Seven Books From '07

Ryan here. I love a good book and I like talking about and recommending books to others. I think this comes from growing up with a family weekly library run, and watching Reading Rainbow. Here are seven book recommendations from what I was reading this year*. I would love to hear any recommendations you have for me or would like to pass on in the comments. So here they are. Of course paraphrasing Reading Rainbow, you might want to check these out...."but you don't have to take my word for it."

7. Team of Rivals
I Really like reading about Lincoln. As far as Presidents go he's the tops in my book. This history was about the conflict that Lincoln managed between his smart and self willed cabinet members as he tried to keep his cabinet, party, and nation together. The author focuses on Lincolns way of getting and managing the best man for the job whether enemy or rival instead of just installing cronies. A good book of history. I recommend it as well as the biography I read last year Lincoln: A life of purpose and power.

6. Mao: The Unknown Story
Man, Mao is an evil man (this blog will now be censured in China). I really didn't know much about the Great Leap Forward and other horrible social engineering programs. Mao was a tyrant who caused the death of tens of million. The author has a clear hatred for Mao and through this book I learned why he stirs such feelings. I read this as we were traveling and relaxing in Fiji and left it at a village school library where it will probably gather dust for years to come

5. The Reagan Diaries
A fun treat. You get to read portions of Ronald Reagan's journal when he was President. On the average day he would review the movie he saw that day as well talking about relations with the USSR and then talk about March of Dimes kids who visited his office. I'm by no means a conservative but I couldn't help but admire his optimism and charisma. His narration towards the beginning of being shot by John Hinckley Jr and his subsequent recovery in the hospital are especially worth reading.

4. Moby Dick
Melville's brain is like a mid 19th century Google on whaling. I was surprised how much of this book was about whaling practices and encyclopedic information instead of Ahab and his quest for the white whale. Through the narrative the author changes his mind: First person narrative and then third person, Adventure tale and then encyclopedia, Fast paced and then slow slow paced and then fast paced again. I can't say it was an easy read and I got everything, but it was worth the work and I learned a lot. For example I learned what ambergris exists. Melville scores points with me for a number of Fijian references. He does lose a point with me for not having the appropriate translation of the word whale into common "Fegee" (Fijian): Tauvuto and not Pekee-nuee-nuee.. .C'mon Herman.

3. A Long Way Gone
Don't read this book if you are depressed. The memoir of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone, its a devastating and grim book. The author avoids romanticizing or overstating his experience as a victim and soldier. This book is very well written. The author has a special knack at communicating his experience while avoiding saying too much or being too agenda driven. Makes you thankful for the somewhat stable situation most of us are in. I came away feeling somber like when I read We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families.

2. Lenghten Your Stride
A wonderful biography in the tradition of recent David O Mckay and Joseph Smith Biographies. I remember going to the prophets Spencer W. Kimball's viewing when I was seven. I enjoyed filling in on the times and teachings of the prophet of my early primary years. This biography is written by the prophets son. The author is interested in contextualizing the prophet in the times and events he lived through and giving us a complete perspective of Spencer W. Kimball's years as President of the LDS Church . I'm impressed with SWK's fortitude in the face of physical struggles. He had a vision and understanding of the beauty and international appeal of the Gospel of Christ and the Church. The chapter on the 1978 revelation is powerful. His opposition of the ERA and Nuclear proliferation were interesting.


1. The Race Beat
This is a history of the American civil rights movement focusing on the black and white presses and how they played a role in making their readers aware of the mid century inequalities. I enjoyed the narratives of freedom riders, sit ins, and school integrators in Alabama and Arkansas. I enjoyed hearing the accounts of Martin Luther King Jr being imprisoned in Albany, GA and organizing non-violent protest in Raleigh, North Carolina. Now that I have a bit more familiarity with the South and lived close to both places this year it's fun to trace through a few of the notable places. Activists in the civil rights movement were truly heroic. I enjoyed the authors special insights on the battles and logistics involved in the press when covering the movement.

*I have to rule out Uncertain Sanctuary because its out of print, but if your a Webb (Cheyney's side) or interested in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico I recommend the book. Also I try to read some Flannery O Connor each year, so that doesn't count as a new book this year. I recommend her fiction to all. She's my favorite fiction writer.

Here is a list of 2007 books I got through and took my favorites from:

• Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
• Giving
• Dead Certain
• Ending Poverty in America
• The Race Beat
• A Long Way Gone
• Lenghten Your Stride
• Legacy of Ashes
• Mountains Beyond Mountains
• The Google Story
• The Reagan Diaries
• Team of Rivals
• Uncertain Sanctuary
• Moby Dick
• The Road
• Mao: The Unknown Story
• On the Dignity of Man
• The House on Mango Street
• The House of the Lord
• Flannery O'Connor: Collected Works
• State of Denial
• Historical Background of The Doctrine and Covenants
• How To Run a Traditional Jewish Household
• The Power of One