The Remarkable Soul of a Woman

Today I was in the mood to read something uplifting. So I read 'The Remarkable Soul of a Woman' by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the general presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

In this book President Uchtdorf explains that there are two ways to make yourself feel happy. One is by doing charitable service for others, and the second is by creating. Now, I must admit, that sometimes I feel like the least creative person on the planet. There is a certain quote that I read just after such thoughts crossed my mind. He says, "You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before- colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter." I just  loved that quote. Who knew that family memories and laughter were actually a type of creation? And come to think of it, they may be some of the best kinds of creation.

This book takes all of ten minutes to read, its that short. But it honestly would be a great little gem to have on your shelf for those days that are going down the crapper. When you are feeling blue and need a little encouragement just whip this little book out and become enlightened and encouraged.

Sarah's Key

As a continuation on my break from futuristic books I just recently read the book ‘Sarah’s Key’ by Tatiana de Rosnay. This is another book that takes place during WWII but this one deals more with occupied France and the concentration camps that were there. On July 16, 1942 French policeman held what they called ‘The Great Roundup’ where they captured thousands of Jews and took them to a large stadium where they were kept in inhumane conditions for days, and then were forced to ride cattle cars on the train to various concentration camps. From these camps they were then transferred to Auschwitz and gassed to death. Many of the French people do not know the role that their fellow countrymen played in murdering the Jews, and if they do know, they refuse to talk about it because they would rather forget about it.

This is the story of a modern day reporter trying to find out the gruesome facts about that terrible day in July in 1942, and the little girl named Sarah who she discovers is connected to her family in a tragic way. The beginning of the book jumps between these two character’s stories and so you get to see both sides. Although this is of course a horrible subject to be reading about it also presents a lot of history and makes it absolutely impossible to forget. “Never forget” is an ongoing theme of this book and is definitely honoring those men, women, and children who died in those hellish conditions.

I really did enjoy this book. Not only did I learn a lot, but it was a captivating page turner. I must warn you that it is definitely written for adults and I don't know if I would even recommend it to kids in high school. I would say more like 18 years old or older for this one.  My only complaint was that the ending kind of seemed to drag on and on and I felt like it was superfluous since she had resolved everything a few chapters ago. However the majority of the book was very good and I would highly recommend it! 

Code Talker

This week I finished reading the book 'Code Talker' by Joseph Bruchac. This book is about the Navajo Indians who served in WWII and the top secret assignment that they had. The military came up with a plan to send coded messages to one another using the Navajo language, which means that Navajo Indians were vital to the war effort and ultimately helped us win the war. Their language is so incredibly hard to learn that other countries could never crack the code. In fact, this plan was so top secret that the government didn't allow the Navajo's who were involved to share the role they played  in the war with their family and friends until the late 1960's when they finally figured that computers would do a better job at sending coded messages than people could. When they were finally able to share their amazing stories with the world many books were written about them and they were asked to come to D.C. to meet many of the presidents who passed through the walls of the White House. The Navajo Indians were definitely the unsung heroes of WWII.

What I found most interesting about this book was how much I learned from it. I don't know if I was sleeping in history class or it's just been too long since I have learned this stuff, but I definitely didn't know a lot of the things that happened with the Japanese. I guess when I think about WWII I always think about Hitler and the Nazis. Obviously I know about Pearl Harbor, but this book goes into a lot more depth with the war against Japan. I think reading historical fiction novels is my very favorite way to learn history. These novels can actually take us to the war and we are able to see through the eyes of the men that were there. It is an incredible way to learn about our past and yes, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a history buff, wants to brush up on their history, or is just looking for a good war novel to read.

Pride and Prejudice

There is a book that I have returned to many times when I need some really well spoken English in my life. That book is 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. I love the taste of the words in my mouth. Austen's writing is almost poetic in a way. And if her humorous style of writing about serious political issues wasn't captivating enough, she also creates the most lovable characters imaginable. From Mrs. Bennett to Miss Bingley, Elizabeth to Darcy, every character's personality pops on the page. This is such an amazing classic and everyone should read this at least once in their lifetime.

And of course, I am a huge fan of the movies as well. Here is a trailer from one of my favorite versions of 'Pride and Prejudice'.

Librarian Life

This is my life at the library some days.

Beautiful Creatures

Lately I have been trying to get through the series 'Beautiful Creatures' by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished the first book and most of the second one, but then I kind of lost interest and they became a chore for me to read. Books shouldn't be a chore to read in my opinion because there are too many amazing books out there. So why try and drudge your way through them right? In the beginning the story was captivating and held my interest, but then it started to kind of drag on and on. Each book is more than 500 pages and I feel like there is just a lot of fluff in there that doesn't accomplish anything other than taking up space. Some of the tangents the authors go on definitely do not hold any importance to the plot line, and there were many times when I just wanted to scream, "Will you get to the point already?!" However, I am sure there are plenty of people who love these books, I am just not one of them. I think they are something that you have to kind of judge for yourself though.

Having said that, I still do want to see the movie. It looks really good and there are some pretty awesome actors in it. I have heard good things about it so I will definitely be giving it a chance. Here is the trailer so you can check it out for yourself.