--William Wilberforce was a man born in the middle of the 1700s and was the driving force behind the end of the slave trade and abolition in England. He had many supporters and helpers, but he was the man in Parliament who presented the anti slave trade bills again and again. His conviction drove that reformation. He was a man who was in the right place at the right time who was willing to put in a lot of work to help millions of people.______________________________________________
I was impressed by what someone can do with their talents, a little bit of perseverance and faith. He also didn't let his weaknesses overcome him. He was very sick his entire life and because of that he could have made excuses, but he didn't.
He was a religious man. I realized as I was reading this book how valuable it is to be trained to feel the Holy Ghost and to recognize the Spirit of God and revelation. He never had that training, though I think we was close to the Spirit. How much comfort he would have derived from really knowing that the Lord was pleased with his work!
My only complaint was that Mr. Metaxas may have infer too much of a positive bias on Wilberforce and had given him too much credit when others could have gotten more accolade, but overall it was a very good book.
"Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
--I usually don't get much out of life-perspective books where they talk about the right way to live. I feel lucky that I grew up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because of the values it teaches. But I was plesantly surprised by two things I read:______________________________________________
The first item: Morrie taught that in order to release ourselves from emotions, we need to experience the full emotion. We need to experience full loneliness, anger, sadness etc and then when we come across that emotion again, we can say "I have already experienced that emotion, I don't need to wallow in it. Maybe I will let myself be in that emotion for 10 minutes, but after that I am done." I like that. It sounds healthy to me.
The second item: The second one was about aging. Mitch thought that something that plagued this generation is the fear of aging, an I think that is something I fear. Morrie said something interesting about this that I liked. He said that aging is about growth as much as dying. It is a positive thing because when we accept that we are getting older, we can embrace our aging and live a better life. I really liked that. As we get old, we have more knowledge, which helps us live a better life. Kind of something to look forward to!
"Wives and Daughters" by Elizabeth Gaskell
--I loved this book! I plan on reading it again sometime in the future and I don't usually read a book twice unless I love it. It is long book (many, many hundreds of pages) but it read very seamlessly and I didn't constently wonder when the book was going to end. The characters were extremely well portrayed and the plot was diverse. Like Jane Austin by more complex and each charcter had more detail and depth. A very delighful read.______________________________________________
"The Legend of Shannonderry" by Carol Warburton
--This is an LDS fiction book set in the early 1800s in England and then Ireland. Non of the characters were LDS, but there was a lot of menion of God's blessings and prayer. Good book. The writing wasn't as good as I would have liked, but the story and message were good. An uplifting read.______________________________________________
"The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
--I liked the premise of this book. I like that she is fighting for marriage and she is not afraid to use God and the Bible in her book. But I am not sure I agree with all of her methods. And I just didn't find anything useful in it.______________________________________________
"The Black Tulip" by Alexander Dumas
--Dumas wrote "The Count of Monte Cristo". This book was similar in plot, but the hero was less vengeful, the story was shorter and it contained more about God. It always amazes me how Dumas only needs to use a few well chosen words to deeply impact me.______________________________________________
"Founding Mothers" The Women Who Raised Our Nation" by Cokie Roberts
--This book was about the founding mothers. When I think of the sacrifices they made to start our country I am ashamed at how uninvolved I am in my country. These are some of my favorite women:Martha Washington - Who's sacrifices and optimism helped George Washington to do what he did. (She spent many winters with the troops, she was our first First Lady, she chose to be with George and support the country when she could have been with her family.)Sarah Livingston Jay - daughter of William Livingston (a signer of the Declaration of Independence and wife of John Jay the politician). She went with her husband when he was assigned to go overseas to make treaties and forge peaceful relations in Spain. She was 6 months at sea and her boat was almost completely destroyed.Eliza Lucas Pinckney - mother of Thomas Pinckney who was a states man and soldier in the revolutionary period. She lost a few husbands but always managed her plantations and economic experiments well.Abigail Adams - wife of John Adams. She was very influential, but I loved that she was supportive enough of the cause to be separated from her husband numerous times. The most notable of these is when he was in Europe for 8 years. Though she missed her husband, she still loved and supported the cause.Eliza Powel - wife of Samuel Powel. She helped influence George Washington to run for a second term.Mercy Otis Warren - The famous authoress who published political documents under a pseudo name which helped flame revolutionary action and feelings.How I wish I could meet these women and the many others who sacrificed and positively influenced the men (either husband or son), in their lives!___________________________________________
"The Book Theif" by Markus Zusak
--When I started this book I didn't really like it. But I had heard that it was good so I kept reading. I have finished it now and though I don't think that it was life changing or fantastic, it affected a part of me that hasn't been affected before. It was the story of WWII from the perspective of the German people, one town in particular. That was nice. And it was told from the point of Death and because of that point of view it had a lot of dry humor.___________________________________________
"Rebecca" by Daphne de Maurier
_____________________________________________
--This book was like the movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, only better. If you liked the movie, you'll love the book.
"The Thirteenth Child" by Patricia C. Wrede
--This is probably one of my most favorite fantasy authoresses. She focuses on the person and the magical things that happen in the book are just a part of the lives of those characters. This book, though not my favorite of hers, is one that sticks with you afterward for days and makes you wonder, "What is my full potential?" "What am I capable of if I set my mind to using my talents?". Unlike most of Wrede's other heroines, this girl does not live in a fantasy world, but rather lives in a place that our world that would have been if magic was just one other profession and class you took in college. It is told as a little kid growing up and though she is confident, she doesn't radiate confidence as much as her other heroines. I liked that. If you want to read her books, I suggest the dragon books - "Dealing with Dragons", "Searching for Dragons" etc with the first one being "Dealing with Dragons. A very funny series.
____________________________________________
"Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, my Betrayal by the White House" by Valerie Plambe Wilson
--I felt sorry for this lady. It seemed like she tried so hard to do the right thing.____________________________________________
"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
--I admit that I was lost most of the time I read this. Can someone explain this to me? I bet it had some kind of religious/political significance, but really, it was lost on me.