Crime and Punishment

Title: Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Pages: 542

Genre: Russian Classic

Grade: B

Synopsis: Originally published in 1866, the story is about the law-student Raskolnikov who devises a theory about how great men may sometimes be above the law as the benefits they provide to society far outweigh any of their misdeeds. Raskolnikov, who is very poor, murders an old pawnbroker and her kinder sister. The remainder of the book focuses on the penetrating psychological analysis that Raskolnikov undertakes to try and clear his conscience.

My Review: While not exactly a page-turner, the book turns out to be a fascinating look inside the head of the young criminal. The entire story is extremely believable as we follow Raskonikov as he interacts with his family, friends and the police investigators. Can we ever find redemption of our own missteps through personal suffering?

From the Book: "(p. 288) We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast, vast! But why must it be vast? Instead of all that, what if it's one little room, like a bath house in the country, black and grimy and spiders in every corner. and that's all eternity is? I sometimes fancy it like that."

"(p. 327) "That is all about the raising of Lazarus," she whispered severely and abruptly, and turning away she stood motionless, not daring to raise her eyes to him. She still trembled feverishly. The candle-end was flickering out in the battered candle-stick, dimly lighting up the poverty-stricken room the murderer and the harlot who had so strangely been reading together the eternal book. Five minutes or more passed."

To the Rescue

Title: To the Rescue - The Biography of Thomas S. Monson

Author: Heidi S. Swinton

Pages: 588

Genre: Biography

Grade: A-

Synopsis: President Monson is the President and Prophet of the 14 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He grew up in Salt Lake City and was called to serve as Bishop of the ward he grew up in his early 20s. Before he was called as an apostle at 36, he had served in a Stake Presidency and as a mission president in Toronto, Canada. For almost the last 50-years he has served as a Special Witness of Jesus Christ, traveling the world uplifting the Saints, dedicating lands and temples and extending callings. President Monson played a critical role in the Church gaining permission to build a temple in East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, where the communist government still generally rejected all religion.

My Review: This biography was very well-written in a way that exemplified the life of President Monson. The book is a collection of stories, many of which focus on the individual in need and the ways that President Monson has spent his life in the service of each and every one of us. The book was spiritually uplifting, motivating and instilled a desire for me to be a better person. I have no doubt that President Monson was prepared to lead the Lord's Church in this day of age. As always, it was a special treat to hear President Monson speak at conference the last couple of days.

From the Book: "(p. 473) At the Veracruz Mexico Temple dedication six weeks later, he spoke of the temple helping the members there. "We all have certain talents, and the Lord knows what they are," he said. "We all have limitations and the Lord knows what they are. Whatever our limitations may be, the Lord said this: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,' [Matthew 5:48.] He would not give us commandments we could not fulfill. We can become perfect in our love of God. We can become perfect in our love of our fellow men. We can become perfect in the payment of our tithing. We can become perfect in living the Word of Wisdom. We can become perfect in our home teaching. In other words, all of those degrees of perfection are within our reach... We know what we must do."

Rachel & Leah

Title: Rachel & Leah

Author: Orson Scott Card

Pages: 9 discs

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Rachel and her tender-eyed older sister Leah are the daughters of Lord Laban, brother of Rebecca (who married Isaac, the son of Abraham). Rachel dreams of meeting a man at a well as a young teenager. He kisses her and asks Laban if he may serve 7 years for her hand in marriage. The young man was Jacob, the brother of Esau. For those who recall the story from Genesis, Jacob becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, but the situation surrounding his marriage makes a great story.

My Review: Orson Scott Card is an author that has churned out books at an amazing pace throughout his career. Everything from fantasy (Ender's Game), thrillers (The Abyss), to religious based (Sarah, Rachel & Leah). Amazingly, his books based on the Women of Genesis are just as good as his more well-known other books. As very-little information is given in the Bible about the specifics of the relationships between Rachel and Leah and their handmaidens Zilpah and Bilhah, Card must use his imagination to fill in the gaps. He weaves a story that is very believable and structured around the specifics given in the Bible. I was very disappointed that the story ended right at Jacob's wedding, but the author's epilogue indicated that the book would have to be completed in a trilogy and not one book as he had originally planned. Unfortunately, that was 5 years ago and he has not yet completed the next book and Card had a stroke a few months ago that may or may not inhibit his ability to complete the series at all.

A Clockwork Orange

Title: A Clockwork Orange

Author: Anthony Burgess

Pages: 6 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The book takes place sometime in the future when sadistic gangs of youth roam the streets raping, and beating people mercilessly. Alex is a 15-year-old teenager in one of these gangs who loves ultraviolence and Beethoven before becoming a special project of the state where they attempt to brainwash him against this violence.

My Review: The whole first cd of this book I had no clue what was going on. Half of the slovos (words) of the book are gibberish words that actually happen to be English-ized Russian words (which meant that I could understand them - if you could make it through the ridiculous declension and pronunciation). Once I was able to wrap my head around the strange text, I found that I really enjoyed the book. It was a strange, unexpected and uniquely written story that really got you thinking about the powers that the government holds - much like Orwell's 1984.

Disclaimer: While the language is generally clean, rape, beatings and even murder is explained using slang and gibberish words.

Don't Throw Rocks at His Window

Title: Don't Throw Rocks at His Window: Real Advice to Mend a Broken Heart

Author: Julie C. Donaldson

Pages: 97

Genre: Young Adult, Religion

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Broken hearts are a crucial part of growing up. This book is chock-full of advice and stories to help teenagers deal with their broken hearts and to rely on the Savior for support and strength.

My Review: Full disclosure - This book was written by a friend in our ward and the cover design was done by a neighbor from when I was growing up. Obviously I'm not in the target audience for the book, but I found that I quite enjoyed the book. The personal experiences were relevant and funny and the advice (if followed) would certainly help mend a newly dumped (or broken-up) ex-girlfriend's heart. If I ever find myself having to comfort a young lady in this circumstance, this book would make a great gift.

The Lovely Bones

Title: The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

Pages: 11 discs?

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B-

Synopsis: Susie Salmon is the victim of a brutal murder in 1973 when she is a young teenager. The story continues to follow Susie as she continues to exist in her heaven. She watches down on her family and her killer from heaven and tempers her desire for vengeance against her killer with her desire for her family to heal from the tragedy.

My Review: I know that this book generally gets pretty good reviews but it never clicked with me. I always hoped that there was something exciting on the next page (or cd in my case), but the story just seemed to slowly trudge on. I won't say that the story was predictable, but it certainly wasn't unpredictable (does that even make sense?) which left me a little underwhelmed.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Author: Jeff Kinney

Pages: 224

Genre: Children's Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Jr. High student Greg Heffley is forced to keep a diary (although he claims it is a journal) by his mother. He draws pictures and writes about his life as a junior high student.

My Review: While I don't exactly fit the target demographic for the book, it was a quick read and gave me a few laughs. The book delivered in that it reminded me of my glorious jr. high days... That being said, I doubt that I will be reading any of the other books in the series. I'll leave those to the young teens.

Life of Pi

Title: Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel

Pages: 11 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Pi is a young Indian boy whose father owned or managed a zoo as he was growing up. At a young age Pi was very interested in religion, exploring Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. The zoo was sold and the family was in the process of emigrating to Canada when the ship that they were on sank. Pi found himself in a lifeboat with a zebra, hyena and orangutan.

My Review: I enjoyed the book, but it was tough to get into it. It starts slow, but gets very interesting after the shipwreck. Amazingly, even though the story involves Pi being stuck in a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger, I found the story to be quite believable.

Disclaimer: The book gets a bit gory as the hyena tears the zebra apart and there are other animal functions on display.

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Battle of the Labyrinth

Author: Rick Riordan

Pages: 361

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Camp Half-Blood is in a more precarious position than it was even the year before. The Titan Lord is growing stronger and his supporters are utilizing an underground labyrinth designed by the great architect and inventor Daedalus. Whoever is able to figure out how the maze works first will be in the best position to attack the camp or fight off the attackers in the case of the half-bloods.

My Review: I think that this was probably my favorite book of the series so far. There are still a number of corny, juvenile dialogues, but the story as a whole seemed more cohesive. As always, the book was tough to put down and easy to finish in a couple of days.

The Hunt for Red October

Title: The Hunt for Red October

Author: Tom Clancy

Pages: 480

Genre: Thriller

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The Red October is a brand-new Soviet submarine with a new quiet propulsion system. The captain of the Red October has hatched a plan with his officers to defect to the United States, with the new submarine. When the Soviets realize what their captain is planning on doing, they send every available submarine, battleship and anything else that floats to try and track her. The Americans, including Jack Ryan, see the whole Soviet navy racing to their shore and are trying to piece together their intelligence on the matter to find out whether or not they are under attack.

My Review: I read this book back in high school, but I didn't remember a lick of it. It's a fast-paced thriller with lots of twists and turns and eye-opening to the life of a submariner. The premise is realistic (at least it was during the cold war) and the submarine chases and battles are intense and dramatic.

The Wednesday Letters

Title: The Wednesday Letters

Author: Jason F. Wright

Pages: 5 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B-

Synopsis: Jack and Laurel Cooper own and run a cozy bed and breakfast. After thirty-nine years, they die in each others arms in the master bedroom and their children all return home for the double-funeral. They children find out that every Wednesday since their marriage, their dad has written their mother a letter and she had kept them all. From reading the letters, they find out that their family is not what they thought it was.

My Review: The story is nice and all, but it never really clicked with me. I'm finding it tough to put a finger on what I didn't like in the book, but I just found it ever so slightly irritating. That being said, there were parts of the book that I quite enjoyed, but the story was a bit predictable.

Einstein: His Life and Universe

Title: Einstein: His Life and Universe

Author: Walter Isaacson

Pages: 19 discs

Genre: Biography

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Albert Einstein was born in the German Empire (in 1879), educated in Switzerland and died as an American (1955). This recent biography is one of the first to be released after his personal letters and correspondences were released to the public. Every aspect of his life is examined from his early childhood (he never failed math), his time at the Zurich Poytechnic, his difficulty landing a job as a professor, his outspoken political ideologies and his time in America. 1905 is known as a miracle year in physics when Einstein, working as a patent clerk published four papers where he discovered the photoelectric effect, special relativity and the equivalence of mass and energy (e=mc^2) as well as a paper exploring Brownian motion. Over time, Einstein truly became a superstar in the realm of physics. Eventually, the Jewish oppression in Germany was too much and he emigrated to America in the early 1930's where he had a position at Princeton University and continued to search for a unified theory of the physical world.

My Review: I imagine that a biography on Einstein would be fairly difficult to write and keep interesting for the majority of readers, but Isaacson has done just that. There is enough explanation of Einstein's thought experiments and breakthroughs that the non-physics reader is able to have an idea of what is being discussed, not understand it though - if was often joked that only 3 people understood relativity in the world (at the time of Einstein) and nobody knew who the other two were. I'm not sure that we have a comparable scientist living today. Einstein lived during the golden-age of physics when many of the physicists and scientists were known the world over. His popularity was fairly easy to accomplish with the new York Times virtually covering his every move. I was very impressed with Einstein, but every genius seems to have a dark side, and while Einstein's is pretty tame, it is still there. One complaint with the book (which others may appreciate) is that each chapter seemed to be written as a free-standing work, which means there was some minor duplication of material that had already been covered. One of the better biographies that I have read.

The Titan's Curse

Title: Percy Jackson & The Olympians - The Titan's Curse

Author: Rick Riordan

Pages: 312

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Percy Jackson is sent on a quest to find his friend Annabeth with Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, and two of Artemis' huntresses, Zoe Nightshade and Bianca Di Angelo. They're also trying to locate a dangerous monster that would be able to bring down Olympus before the Titans can find it.

My Review: Just like every other book in this series, some of the dialogue and character interaction in this book is cringeworthy, but the author does a masterful job of tying ancient Greek mythology into today's world. Another easy, enjoyable read.

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.

A Nice Little Town

Title: A Nice Little Town

Author: Robert D. Christensen, M.D.

Pages: 159

Genre: Memoir

Synopsis: Dr. Robert Christensen writes about moving from Chicago to the small town of Layton, UT as a very small boy. In the 1940 census, Layton only had about 600 residents. The book feels like a collection of memoir-like essays about growing up in Layton, attending Layton and Whitesides Elementary Schools, Central Davis Jr. High and Davis High School. His father was the town Dentist at the old Tanner Clinic and many of the long-time city residents are featured in some of the stories.

My Review: I'll not give this book a grade as I'm going to treat is as a book of stories that a grandfather may like to leave for his posterity. There were a great many of unfortunate spelling errors that made the book feel less like a published work and more like a family collection. That being said, the stories were funny and enjoyable and I especially enjoyed learning about the city/town that I grew up in and I recognized many of the locations and people that were part of the book. Generally, I'm quite certain that native Laytonites will enjoy this book far more than non-Laytonites.