Reviving the Book Club

Hi Guys!

I think it is high time we revive the book club. Any ideas? Any recommendations? I am always open to suggestions. What have you been reading lately?

November 2009

Why don’t we all agree to read a book a month, but we each pick our own. Then, at the end of the month we all do two things: 1) we all review our books, give a favorite quote, a highlight, say if you’d recommend it for our kids to read –something—anything (by the way, when I say “book” I really mean anything readable. It could be the newspaper, the Ensign, Money Magazine, books of scripture. . . . etc. Just so we can share what we are learning, thinking about, liking,. . . etc. Maybe have some of our kids report too). 2) give any recommendations for the next month (that way if some people want to read the same thing, they can).

The Brothers

In the time before Creation, before so many of the children of God turned away from their Father and walked knowingly into the dark, there was a choosing, a sifting, a contest of ideas and a battle for souls. In that great premortal war, each of us learned the first lessons of life: The great ones may fall. The wicked can change. The weak and the foolish can become the strongest of all. And the battle between good and evil is the same regardless of the time or place. The Brothers is the first novel in a new series by national bestselling author Chris Stewart. The Great and Terrible takes us from the beginning of time to the final hours of the last days, revealing the greatest secret of all: The children of God can defeat the adversary, for we have fought him before.

The BFG

One night when Sophie can't sleep, she goes to the window of her orphanage and sees a giant walking down the street, blowing something into the windows. When the giant sees her, he grabs her and takes her back to his desert cave home.

There he explains, in his strange and garbled English, that he was blowing dreams into the minds of children, and that the other giants who live in the desert -- and are twice his size -- eat children all over the world. He, though, is the Big Friendly Giant (BFG), and eats nothing but disgusting snozzcumbers. But when the other giants head to England to eat children, Sophie hatches a plan, involving dreams, the Queen of England, and the BFG, to stop them once and for all.

The Christmas Sweater

#1 New York Times bestselling author and renowned radio and television host Glenn Beck delivers an instant holiday classic about boyhood memories, wrenching life lessons, and the true meaning of the gifts we give to one another in love.We weren't wealthy, we weren't poor -- we just were. We never wanted for anything, except maybe more time together....When Eddie was twelve years old, all he wanted for Christmas was a bike. Although his life had gotten harder -- and money tighter -- since his father died and the family bakery closed...Eddie dreamed that somehow his mother would find a way to have his dream bike gleaming beside their modest Christmas tree that magical morning.What he got from her instead was a sweater. "A stupid, handmade, ugly sweater" that young Eddie left in a crumpled ball in the corner of his room.Scarred deeply by the realization that kids don't always get what they want, and too young to understand that he already owned life's most valuable treasures, that Christmas morning was the beginning of Eddie's dark and painful journey on the road to manhood. It will take wrestling with himself, his faith, and his family -- and the guidance of a mysterious neighbor named Russell -- to help Eddie find his path through the storm clouds of life and finally see the real significance of that simple gift his mother had crafted by hand with love in her heart.Based on a deeply personal true story, The Christmas Sweater is a warm and poignant tale of family, faith and forgiveness that offers us a glimpse of our own lives -- while also making us question if we really know what's most important in them. 

My Dream of Heaven by Rebecca Ruter Springer

Have you ever tried to imagine what heaven will be like? Originally published in 1898, this classic offers one woman's vision of her eternal home. You'll find new confidence that God has prepared a place for you and excitement at a future reunion with loved ones who have gone on before

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

It is a SHORT, easy-reading financial book that helps us at least consider a few financial mentalities that could help us. It is a worthwhile read. Robert was raised with two different father figures, one that thought "poor" and had "poor" financial strategies. The other thought "rich", not just positive thinking, but smart. He brings out the point that sometimes we teach ourselves to think and act "poor" and therefore keep ourselves that way.

- Chad Morris