Lord of the Flies by William Golding

8/10

For some reason it feels like I made a post about this book before, but after looking through the annals, turns out I have not. This, by the way, is my 100th post. Some said it couldn't be done.

So when I was a youngster, one of my older brothers told me this story. I remember really liking it and remembering certain details pretty well. When I finally read it shortly after high school (yes, I was never assigned this book in high school like hoards of others were), I still remembered certain parts and was constantly anticipating them. It was fun reading and re-remembering the story that I was told many a year before.

I really like this book and enjoy pretty much everything about it. First of all, any story about people stranded on a desert island has my immediate attention (e.g. Robinson Crusoe, The Tempest, Swiss Family Robinson, Castaway, Sheep in the Island (one of Mallory's favorite videos on youtube), etc.). Second, it is kids stranded on the island. So I instantly picture my scout troop stranded and we would probably go full meltdown much quicker than these kids. Sorry Troop 788, but it's true. Third, two opposing groups quickly form, so now I get to enjoy reading about this competition of sorts and invest my rooting interests (go team Ralph, elected government with structure and order is the way to go). Fourth, Ralph and his group quickly become the underdogs and I always like an underdog.

This is a must read book. It's got plenty of symbolism or allegorical connections that can be made for the deep thinker and it has lots of adventure for the kid at heart.

Come Unto the Father in the Name of Jesus

7/10

So this is some way old Priesthood manual from like the early 90's. I acquired it on the mish and read it at that point in time. It is your basic, run of the mill priesthood manual a la Gospel Principles, etc. I don't really remember it, but looking through it for some quotage, it appears to be pretty chock full of good quotes and such. So, to the quotes:

From David O. McKay: "The poorest shack in which love prevails over a united family is of greater value to God and future humanity than any other riches. In such a home God can work miracles and will work miracles."

From Neal A. Maxwell: "Young Joseph was told that his name would be both 'good and evil spoken of' throughout the world. Except from a divine source, how audacious a statement! Yet his contemporary religious leaders, then much better known than Joseph, have faded into the footnotes of history, while the work of Joseph Smith grows constantly and globally."

From Gene R. Cook: "My challenge is to learn how to bring about a home here on earth similar to the celestial one I left."

From Orson F. Whitney: "The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. If you do not have it, how can you stand?"

From Harold B. Lee: "Thank God for one more day! For what? For the opportunity to take care of some unfinished business. To repent; to right some wrongs; to influence for good some wayward child; to reach out to someone who cries for help - in short, to thank God for one more day to prepare to meet God."

From Marion G. Romney: "If the members of the Church would double their fast-offering contributions, the spirituality in the Church would double."

From Joseph Fielding Smith: "No member of this Church can stand approved in the presence of God who has not seriously and carefully read the Book of Mormon."

The First 2,000 Years by W. Cleon Skousen

7/10

I read this about ten years ago. It's pretty solid. It is a very in depth commentary to the first part of the Old Testament from Adam to Abraham. It brings some pretty good insight and Skousen has some pretty creative interpretations. Most of the time I was thinking that the connections he made were pretty sweet but at the same time remaining guarded about some of the conclusions realizing that he is just presenting his interpretations as a scholar and not as a church authority. He references the scriptures and uses them as the starting point for his arguments. Sometimes he would even present a few alternatives of what he thinks could have happened and openly states that he does not know the answer to a particular question but presents the alternatives in order to provoke the student to ponder more about the scenario being discussed. I enjoyed the book and it helped me get more into the Old Testament and to understand it much better. I'd recommend reading it while at the same time probably not recommend citing it too often as part of a Sunday School lesson or anything just to be safe.

Quotes:

"History confirms the wisdom of God in refusing to excite the human imagination concerning matters which have no immediate bearing on life here, and would only distract the human race from the business of making life more profitable on our own planet."

"Everything that existed in the Garden of Eden was endowed with the capacity to live forever."

"Just as soon as a man looks upon his office in the Priesthood as a token of his superiority over his fellow men then priestcraft replaces Priesthood."

"When Satan was ultimately cast out it was Michael and his angels who did it. It even describes how they did it: 'by the word of their testimony.'"

"Peace is the parent of prosperity."

"Sarah...is the only woman in the Bible whose age, death and burial are distinctly noted."

"[Christ's] suffering was His proof that He had to have us with Him in order to be happy."

The Holy Temple by Boyd K. Packer

7/10

So, those in the know will be able to tell by the image to the left that I have actually only read the 40 page booklet adapted from Packer's book of the same name. So I should probably put an * in the title of this post. Or just mention it here.

I read this forever ago, I don't remember when. Maybe on my mission, maybe before. So I don't have much recall. But as I thumbed through it looking for a quote or two I couldn't help but notice that even this small booklet contains tons of info about the temple that would improve my temple worship. Lots of good advice about approaching temple worship and cool stuff about symbolism, the sealing power, ancient temples, et cetera. Plus, I remembered that I have this booklet only after teaching not one but two gospel doctrine classes about the temple. Would have helped to go through this during lesson prep. Now I just need to go read the full length book to get more of some of the secret juicy details.

Quotes:

"A careful reading of the scriptures reveals that the Lord did not tell all things to all people."

"The Lord has every right and authority to direct that matters relating to the temple be kept sacred and confidential."

"Surely the Lord is pleased when we are worthy of the title: A keeper of the covenants."

Life Before Life by Richard Eyre

8/10

Second post in one week, I am rolling. I read this little book back in 2005. I remember the year because I read it while living with the Powell's in Provo. I actually read the whole thing on the toilet a la my Dad. It's true.

It is a pretty quick read and full of solid quotes and thoughts about the pre-existence. If I remember correctly, the book wasn't so much about what life was like before we came to earth but more about what it means and how it helps us knowing that we did in fact live before we came to earth. It's a good uplifter type of book, kind of in the mold of Stephen Covey's stuff. It's worth the time to read and could actually be taken care of in just a few days. So there you have it.

I leave you with some quotes:

The book opens with an awesome William Wordsworth poem:
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home."

"Because we are spiritual beings we have spiritual memories, memories that are dim but not gone, veiled but not blocked. Thus spiritual truths resonate; they feel right. They ring true. They have about them a spiritual logic and light."

"God's commitment to our agency does not lessen His interest in us."

"Belief in life after life gives us hope. Belief in life before life gives us worth."

"Knowing about living before can change everything about living now."

"In the purity of little children, we see God."

"True faith comes when we trust that God's methods are beyond us but that His motives are for us."

"Believing and living are integrated parts of a two-way street. Believing something helps us to live it because we want to, and living something helps us to believe it because it works."

The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

4/10

Time to dust off the old blog cover for another post. I read this book probably seven years ago. I remember it well. I read it for extra credit for my Information Systems class. I read probably a little less than half and then wrote up a little paper about it and voila, hello barely getting a B. I then actually finished the book a few years later, I believe in 2009. Yes, because I remember playing an all-day softball tournament in Delta (where we took 2nd place and I got a long sleeve t-shirt that has since served as my pajama shirt during the winter months) and I brought this book to read during the breaks between games. I was reading it on the bleachers without the book cover and someone legitimately thought I was reading Twilight. Then another person, after being told the title, thought that the book was about a person who really believed that the world was literally flat.

Now with that long intro that has nothing to do with the actual book, I will give my very brief thoughts about the book. It was a sometimes interesting, sometimes boring book about how the playing field has been leveled, businesswise. A kid in his basement can innovate and compete in the marketplace because he has access to many of the same tools as the big guys. Or something like that. And companies need to realize this and make adjustments accordingly. And how places like India are taking advantage of the flatness of the world what with their call centers and such.

It was ok to read, not my cup of tea obviously because I'm not too smartsy in this area and couldn't always keep up with the computer lingo and concepts. But, I have read it and thus am posting about it in my books that I've read blog.

Some quotes:

"Change is hardest on those caught by surprise."

"All of us are smarter than one of us."

"In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears - and that is our problem."

"Remember, in China when you are one in a million - there are thirteen hundred other people just like you."

Quoting Will Rogers: "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Quoting Winston Churchill: "To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day."

Christ and the New Covenant by Jeffrey R. Holland

8/10

Hello friends. A quick post about this book that I read about 8 years or so ago. It is all about the teachings of Christ found in the Book of Mormon. It is super informational. Did you know: "Some form of Christ's name is used 3,925 times in the Book of Mormon, a figure that averages out to one reference for every 1.7 verses; some 101 different names are used to describe the Only Begotten Son of God." Did you also know: "As 'another testament of Jesus Christ,' the Book of Mormon contains twice as many references to the Resurrection as does the New Testament." The book is also very inspiring, because, duh, it was written by Jeffrey R. Holland.

Here are a few quotes I scrounged together:

"Faith is to agree unconditionally - and in advance - to whatever conditions God may require in both the near and distant future."

"Those who do not believe Christ's words would not believe him personally."

"Good works are necessary for salvation, but they are not sufficient."

"That any writer - Joseph Smith or anyone else - could create the Book of Mormon out of whole cloth would be an infinitely greater miracle than that young Joseph translated it from an ancient record by 'the gift and power of God.'"