I finished this book as well yesterday. It was a fascinating book, especially since it's a non-fiction book! McCullough told the story so well of the first full year of the American Revolution and the year it became the fight for independence.
As a member of the LDS church I read this with a bit of a different perspective than the average reader probably reads it. Growing up I always knew that this country was the "Promised Land" and that the Constitution was inspired so that this land could have the right climate for the restored gospel to come forth. However, I never realized just how fully the formation of America relied on the hand of God. There were so many situations that were just miracles out and out.
This book is great because it goes into so much detail about everything that went on that first year. I would love to have this author write a more complete history of the American Revolution and possibly even the Civil War just because I love his style! Those would probably be too long for most people though.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage
I've been reading this book for a long time... 2 years to be exact. Ever since I signed up for Goodreads it's been on my "currently reading" shelf. I've always felt bad for not putting more emphasis on it and I would always set goals about how and when I was going to finish it. And I finally finished it! I kept saying that I was going to read a chapter or two every Sunday, but when Sunday rolled around I never really worked on it (I've been having the same problem with my gigantic cross-stitch project I've been working on for almost 3 years!). So this last week, I got onto Google books and started reading it there. That way I could read it at work when things got really slow. And that made it so I could finally finish it. I had to do more than just occasionally read it, I had to make it a priority.
I'm so glad I've finally finished it though! I feel like I know so much more about the scriptures and about the life of Christ. Sure, I could have studied this book more in depth and learned even more from it, but I just wanted to read the whole thing. Now I can go back at a later date and really study it using the scriptures and other talks by general authorities. Talmage has such a wealth of information to share. It makes me excited to read his other books. I'm about ready to start in on Articles of Faith which is also on Google Books.
I'm so glad I've finally finished it though! I feel like I know so much more about the scriptures and about the life of Christ. Sure, I could have studied this book more in depth and learned even more from it, but I just wanted to read the whole thing. Now I can go back at a later date and really study it using the scriptures and other talks by general authorities. Talmage has such a wealth of information to share. It makes me excited to read his other books. I'm about ready to start in on Articles of Faith which is also on Google Books.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Lots and lots of reading...
I promise I've actually been reading lately! It's just that I've also been studying for the GRE and going on vacation, so I don't really get around to updating this as soon as I've finished a book. If you want to get more up-to-date book reviews, join goodreads.com and add me as a friend. I'm a lot more active on that site than I am here in my blog that I don't even know if anyone reads. But I digress... in the last week and a half I've read Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library, Catch-22, and Farenheit 451. They were all interesting books in their own way.
Let's start at the beginning...Free for All. Living proof that sometimes books don't quite meet up to your expectations. I've been waiting for over a year to get around to reading this book, but when I did it wasn't quite what I expected. It's a good read regardless of whether or not you're obsessed with the library like I am, but it's just not what I was hoping it would be. It's set up in such a way that each chapter would make at least one great episode of a tv show. Maybe once Scrubs goes off the air the writers will collaborate to make a series based on this book. I could just see a J.D-like character heading up the cast and it would be great! Despite the sitcom potential of this book though, I was looking for something more. I was hoping for some greater truth about the importance of the library in a time when so many things were going digital. The author had such a great opportunity in his hands to include facts about why libraries and books need to stay in existance, and he completely skipped out on it. I would have LOVED to see some interesting facts about the role of libraries historically or something like that included throughout the book, but it just wasn't there.
So overall: It's a good book, just don't expect much depth from it. It's a "non-fiction" book, but I didn't get a whole lot of that vibe from it.
Next Catch-22. A classic! It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I don't know why, but I thought it was going to be more along the lines of 1984, Brave New World, or Farenheit 451... those classic conspiracy theory novels that tell about an alternate future that we must escape. Instead it was pretty funny. Yes, there are some language/behavior problems (if you don't like novels that include sex in them I would definitely stay away from this one!), but overall it's a fairly light book... on the outside. The author definitely uses the light tone of the book to comment on how society has made things like death, corruption, and sex things that have very little value, when really they should be highly valued. Most importantly, when someone mentions that it's a catch-22 situation I'll actually know what they're referring to (even if they don't!). I'll warn you though... it takes awhile to get through. This is one of the few books where I've had to put it down for a few days, read something else and then come back to it. It's over 400 pages long and it felt that long!
Finally Farenheit 451. This book was everything I needed in a book right now. It was short (just over 150 pages and it was a small book as well!), it made an impact, and it was just terrifying enough to make me stop and think about the premise. It was everything Free for All was not. Farenheit 451 tells the story of a future where books are banned. Interestingly enough, they became banned at first just because they were irrelevant... no one wanted to sit down and read a book... they only wanted the digest version. Everyone just wanted instant gratification. Now I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with watching a tv show or a movie now and again (I'm as guilty as anyone about turning on the tv to watch one show and then staying there for 2+ hours), but it needs to be balanced out with a good book. TV shows and movies give everything to you, but a book makes you think things through. You can decide when you want to pause to consider a point that was just made. You can go back, re-read, and mark a passage that really struck you. Most importantly though, you get to use your imagination to see what happens. It's not all spelled out for you.
So my challenge to you today is to step away from the television. Instead of watching a show just because you have nothing better to do, pick up a book. Try to replace at least one show with reading. I'll try to do the same and I'll let you know how it goes.
Let's start at the beginning...Free for All. Living proof that sometimes books don't quite meet up to your expectations. I've been waiting for over a year to get around to reading this book, but when I did it wasn't quite what I expected. It's a good read regardless of whether or not you're obsessed with the library like I am, but it's just not what I was hoping it would be. It's set up in such a way that each chapter would make at least one great episode of a tv show. Maybe once Scrubs goes off the air the writers will collaborate to make a series based on this book. I could just see a J.D-like character heading up the cast and it would be great! Despite the sitcom potential of this book though, I was looking for something more. I was hoping for some greater truth about the importance of the library in a time when so many things were going digital. The author had such a great opportunity in his hands to include facts about why libraries and books need to stay in existance, and he completely skipped out on it. I would have LOVED to see some interesting facts about the role of libraries historically or something like that included throughout the book, but it just wasn't there.
So overall: It's a good book, just don't expect much depth from it. It's a "non-fiction" book, but I didn't get a whole lot of that vibe from it.
Next Catch-22. A classic! It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I don't know why, but I thought it was going to be more along the lines of 1984, Brave New World, or Farenheit 451... those classic conspiracy theory novels that tell about an alternate future that we must escape. Instead it was pretty funny. Yes, there are some language/behavior problems (if you don't like novels that include sex in them I would definitely stay away from this one!), but overall it's a fairly light book... on the outside. The author definitely uses the light tone of the book to comment on how society has made things like death, corruption, and sex things that have very little value, when really they should be highly valued. Most importantly, when someone mentions that it's a catch-22 situation I'll actually know what they're referring to (even if they don't!). I'll warn you though... it takes awhile to get through. This is one of the few books where I've had to put it down for a few days, read something else and then come back to it. It's over 400 pages long and it felt that long!
Finally Farenheit 451. This book was everything I needed in a book right now. It was short (just over 150 pages and it was a small book as well!), it made an impact, and it was just terrifying enough to make me stop and think about the premise. It was everything Free for All was not. Farenheit 451 tells the story of a future where books are banned. Interestingly enough, they became banned at first just because they were irrelevant... no one wanted to sit down and read a book... they only wanted the digest version. Everyone just wanted instant gratification. Now I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with watching a tv show or a movie now and again (I'm as guilty as anyone about turning on the tv to watch one show and then staying there for 2+ hours), but it needs to be balanced out with a good book. TV shows and movies give everything to you, but a book makes you think things through. You can decide when you want to pause to consider a point that was just made. You can go back, re-read, and mark a passage that really struck you. Most importantly though, you get to use your imagination to see what happens. It's not all spelled out for you.
So my challenge to you today is to step away from the television. Instead of watching a show just because you have nothing better to do, pick up a book. Try to replace at least one show with reading. I'll try to do the same and I'll let you know how it goes.
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