Mormons are known to buy and read a lot of books. This blog is presented to allow people to share what books they have enjoyed or not enjoyed and the reasons why.
I would like to share a bit about myself. I have always loved a good novel. As a young girl I read every Mormon book I could find. There were only a few published Mormon novels in those days as I am sixty eight years old. Now there are many "Mormon novels". Some of which are outstanding, while others teach principles contrary to that which our leaders teach.
I hope that this blog will allow people to share about the books we read. I would hope we can cover books written by Mormons as well as other authors. Hopefully we can share a few sentences about any book we read. Please share why you enjoyed a particular book, or what your objection to a book might be.
I would like to start by affirming the book, "The Undaunted" by Gerald Lund. My opinion is that Gerald Lund totally redeemed himself after his falling apart on the last few books of "The Work and The Glory". This book definitely gets a five star rating. I thoroughly enjoyed the topic and the way it was presented. It will make an excellent movie.
I listen to recordings of some books and read others. I chose to listen to the recording of this one, and found the reader did an excellent job. This book holds your interest in either format. It is lengthy but well worth reading. I recommend that you get it from your local library or borrow it from a friend.
I'm not sure how you want people to post on here about a different book than whatever you are talking about so I will just do it as a comment.
ReplyDeleteThe last book I read was "The Way to Perfection" by Joseph Fielding Smith. It had a very familiar tone and feel to all his others,"Doctrines of Salvation", "Answers to Gospel Questions", etc. One part really stood out and I have thought about it a lot.
"The man who is baptized and confirmed, who pays his tithing, keeps the Word of Wisdom and attends to the ordinary duties required of the memebers of the Church, is entitled to enter that Kingdom(meaning the celestial Kingdom). Yet he may be merely a servant there. If that is all he is willing to do, he can not be exalted. He will not become an heir and receive the fullness of that kingdom."
I was so shocked reading this I had to go back and read it several times. I kept wanting it to say the man who goes to church, and pays his tithes, etc will find himself exalted in the Celestial kingdom. This has really made me reflect on what Heavenly Father expects and wants from me.
Daniel, As you know I love the writings of Joseph Fielding Smith. As for the statement you shared, I've thought a lot about the things we "do". Yesterday it was shared in the last line of "I Am A Child of God", it was originally written, "teach me all that I must "know", to live with Him someday."
ReplyDeletePresident McKay changed it to "teach me all that I mus "do", to live with Him someday."
The speaker yesterday suggested it might need to be changed to "teach me all that I must "be", to live with Him someday."
Now my request to you is. would you recommend that people read the book, and why or why not?
I am not sure how to log in or start a new post so I am commenting at the end of Daniel's. While Daniel prefers LDS doctrine books I tend to read more LDS fiction. I recently listened to "Traitor" by by Sandra Grey. It was about and LDS man who was a Nazi Captain. It had some good moments. Although, my favorite series is "Children of the Promise" by Dean Hughes. It is about an LDS family during WWII. I learned more about WWII and the sacrifice American's made then anything in school.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I agree about "The Children of the Promise" series. I especially enjoyed learning about the missionaries getting out of Germany at the beginning of the war. I know that is a true account of what happened.
ReplyDeleteDean Hughes' book "The Saboteur" was written from the research that he did for "Children of the Promise". I highly recommend the book. See if your library has it or if they will borrow it from another library for you. Well worth reading.
If I recommend a book on here, then I have it or it is available at your local library. If needs be, I will send books to people interested in reading them.
LoRane Wallwork writes:
ReplyDelete"In The Hands of The Potter" by Camille Fronk. This little book is a fast read! It can easily be completed with one sitting. The book is based on Isaiah stating "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we are all the work of thy hand."
This is a book that you will read over and over again and gain insight every time you read it.
This is not part of my comment--I just added it. I got this information from my institute class and also from David J. Riges' book, "Isaiah Made Easier":
"One hint to reading Isaiah: Watch the capitalization of Lord GOD or Lord--referring to Elohim. LORD God or LORD--referring to Jehovah.)
The different spelling in the Bible lets one know that Israel knew that there were two different Gods."
The other book is "Mary, Martha and Me" by Camile Fronk Olsen. "In a world that thrives on comparison and competition, our souls yearn for One Needful Thing to provide focus and direction. The author....draws unique insights from the biblical story of two sisters. Mary and Martha--each of whom serves Jesus in a different way--to help us sort through the mixed messages of daily life and solve the problem of comparing our gifts and contributions with others."
All of us who fear that we can never know enough or do enough, Sister Olson brings inspiration from the lessons that Mary and Martha learn from each other in finding the "one thing (that) is needful" for all."
This book will make you ponder and evaluate and reread and ponder and search for answers and understanding.
From Rebecca Reeves Richards:
ReplyDeleteI have two suggestions for Anne: 1. That's what is so great about the library. You can check out a book and try it out and if you don't like
it, you don't have to finish reading it, you just return it to the library. I check out anything that looks remotely interesting.
Sometimes I get them home and they lose their appeal and I never even open them. But that's OK because I'm only out a trip to the library.
2. Join a book club. I've been introduced to many new books that I really enjoyed this way. A few of the books I really did not like, but
I am glad that I read them anyway. Recently our book club read a book by Nicholas Sparks. I think I'm the only woman on the planet that
hasn't read anything by him yet, and I loved it. I want to read all his other books now, too.