"A room without books is like a body without a soul"

I don’t remember who this quote is by, but it’s in the David O. McKay Library on the second floor by one of the group study rooms.

I love reading books. And lately I’ve been reading a lot of them. One of the classes I’m taking is Children’s Literature and I’ve read a lot of books for this class and they’ve all been pretty good. SO if you like to read, take this class. Here are some of the books I have read and some that I want to read.

Beauty

by Robin McKinley

This is a take on the classic Beauty and the Beast story…and it’s so good! I really enjoyed this one. It’s told through the main character, Beauty’s, perspective. But beware, it has a VERY abrupt ending. This was hard for me, but it was a good book anyways. After you read this book visit SurLaLune.com. This lady has put together this website with all the original (or as original as she could get) fairy tales. McKinley’s version follows the original exquisitely. You’ll be impressed

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

By Brian Selznick

Ok, I’m not gonna lie, when I first started this book, I was so uninterested. I finished it and thought, ok that was kinda dumb. But then. In class we visited the site for the book, and HOLY COW. It’s like the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. You HAVE to own this book and read it to your kids and show them the videos and everything, they will LOVE it!

Call It Courage

by Armstrong Sperry

Ok, this is a REALLY old book, but still good. It won the Newberry award in 1940. The reason I like this book is because it’s about a boy who goes out on his own to make a name for himself and prove himself to his community. I was really impressed with how much the author knew about the animals and plants and gods and stuff. It’s only like 70-90 pages (depending on which edition you get) and a really easy read.

Married for Better, Not Worse: The Fourteen Secrets to a Happy Marriage

by Gary and Joy Lundberg

Ok, I didn’t read this for a class, but in hopes to become a better person and improve my marriage (not that it’s bad; every marriage could use a little TLC right?). THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK and I recommend that whether you are newlyweds or celebrating your 25^th wedding anniversary, you read it. I’m not done yet, but so far I’ve learned a whole lot. The best thing about this book is that you start reading it looking for things you could say “man, my husband/wife could stand to read a little of this,” and come out of it with so many things you need to change about yourself. It’s a real eye-opener and I’ve been self-reprimanded several times. Read it. I mean that. We also have the seminar on CD called Building Forever: Making Your Marriage More Fulfilling One Day at a Time. It’s really good too. I need to listen to it again.

Hold Me Tight: Conversations for a Lifetime of Love

By Sue Johnson

I have been waiting so long to get this book from the library. I expected it to be this little like 8X6 inch book maybe 150 pages. Nope. It’s HUGE. And I’m excited to read it. I haven’t started it yet because I’m waiting to finish Married for Better, Not Worse

I love books. Again. Still. Forever and for always. Especially when I’m off track and have nothing to do but work. It’s nice to just curl up in a big blanket and just read all day. I think this time though, I’m not going to read only Anita Stansfield. Though I will read some. I want to read all the Newberry winner books. There’s a lot of them. But I can do it! J Who’s with me?