Our family has a favorite scripture from the Book of Mormon. It is the very first scripture that each of my children have memorized because it is so short and easy. “Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). We’ve recited this scripture as a family hundreds [...]
Archive for the ‘Literature reviews’ Category
My Happiness Project
Posted in family history, Family Life, Literature reviews, Musings on March 24, 2011 | 3 Comments »
The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry
Posted in Literature reviews, Musings on March 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It took me forever to read this, not because the story wasn’t compelling, but finding the time to sit and read was difficult. When I read this book, I was reminded anew why I consider Anne Perry to be a genius. Her stories are well-crafted with impeccable details. But even those great attributes aren’t what [...]
Thoughts on Poetry
Posted in Literature reviews, Musings on March 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I am extremely fond of poetry. I love the depth and concise ways of sharing a moment that poetry has. Nothing else compares. It’s funny because brevity is not my strong suit, but the brevity of poetry appeals to me greatly. When I read a poem, I have this flash of deep enjoyment that I [...]
The responsibility of the LDS author
Posted in Literature reviews, Musings on January 23, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Recently, I have read several novels by LDS authors. This is certainly uncharacteristic of me as I usually steer clear of LDS lit, with the exception of Anne Perry and Shannon Hale. My main complaints of LDS lit are the almost sappy, syrupy way real-life problems are portrayed and solved and very poor writing. I [...]
Book Club
Posted in Literature reviews, Musings on November 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I hosted Book Group today. Book Group consists of friends, mostly church friends, who meet informally once a month to read and discuss books. We’ve read a wide variety of books. We have people with all kinds of taste, so I’ve been exposed to books I wouldn’t necessarily pick up myself. If I was to leave the [...]
The Case for Marriage
Posted in Literature reviews, Musings on April 7, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I picked up an interesting book at the library, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better off Financially by Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher. Waite and Gallagher are two social scientists who have gathered a tremendous amount of data about married and cohabitating couples. They’ve also studied the current [...]
The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
Posted in Literature reviews, Musings on May 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I read this book for a book club and really appreciated it. The nonfiction story tells about Antonina and Jan Zabinski, the zookeepers of the Warsaw zoo before WWII and then during the war. The book is mainly about Antonina and her perspective. She kept extensive diaries and Diane Ackerman extracts from those diaries to [...]
Just a quick post today
Posted in Literature reviews on May 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Because, as much as I love blogging, I do need to clean two wingback chairs that we got courtesy of craigslist and I would like to scrapbook today. Anyhow, I wanted to recommend two books. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman Both books are excellent and I promise more [...]
Reflections on My Antonia by Willa Cather
Posted in Literature reviews on March 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I had shied away from Willa Cather’s novels for a long time after a particularly painful movie experience. My sister had rented the film, O Pioneers, and we watched a superbly boring and tragic rendition of the classic novel. I remember thinking at the time, “when will she ever get to the point of this [...]
Book Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini
Posted in Literature reviews on August 17, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Yeah, I know, this book is 4 years old. Probably everyone has heard it, possibly on Oprah, and has declared a good read that makes you think. I know that. But when you are behind the times because you live in Sweden and you are too cheap to buy books because you get hit with [...]
