Books

Todd here: Unfortunately I haven't been much of a reader my whole life. I read "To Kill a Mockingbird" and other required readings in high school. I read the scriptures and other church material also. But I've never been one to want to just pick up a book and read. But last summer I decided that without work I was going to spend some of my extra time reading. I began to compile of list of books I wanted to read. The more books I added to the list, the faster I would read so that I could get to the other ones. I started by finishing "The Giver" which I had started about 2 years earlier.

I finished it in about 2 days. Then I moved onto "Ender's Game." This is a book that was recommended to me back when I was about 15 years old and had heard about it, but just never got around to it.

I loved it and it has been my favorite so far. And I'm super excited for the progression of the movie and look forward to whenever it comes out. I might be one of those fanatics who dresses up and goes to the midnight showing.

In the meantime, Lexi read "And Then There Were None." So I pounded it in a couple days and then we watched the old school movie and enjoyed comparing the book with the movie.

Then I followed a recommendation from my dad and read"To Sir, With Love," which is an inspiring non-fictional story of the first years of a teacher. Then I read another classic, "Fahrenheit 451." It was okay. Then I read the companion book to "Ender's Game," "Ender's Shadow." It was good and it only made the original "Ender's Game" even better in my mind.

I ended up the summer by starting "Jesus the Christ." This is one of those books that it seems every Christian should read. I'm still reading it on the side.

School started up again, and I stopped reading and my list of books kept going up. Around that time is when I discovered Shelfari.com which helped me keep track of my list of books read, reading or plan to read.

After a few months of not reading and feeling guilty and anxious about my list, the Hunger Games movie trailer came out. This is one I actually started in the summer, but because of the writing style, a female main character, some cheesiness, etc. I stopped. But because I hadn't followed the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings trend of reading or watching the movies, I decided to be part of the conversation and finish this one.

I enjoyed it and am glad I read it. It's no "Ender's Game" but I look forward to seeing the movie and plan on reading the other two books as the movies come out.

As I drive 25 minutes to work everyday and back I started feeling like I was wasting time just sitting there. So I looked online for some free downloadable books and I found "Les Miserables." I didn't find the actual version, but I found an old school radio edit with about 7 episodes each about 30 minutes long. I had never seen the musical before so I had no idea what the story was about. I really enjoyed listening to it. I also enjoyed analyzing it. I tried looking for themes and comparisons and the ulterior meanings from the author. We then watched the old-school movie and have been listening to the music lately. I just need to see the musical sometime now.

I've also been listening to "Team of Rivals" on CD. This is another recommendation from my dad about Lincoln's presidency. I haven't finished it yet because my brain almost exploded 3 times listening to it. It's been good though.

I recently started "How to Win Friends and Influence People." This has been a good reminder book about how to deal with people. Hopefully I come out

a better person from reading it.

Here are a couple other books on my list:

• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• To the Rescue (Pres. Monson's Bio)
• 1984
• Blade Runner
• 7 Miracles that Saved America
• 1774
• Hunting Eichman
• The Greatest Salesman in the World
• Bourne Identity (I heard it's different from the movie)
• Don Quixote
• Treasure of Khan
• Schindler's List

I would like to read "The Hobbit" before the movie comes out too. I actually have seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy once or twice, so reading the books while knowing what happens seems pointless to me.

Have you head about this book, "Abinadi"? It's about one of my favorite Book of Mormon characters. But do I want to read a fictional story on a true scriptural account? Would that just taint by feelings about him I've developed from reading his actual story from the Book of Mormon?

What kind of books am I looking for? I'm still trying to figure that out. I would like to someday read a book that has 2 or 3 parts to it. The first book is of a story from the eyes of one character, but certain details and holes are left out. Then you read the next book which is from the point of view of another character but the same story and the questions from the first are answered, but more arise. Then the last one comes from another point of view and answers all the questions. Something like that. Kind of like a Wicked to Wizard of Oz. Anyone know of any???

(I guess a series of books as I just explained would be Ender's Game and Shadow. But the problem I have with this is that Orson Scott Card wrote Ender's Game, received popularity from it, then decided to write Ender's Shadow. He had no intentions of doing this in the first place, he just had to add on and make his own holes up in Ender's Shadow to fill it. I want a book where the author purposefully writes the books at the same time.)

What are some of your all-time favorite, enjoyable or life-changing books?