Timeline by Micheal Crichton

Well, this was not a bad book. I enjoyed reading it, aside from the somewhat frequent bad language. It is a bit confusing to figure out how everything works. Something to do with quantum physics. Anyway, that just flew right over my head. What I can tell you is the basic plot. A group of archaeologists must go back in time to save a friend. They arrive there during the 100 year war between England and France so things are pretty hairy. It's a good easy read. But the crude language ruined the book a bit for me. So, there you have it. I would rate it a three star novel (out of 5).

The Peacegiver
How Christ Offers to Heal
Our Hearts and Homes

Ok, I give up on the picture. This book is amazing, one that should be read by all. Read it together as a couple as friends and/or enemies. When you put it down you will have drawn closer and have a greater understanding of the atonement. James Ferrell has a unique way of simplifying what we need to do to be at peace in our lives. It starts with us, how we feel, how we change the way we think. It isn't about changing the world and people around us. It is about changing ourselves from the inside out. It is a way to live a Christ centered life. It is an easy read, but I also got it on disc so it can be listened to while driving.

Check out this review at Deseret Book. DeseretBook.com - The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Our Hearts and Homes

I just finished this book and absolutely loved it. I learned more about World War II than I ever knew before. What I like about the Thoene books is the ability to show what is happening in every relevant area of the world at the same time. This one takes several war correspondents through the areas of the world effected in the invasion of France. It was amazing to realize how fast a nation can be taken over. This is a book of fiction, but the history is spot on. After reading it I had to check out the actual history of the time. What an amazing time, just glad I wasn't there. This book lends a human side to what was happening, plus a small bit of insight into the politics between France and England. It wasn't so depressing, but more awe inspiring to see the courage people showed.

We were reading Alma 14 at the same time I was reading this and it felt like a synopsis of that time.

Breathe Lif into Your Life Story: How to Write a Story People Will Want to Read

This review was written by Tom Baxter.

Authors: Dawn and Morris Thurston

Publisher: Signature Books - Salt Lake City- 2007

For those of you who have thought about writing your life history, but don't know where or how to start or really don't see yourself as a writer, this book is designed to give you many helpful tips. The authors are a husband/wife team that have presented writing courses at several universities and at BYU Education Week. As noted in the subtitle, their goal is to help you produce something that your posterity will want to read. They cite a number of examples and excerpts from Pulitzer Prize writers that include autobiographical works as well as works of fiction. They clearly outline how professional writers go about the creative process of expressing themselves in print. They suggest ways of breathing life into the characters by using first person dialogue and descriptive adjectives to depict the scene or interaction. They argue that too many life histories are simply a compilation of facts lacking in personality and real life experiences that the reader can relate to. One of the things that I had never thought about before reading their book is that professional writers take a lot of license in getting inside the minds of their characters by assuming thoughts and verbal and nonverbal cues to describe what is going on. The Thurstons argue that your life story is yours to interpret and convey in a way that has meaning to you. They suggest linking your life events to the historical events of the times. One chapter entitled, The Hitchcock Factor, provides ideas on how to rivet your readers with conflict and suspense. When sharing difficult and even controversial times in ones life, the authors suggest the writer be honest, but balanced in what they say about themselves. I recall someone saying that funeral eulogies tend to be whitewashed idealized characterizations of a person's life that often fail to really depict who the person really was and what life was like for them. Accounts of ones life, includes what challenges they had, i.e. self doubts, bouts with depression, periods of insecurity and frustration, periods of rebellion, etc. and how the person overcame them to achieve some private victories in their lives brings authenticity to their story. I have always liked Spencer Kimball's biography that shared his real feelings of insecurity and inadequacy about his role as a leader and servant in the church. I think his openness endeared many people to him. The authors offer ideas on how to sort out what is essential and what is not when sharing one's life view.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is seriously contemplating putting their life story to print.

Merlin's Keep

This book starts out in Tibet. It is about a young woman who does not know her ancestry, and this is a search to find it. The main character is no milk toast English lady, but is full of spunk and brains and a sense of humor. My interest was caught in the first paragraph and it never let me down thoughtout the whole book. It's what I would label an intelligent romance, in other words, a great story line with a little romantic interest thrown in. It falls under the label 'Historical mystery fiction'.

Another reader reviews these books by saying this: " All her books [well, really, his -- the author is really Peter O-Donnell, author of the Modesty Blaise books] are historical romances. Virtually all of them involve a clash of foreign cultures with staid British 19th century customs and manners; her heroines, though all British by birth, have been raised in places like China, the Australian outback, or such exotic English backgrounds as a traveling circus. These women wouldn't know how to faint or simper. They're strong, intelligent, gutsy, compassionate women, as likely to rescue the heroes as be rescued by them, all without it ever occurring to them that there's anything unusual about them.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

This was not a book for simple "pleasure reading". In fact, funny enough, I chose this book because I felt like I needed something to make me more intelligent. I didn't expect to actually want to read it. I thought it would be difficult to get through, but instead, I found that I enjoyed it. Really, I give it five starts, or a ten, or whatever. It is worth reading.
To quote Azar Nafisi
"Most great works of the imagination were meant to make you feel like a stranger in your own home. The best fiction always forced us to question what we took for granted. . . I told my students I wanted them in their readings to consider in what ways these works unsettled them, made them a little uneasy, made them look around and consider the world. . ."
"It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else's shoes and understand the other's different and contradictory sides. . ."
"If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order to survive. . . "
This book gave me reason to think on so many tiers. Initially, I felt bad for these women in Iran. The way they were forced into living a life of self- repression. Being forced to portray a feeling of humility and acceptance, while inside feeling like they were bursting at the seams to find themselves.
I thought about these women, I thought about Iran and why things were the way they were, and I thought about myself. Articulating what I thought and felt while reading this book would be inadequate. I loved reading it. I felt like my mind expanded. It wasn't light reading, but it was involving and thought provoking. There is some frank discussion about sexual relations, mainly because the women portrayed in the book didn't know what to think of it. These are simply factual discussions. Nothing steamy or offensive. It is a wonderful book and gives its readers insight into life in another world, so to speak. Click on the picture for more about this wonderful read.

A Distant Prayer

While the World War II topic is rolling, here is another fabulous one. It is the true story of Joseph Banks. On his 49th bombing run over Germany, only one mission away from returning home, his plane is shot down and he is the only survivor. He is taken as a prisoner of war. His story is heartbreaking and miraculous. You won't believe how it all ends. His story is a testament of miracles. The book is well written and an easy read.

We Were Not Alone

Since we're on a bit of a WWII streak I thought I'd add this non-fiction to the pile. If you liked "The Hiding Place" you will also enjoy this short, uplifiting, true story. Not only did I appreciate that it really happened, but I'm always a little curious about how the LDS survived Germany during that era. It's inspiring.

Written by Patricia Reece Roper and Karola Hilbert Reece.

Anne Perry

I can't list an individual book, since I read by the author usually. Anne Perry has become a favorite of mine. The first book of hers that I read was 'Tathea'. It is written in almost a sci/fi genre, something I'd never read before. It is an interesting presentation of life and the afterlife. 'Come Armageddon' is the second half. I enjoyed reading both, and liked the way she tells a story.
Genealogy is a favorite hobby of mine, so I like books placed in the time frame I am researching. Anne Perry has two sets of Victorian detective series which have the best description of England--not at its best--I've read. Her books take you into the living conditions of the victorian era and describe the social attitudes of the time. I have a much greater understanding of the reasons so many immigrated to the United States.
Anne also writes a 5 book series about WWI, which is eye opening to read about. You feel what the characters are going through.
Just a side note, a friend happened to be reading 'Tathea' on a plane trip to England and her seat mate asked her how she liked the book. She told her, then found out it was Anne Perry, herself, on her way home to England from LDS General Conference.
Rosann

John Adams by David McCullough

This book is among my favorites. A New York Times Best Seller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and even now an HBO series is coming out about it. After several centuries of sitting passenger side to Washington, Franklyn and Jefferson, This book finally puts the spotlight where it belongs, on John Adams.

The greatest strength in this book is that the story teller is largely Adams himself. The book uses diary entries and letters to describe the events with only filler comments by McCullough to keep the story flowing. You really get an insight into Adams mind, his relationship with Abagail, and his dedication to God and America. You learn of his intricate part in the creation of this country from his famous speech turning the opinions for declaration of independence, to securing loans to fund the new nation. Did you know it was John Adams who created the US Navy and our common currency? The book also gives an intimate insight into the love John shared with his wife and the role she played in helping him through every major decision. You cannot read this book without gaining a new appreciation of our founding father and the tremendous sacrifice they made.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this book.

All Around The Town

Aside from the fact that the cover of this book is pink, giving it the look of a romance novel, on a one to ten scale I give it about a 7. That mark is good considering I usually go for the more historical books.

The novel is a who-done-it book about a girl who was kidnapped for two years at a young age. The experience was so traumatic for her, she develops a multi personality disorder to deal with the stress. After being released and returned back home she succeeds for a time in moving past the traumatic events, and life returns back to normal. Then, upon the death of her parents, her personalities return and, after a series of events, she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her professor. The book has several twists and turns including a surprise ending.

If you are not afraid of a book you have to read in the closet, or if the fact that the female author has the need to describe what every one is wearing regardless of if it is relevant or not does not get to you, you might enjoy this book.

Dante's Equation by Jane Jensen

I'm submitting this book because it is unlike anything I ever choose to read. At the risk of putting all potential readers off, it begins as a modern mystery, evolves into a science fiction and spirals into a sci-fi-fantasy. My dad suggested it to me after I had our twins and surprisingly I was able to read it easily. I've never read a sci-fi/fantasy. I don't even enjoy Star Trek. Therefore know: it might take a few chapters to get into, but when read with an open mind it is a fun, easy, modern read and refreshing in its originality (though quite possibly the most unbeliavable thing you'll read this year.) The following is a synopsis found on Amazon.com

The book supposes that there are multiple planets and universes, each with its own proportion of Good and Evil. Earth is a world where Good and Evil are 50/50, but in other worlds, the proportions might be 30/70 etc., and this affects both the physical surroundings and the beings that live on those worlds. (Hence the reference to Dante, whose "Inferno" described a multi-layered "Hell" with different types of "worlds" suited to different sins. In "Dante's Equation," there are various types of "heavens" as well.)

The alternate worlds can be accessed through a mini-wormhole that exists just outside the fence around Auschwitz. During the Holocaust, a rabbi vanished there in plain sight of credible witnesses. Now both the mystics and the scientists are trying to find that extrance again. But the problem with this wormhole is that "like attracts like" and you end up in the world that is most similar to your own vibrations (or level of consciousness or whatever.)

"Dante's Equation" is the formula that not only predicts these proportions of Good and Evil but, with the right (?) laboratory equipment, the formula can actually ALTER the tendencies toward Good or Evil in a given area right here on Earth. Physicist Jill Talcott discovers this formula and creates the effect on a limited basis in her laboratory. Powerful stuff -- but is this a good idea? What if the military turns it into a weapon?