ... we would not and could not be satisfied and supremely happy without it."

"A gift from God, if neglected, or unworthily used, is in time withdrawn; the testimony of the truth will not remain with one who, having received, uses not the sacred gift in the cause of individual and general advancement."

"One of the greatest evils existing ... is that of ignorance, coupled with indifference."

Prayer

6/10

I read this little book way back when. It is a collection of essays on the topic of prayer from church leaders. As you can see from the book cover, there are some pretty big names who contributed to this book. It's pretty good and there is certainly some good insight contained in these pages.

I will share two quotes:

The first is from N. Eldon Tanner: "My father really knew how to talk to the Lord and made him seem so real and near to us. He would pray in the morning, 'Let thy blessings attend us as we go about our duties, that we may do what is right and return tonight to report to thee.' I think of that very often, and what a help it is to me! If everyone kept that thought in mind during the day, in all of his activities, knowing that he was going to account to the Lord at night for what he had done that day, it would be a great deterrent to wrongdoing and a great help in accomplishing works of righteousness."

The second is from Neal A. Maxwell: "Prayers are not to be bulldozers that automatically clear the way of all roadblocks."

Remembering Joseph by Mark L. McConkie

8/10

I read this at least a decade ago. It's a book containing tons of stories and experiences from family, friends, and others who had personal encounters with Joseph Smith. The book is organized by topic and has several lesser known stories that I found interesting.

My favorite topic was actually concerning the transfiguration of Brigham Young. The section contains tons of personal accounts of individuals who were watching Brigham Young speak when he suddenly looked and sounded like the recently martyred Prophet Joseph. It was cool reading so many different accounts from those who witnessed this event. Reading this book is a great way to get to know who Joseph Smith was and what kind of man he was. A very intelligent, courageous, and faithful servant of the Lord who remained true to his calling.

There are several good stories that I could share for the blog but I forced myself to limit the amount. I will relate three:

1. George A. Smith shares a story about a time when a Campbellite preacher came to Joseph Smith and said he would be dedicated to the church if he found it to be true. Joseph began teaching him and he said he wanted a miracle to prove that the restored gospel taught by the Prophet was true. "'Well,' said Joseph, 'what will you have done? Will you be struck blind, or dumb? Will you be paralyzed, or will you have one hand withered? Take your choice, choose which you please, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ it shall be done.'" The preacher said this was not the kind of miracle he wanted. Joseph then told him that he reminded him of the very first person the ask the Savior to perform a miracle which was Satan who came to Christ while he fasted in the desert. George A. Smith then says, "But the poor preacher had so much faith in the power of the Prophet that he daren't risk being struck blind, lame, dumb, or having one hand withered, or anything of the kind."

2. This one is more known, but I like it. "[In the winter of 1856 Emma] remarked of her husband Joseph's limited education while he was translating the Book of Mormon, and she was scribe at the time, 'He could not pronounce the word Sariah.' And one time while translating, where it speaks of the walls of Jerusalem, he stopped and said, 'Emma, did Jerusalem have walls surrounding it?' When I informed him that it had, he replied, 'O, I thought I was deceived.'"

3. Philo Dibble shares a story of a time when Joseph was preaching in Kirtland in 1833 and stated "Forty days shall not pass, and the stars shall fall from heaven." A skeptic wrote the words down and intended it to be a proof that Joseph was a false prophet once such an improbable occurrence fails to happen. After 39 days, this guy shows it to a member of the church named Joseph Hancock and asked him what he thought of his Prophet now. Joseph Hancock remarked that there was still one night left so certainly it would still come to pass. That night "[t]he whole heavens were lit up with the falling meteors" and the prophecy was fulfilled. The book also contains accounts from others who also witnessed this occurrence stating "I noticed in the sky numbers of stars falling from the heavens" among other descriptions. The book also quotes the 'Little Rock Gazette' newspaper on December 11, 1833 which writes of this as follows: "The Falling Stars - The meteoric phenomenon witnessed here on the morning of the 13th ult. was general throughout the United States. The Washington, Baltimore,   Philadelphia, and New York papers, give the same description of it, as those who witnessed it in this region, and to the north and south of us."

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

7/10

I read this about a decade ago, give or take. It is the final book in the Narnia series and probably has the heaviest symbolism out of all the books which makes it fascinating. Some of the symbolism involves a false Aslan being set up, a last Armageddon-style battle, and a final judgment where all are judged by Aslan, among many other symbolic moments. It's a good book and a good way to finish off the series. I plan on reading this Narnia series to my daughter coming up pretty soon.

I will now officially rank the Narnia books in order from my favorite to least favorite:

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
2. The Silver Chair
3. The Last Battle
4. The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'
5. Prince Caspian
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Horse and His Boy

I will end with two quotes:

"They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out."

"[A]ll find what they truly seek."

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

6/10

I finished reading this five days ago. For those who have read some of my other blog post entries, you may know that poetry isn't my favorite. So why would you read Walt Whitman, you ask? To be honest, I don't really know. But I do know that I was determined to read this book with a positive attitude and attempt to not get bothered when I ran into seemingly pointless poems. I actually didn't mind the book too much, but wish the length was cut in about half.

Walt Whitman seems like an interesting fellow. I bet he was an interesting guy to talk to. His Leaves of Grass is like the anthem of his life. He was such an optimist and loved nature, the United States, and life in general. A line in his poem 'To Think of Time' sums his attitude up: "What will be will be well, for what is is well." It reminds me of that time many years ago when I texted the following to a friend back when Utah Jazz version Deron Williams was dominating a particular game: "D Will will will us to victory." It's true.

Anyway, every now and then I would come across a poem that I really liked. My hands down favorite is 'Prayer of Columbus'. It is slightly too long for me to post here, but if you want to read it you can go to this website: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/waltwhitman/13394 It is worth a read in my opinion.

I will now post my next favorite poem titled 'O Living Always, Always Dying':

"O living always, always dying!
O the burials of me past and present,
O me while I stride ahead, material, visible, imperious as ever;
O me, what I was for years, now dead, (I lament not, I am content;)
O to disengage myself from those corpses of me, which I turn and look at where I cast them,
To pass on, (O living! always living!) and leave the corpses behind."

What Do Mormons Believe? by Rex E. Lee

6/10

I saw this book at a used book store while on my mission. At first from the title of the book I thought it was going to be an anti book. Which is funny because this book ended up playing a role in an anti experience later on during my mission. I ended up purchasing the book with some hesitation because I felt like maybe I should leave it on the shelf for some curious non-mormon to purchase and read. But I selfishly purchased it because during my mission I liked reading any kind of church book I could get my hands on.

I read the book and it was ok. Nothing too amazing. Just some basic and foundational principles. Which seemed to confirm that I should have left the book for someone else. It wasn't until about my last or second to last month of my mission when this family we were teaching showed us some anti mormon stuff someone gave them. It was more of a "look at this silly stuff someone gave us" kind of encounter and not a "is this really what you believe?" one. But nonetheless, they showed me this part of it which contained a quote from a church authority. The quote was something ridiculous which was actually the opposite of what we believe. I noticed the classic "..." contained in the quote indicating that they left something out. I pointed out that this is a common trick by the anti mormon posse as a way to leave out true and accurate context. I looked at the source of the quote and it came from a book called "What Do Mormons Believe?" I was like, I have that book and don't remember reading that part which is totally contrary to what we actually believe. I was able to look up the quote and it was the most shameful and dishonest portrayal possible. It removed the middle of a sentence which made the edited sentence appear to say the opposite of what the full sentence was saying. I was able to show the family the actual quote from the book and they couldn't believe it either. It actually helped their investigation of the church which was quite the backfire by the loser anti trickster.

And that is the story I always think of when I see this book on my shelf. I don't remember much of anything in it but I remember that it helped overcome some silly anti.

There is this informational quote in the book which actually comes from a Statement of the First Presidency on the Equal Rights Amendment back in October 1976:

"In Utah, where our Church is headquartered, women received the right to vote in 1870, fifty years before the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution granted the right nationally."

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor

8/10

Church manual circa 2001. I read it about 2007ish probably. John Taylor said a lot of cool things and was, shall I say, an underrated prophet? Yes I shall. Super smart and faithful guy.

To the quotes...

"[I]f we say a thing it ought to be as worthy of belief as if we had sworn to it, and as if we were bound by ten thousand ties to accomplish it."

"It is for each of us to be pure, and then say to others, 'follow me, as I follow Jesus.'"

"[W]ithout revelation religion is a mockery and a farce."

"If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty."

"Some people suppose that persecutions and trials are afflictions; but sometimes, and generally, if we are doing the will of the Lord and keeping His commandments, they may be truly said to be blessings in disguise."

"We have learned many things through suffering. We call it suffering. I call it a school of experience."

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

6/10

Once again, some seriously amazing cover art with this Narnia book series. It's the best. I read these books a while ago and remember looking forward quite a bit to this one because it is about the creation of Narnia. It's pretty interesting overall but still didn't meet my level of expectations for whatever reason.

And since this book is about Aslan's creation of Narnia, as well as some stuff during the interval between creation and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it is slotted as Book 1 in the chronological book publications. I'm more of a fan of the order of original publication style. Mainly because I think reading this story first robs some of the excitement away from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as Lucy discovers an unknown land.

All in all, this book was alright and ranks probably just above The Horse and His Boy.

A quote:

"No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifice."

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

10/10

I read this back in 2008 I believe. I had seen the movie first. The book and the movie tell the same story but told in drastically different ways. I don't want to go full spoiler, so I will just say that the movie has a twist ending whereas the book tells the story through a narrator that prevents the possibility of the twist ending reveal. This is one of those situations where if I had read the book first I probably would have been bothered by the differences in the movie. But the movie is sweet with Jack going full Jack. If I had to pick though I think I would say that I like the book's presentation version better. Either way, it's a funny story with cool and interesting characters.

Two quotes:

"Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing."

"[Y]ou have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy."

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

10/10

I just finished reading this book today. I was surprised that Mallory selected this one for me when I offered it to her as one of the four selections to choose from. I thought the plainness of the book cover would be the deal breaker. But when I read the title of the book she got pretty pumped because she thought it would be about "a girl wearing a beautiful dress to a wedding." Unbeknownst to her, the title is not referring to what she thinks it is. But I am glad she chose it for me anyway.

This book was seriously awesome. I loved it so much. It is one of my favorite books I have ever read. Seriously, it is. I just loved every single thing about it. First of all, the story is fantastic and interesting with great drama and mystery throughout. Second, the writing is superb and classic. Third, the pacing of the story is flawless with the story constantly moving forward but never too fast. And lastly, the creativity of the presentation sealed the deal. The story is told from many characters at different points in the story providing differing insights.

I will not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone. Just so enjoyable. I always looked forward to picking it up each night. And I look forward to reading another Wilkie Collins book in the future as this was my first.

Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow

6/10

I read this about a decade ago. Counting Crows fans will recognize the song "Rain King" which has a lyric which states "Henderson is waiting for the sun." And it was this song which prompted me to read this book.

It was ok I suppose. Not quite my style. It is about a middle-aged guy in a mid-life crisis if you will. He goes searching for himself by going on a random, spontaneous trip to tribal regions in Africa and unwittingly becomes the tribe's Rain King by moving a large statue or something. It's a pretty weird book with a few humorous moments here and there. I could see Adam Duritz completely connecting with this character. Henderson was a pretty interesting dude. It was a pretty long read for me though. Not sure if I'll read any other Saul Bellow books in my life. But at least I read the Counting Crows one.

One quote:

"[S]lavery has never really been abolished. More people are enslaved to different things than you can shake a stick at."

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

7/10

It's been a while since I read this book, but it was nice to thumb through it and read many of the good principles and quotes contained in this book. It is loaded with good advice and I enjoyed recognizing several gospel-oriented teachings sprinkled throughout the book. In fact, David O. McKay, Ezra Taft Benson, N. Eldon Tanner, and probably other church figures are quoted in this book.

Lots of times when I haven't read a book in a while I will have forgotten most of what it was about but will usually remember at least one thing throughout the years. When I picked up this book to post on this blog the one thing that has remained with me through the years was this: "One person's mission is another person's minutia. To make a deposit, what is important to another person must be as important to you as the other person is to you." I immediately thought of people like my Dad who would listen with seeming interest to my endless rants about the Bluejays' ups and mostly downs. As I post this now I think of my wife who endures the same rants. They have always made me feel that they are genuinely interested in my passionate discourses. It is not that they are interested in baseball or the Bluejays but they live the quote mentioned above. I have always hoped that I can do the same for others in my life and I hope to be able to do that for my kids as they grow and develop interests and hobbies.

There's also this funny part where he mentions "a person who runs three or four hours a day, bragging about the extra ten years of life it creates, unaware he's spending them running." It reminds me of a missionary I lived with who would only drink room temperature water because it is supposed to be better for you and he will live a year or two longer because of it. I always thought how that wouldn't be worth it especially since he would have to drink room temperature water for two extra years. I'd rather die two years earlier drinking refreshing cold water than live two extra years drinking warm water my entire life.

I was going to share a few quotes but there's just too many to share. So I will just share this longish one:

"[I]f you want to have a happy marriage, be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative energy rather than empowering it. If you want to have a more pleasant, cooperative teenager, be a more understanding, empathetic, consistent, loving parent. If you want to have more freedom, more latitude in your job, be a more responsible, a more helpful, a more contributing employee. If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy. If you want the secondary greatness of recognized talent, focus first on primary greatness of character."

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

6/10

Look at that book cover. Just amazing. This is book 5 in the Narnia series which I read several years ago. It is the only book that doesn't have any kids from England going to Narnia. Instead, the main characters are all Narnians and the entire book only takes place in Narnia. I don't remember too many details about this book, but have always considered this one to be my least favorite of them all.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball

8/10

This was the 2006 Priesthood/Relief Society manual. I finished reading it shortly after the end of that year I believe. Solid as always. The Church does a great job with these manuals.

There is a lot of good stuff in here, including his fairly famous "Tragedy or Destiny?" pamphlet  which I read while on my mission, the cover of such pamphlet pictured below:

There is also of course a chapter on The Miracle of Forgiveness, a book I own and still have not read, the cover of the book pictured below:

There are tons of good quotes. I had so many things underlined in my book that I actually didn't have time to read over all of them. Here are a few that I will share:

"When each child prays all his life for the missionary cause, he will be a good missionary."

"[I]f there is a chink in our integrity, that is where the devil concentrates his attack."

"It is not blind obedience, even without total understanding, to follow a Father who has proved himself."

"The observance of the Sabbath is an indication of the measure of our love for our Heavenly Father."

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

5/10

This is going to be one of those posts where I don't have much of anything to say because I read this book like seven or eight years ago and don't really remember too much about it. All I remember is that I thought it was ok. I also remember it not meeting my expectations because I really liked the only other Graham Greene book that I had read (The Third Man) and expected this one to be just as good.

In thumbing through my copy of this book I noticed several cool lines and descriptions. My brief perusal of the book appears to indicate that his writing was still sharp for this novel. So I don't really know what I didn't like other than I guess the story itself just didn't do it for me probably. I'm sure it didn't help matters that Brendan Fraser was on the cover of my book and all I could picture was him as I read about the main character. But, I didn't dislike it, don't get me wrong.

The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

7/10

I just finished reading this book today. It was good. I have been itching to read another Thomas Hardy book since reading "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" a few years back. Fortunately Mallory selected this book for me because she thought the girl on the cover was "silly".

It should be noted that Thomas Hardy said that he liked this book "as a story" the best of all his novels. This book was slightly better than my expectations. I had somewhat high expectations because it's Thomas Hardy. But my expectations were somewhat guarded due to the fact that this particular Thomas Hardy isn't typically given the same acclaim as some of his other books. It definitely wasn't as good as "Tess" but still had me intrigued throughout.

From the two books I've read of his I have decided that he is like Woody Allen in that he writes excellent female characters. This book had several fascinating female characters including Grace Melbury, Felice Charmond, and Marty South. Much could be said about all three. All I will say is that Hardy seems to have a soft spot for the plights of women and the unfair things that they had to endure back in the day.

I look forward to reading another Thomas Hardy because only reading two is obviously not enough.

My only serious complaint from this book involves not Thomas Hardy but the genius who included several extreme spoilers in the Notes to the edition I read. It's obvious that I'm going to read the Notes as I go along reading the book, so don't put huge spoilers in there. Did they really think that I would read the Notes with no context after I finish the book? I assume the Note is put in to inform and aid the reader as he reads. So don't put in huge spoilers, duh.

Some quotes:

"Why should Death alone lend what Life is compelled to borrow - rest?"

"[T]he determination to love one's best will carry a heart a long way towards making that best an ever-growing thing."

"[T]o every bad there is a worse."

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

7/10

Probably time for another Narnia post. This is one of my favorites from the Narnia series. Sometimes I've told myself that it's my favorite Narnia book, but upon further reflection, it certainly can't be better than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can it?

The Silver Chair is the first time we don't have any of the Pevensie children. We have Eustace who is a cousin of the Pevensie's and a carry-over character from The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'. And we also have Aslan for brief snippets of course. It's a fun book. I think I like it because it has a quest feel to it, a la The Lord of the Rings, as they go in search of Prince Caspian's (now King Caspian's) son. But I mostly like it because of the intense conclusion (well, at least as intense as a Narnia book can get). I really thought the ending was well done and enjoyable.

A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards

10/10

This is my final Missionary Reference Library book to post. I read this back in December of 2002. It is really good and I enjoyed this book a lot. It does, probably better than any other book, an amazing job at laying out the importance of the restored gospel in a clear and straightforward manner. In fact, as a mission president, he created this as an outline to assist his missionaries "in their study and presentation of the gospel in a systematic and logical manner."

I will now rank the Missionary Reference Library books in order from my favorite to my least favorite:

1. Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage
2. A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards
3. Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage
4. Our Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard
5. Truth Restored by Gordon B. Hinckley / Gospel Principles

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

1/10

This is a historic moment in my blog's history. The picture above is an actual picture of the book that I read. I took this photo myself (on our Mexican-style outside table that was given to us for free). Usually I find the same book cover photo online somewhere. I think only about three or four times I wasn't able to find the actual book cover and just selected a random one. But not today. Enough was enough.

This book is easily one of my top five least favorite books that I have ever read. I read it back around 2006 or 2007. I was so disappointed too because I had just recently read Heart of Darkness by Conrad and loved it, so I was expecting this one to be very good.

I was immediately disappointed that he was using the same device as that used in Heart of Darkness, namely to have a character in the book named Marlow basically tell the story to a group of other characters in the book. It worked splendidly in Heart of Darkness but was instantly ridiculous in Lord Jim. The reason being that Heart of Darkness was a short novella whereas Lord Jim is a long 400-plus page novel. I can buy into a guy sitting around telling a campfire-esque story to a bunch of dudes if the story can be told in one sitting. Am I really to believe that he is telling a 400-page long story to guys and they are still sitting there listening at the end? What did it take, five days straight uninterrupted? And it's something like that which can get me to not buy into a book from the get-go. And I didn't.

Plus, the story wasn't all that cool or interesting anyway for Marlow to even tell, unlike Heart of Darkness. It was kind of a confusing story overall and Marlow's telling of it built on the confusion.

I will end with this one quote:

"[W]ho once gives way to temptation, in the very instant hazards his total depravity and everlasting ruin. Therefore resolve fixedly never, through any possible motives, to do anything which you believe to be wrong."

Trusting Jesus by Jeffrey R. Holland

8/10

I was given this book by a lady in one of my ward's on my mission. I read it, according to the date written on the inside cover of my book, in March of 2004. It is a collection of some of Elder Holland's talks. And since we all know how awesome his talks are it goes without saying that this book is likewise pretty awesome.

There is a talk from this book which I have always remembered ever since reading it. It is from his talk called "Teaching, Preaching, Healing." He quotes Matthew 4:23 which says, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." He then summarizes the next few chapters which involve Christ's sermon on the mount as well as many more instances of him healing others. Then he quotes Matthew 9:35 which says, "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." He uses this to explain that we too must be the kind of teacher's who in the process of teaching can heal others. Christ wants our teaching to lead to healing of the spiritual kind. I found this talk and his breakdown to be very interesting and informative. The other talks are excellent as well.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

2/10

I just finished reading this today. Not a fan. I didn't know really anything about the book going in but knew that BOTH Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah were in the movie, which should have been a dead giveaway that this one is not for me.

I really didn't like it much at all. I didn't like the characters or the story. But I think I was mostly bothered by how the story was presented. It is a bunch of letters, first written by the main character to God, and then a bunch of letters written back and forth between sisters. This approach is fine I suppose so long as it is done in a way that is more believable.

First of all, her letters to God are pretty vulgar at times. I get how she is writing openly and honestly and all, but does she really have to drop out of nowhere f-bombs and describe other borderline explicit conversations and events in detail? I get maybe(!) writing that in your own personal journal, but if you do then seems weird to address the entry to God. But maybe that's just me.

And second, the letters the main character wrote to her sister were the most annoying for me for several reasons of which I will only name a few. Similar with the letters to God, she continues to write about some crude details to her sister which would be fine I suppose if not for the fact that her sister is a missionary in Africa. Seems like a little restraint should be involved based on this fact.

But the worst were the letters containing conversations she had with people about things she learned from her sister's letters of how things are in Africa. Instead of writing something like, "And then I told him about that thing you told me concerning how it is in Africa" which is what would happen in a real-life letter, she goes on to explain the exact entire conversation she had with the person in which she full-out explains what she learned from her sister. And she's writing this to her sister. I'm like, "Uhh, seems like the sister already knows about what you're explaining to her since she's the one who explained it to you in the first place." Clearly the author is explaining stuff to the reader and not the sister writing a letter to her sister.

If you're going to commit to the letter-writing being the storytelling then at least do a better job at it so that it doesn't drive me nuts the whole time. Other than that I guess there was lots of discussion about racism and sexism which is always fun.

New British Poetry

2/10

On the heels of my Shakespeare sonnets post, I will add this poetry book I read back in 2008 I believe. And I will again reiterate that I just don't really get poetry. At all.

In the intro it explains that the poet is trying to say "something original, something they had not said before, in a way they believe no one had said before." I get that and it seems like I should like poetry. But I usually don't. I just read these lines that are extremely vague and confusing and don't seem to have any point or purpose.

The intro also says that poets "attempt to reward the reader for their investment." I get that part of it too. But this isn't my full time job where I can sit and ponder a poem for hours on end. I would prefer for a poem to be entertaining combined with some brief moments of pondering and reflection. But most poetry, at least the poems in this book, requires far more pondering and reflection than I am willing to commit for the final payoff of whatever weird point the poet was trying to make. A little reward for even bothering to pick up your poem and read it in the first place would be nice every once in a while.

Plus, poems that don't ever rhyme? I just can't ever reason myself into liking non-rhyming poems. And 95% of this book is non-rhyming poems.

Lastly, I looked through the entire book for a quote to share and didn't find anything. Seriously, seems like poems should be loaded with quote material but it just doesn't happen like I think it should I guess.

Complete Sonnets by William Shakespeare

4/10

This is, according to my calculations, one of two remaining Shakespeare's that I have not posted but which I had read prior to reading the Complete Works. I read this in the 2006 or 2007 year range. It's my least favorite of Shakespeare. I am a Shakespeare plays man. His sonnets are boring to me. Plus, when people think Shakespeare is hard to read it is probably the sonnets which give this reputation because his plays aren't too difficult overall. Also, the reason the sonnets are hard to read and understand is because it's poetry and 95% of all poetry is hard to understand.

Here are some good lines:

The opening line to sonnet XVIII which is a funny line because it is used in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

The couplet from sonnet XLIII:

"All days are nights to see, till I see thee,
And nights, bright days, when dreams do show thee me."

The couplet from sonnet XCIV:

"For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds:
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds."

Silas Marner by George Eliot

8/10

Just finished reading this tonight. Mallory again chose it from a group of four books I had chosen. She liked the little girl on the cover.

This was a solid novel. It was my first George Eliot book and I enjoyed her writing. She has a slightly unique writing style that demands focused attention. She writes well but not simply. I caught myself having to re-read certain parts not because I wasn't paying attention but because my brain didn't quite comprehend what was being written. But after the re-read I usually caught on to what was being said and would even reflect that it really could not have been written any other way. Here's an example of one that I liked: "A dull mind, once arriving at an inference that flatters a desire, is rarely able to retain the impression that the notion from which the inference started was purely problematic." Good stuff.

And the story was interesting as well. The Silas Marner character was well done. Most of the other side characters were pretty boring by and large though. Not too boring, but I was mostly just interested in Marner.

There are a few quotes I could share but I have decided to just do this longish paragraph that I really liked:

"Favorable Chance, I fancy, is the god of all men who follow their own devices instead of obeying a law they believe in. Let even a polished man of these days get into a position he is ashamed to avow, and his mind will be bent on all the possible issues that may deliver him from the calculable results of that position. Let him live outside his income, or shirk the resolute honest work that brings wages, and he will presently find himself dreaming of a possible benefactor, a possible simpleton who may be cajoled into using his interest, a possible state of mind in some possible person not yet forthcoming. Let him neglect the responsibilities of his office, and he will inevitably anchor himself on the chance, that the thing left undone may turn out not to be of the supposed importance. Let him betray his friend's confidence, and he will adore that same cunning complexity called Chance, which gives him the hope that his friend will never know; let him forsake a decent craft that he may pursue the gentilities of a profession to which nature never called him, and his religion will infallibly be the worship of blessed Chance, which he will believe in as the mighty creator of success. The evil principle deprecated in that religion is the orderly sequence by which the seed brings forth a crop after its kind."

Fargo by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

9/10

So this is the only screenplay I've ever read. I spotted this "book" at a used bookstore many years back and decided to give it the purchase. Awesome story. But comes with some strong language obviously.

This book comes with a short intro from the Coen brothers that is pretty interesting. Fargo famously starts by declaring "This is a true story." People love true stories. You watch it thinking, "Wow, I can't believe this actually happened." Turns out it is not based on a true story at all. This is a similar device used by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter which I believe I discussed briefly in my The Scarlet Letter post a few years back. The intro discusses how their Grandma would tell them these remarkable stories and claim that they really happened. But they realized in retrospect some elements of Grandma's stories "test credulity." The intro ends by saying of their screenplay, "It aims to be both homey and exotic, and pretends to be true." I think it's a pretty sweet trick myself. Good old Coens.

The Sea Wolf by Jack London

9/10

I just finished reading this tonight. I felt like it was at last time to regain a little control in my book selection process while keeping Mallory's role as book chooser because she has enjoyed doing it for me. So I chose four books off of my bookshelf and then had Mallory choose my book from only those four. She chose The Sea Wolf "because it has a wolf in it." For those keeping score at home, she has chosen my last two books based on witches and wolves. I haven't decided yet if I should be concerned about this.

Anyway, to the book. It was great. I really, really liked it. When Mallory said she chose this book because it has a wolf in it, boy did it ever. Wolf Larsen, captain of The Ghost to be exact. What a great character, one of my favorites. He rivals Captain Ahab from Moby Dick in the crazy ship captain department. His character was so interesting through having the combination of a super sharp intellect and ferocious behavior. The main character and narrator, Humphrey Van Weyden, was a great character as well. How he came to be a sailor on The Ghost, his interactions with Wolf Larsen, and his overall growth throughout the book are all very interesting and well done by Mr. London. I liked the whole book overall, but definitely enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half. I was lost with a lot of nautical terminology at parts but appreciated it nonetheless because it made it feel authentic.

This was my second Jack London book that I have read and I have enjoyed both. I own no more Jack London books so I will have to be on the lookout for another from him for future reading because I really like the way he writes. He is a great storyteller.

Three quotes:

Referring to Wolf Larsen who was at the time in a depressed mood: "I... knew this man's sadness as the penalty which the materialist ever pays for his materialism."

"Fire is fanned by the wind until it leaps up fiercely. So is desire like fire. It is fanned, as by a wind, by sight of the thing desired, or by a new and luring description or comprehension of the thing desired."

"After all, I thought, it is better and finer to love than to be loved, if it makes something in life so worth while that one is not loath to die for it."

Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior

7/10

I read this book as I flew home from my mission. It's true. It's a collection of 16 different essays written by general authorities and religious scholars/educators. The essays were presented at some five-day symposium back in 2000. I think I read maybe one or two essays in Houston and then read the rest during my flight home and into the first few weeks back.

The book is pretty good but didn't quite reach my hopeful level of expectations I had for it if I remember correctly. I like scholarly church-related books for the most part as long as it doesn't fall into the dreaded scholarly pitfall of being too dry or boring. I felt like a number of the essays sent me to snoozeville. But, I also remember really liking some of the essays. Merrill J. Bateman's in particular was very well done. I still remember to this day much of his essay. I also remember liking Gerald N. Lund's and Robert L. Millet's. But yes, I liked it overall. There are lots of interesting insights for sure.

A quote from Merrill J. Bateman's essay which is titled "And He Did Invite Them One by One" which is a good essay about how Christ views us individually and personally:

He talks about when Christ appeared to the Nephites and allowed them to feel his wounds "one by one until they had all gone forth" (3 Nephi 11:15) and then points out: "The multitude totaled 2,500 souls (see 3 Nephi 17:25). If each person were given fifteen to twenty seconds to approach the Lord, touch the open wound in His side, feel the marks in His hands and feet, and express a brief thanks, at least eleven to twelve hours would have been consumed."

Our Heritage

7/10

I read this shortly after the mission if memory serves correct. It's a pretty quick read and covers a lot of familiar aspects of Mormon history. It feels a lot like Gordon B. Hinckley's "Truth Restored". The main difference to this book is that it carries Church History beyond Brigham Young. Seems like most of these type of books stop at that point. This one goes through many of the prophets following Brigham Young all the way up until Gordon B. Hinckley who was prophet at the time of this book's publication. It's a good book, especially for recent converts.

This book also has one of my favorite stories about the handcart pioneers. It is the story involving the guy who stands up and says cool things like "[We] came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities" and about how when he felt he could go no further "the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there." He concludes by saying, "The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company."

Grimm's Fairy Tales

6/10

I just finished reading this book tonight. Mallory picked out my book again and chose this one "because it has a witch in it." I should have finished this book at least a week ago but dragged it out due to a combination of a waning interest and Championship Week viewing consuming all my free time.

This book contains 120 of the tales collected by the Grimm brothers. I was looking forward to reading the well-known classics, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, etc. I actually enjoyed most of these classic stories, Hansel and Grethel probably being my favorite of the well-known classics group. I definitely think this group of stories is worth reading.

I was also looking forward to reading some of the other stories to find some hidden gems among the lesser-known tales. Unfortunately, for the most part, they are pretty ho-hum and lesser-known for a reason. There were a few that I liked pretty well though. Some of my favorites, in no particular order, were: 1. King Thrush-Beard; 2. The Juniper Tree; 3. The Robber and His Sons; 4. The Twelve Brothers; 5. How Six Traveled Through the World; 6. The Giant with the Three Golden Hairs; and 7. Master Cobblersawl.

So, while I would not recommend reading the entire book, I would recommend reading the ten or so well-known classics as well as the seven lesser-known tales referenced above. The End.

1984 by George Orwell

7/10

On the heels of my "Fahrenheit 451" post last week in which I declared that it had a 1984 feel, I will now do my 1984 post. Turns out 1984 was written only four years before Fahrenheit 451.

This is one of the few books that I have read more than once. I read it for the first time as a Senior in high school. Seemed like I remember liking it more than my fellow classmates. I revisited it a handful of years after that and liked it again.

There's just so much good stuff in this book. The plot is fantastic and creative. The themes are interesting and eerily prophetic at times. And the language and terminology is terrific and lasting. The book is just classic and referred to often for its ability to describe a future society that appears to become more of a reality with each passing year.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

7/10

I read this pretty soon after I got back from my mission. One of my companions liked it a lot, found it at a used bookstore we did service at, and convinced me to buy it. I liked it too. It was a good story and an interesting subject. It's got a 1984 feel to it and is about a future society where books are outlawed and burned. Books about rogue citizens not following the crazy rules of a crazy future society are interesting to read.

I watched the movie and it was suck-tastic.

A quote:

"They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts."

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

3/10

More like A Farewell to Legs. I read this in the year 2005. It was my first ever Hemingway. I have now read three Hemingway books and I don't know what to make of him. I really liked one of his books (The Old Man and the Sea), I thought one of his books was so-so (The Sun Also Rises), and I was very disappointed in A Farewell to Arms. I thought it was a boring story and, to be honest, I was not at all impressed with the writing. I hate it when authors refuse to keep us posted on who is speaking during several pages-long dialogue. Seemed like I had to trace my way back in the conversations several times to refresh myself on who was saying what.

I was excited to read this book too, it being my first Hemingway and all. Fortunately, the other two books of his that I have read have been significantly better so I am sure I will return again to the Hemingway well and get to the bottom of whether I like him or not. It's like a best of seven series and Hemingway is up two games to one (I would say that The Sun Also Rises was probably an Extra Innings victory for Hemingway). So stay tuned.

The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis

7/10

So I haven't done a Narnia book post is quite some time. This one was read by me a while ago, probably 9 years. It's pretty decent. Not as good as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but better than Prince Caspian. At least for me. Although it's a bit sad to get over the fact that not all four Pevensie children are in this one as the older two do not take part in the adventure. It's got a good little Aslan/Christ symbolism at the end.

A quote:

"[O]ne of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to Facts."

Pygmalion and Three Other Plays by George Bernard Shaw

8/10

I just finished this book tonight. I again had my four-year-old daughter choose my book for me. I'm still in "time out" for my Ulysses selection. When she chose this book I asked her why and she said, "Because it's pink." Sounded like a good enough reason for me.

The four plays in the book are: (1) Major Barbara; (2) The Doctor's Dilemma; (3) Pygmalion; and (4) Heartbreak House. Usually I have a hard time ranking things, but not this time. Pygmalion is fantastic and the clear winner (which is why it is singled out apart from the "Three Other Plays"). It is the play that My Fair Lady is based on. My second favorite was The Doctor's Dilemma which was a comical satire of the medical profession. This one had some funny characters and some pretty sweet burns on doctors (pun!) and a very interesting plot. Major Barbara was pretty good and had some good moments and some good characters. Shaw's Socialism comes through in this one more than the others which put a bit of a damper on it as a whole. And lastly, the proverbial runt of the litter was Heartbreak House which had none of the humor found in the other three plays and had unenjoyable characters to go along with a boring story that seemed to be haphazardly constructed.

So three out of four a'int bad. I would definitely recommend reading this book for the plays. I would hesitate to recommend this book, however, due to the prefaces before each play. They were tedious and did nothing to illuminate the actual plays. They were just Shaw ranting. And while his plays were comical, his rants were too serious and off-putting. The preface to Major Barbara gives an insight into his extreme Socialist views which were "interesting" to say the least. The preface to Pygmalion was the only somewhat enjoyable one to read. Coincidentally this was the only short-winded preface coming in at five pages (Major Barbara: 43 pages, The Doctor's Dilemma: 83 pages!, and Heartbreak House: 43 pages).

But I liked it overall. The plays were good enough to overcome the prefaces. And there is another Barnes & Noble Classics collection of some of his other plays that I am sure I will acquire somewhere down the line.

Some quotes:

From Major Barbara:

"Genuine unselfishness is capable of anything"

"He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."

From The Doctor's Dilemma:

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

From Pygmalion:

"Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespear and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon."

"There's always something professional about doing a thing superlatively well."

"The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another."

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe

7/10

I read this a while back, some nine years ago or so. I remember liking it but not loving it. Any story about a guy stranded on an island is going to at least be somewhat interesting by default. There is enough adventure in here to make it a worthwhile read. Plus, it was written in the early 1700's which has always surprised me. It doesn't read like that old of a book. The book also has a lot of religious aspects to it as Robinson reads the Bible often and we get to read his thoughts about what he has read.

Well, here are a few quotes:

"For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first."

"[W]henever they come to a true sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing than deliverance from affliction."

"[W]e never see the true state of our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries."

"[N]othing but Divine revelation can form the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and of a redemption purchased for us, of a Mediator of the new covenant, and of an Intercessor at the footstool of God's throne; I say, nothing but a revelation from Heaven can form these in the soul; and that therefore the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean, the Word of God and the Spirit of God, promised for the guide and sanctifier of His people, are the absolutely necessary instructors of the souls of men, in the saving knowledge of God, and the means of salvation."

A Bit on the Side by William Trevor

3/10

I read this in 2008 I believe. And I read it before the birth of my first son which I named Trevor William. It's true. I did not name my son after William Trevor. In fact, I had forgotten all about this author's existence and did not make the connection until somewhat recently.

Anyway, this is a collection of 12 short stories that are pretty boring and uneventful for the most part, in my opinion. As I look over the stories, the only one that I remember really liking was "An Evening Out" which was fantastic. The others were mostly unmemorable. But, I must not have disliked these stories too much because somewhere down the line I acquired another William Trevor book that I have yet to read.

Conclusion: It was not great as demonstrated by my inability to recall 11 of the 12 stories. It was not terrible as demonstrated by the excellence of 1 of the 12 stories and by my future acquisition of another book from the same author.

One quick line from a story titled "Solitude":

"Dark nourishes light's triumphant blaze"

Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie

9/10

I read this on the mission in 2003. This book is a classic. It really is great. It's very thorough, very comprehensive, and yet each topic is fairly concise for the most part. Except "Signs of the Times" which goes on for several pages. It's a good book to learn more about common topics like "Prayer" and "Faith" but also great for random topics that you've never heard of or thought about. And there are scripture references galore for everything. It's just a good book to be used for scripture and gospel study.

There are tons of quotes that could be shared and I even had several chosen, but I decided to only share this one which is found in the topic "Vicarious Ordinances":

"Salvation is based on the vicarious atoning sacrifice of Christ.... He acted on man's behalf, that is, vicariously, paying the penalty for our sins on condition of repentance, ransoming us from the effects of Adam's fall."

Already to Harvest by Hartman Rector, Jr.

3/10

Lets kick off this new year with a post about my least favorite church book that I have ever read. I didn't totally hate it, but it's fair to say that I didn't like it. I read this on my mission back in 2004. 

It was a good book in the sense that it encouraged you to be a good, hard-working missionary and had some good thoughts about how to make that happen. But I was mainly turned off by how over-the-top it went with the you should baptize infinity people each month lectures.  The stories of missionaries baptizing 25 people per month and writing down a long list of ridiculous goals like: "We conclude each day with the satisfaction that another person has been baptized!" made the book seem unrealistic and brought the book from a good missionary tool to parody territory. I guess I just got annoyed reading this book, while serving a mission in the Bible Belt, about how if only I was a good missionary then I should be baptizing a person every single day. I probably should have just ignored those parts and just tried to focus on the principles being taught. Maybe next time.