New Books (and New Post)

I just finished The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (for the first time) and Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (not for the first time) and I thought I would tell you all that they're both fantastic. Cold Sassy Tree has been on my favorites list since the first time I read it, but whenever anyone asked me why I liked it I couldn't remember, so this time I paid attention. :) It turns out I like it for a lot of reasons, including the relationship between the progtagonist, Will Tweedy, and his grandfather, which is pretty central to the story. Also, it's disguised pretty well behind the way he speaks (since Olive Ann Burns writes their Southern accent out the way you'd hear it), but that grandfather has some really insightful ideas on the nature of God and Jesus and what they meant when they said some of the things in the scriptures.

The Accidental Tourist is about a very bizarre man named Macon Leary who is a travel writer and hates travel. He writes for businessmen, and his job is to help them go through their entire business trips without feeling like they've ever left home. Anyway this results in some very interesting things in his life and I highly recommend the book to everyone on this blog. I will be looking for something else by Anne Tyler quite soon.

umm...just in case

well, my plans have changed quite a bit. i don't know that i'll get around to reading the book this month. perhaps we shall try again next month? (sheepish grin)*









*i don't know how to emoticon a sheepish grin and it would annoy me to try and figure it out so you get the whole phrase.

Book Club - October

There's still one more day to vote, but I'm just going to call a winner here.

Newes from the Dead.

How does October 21st sound for everyone? That's a Tuesday. That gives us some time to get a new book choice for November.

Comment and let me know.

from miri

http://www.halfpricebooks.com/vote2008.html

can you guess who I voted for?

**I had to add this, mostly because one of his dislikes is "pants"**
The Grinch
Home: Just north of Whoville
Education: Home-schooled
Occupation: Thief
Likes: Dogs, Ideas, Stealing
Dislikes: Everyone, Pants
Marital Status: Single and proud of it!
Advisor: Max
Possible Running Mate: Little Cindy Lou Who

Background:
Despite his criminal record of breaking and entering charges, the Grinch is a changed man since his heart grew 3 times after learning that Christmas doesn't come from a store.

Platform:
- In favor of alternative sources of energy
- Supports legislation to regulate and reduce carbon emissions
- In favor of more economic stimulus checks
- Opposes excess Federal holidays
- Member of the SPCA and supporter of animal rights
- Opposes wearing pants because of child labor in China

Literary Background:
The Grinch is a popular character created by Dr. Seuss. He first appeared in the 1957 children's book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. This was followed in 1966 by a popular television special, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's MGM Animation/Visual Arts studio, and directed by Chuck Jones. In 1977, Seuss responded to the fan request for more Grinch tales by writing "Halloween Is Grinch Night", a Halloween special that aired on CBS. Like its predecessor, the sequel was recognized at the Emmy awards. In 1982, ABC aired "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat", which was also produced by Dr. Seuss, under his real name, Ted Geisel. This third special garnered two Emmy awards.

New post - now with more polling!!

For those who may use Google Reader only - check out the new poll!

Here is the list of books I came up with for October. The poll gives you a chance the first time around to help choose the book. I tried to stay with an October-y type of book and I linked to all of the books as listed at B&N or Borders. You can check each of them out to get a better idea of what you might want to read.

I found most of these through reviews (and with a little help from Megan). I wanted something thrilling/interesting/different/maybe a little creepy for this time of year. I rarely read such things, but it's fun every once in a while. I tried to get a nice array of books. Please comment and please vote!

The one with the most votes will be what we read so vote well and vote often!!

Newes from the Dead
**review from Young Adult blog** (the review makes it sound interesting - plus it's YA so I was hoping it would be a little lighter fare)

Sherlock Holmes (well, just because)

To Kill a Mockingbird (mostly I have been wanting to re-read this)

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (I think some of this is based on truth which makes it interesting to me)


The Brief History of the Dead (also, just because)

one more day

one more day to vote on your availability!!

think of it this way, all these polls will get us very ready for November.

Inaugural Post

Aaaaaand smash the wine bottle on the hull of this post, this ship is off to the sea of blogdom! Hi. My name is Mike Shorten, married to a Mrs Michael Nathan Shorten (aka Miri Shorten ha ha sorry sweetie) and I am the newest member of this blog. And enough about me, onto the books.
I have read several books lately and thought I would put them on here.

1-A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'engel
2-A Wind In The Door by " " " "
3-A Swiftly Tilting Planet by " " " " " " " " "
4-The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (Not Yet Finished or NYF)
5-Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (NYF)
6-World War Z by Max Brooks
7-The Hot Zone by Richard Preston (NYF)
8-In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

I bid you a good day sir or madam

New poll up now - book poll coming soon!

I'm going to compile a short list of options for an inaugural book club "meeting" for OCTOBER. It will be season/holiday appropriate. There will be a poll open for TWO (2) days!! I'm making it short so we can all go about obtaining the book and start our reading. I will announce the "meeting" date once we get past choosing a book to read.

I suggest the following rules and guidelines:

1. The person who chooses the book (or in this case, organizes the voting of choosing the book) will be the host.

2. The host is in charge of the following things:
a. choosing the book
b. choosing the date of the discussion/meeting
c. getting the discussion going with the first post on the chosen date - this means you should choose a date where you can post in the morning (or late the evening before) so as to give everyone time to get in comments and/or follow-up posts.

3. The discussion on the book will stay "open" and going for 24 hours. This should account for our different schedules and time zones.

4. The discussion will be in the form of comments responding to the original post and/or follow up posts. I will make sure to invite everyone participating to the blog so you have permission to post.

5. This pretty much goes without saying since we all basically read the same books, but I feel the need to include a rule of giving a general "rating" of the book you choose and perhaps a link or summary of the description of the book so people can decide whether or not they want to participate that month. This could just be a link to the book on the B&N website - but it's nice to know a little about what we will be reading.

Okay. That's what I've thought of. Thoughts, input, changes? Anything to add? Look for that poll sometime next week!! :)

photo links

i added photos of us on the sidebar for the time being. they still need to be more bookie, but wanted to get a feel of how it would look. it's also nice because if you click on the photo it will open up our individual blogs.

i will add lauren and mike (and anyone else who formally would like to participate - let me know via comment!) when i can get a good picture of each of them. mike doesn't keep normal pics of himself on facebook apparently...in fact, if you go solely by the photos he chooses to use to portray himself he looks like this:




anyway. let me know what you think.

Facelift

I agree with Miri. We got distracted this summer from sharing our happy reading times. In an effort to revitalize our efforts I have finally picked a layout for the blog. I really think this one is it. I may mess with the colors, but the widgets and the ability to quickly post something new are back again and I am a happy camper - give me your input via poll answer.

I will also be adding stuff on the side bar again - book lists, more author blogs (pass them along in the comments if you have the links!), photos, etc. I thought it might be fun to add photos of ourselves doing something bookish (ie: reading) to put with our names and individual blogs. So, I will be bugging you about this...send me a photo! I'll take one soon to get things started.

In the meantime, if you take one, email it to me at lilifin.dilifsi (at) gmail (dot) com and I will add it quick like a bunny.

I think we need to pick a book and a date to discuss. We can make it in a month (end of September) or in two months - depending on everyone's schedule with school and work. I'm totally flexible. OR we can finish reading whatever we are working on at the moment and each discuss them individually but at the same time (if that makes sense). Maybe Sunday afternoon/evenings? Maybe Tuesday nights? Obviously we will have to work around schedules again, but we can all blog or even instant message our discussions.

If we want to get really into things (now that Megan has a Mac) those of us with cameras can video chat (I think skype and msn have free services) a discussion. Miri, do you have a camera/mic on your computer? If not, then we'll obviously think of something else.

Anyway, these are my ideas. I'm currently reading The Book Thief, which I know Megan and Miri have both read.

Oh, my other idea is to get someone new invited - but we can try for that after our first trial run.

Alright, give me some input.

I submit that we do not post on here enough.

Liz, Mike's sister, started a book club here that I've really enjoyed going to. It was a little awkward at first because basically we'd go in a circle, everyone would tell about their book, and then we'd be done; but now we all talk about our books and other books that we're interested in, and it's really fun. I've always wanted to be part of a group like that, but I like it even more when it's this particular group because I know you girls so much better.

So... can we try and make this blog more involved/post more often? It would help us keep in contact even better and I would really like it. Love you :)

The Dark Side of Camelot

I've been reading this for the last couple weeks alongside my other book. I found it randomly at Borders and picked it up because it looked interesting, and then I went and got it at the Orem library so I could keep reading it. It's a book about the Kennedy family and essentially how they were all terrible people, which I never knew. Anyway it's good, you should check it out.

feedback please

I'm testing new layouts thanks to Miri and Megan but I didn't want to use my regular blog to do it. So this is where our little book blog gets to be a guinea pig.

What do you guys think? Miri, how do you deal with not having the "new post" and "customize" options in the upper right hand corner of the blog? I think that's the only thing I don't like. That and it got rid of my widgets. I'll have to organize that with new stuff soon.

The Wheel of Time

So you might remember when I read The Eye of the World a while ago. I was mildly surprised at my response to it; not love, but definitely not hate. I liked it, and thought I probably wanted to read the second one, but I found myself dragging my feet and decided I wouldn't force myself. Eventually, though, I did read The Great Hunt, and as I was reading that one I discovered that I was really growing to like the series. I'm now on book four, The Shadow Rising, which follows The Dragon Reborn, and I am really into the series. So if you're interested, I think I'd recommend them. However, a couple things to consider before you start.
1) There are eleven books, with the twelfth (allegedly) on the way. These are not small books. The Shadow Rising is the biggest one so far, and it's over 1000 pages, but all the others are at least 500. I made no commitments to the entire series when I started, and I'm still not entirely sure I can summon the courage for the remaining seven, but thus far I have been unable to stop myself in the middle of it. This is probably due to my weird perfectionism that won't allow me to leave something in the middle even if I want to. I do like the books, though, so that's a part of it too. I'm into the story. I'm just not excited about those ones in the middle of the series that have such a reputation for hundreds of pages where nothing happens. Ugh.
2) Robert Jordan is a really annoying writer, for more than one reason. First is that he doesn't appear to understand/care about the rules of letter sounds in the English language. He makes up names all the time that don't sound anything like what they look like they should sound like (there's a pronunciation guide in the back), and it's frustrating to me. Second is that he writes really irritating characters. The girls start off okay, but as the series goes on they start pining after some of the male characters and it just gets dumb. Also the male characters are SO annoying in that they will never accept anything that's happening. Also Robert Jordan's use of slangy-type language is soooo silly, and even four books into the series I still cringe every time.
However. That said, I am still reading the series, and liking it a lot. Every now and then I have to rant to Mike about the latest thing that's annoying the crap out of me, but thus far the books are interesting enough to keep me reading. If you're looking for something fun and frivolous to occupy your time (and if you have a lot of time that you would like occupied), go ahead. They're fun.

Author Websites - YA Lit

Meg Cabot - She even has YouTube clips that are random and funny.

Shannon Hale - Love her books. Love her blog.

The YA YA YAs - because no one blogs like YA librarians.

Stephenie Meyer - how can we forget good ol' Steph? we can't. why can't we? because she gave us Edward Cullen and we'll be eternally grateful...no matter how frustrating Bella gets.

The Truth about Forever

Sarah Dessen is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. Yes, the main characters suffer from what Lauren finds to be quite annoying - the inability and/or unwillingness to TALK to the people closest to them, but Dessen writes this out in a much more realistic way. This isn't a teenage girl who doesn't want to talk to her father about her teenage vampire boyfriend or the blood-thirsty monsters that are currently tracking her down - this is a girl who watched her father die and subsequently shut down emotionally and focused on anything that didn't remind her of her dad. Of course you would have trouble talking out those things. So it's not nearly as frustrating - it's "tragical" (which just happens to be one of my new favorite words thanks to this book). You can relate to the main character, Macy, because everyone has lost someone or something in their life and almost everyone has gone through a period of not talking about how that made them feel. It's hard and it's terrible and dealing with it is almost as bad as actually experiencing it.

Dessen let's Macy work through all of her grief in a very normal and realistic way - nothing unbelievable or extraordinary happens. It's summer, Macy's boyfriend leaves and she is stuck at a boring job with people she hates. She happens to find another job with nicer people who don't know about her situation and loves being anonymous and untroubled by what happened. Then they find out and end up being amazing people, supportive and loving.

My favorite of all is Wes (of course this is the guy she falls in love with because there is always a guy to fall in love with in books). He's quiet and sweet and artistic...I'm a sucker for those artistic types. He is the first one to really just let Macy say what she needs to say and the first one Macy will say those things to. He's one of the most perfect male characters I have read...flawed but better for it, attractive but unaware, kind and caring but protective and not overbearing.

I was surprised at how much I liked "Just Listen" and happy to find that I liked "The Truth about Forever" even more. I will definitely be reading the rest of her books in the near future.

The Book Theif (again)

I just finished this book and it is MARVELOUS. I absolutley adored it. It's sad but sometimes funny and terribly hopeful and wonderful. The main characters are so amazing, and the way that it's written is really kind of unique very powerful. Highly recommended.
Next up for me: The Road (finally). So far it's good.

The Book Thief

It sounds like we are all trying to read The Book Thief - I've been stalking a copy at the library as well. I will try to come up with a list for us to choose from.

Books I've Finished Since the Last Time I Posted on Here...

The Golden Compass, the Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass.

Fantastic books. I won't say much about them except that I really liked them, and I would absolutely recommend them to anyone.

Austenland.

Kinda cheesy. The genre for last month's book club was romance and this is what Nathalie, Mike's mom, read. I told her I'd been thinking about reading it, so she gave it to me and told me I should. I wasn't ever very interested in reading it, but I figured I might as well, so I did, and it was not amazing, but not the worst either. It was definitely what I'd call "mindless froth," so at least my expectations were right in that. :)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

So good! I just finished it this morning. I read it because I was kind of in a rut--ever since I finished His Dark Materials I haven't been able to really get into anything else, and I've just been reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves to pass the time. I picked up From the Mixed-Up Files a few days ago just for kicks, because I got it from Megan's book order a long time ago and hadn't read it yet. Really fun to read, I love the way it's written. Good times.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

This is a really good book. I started reading Amy Tan a couple years ago and I've really gotten into Asian lit since then. Lisa See writes in a different style, or at least in this book she does. It's a lot more... realistic, I guess--not that Amy Tan isn't, but this book focuses a lot on all the foot binding, the actual day to day experiences, things like that. I've tried several times and I really can't explain what the appeal of this kind of literature is to me, but I just know I really like it.

Next on my list are a couple books I haven't been able to get a hold of: My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Piccoult, and The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak. I'm trying to put a check on my money-spending, so I've been looking for them at the library. I can't find them at any of the libraries around here, though--all the copies they have have been checked out every time I look for them. Megan just got a copy of The Book Thief for Easter, so I'll probably borrow it from her when she finishes reading it.

And for now... I don't know. Maybe Missing, which is the other adolescent book I got from the book order a while ago. It's not really jumping out to me, but my experience has been that adolescent books are good for getting out of ruts because they're so fast and easy to get through.

Character Flaw

Since Baby Bear was born, I've had a lot more time to read. Thanks to Lin and the library, I've found some great books... Libba Bray's series, Austenland, Goose Girl, Enna Burning. Most of which are young adult books, which isn't a big deal to me. They are easy to read, clean and enjoyable. But I'm noticing a common character flaw that is beginning to really annoy me.

In most of these books the main character is supposed to be an independent, strong-minded female - which is great. So why is it that they all come to a point where they are presented with a problem and spend a good part of the book avoiding friends and family or lying about issue? Is this the only way to introduce conflict in YA literature? Do we really want our teenage girls to think that this is the only way to handle a problem? And why does being independent mean you can't trust the people who love you? I don't get it...

Are we all in a reading rut?

The answer for me would be "no," but I AM in a posting slump. I am reading - I finished two books in the last week, in fact, and am starting a new one today - I just don't have much to say. Which is strange for me, right? haha.

So I thought I'd at least put that out there. Maybe this summer we can organize a virtual book club meeting of sorts? Actually no maybe - let's do it! Comment with suggestions of books for us to choose from and we can pick one, read it at the same time, then blog away. We basically read the same books as it is anyway, right? What sayest thou?

Why does everything turn into a statement about the environment?

I finished Specials this week, the third book in the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. So here are my thoughts on all of them.

Uglies. I liked it okay. It was a quick read and a very interesting idea. Westerfeld creates a fairly believable far distant future of the world based on our current trends/social foibles, although some of it bugged me, but that's bound to happen when you are dealing with a completely fictional state based off of reality - everyone has their own view and interpretation. The main character, Tally, was likable in this book, less so by Specials. I don't want to get into the whole story line because a lot of stuff happens - but I was hooked by the end of the story. I previously mentioned that the book ends in a cliff hanger (which annoys me so very much), but I owned the next two books so I just picked up Pretties and moved on with the story.

Pretties. Tally turns from an Ugly to a Pretty. Pretties are "bubbleheads" who basically spend their time partying...well, not basically, that's all they do. But Tally is different and her ugly past comes back to help her escape the life of a pretty. I like the new love interest, Zane, but Shay becomes more and more annoying. I think Tally's priorities start to change in this book, but I like the idea that Tally changes herself and doesn't need a "cure" to overcome what's ailing her. She is confident and determined and those are good qualities for the main, female character in a teen fiction novel to have. On the other hand, she's far too involved with/concerned about her boyfriends. And now for a tangent.

I think authors (especially in teen fiction) get caught up in trying to always have some sort of love interest for their main character. This is mostly annoying with the female leads as the way they associate with the boy they "love" often counters their previously established characteristics. A prime (and recent) example of this would be Bella in the Twilight series. We are told that she is mature, independent and strong-willed. When she is with Edward, though, none of these traits really shine through. The same can be said for Tally (possibly to a lesser degree) and also for several other teen heroines. Am I the only one who sees this or is bothered by it? Perhaps this is just human nature and all girls can be this way at times (ie. change themselves to make someone else happy), but I'd like to think that in a book, where everything is being created from scratch, that maybe the heroine could truly stick to her character/morals/beliefs and still keep her boyfriend, best friend, etc. happy. Maybe I'm crazy.

Finally, we have Specials. The pace was slower and Tally was annoying. Also, Shay was MORE annoying. Shay redeemed herself in the end, which was good. Tally never really truly "fixed" herself in this one though. She just leveled out everyone else. Plus other things happened that I was not happy with but that I don't want to write here and spoil for those of you who haven't read it yet. Then, to top it all off, the ending! The entire series is turned into a politically charged environmental statement and a poorly worded one at that. I am to believe that in the space of one year, Tally has gone from ugly to pretty to special, has brought down a corrupt government, alienated most of her friends, lost two boyfriends, AND then chooses to become a super secret environmental crusader?! Is it sad that I was fine with everything I listed before "chooses to become a super secret environmental crusader"? The ended just made it cheesy and annoying for me. It felt like an afterthought. Like Westerfeld needed to make a statement so he picked one, scattered a few convenient lines throughout the last book to corroborate the ending and viola!, that's it? Meh.

I think there is actually a fourth book in this "trilogy" but I am unsure about whether or not I want to read it? It's called Extras. Has anyone read it? Let me know.

Overall, I would probably recommend these books if you wanted something quick and light to read. I guess they would be a B- all together (I really enjoyed the first book, but was disappointed by the last).

Frustration!

Can someone please tell me why book 8 is not in paperback yet?? It came out at the very beginning of July of last year. This was eight months ago! And until now I had heard nothing about its paperback release, although I just found something on a website that said the beginning of July 2008--which I will trust, since I have nothing else to go on, and which also makes me very sad. Why do you suppose this book will require a full year before its paperback release? None of the others took that long. Grr.

Uglies, Pretties, etc.

I just finished reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Great book, intriguing idea...but HOW could anyone have started reading these without being able to move directly to the next book? If I didn't already own the first three out of four when I started reading Uglies, I would have been very annoyed by the end of it. It just stops right before a big event...technically right in the middle of a big event. This isn't like Twilight or Harry Potter where each book has a subplot to further the major overall plot of the series - it's like a "to be continued" storyline on TV and those are never fun.

Anyone feel the same way about Uglies?

More to come...

P.S. from Miri

Miri has just read the trilogy mentioned in my previous post and made a post about it on her blog - just thought I would reiterate it here since it was interesting and well timed.

The Sweet Far Thing, etc.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

I just finished reading this book which was part of the Book Extravaganza of Christmas 2007 (ie: given to me by Krissie). Here's the synopsis:

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?

When I started the book I thought it would be as silly as the synopsis made it sound, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a quick read, and silly at times, but I found myself getting pretty involved with the mystery of the story. It's relatively easy to relate to the "evil" things girls will do to one another, emotionally and socially as well as to the bond that is eventually formed within a somewhat mis-matched foursome. It also helped that I watched Phantom of the Opera (similar time periods - completely different settings, but it still set a mood) while I was in the middle of the book. The mix of the setting and subject was fun as well - there's a good juxtaposition on the girl's trials in preparing themselves for Society (dealing with suitors, facing their different societal roles, being proper) and their desire to break free from the rules (which results in the use of magic).

There were parts that were slow - things that could have gotten resolved much faster but were drawn out for purposes unknown to me, but overall I liked the main character, Gemma, and the story. Of course, now the sequels are added to my list of things to read. I can't read the first in a series and not follow up. Here's hoping they match up to the first installment.

And I have to add that I kind of love the cover art. It doesn't tell you anything really about the stories - other than it's probably set in the 1800s-ish time period - but it's simple and pretty and I like that. Although I think I like the last one (to the right) the best.

Updates!

1. I was at Borders tonight, and I gave in and bought Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I'm so excited!

2. I figured out what that Indian book was! There's nothing about butterflies on it, so I'm not sure where that came from, but I can't believe I actually found it just by walking around and looking at the shelves hoping to see something familiar. It's called The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

I restrained myself and only bought one, but I'm going to have to buy the second one soon. Probably after I finish reading this one. So there you go.

Stuff

I am very excited for/jealous of everyone's new books, and Lindsey, you got an amazing haul this Christmas! That is so fantastic. My unplanned-for splurging is usually books, but just before Christmas I had a rare clothes splurge, so now I can't buy any books for a while. But there are definitely several that are on my list.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
The Kite Runner
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Water for Elephants

There's also one that I saw at Borders a while ago and I can't remember the name of it but I know I really wanted to read it. It was by an Indian writer and I've read enough to know that I want to read the rest of it now. I'll let you know if I figure it out, and also if you have any thoughts on what it might be, please let me know!

There are also a few books on my bookshelf that I've been meaning to read for quite a while. These are the top of that list.

March
The Accidental Tourist

Right now, however, I am reading a book that I borrowed from Curt called You Don't Know Me. It took me a long time to start it but the style of writing is really interesting and I got into it pretty fast once I started. I'm also getting out Through the Looking-Glass again, because I didn't finish it when I read Alice in Wonderland, and I'm reading a book my parents gave me for Christmas called You Can Heal Your Life. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like, and it is a fabulous book. I don't even have to finish it to tell you that you could all benefit from reading it yourselves.

Along some previous lines, The Great Hunt is being put on hold... indefinitely. I'll get around to it, but not now. Something else I would like to get is The Sweet Far Thing, which I've been waiting for for a long time. I'll have to check it out from the library, cause I can't buy it until it's out in paperback.

I just finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It's been sitting on my shelf for several months now (I found it at Costco for about $7, which is amazing) and I finally decided to dive in because I want to see the movie. And friends, it was AMAZING. I absolutely loved it even though it was very sad in lots of places. Or maybe because it was. I don't know. But it was a really fabulous book, and I'm now very much looking forward to seeing the movie ASAP.
Also, I'm sorry that my posts aren't really very exciting here... I don't know why they aren't, but...oh well. Yay books!

One Resolution

I don't usually make New Years Resolutions, mostly because I break them in a day - I tend to spread out resolutions and make them as the need or desire arises in my life. This one just happens to coincide with the new year because my book club chose this book for the month of January. The book is the Book of Mormon.

I haven't set a time limit (except perhaps before the next new year) because I never reach that goal and frankly, I would rather take my time reading the Book of Mormon this go round. I've read through the whole thing before, straight through, in order, in a timed fashion several times, but my goal this time is to really learn from it every time I read while still going in order. That means no jumping around, but also not speed reading to finish three chapters before being tested on the "subject matter" in a religion class and this means cover to cover in a traditional triple combination (Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price). I'm going to go at my own pace and see what happens. I'm hoping I will be disciplined enough to actually accomplish this the way I would like to accomplish it (if that makes sense).

I know when I read my scriptures (especially the Book of Mormon) things seem to calm down in my life. I don't get as stressed over little things, I'm not as critical of myself and other people, and I am generally happier. Even through the war chapters. haha. You are getting a constant reminder of how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love YOU for who YOU are. How can that not make you happy and not make you want to treat everyone around you better?

I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm going to read every day because that will give me more time and make life easier because that's just not the case for me - when I try to do that I end up missing five days in a row and then getting discouraged because I am so far behind. Hence this new approach for the discipline-impaired.

So there you have it. The Book of Mormon will remain on my list of books I am reading until I finish reading it. That may mean it will be there until 2009, but as long as I am making the effort it's better than not reading it at all. So wish me luck!



For those of you who may happen upon this site and are not familiar with the Book of Mormon or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, feel free to visit www.lds.org or www.mormon.org to learn more.