My Procrastination Endpoint: 2008 In Review: Books

Friday, January 2, 2009

2008 In Review: Books

As I reflect on the past year my mind turns to books.

Another great year. Quality history books have cranked out regularly even though other genres are a bit weak.

Before I get into last year, let me say a few things about next year. 2009 is the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. I plan on reading everything I have on him that I haven't already read. (dozens of books) My children got me some great Lincoln books for Christmas and I've already started. In addition, there is a two volume, 2,000 page comprehensive biography that has come out to celebrate his birthday and I will tackle this monster set as well.

I read 60books this year which is equal to the number from last year. Here they are by category (listed in order of best to worst as near as possible):

Scriptures

The Book of Mormon; Mormon
Living the Book of Mormon & Abiding It's Precepts Sperry; Symposium
Digging Deeper: Applying Life-Changing Doctrines of Book of Mormon; Eaton, Robert

General Conference

2008 Annual Conference
2008 Semiannual Conference

Biography

Heroes; Johnson, Paul
Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions & How They Were Made; Axelrod, Alan
Profiles in Folley: History's Worst Decisions & Why; Axelrod, Alan

Fiction

The Last Patriot; Thor, Brad
Invisible Prey; Sandford, John
Sixth Target; Patterson, James
The Last Van Gogh; Zerries, A.J.
Testament; Lustbader, Eric
Fablehaven; Mull, Brandon
Beach Road; Patterson, James
The Appeal; Grisham, John
The Innocent Man; Grisham, John
Golden Compass; Pullman, Phillip
Twilight; Meyer, Stephanie
New Moon; Meyer, Stephanie

Health

The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life; Armstrong, Thomas
Against Medical Advise; Patterson, James

History
Great Tales From English History, Vol. 1; Lacey, Robert
Charlemagne and France; Morrissey, Robert
It's About Time: How Long History Took; lanagan, Mike
The Man Who Made Lists; Kendall, Joshua

American History

The Forgotten Man; Shlaes, Amity
The Summer of 1787; Stewart, David
American Creation; Ellis, Joseph
Winning the Future: 21st Century Contract With America; Gingrich, Newt
Deadly Inferno: Battle of the Wilderness; Abnett, John
The Battle of the Wilderness: Grant & Lee Below the Rapidan River; Various
The Battle of the Wilderness: May 5-6, 1864; Rhea, Gordon
The Wilderness Campaign; Gallagher, Gary
The Wilderness Campaign, May 1864; Cannan, John
Freedom Just Around the Corner; McDougal, Walter
Hard Call; McCain, John
Kill Bin Laden; Fury, Dalton
Liberty's Blueprint; Meyerson, Michael
The Really Inconvenient Truths; Murray, Lain
FairTax: The Truth; Boortz, Neal

Jesus

The Day Christ Was Born; Bishop, Jim

LDS Biography

Joseph Smith, Praise to the Man; Black, Susan
Oliver Cowdery: Scribe, Elder, Witness; Welch, John
Mormon Scientist: Life & Faith of Henry Eyring; Eyring, Henry

LDS Doctrine

That All May Be Edified; Packer, Boyd
Don't Leap With the Sheep; Wilcox, Michael
Hearing the Voice of the Lord; Lund, Gerald
House of Glory; Wilcox, Michael
The Song of Redeeming Love; Condie, Spencer
The Holy Secret; Ferrell, James

LDS History
Utah Trivia; Powell, Allan

Literature

Great Literature & the Good Life; Sill, Sterling

Religion

Acedia and Me; Norris, Kathleen

American Presidency

The Age of Reagan: 1974-2008; Wilenz, Sean
The Audacity of Deceit: Barack Obama's War on American Values; O'Leary, Brad
Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage; Wallace, Chris
1920: The Year of the Six Presidents; Pietruzza, David

Writing

Words That Work; Lunz, Frank
Politics & the English Language; Orwell, George

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Scripture that Jumped Out at Me this Week

Mosiah 4:5 5

For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state--

Mosiah 4:11 11

And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

Hel 12:7 7

O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.

I think there is an important message trying to be taught here. It only took me 53 years to figure out how nothing I am.

Best Quotes or Words I've Run Into Last Week

Books to the ceiling,/ Books to the sky,/ My pile of books is a mile high./ How I love them! How I need them!/ I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. -Arnold Lobel
There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. - Steven Wright
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You are bound to be in trouble if a shirt is made from a shirt made from a shirt. - Jeffrey Holland
You will find that the State is the kind of organization which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly, too. - John Kenneth Galbraith

My Favorite Small Pleasures in Life

Pentel Energel Needle Tip .5 mm ball pens
A really good knife (pronounced noife) close at hand
Cool Bookmarks
Lists. I love lists.
The British pronunciation of moust things
I like the power of shredding junk mail
Ribs, Onion Chips & Baked Beans at Joe Morley's
Shrimp Cocktail (The great big feaking ones) (For example: Market Street Grill, 1 lbs)
Books; lots & lots & lots
Uniball 207.07mm Gel Pens
A blank piece of lined paper
3 dozen new Foray Super Comfort Full Length chisel tip yellow highlighters
2 fully-loaded Ipods (1 80 GB Video)
Licorice ice cream
My mom's apple pie
Alaskan King Crab & butter (For example: Market Street Grill - two legs)
General Conference
An SUV with a full tank of gas
Treasure Hunts with Payton & Parker
The Dictionary (& words in general)
Google ...

Books I've Read in 2009

45. Every Book Its Reader: Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World, Nicholas Basbanes
44. The Bible According to Mark Twain, Mark Twain
43. Champion of Liberty: John Taylor, Mary Jane Woodger
42. Days Never To Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, Alexander Baugh
41. A City Upon a Hill, Larry Withom
40. Stuff You Should Have Learned in School, Michael Powell
39. Curious Events in History, Michael Powell
38. Greatest Science Stories Never Told, Rick Beyer
37. Timechart History of Mormonism, Worth Press
36. Heat Lightning, John Sandford
35. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, Allison Bartlett
34. The American Civil War, Winston Churchill
33. Darkness of the Moon, John Sandford
32. Churchill, Paul Johnson
31. Joseph Smith: Presidential Candidate, Arnold, Garr
30. Lincoln Virtues, William Miller
29. The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
28. Illustrated Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
27. How Lincoln Learned to Read, Daniel Wolff
26. Varities of Scientific Experience, Carl Sagan
25. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
24. Abraham Lincoln & the Latter-day Saints, Richard Emery
23. Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary of the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1 - 1 Nephi, Brant Gardner
22. Plates of Gold, Mathew Brown
21. Literary Masterpiece of the Book of Mormon, James Duke
20. Phantom Prey, John Sandford
19. Eternal Man, Truman Madsen
18. Dolorous Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, Anne Emmerick
17. Junius & Joseph (Whig Conspiracy to Murder the Mormon Prophet), Robert Wicks
16. Brigham Young: American Moses, Leonard Arrington
15. Book of Mormon Symposium, Vol. 2: First Nephi: Doctrinal Foundation, Monte Nyman
14. Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4, Hugh Nibley
13. Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3, Hugh Nibley
12. Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2, Hugh Nibley
11. Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, Hugh Nibley
10. The Book of Mormon
9. Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Vol. 1, James Burlingame
8. Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Keneally
7. Stealing Lincoln's Body, Thomas Craughwell
6. Madness of Mary Lincoln, James Emerson
5. The Last Lincoln's, Charles Lachman
4. Lincoln: Biography of a Writer, Fred Kaplan
3. Lincoln at Cooper Union, Harold Holzer
2. Tried by War, James McPherson
1. A. Lincoln, Ronald White

Stuff That Irritates the Crap Out of Me

When my DVR blitz's out and erroneously records a program for 660 minutes while deleting 20 or so prerecorded and very important other shows to make room.
The pressure of using Redbox with a line of people behind you!
Why it is I hit every freaking traffic signal red!
The lastest thing that causes cancer
White boys who put their ball caps on crooked
Anyone who has at least these letters in their name: OAMA
New Year's resolutions
When I buy a book and get home and find out I already have it. AAAaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!
Managers who say they have an open door policy. (What is that? You never close your door? Then I'm not coming in to tattle on others.)
Uninformed electorate (personally I don't think it is everyone's responsibility as Americans to vote. If you don't get informed, stay away from the voting booth.)
Politicians who tell me they stand for change but can't articulate one single change they propose to make or how they plan on doing it.
"Education" Governors
Lack of sleep
Sleep
People who tell me that they loved Gordon B. Hinckley becuase he was so cute and funny. (Don't think that was what he was going for.)
People who drive under the maximum speed limit in the outer two lanes of the freeway
Morons who talk on cell phones while driving (the freeway particularly)
Male enhancement commercials especially
Commercials

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Friday, January 2, 2009

2008 In Review: Books

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