A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

6/10

I read this about nine years ago. It is very short and an interesting look into the heart and mind of C.S. Lewis. This book was written shortly after the death of his wife. It is basically his thoughts and the struggles he faced in dealing with this loss. It is very honest and it is always interesting to get into the mind of C.S. Lewis.

I didn't quite enjoy it as much as some of his better stuff, but that's probably because the topic "Grief" is not really supposed to be all that enjoyable. But like I said, it is interesting and short (only 89 pages not counting the Afterword) and so I would recommend others to give it a look.

There are several quotes I could share, but I chose to only post this one:

"If I had really cared, as I thought I did, about the sorrows of the world, I should not have been so overwhelmed when my own sorrow came."

The Third Thousand Years by W. Cleon Skousen

6/10

This is the second book in Skousen's Old Testament trilogy. I read this one about ten years ago-ish. I think. I still haven't finished "The Fourth Thousand Years," the final book. Very reminiscent of my actual Old Testament reading where I can get through much of it with relative ease and then I get to Ezekiel and stay there for the next ten years. Fun fact: There are three different book series that I haven't finished. I haven't finished the Ender series (I've read seven of the however many there are now). Haven't finished the C.S. Lewis science fiction trilogy (I've read two of the three). Haven't finished this one. Maybe that's why I haven't picked up Harry Potter yet, I need to knock these ones out first. Or I just suck at reading series.

Anyway, much like "The First 2,000 Years," this book was enjoyable. Provides good and interesting insight into the Old Testament. It covers from Abraham to Samuel and Saul. Lots of cool stuff during this period.

Quotes:

"Not only was it a desperate and challenging time for men to endure, but also for God to govern."

"God doesn't change, but circumstances do, and God's commandments will vary accordingly."

"Except Jesus Christ, there is more information concerning the prophet Moses and the works of his hands than any other personality in the Bible."

"[W]e have learned from experience that periods of apostasy do not usually produce good historians."

Revelations of the Restoration by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig J. Ostler

10/10

I love, love this book. It is a 1,000-plus page book that I read on my mission. It should also be noted that I bought it on sale for extremely less than the original price. It was like a $50 dollar book that I got for $15. You may not believe it, but it's true. Anyway, this book is so great. This is one of the few books that seems to be on my night stand more than it is on my bookshelf due to constantly looking things up for personal study/Sunday School lessons.

A sticker on the front cover of the book that has remained on my cover for 10-plus years says that it is "THE MOST Comprehensive Single-Volume Resource on the D&C" which I accept as a true statement. I haven't read other D&C resource books, but I do know that this one is very in depth and amazing, providing incredible background to each revelation. Although, I must point out that it is more than a D&C resource book. As the title of the book suggests, it is about the revelations of the restoration, not just the revelations contained in the D&C. So, in addition to discussing all 138 sections of the D&C, the book also discusses the Joseph Smith History, Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith Translations of the Bible, Lectures on Faith, the Wentworth Letter and the Articles of Faith, The King Follett Discourse, and the Official Declarations of the Church.

It is all so very good. I enjoyed when they would make statements about certain sections, such as:
- About Section 19: "This section ranks among the most instructive of our doctrinal revelations."
- About Section 76: "Doctrine and Covenants 76 stands unrivaled as the greatest revelation of our dispensation."
- About Section 93: "Section 93 is one of the greatest doctrinal revelations given in this dispensation."
- About Section 110: "This revelation...records some of the most significant events of this dispensation, indeed, of the history of the earth"

I would for sure recommend this book as a book to read alongside a study of the D&C and Pearl of Great Price.

Some good quotes about revelation:

"[R]evelation is the arch enemy of false religion. Nothing so threatens the prince of darkness as the light of heaven. Continuous revelation is as important to true religion as breath is to life or constant nourishment is to the body."

"Just as we cannot with consistency say we love the Father while rejecting the Son, neither can we profess to love the Son while rejecting those whom he has sent in his name to do his bidding. To accept his servants is to accept him, to reject them is to reject him."

"The Lord has never had a people he acknowledged as his own to whom he would not speak. Revelation is the sure sign of the true Church; it is the foundation upon which the kingdom of God must rest."

And then one of my favorites: "When Joseph walked away from the grove of trees near his home, he knew more about the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, than any other living soul."

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

7/10

I just finished reading this book tonight. It is my third Dostoevsky book (Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov are the others and have already been posted on this here blog). It is my third favorite of the three. That being said, I enjoyed this book. Dostoevsky is just so, so good.

The book is about this guy who, as one character in the book explains, "anyone who chose could deceive him, and...he would forgive anyone afterwards who had deceived him..." I think that line sums up the hero of this novel best. Another line, from the same character, describes him as "Don Quixote, only serious and not comic."

Dostoevsky stated in letters to others while writing this book that he was attempting to create "a perfectly beautiful man." He is a "holy fool" and a Christ-type figure. Everyone views him as an idiot because of his simpleness. But at the same time everyone recognizes his compassion and tendency to sympathize with all and see the good in others no matter what. He is viewed as an idiot because he is different than the rest of society. He seemed to me to be quite intelligent and a man with a pure heart.

There were ups and downs in the book. The book is split into 4 parts. All of Part One is simply fantastic. It started so good that I thought that I would maybe like it as much as or more than the other two books of his that I have read. Part Two dropped off a bit for me as our hero takes somewhat of a backseat to other characters. I really liked the last few chapters of Part Two and the first few chapters of Part Three. The book ends tremendously as the second half of Part Four is very well done. That's how I see it anyway.

There is also this extremely tremendous bit of a guy describing a painting he saw of Christ in the tomb and how it made him feel. It is pure Dostoevsky awesomeness. I want to quote it in here verbatim but it's pretty long. It's just something that you won't read in any book anywhere else other than in a Dostoevsky book. Oh, and here's a picture of the painting:

 I guess Dostoevsky saw this painting in a museum and stood there and stared at it forever until his wife had to finally pull him away.

There's also interesting parts about what goes on in the mind of a man who is on the verge of being executed. Dostoevsky would know because he was sentenced to death when he was 28 and was let off the hook at the last second. And by let off the hook, I mean sent to a prison in Siberia for four years and then forced into the Russian military for six years.

This is a good book and worth a looksie. But if you haven't read Dostoevsky then I would recommend you read Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov first.

I've gone on surprisingly long, so I will limit the quote selections:

"Grown-up people do not know that a child can give exceedingly good advice even in the most difficult case.... The soul is healed by being with children."

"God has just such gladness every time he sees from heaven that a sinner is praying to Him with all his heart, as a mother has when she sees the first smile on her baby's face...; that is the whole conception of God as our Father and of God's gladness in man, like a father's in his own child"

"[F]rom my numerous observations, our Liberals are never capable of letting anyone else have a conviction of his own without at once meeting their opponent with abuse or even something worse."

"In scattering the seed, scattering your 'charity,' your kind deeds, you are giving away, in one form or another, part of your personality, and taking into yourself part of another; you are in mutual communion with one another, a little more attention and you will be rewarded with the knowledge of the most unexpected discoveries. You will come at last to look upon your work as a science; it will lay hold of all your life, and may fill up your whole life. On the other hand, all your thoughts, all the seeds scattered by you, perhaps forgotten by you, will grow up and take form. He who has received them from you will hand them on to another. And how can you tell what part you may have in the future determination of the destinies of humanity?"

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

4/10

This was one of the first books I read after my mission. I remember because it is the book that I brought with me to Zion's National Park which I went to two weeks after coming home. I remember being really excited to read it and had extremely high expectations. Unfortunately, my expectations turned out to be too high and I was a bit disappointed overall with this book.

It is the first book of a science fiction trilogy (science fiction has never really been my thing for the most part). I have read the second book (which I will post about in a future day) but have still not gotten around to reading the third one. Mostly because of lost interest I believe.

The book is about this guy who is abducted by aliens and brought to some planet. He spends most of the book on the run and there are interesting parts here and there. And, as always with C.S., there is some interesting Christian allegory woven in.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to anyone, but wouldn't persuade anyone to avoid it either. It's a quick 160 pages, so a person could give this book a try without much commitment and then decide if they want to move forward with the other books in the series.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

1/10

I read this over nine years ago and I disliked it so much. The best part about having read this book nine years ago is that I no longer remember anything about it. But even while I was reading it and immediately afterward I still had no idea what I was reading/had just read. It was pure gibberish to me from the get-go. It was just two guys chasing each other around in the wilderness and mountains or something. The story was just super jumpy and disorienting. Weird. Pointless. This is definitely one of my least favorite books of all time. Probably bottom 5. Or even bottom 3. And it is to this day the only Stephen King book that I have read. Swing and a miss Mr. King, swing and a miss.

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith

9/10

I read this many years ago. I selected the most common book cover photo above because I couldn't find anywhere online a picture of my more obscure, classic book cover. Oh wells.

So Joseph Smith is the man. This is a chronological compilation of his quotes from his sermons and writings, put together by Joseph Fielding Smith. He talked about so many things. But one thing that stood out is how often he spoke about obtaining knowledge and how important that is. And it is impossible to read this book and not recognize how incredibly knowledgeable Joseph Smith was. So intelligent. I love reading his words and learning from him. My book is marked up on pretty much every single page where I underlined great quotes.

Quotes, some of the many:

"He that can mark the power of Omnipotence, inscribed upon the heavens, can also see God's own handwriting in the sacred volume: and he who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand wherever he can see it"

"Men who have no principle of righteousness in themselves, and whose hearts are full of iniquity, and have no desire for the principles of truth, do not understand the word of truth when they hear it."

"Ever keep in exercise the principle of mercy, and be ready to forgive our brother on the first intimations of repentance, and asking forgiveness; and should we even forgive our brother, or even our enemy, before he repent or ask forgiveness, our heavenly Father would be equally as merciful unto us."

"It is no more incredible that God should save the dead, than that he should raise the dead."

"Suppose that Jesus Christ and holy angels should object to us on frivolous things, what would become of us? We must be merciful to one another, and overlook small things."

"Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness."

"Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God."

"He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed."

"There is no salvation between the two lids of the Bible without a legal administrator."

"No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator."

"[T]here are so many fools in the world for the devil to operate upon, it gives him the advantage oftentimes."