Book Thoughts

For this semester I made it one of my goals to do some leisure reading. I tend to push leisure reading to the side during school because once I've read out of textbooks for 3+ hours I just don't want to read anymore. I have missed reading what I want to read however and thus the goal was created. Since I managed to read a few books during the month of January I wanted to share my thoughts on them.

The first book I read was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. I was a little hesitant about jumping into this one because the movie I watched based on her last book was filled with political commentary which I felt was inappropriate in a children's movie. I decided that since I hadn't actually read the book I should give this one a chance. I'm glad I did. It was a cute little story about a China rabbit (like a China doll, the ethnicity of the rabbit is not Chinese)who had to go on a long journey to learn how to love because he was a pompous tool who didn't appreciate the love he was receiving. It's a children's chapter book so it was a fast read.

The next book I read was The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Go ahead and laugh. I did indeed read a book by Dr. Lauara - it was a gift from my mother-in-law. I felt that sometimes she was a little repetitive in her advice or her reasoning for offering advice and I got a little tired of feeling picked on (because she was constantly calling out flaws of wives), but I would not discourage someone from reading this book if they had a desire to. She encourages God-centered, give-and-take, selfless relationships, and I can't recall any advice she gave that I disagreed with.

The last book I read was Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Please keep in mind that I have not seen the movie so this was a completely new story for me unmarred by the hand of Hollywood. I was amazed at how not sexually graphic the book was. I was somewhat convinced before I started reading that I would have to stop because it would probably be inappropriate. Arthur Golden took a topic that could be used as an excuse to write a pornographic book and instead wrote a book that shares history and a compelling story. I'm not saying that the book is completely clean of sex-related material seeing as how the book is about a geisha, but it is carefully done. Overall I enjoyed the book despite the fact that I really disliked the ending.

The last thing I read that I would like to share was the January Ensign. There were a few articles that I really liked but there was one that seemed to be written for me: Make Yours a Great Life by Elder Paul V. Johnson. He talks about how our futures are determined by our faith, choices, and efforts and he discusses being of good cheer even though the world is in turmoil and not living in your past. I found it very uplifting and would recommend it.

Thanks for listening even though I'm no expert on great literature. My current read is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I don't know yet what I'll read next. I am (almost) always open to suggestions.

P.S. What is the world's fascination with zombies? I found this picture while looking for Dr. Laura's book.