The Dark Frigate

Title: The Dark Frigate

Author: Charles Boardman Hawes

Pages: 246

Genre: Historical Fiction, Newbery Medal

Grade: C

Synopsis: A terrible accident in a pub forces young Philip Marsham to run away afraid for his life. More than anything he wants to be on the sea, and ends up signing on with the Rose of Devon, a dark frigate sailing for Newfoundland. After a terrible storm, the Rose of Devon is "Captured by a band of murderous pirates!" as the cover suggests.

My Review: A few things stood out to me about this book. It is an early Newbery Award Medal winner, but I have a hard time believing that children in the 1920's were able to understand this book. It is written in seventeenth century sailor's English and the book was quite difficult for me to understand, which made it a challenge for me to make it through. Of the Newbery Award winners that I've read so far, this one is at the bottom.

The Coming of the Lord

Title: The Coming of the Lord

Author: Gerald N. Lund

Pages: 241

Genre: Religion

Grade: C

Synopsis: Elder Gerald N. Lund explores the prophecies of things that must come to pass before the second coming of Jesus Christ.  Published in 1971, Elder Lund covers scriptural prophecies and prophecies that have been made by modern-day apostles and prophets up to the book's publication.  Most of the prophecies of the second coming that have been made in the latter-days were made during the 19th century, with a smattering of follow-up prophecies here in the last 100 years or so.  Everything has been meticulously researched and documented and the text of the book is based on scriptural references and quotes while avoiding additional speculation.

My Review:  While the content of the book was interesting and the book itself was well-written and insightful, I had a difficult time reading this book.  It never piqued by interest like I thought that it would and it took me nearly 3 months to make it through.  My personal viewpoint is that while it is important to know and understand what the prophets have prophesied concerning the last days and the second coming, the fact of the matter is that no man knoweth the timing of the second coming.  Another point is that if many of the latter-day prophesies are taken literally, then the prophets of these latter-days were off the mark. For example (and I can't quote exactly who said this, or when it was or what the phrasing was as I don't have the book with me), there were a few times in the 1870's time-range where it was prophesied that there were individuals in attendance that would live to see the great gathering to Missouri and Adam-ondi-Ahman. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that may be a tough one. My suggestion would be to take everything with a grain of salt and use your own judgment and inspiration to determine what you believe to be true.  In the end I think that everything will make sense.

Voluntary Simplicity

Title: Voluntary Simplicity

Author: Duane Elgin

Pages: 240

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: C

Synopsis: Originally published in 1981 and updated in the 1990's, this book is considered by many to be the simple/sustainable living bible.  The book covers the tenets of Voluntary Simplicity, which include frugal consumption, ecological awareness and personal growth.  The book concludes with a vision of the global issues that will arise if more people do not choose a path of voluntary simplicity.

My Review: This book wasn't really what I had expected.  The first third of the book is just rehashing results from a magazine survey about people who have chosen to live a life of voluntary simplicity.  The second third of the book was the part that I found most interesting.  This part gave a little bit of an idea into what living with voluntary simplicity is all about.  The last third of the book was an expose about how the whole world needs to embrace voluntary simplicity and how the unfair it is that the rich nations have more than the poor nations.  The author advocates for the United Nations to have power to enforce all of the rules and regulations needed for the world to enjoy voluntary simplicity.  I was hoping for more ideas about living simply, but there were too many political undertones in the discussion. 

The Bible Salesman

Title: The Bible Salesman

Author: Clyde Edgerton

Pages: 5 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: C

Synopsis: Henry Dampier is a 20-year-old naive Bible salesman traveling around the south when he is picked up by Mr. Clearwater, who claims to work for the FBI in the post-WWII era. His is allegedly infiltrating a car theft ring and using Henry to help him transport the stolen cars.

My Review: This book is a folksy story where everyone came across as a little dim-witted. As one review from Goodreads reads: "A dim religious doofus is conned by a murderous car thief in the South of the early fifties. Brief but pointless. The backstory parts as especially inessential, but really, there's just nothing on offer here." I'm not sure that I could put it any better myself.

Digging to America

Title: Digging to America

Author: Anne Tyler

Pages: 7 Discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: C

Synopsis: Two families meet at the Baltimore Airport when the infants they have adopted from Korea arrive on the same airplane. One family is the very American Donaldson family, while the second family is the Americanized Yazdan family. The Yazdan's moved to the US from Iran more than 20 years, but still often feel like outsiders. This book explores the friendship between the Yazdans and the Donaldsons after the Donaldsons invite the Yazdans to a special "arrival party", which becomes a yearly tradition.

My Review: I really didn't like this book. About 1/2 of the book was about the two families and 1/2 of the book was about the mother-in-law Maryan. It just seemed to drag on and had a difficult time keeping my interest because the story just wasn't that interesting. I'm glad to be done with it.