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.