The Peacegiver by James L. Ferrell

This book is fairly short and one of the best I've ever read. It is written by an LDS author and makes frequent references to various LDS scriptures, but largely uses Bible stories to teach profound principles of the Atonement. No book I have ever read opened the scriptures and the Atonement to my eyes more than this book did. It's an easy read, ~200 fairly-small pages, and outstandingly insightful. I think everyone should read this book. Everyone.

When I Grow Up

I've always wanted to be like Laurel. Since I was a little kid my parents have called me Laurel number two because I look and try to act like her. I just think she is awesome and a great example for me. So, in keeping with my tradition to try to be like her, I am keeping a list of all the books I read in 2008. She's been doing this for a few years, and I think it is an interesting idea. So far, 4 books. So at the end of 2008, I can add a post with the final count and my favorites like she did at the end of this last year. Yippee for reading great books!

I recommend...

Any book by Martine (Bates) Leavitt. I'll admit I haven't read all of her books yet, but I do intend to. She mostly writes fantasy and also has done some more serious, "real-er life" books.

Why do I love her? She was my Young Women's president. :)

I read her trilogy first...because she wrote it first. Definitely read it in order. It's called the Marmawell Trilogy and it is excellent. She wrote her first book...at least part of it...for a competition and won and was told that she could turn it into a novel. And it's a good novel, too!

The Dragon's Tapestry
Prism Moon
The Taker's Key

All were very good and quite symbolic. I've read them all twice. And it's funny because when I read them, the little voice in my head that says the words to me sounds like her voice.

The dollmage actually kind of reminded me of her first three books. Not that it was the same, it just seemed like it was possible for it to fit in the Marmawell world. Almost, but not quite.

I haven't read Heck, superhero, but I intend to. It's one of her more "real-life" books.

Tom Finder was good. It's about a homeless man...another "real-er life" book.

Now, I started reading Keturah and Lord Death when I was still pregnant with Rachel but my mom told me to stop reading it until after I had her. Apparently there is someone in the book who has a hard time with childbirth and my mom said that I would deal with it better after my baby was born. I haven't picked it up again yet...but I really do want to finish it. I found it gripping and didn't really want to put it down. My mom just knows how I think so I tend to take her advice. Maybe I'll ask Andrew to pick that book up for me while he's on campus today.

Anyway, all of her books are good. They have good values in there and if you look for it, a lot of "LDS" symbology. For example, my mom thinks that the tapestries in the Marmawell trilogy are like patriarchal blessings--you'll probably see why if you read the books. :)

I Feel Way Behind

It just took me too long to finish school and start this reading craze thing. You guys have all read everything. Sigh. It's OK. I get to read only the good stuff because I read all your comments. I just finished Eclipse. Old news, huh? Large Marge and I have discussed the three quite a bit, but anyone else who wants to, what do you think? Laurel asked me if I am in Club Edward or Club Jacob. Club Edward for me. Anyone else? By the way, I was just thinking it would be fun to have some more author's website's links on our blog. Obviously, I should put Stephenie Meyer's up. I'll google it. Any others that you want quick links to or that I should put up for others to discover?

Robin McKinley (my other favorite author)

Robin McKinley is a YA fantasy author. She was the one who got me reading fantasy in high school (before I was one of those that thought it was just for geeks and anti-social people.) Since I've read all of her works and recommend them all but one to everyone I figured I would lump them all together.

The first one I read and still my favorite is Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. It's exactly what the title says, but it's SUCH a good retelling that anyone who even remotely likes the story of Beauty and the Beast will love this. I would bet that those of you with daughters (who are old enough to appreciate books at all) would find this a good one to read with them because it's somewhat short and easy to read.
The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown are next on the "I absolutely love this..." list. I wouldn't actually call Hero a second book to Sword. I feel it's more of a companion book, because although they do go together Sword takes place long before Hero and they only compliment each other in being about the same land. I also don't think it actually matters which one you read first. The Blue Sword was written first but the events of The Hero and the Crown come first in that worlds history. Both are are about the land of Damar and both have female main characters that are warriors. Personally I like Aerin of Hero a little more than Harry (yes a girl named Harry) of Sword but both are equally lovable and realistic.
Spindle's End is a VERY different version of the classic story of Sleeping Beauty and has an interesting take on Fairies. I'm still very torn on how much I liked or didn't like the ending, but I usually like it and I've read it several times so I still recommend it.
The Outlaws of Sherwood is of course the story of Robin Hood. Again it's a very interesting take on the story. For me it makes it seem more believable. The characters more real than just names and it's mostly historically accurate when it comes to what is and is not possible for the time that legend takes place. This one however is one that I've found not everyone enjoys. My sister, who is also an avid Robin McKinley fan, thought that it moved slowly.
The last three Deerskin, Rose Daughter, and Sunshine are on a slightly different level than the others as they are classified as adult novels. Deerskin is very hard for me to recommend even though it's my second favorite of McKinley's books. The reason it's difficult to recommend is that the main character Lissar/Deerskin goes through and experiences some rather harsh things. It's not explicit in it's explanation, but at the same time it doesn't hedge around what happens to her either. Rose Daughter is a very different take on Beauty and the Beast. (I think that this story is the authors favorite.) I didn't really like the ending, but I still liked the book. Sunshine is a vampire story and definitely written for adults as it mentions sex and is a darker subject matter.
I think that covers all of her novels, but I may have missed one and since I have no computer skills I'll just tell you that I know she has a website, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm sure if you're interested enough and you google her that her website will come up.

Laurel's 2007 Reading Log

OK 2007 is officially over, so I can tally the books I read this year. The total is 95 (17 more than I read in 2005, but 37 fewer than I read in 2006, the year that included bed rest).

Here are some of my favorites from 2007:

• The Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld (author of "Uglies)

• "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (heartbreaking but beautifully written fiction about life in Afghanistan under the Taliban)

• "The 5 Love Languages" by Gary Chapman

• "My Name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok (again, I can't help it - it's literally my favorite book)

• "Marley and Me" by John Grogan (living with the world's worst dog)

• "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey

• All the Harry Potters by J.K. Rowling

• The Fairy Realm series by Emily Rodda (wonderful original fairy tales for young s)

• "Stargirl" and "Love, Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

• The "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer

• "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson (sophisticated fantasy adventure)

• The "Rowan" series by Emily Rodda (wonderful fantasy adventure for boys)

• The "Fablehaven" series and "The Candy Shop Wars" by Brandon Mull (excellent young fantasy adventure)

• "Complications" and "Better" by Atul Gawande (fascinating nonfiction written by a doctor, about why it's hard to be a good doctor)

• "Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (new prequel to Peter Pan - I listened to this on CD and Tyler was riveted)

• The "Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld (I'd read the first 3 before, but book 4 just came out)

• "Book of a Thousand Days" by Shannon Hale (author of "Goose ")

Well, that's a hefty list. It should be enough recommendations to get anyone through a reading slump.