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.