Six Months of Book Reviews.

When I decided to not read 50 books this year I told myself that I would still do a monthly update on the books I was reading.  Since it's now July I thought I would at least do a review of the first half of the year. So - here are the books I read and whether or not I think they're any good. (in no particular order)

The Highest In Us by Truman Madsen - you want a deep read where half the time you're not sure you understand the words much less the idea behind them and yet at the end of each section your like, "I get it!"?  Read this book.  Madsen is an extremely intelligent man and while reading this book I had a dozen light bulb moments...I love light bulb moments.

Born For Love by Maia Szalavitz & Bruce D.  Perry - I will admit - I bought this book last year after a breakup.  It did not help "heal my wounds" or anything but I found it a very interesting read.  There are some good theories and interesting research.  This book made me evaluate the way I treat people and the need for empathy in our lives.  Of course - this book also like to do the slippery slope where if this happens, then this will happen, and then our world will end - maybe not that dramatic in words, but you get the idea.  But that happens sometimes with books like this - they are trying to drive their point home.  Overall though - a very good read.

The Remarkable Soul of a Woman by Dieter F. Uchtdorf - I bought this book for my mom for Mother's Day.  This is what we would call a super quick read.  But it was good.  I love how Uchtdorf always seems to focus on how great women are and on how they tend to forget this.

Prepare Now for the Temple by Brittany Mangus - I bought this book for a friend who is going to be going through the temple later this year and I thought I should read it before I really recommended it.  It was helpful (maybe more so to my friend who hasn't been there before) but it was definitely geared towards young women...from Utah....who plan to get married by the time they are 19.  It talked a lot about how preparing for the temple and preparing for your wedding should be two different events.  No problema for us east coast girls.  But the basic information was still good and helpful.

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie - Yes, I'm still reading Agatha here and there.  She's incredible, just when I think I've figured it out she puts a legit twist in it.  How does she keep doing that?

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - Ryan bought me this book for either my birthday or Christmas and since there is a movie coming out this year (or already came out? I'm not with the program) I decided to read it first thing.  It was hard for me to get in to, I mean, I like Lord of the Rings and all, but I couldn't read the book.  But as with most good books that start off slow, there was a point I hit where I wanted to just keep reading to find out what was going to happen.  It was also nice to actually know some of the characters in the story because of the movies.  Overall - I liked this one.

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin - Sometimes I go to physical location of Barnes and Noble just to find a new book I wouldn't have found otherwise.  This was one of them and it was one of them and it didn't disappoint (like some of them I've gotten before - we'll get to them later I'm sure).  It is a very interesting concept.  The main character is the child of a chocolate guru who was murdered when she was a child.  Chocolate has long since been prohibited by the government for sale within the US (they can still sell to other countries) and that makes her family on the wrong side of the law.  It was an interesting look into how the government can sometimes decide what is right and what is wrong and to see how they things can change over time (i.e. there is mention of how the government used to restrict alcohol and how one day chocolate won't be the bad guy, it will be something else).  I'm not sure how I feel about the very end of the book - jury is still out on that one, but the rest of it was enjoyable.

Living Waters by Brent L. Top - I read this book so long ago I barely remember the highlights.  But I do remember that I liked it.  There was a chapter devoted to hypocrites and it really made me question myself and look inward to see what my motives are for the things I do. 

That's it for 2012 so far - My goal this year was 16 - which seems so tiny compared to last year's.  But we are half way through the year and I have halfway to my goal (and I still enjoy reading - couldn't say the same last year as I was scrambling to read all the Harry Potters).  Hope you enjoyed.