Uh-Oh by Robert Fulghum

What's not to like about Robert Fulghum?

Ten Circles Upon The Pond by Virginia Tranel

This was a very unusual, very successful memoir by the mother of ten children. She managed the mix of day-to-day details, life-defining moments, and reflections on faith and feminism in a masterful way. Recommended.

La Bella Figura by Beppe Severgnini

I loved this book because my husband surprised me with it after he heard an interview with the author on NPR. The content was mediocre, but surprise books from the dh are my brand of flowers.

The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendehlson

This was fabulous--a sort of Holocaust "Roots" but a narrative of discovery instead of a fictionalized account. Words fail me with this one to some extent, but his meditations of life, memory, place, family, and history are pretty amazing. The fact that he was able to discover so much information about his lost relatives is even more amazing. Highly recommended.

Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament

It looks like a coffee table book but it reads like top-notch scholarship.

I read this to the kids this week; it was good but not outstanding. I was amazed at how difficult the vocabulary was for a children's book and figured that for sure my kids would lose interest when they couldn't follow the story, but they hung in there and said they really liked it. Go figure.

The Great Plague by John M. Barry

This was disappointing. The 1918 flu epidemic is a fascinating story, but this book gets lost in the personal histories of the scientist who were on the front lines. I was surprised, since Barry's Rising Tide was fabulous.

Brief Notes

This weekend I read:

Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service

Isaiah for Airheads by John Bytheway

The Ten Virgins by Emily Freeman

The first isn't really the kind of book you review and the second two fall under "if you can't say something nice . . ."

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

I read this out loud to the boys and we all loved it--what a treat.

Yearning for the Living God by F. Enzio Busche

This was pretty good-it had some excellent and some unusual moments. Not the best GA biography I've ever read, but certainly worth the time.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Ack. This was a trainwreck. I didn't think anything could live up to Twilight, but this wasn't even in the same ballpark. Ack.

The Honey Thief by Elizabeth Graver

This book was average in a mediocre sort of way.

Twilight by Stephenie [sic] Meyer

This is way high on the list of best books that I have ever read. The strange thing is: I cannot really figure out why. I wouldn't say that the writing was extraordinary, the plot was somewhat predictable, and did I mention that it was about vampires? But there was something about this story that just sucked (ha!) me in. I think the vampire backdrop serves as an extraordinarily good metaphor for teenage angst--maybe that was it. In any case, this one is highly recommended.

Intuition by Allegra Goodman

This is an excellent novel: an engaging story with interesting thoughts on science, gender, politics, etc. Recommended.

Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

Bah. This is the second time that I have gotten hundreds of pages into a biography of Theodore Roosevelt only to decide that I hated it (despite a few interesting anecdotes).

I suppose TR just isn't my guy.

Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood by Gregory Prince

This didn't do a whole lot for me; I'm not entirely sure why. I ended up just skimming most of it.

Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg

I'm not sure how I felt about this: the plot was loopy and meandering, but the characters were somewhat endearing. Eh.

The Twelve Little Cakes: Memoir of a Prague Childhood by Dominika Dery

This was a good story; I wouldn't bet the farm on every anecdote being 100% accurate, but this was an enjoyable read despite my slight distrust of the author.

The Book of Revelation by G. K. Beale

At over 1200 pages, this was a good commentary. If it had had an excellent editor and 700 pages, it would have been a great commentary. In other words, it was a little flabby.

The Book of Revelation by Robert Mounce

This book has confirmed my suspicion (after doing Leviticus and parts of Ezekiel as well) that NICOT/NICNT is the single best commentary series around. This title was great--amazingly concise and yet filled with great stuff. Recommended for anyone who wants to study Revelation.