The Blue Between the Clouds - Steve Wunderli (3 of 5 Airplanes)

I just finished Steve Wunderli's first book, The Blue Between the Clouds. For those that are following the blog or who know Steve, The Heart of Halftime was his second book. I believe that he wrote the first book in 1992 and the second in 1996. While he himself told me that he liked his first book better, I enjoyed the second novel more.

The voice of the narrator in Blue is almost identical to the second book. The story is narrated by a young boy of about twelve years named Matt. It is set in a small town in central Utah in 1939. He and his Navajo friend Two Feathers run around town and get into trouble.

I think Steve had some good themes going in this book, but they are a bit underdeveloped. Both kids are fascinated with flying. This stems in part from their desire to escape their small-town futures. He pulls in the Icarus story a couple times, but it always seems a bit shallow. I acknowledge that you can't go too deep in a book geared toward young kids, but I still think he could have done more.

The plot seemed to wander and the stories weren't nearly as memorable as those in the second book. I'm pleased to see how Steve tightened up these weak points in his second book. In spite of its weaknesses, I'd still recommend that you read Blue. I bought it from Amazon for about five bucks. Let me know if you want to read it, and I'll pass it along to you.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (A-)

Is it okay for me to review the last book in a series without reviewing the first 3? I hope so. And let me say right up front, that I was a fan of this book before I read it. I love the Twilight series! So feel free to take my review with a grain of salt, because the reviewer herself knows this might not be the most well-balanced review available.

Breaking Dawn is the fourth, and final, book in the bestselling vampire romance series by Stephenie Meyer. Bella is the mortal teenage girl who falls in love with the immortal vampire, Edward, and the fourth book puts a good "period" to a very, very long sentence. Much of what occurs in the book is to be expected if you've read the first three. Meyer doesn't take us on any incredible twists in this book where the main storyline is concerned. But the new adventures and new difficulties that arise in Breaking Dawn are enough to keep the reader interested and entertained through the massive 700+ pages.

I really did enjoy the book. Many of the "surprises" were the sort that made me think, "I would never have guessed that, but its so perfect why didn't I predict that?!" I'm also a huge fan because Meyer very much ends the storyline. Other authors would perhaps see the economic gain possible in extending such a well-loved series (i.e. High School Musical 3? 4? REALLY?!) but Meyer leans on the side of artistic integrity, I guess, and closes the story where it should end.

And I loved it.

A-

Standing for Something - Gordon B. Hinckley (5 of 5 Virtues)

This is an absolutely amazing book. As wonderful as President Monson is, I really miss President Hinckley right now. He was a fantastic writer. But of course, that assessment is probably biased. He studied English at the University of Utah...like me. Granted, things have changed a bit at our university since then. Nevertheless, I feel a special kinship with him.

It was an interesting experiment to juxtapose the words of a potential US president to the words of the president of the Church. Throughout Obama's book I always felt myself wondering what was genuine and what was merely rhetoric. His book is all about persuasion. President Hinckley's novel has nothing of the sort. His words do not waver in any way. He is not all concerned about impressing his audience. There are no frills. The personal stories that President Hinckley uses illustrate concepts. They are not meant to manipulate the emotions of the reader. One cannot help but sense the irrefutable truth of President Hinckley's words.

The ten (twelve) neglected virtues are: love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness and mercy, thrift and industry, gratitude, optimism, and faith. He finishes the book by presenting ways that society can recover from its current problems. We shouldn't be surprised that the bulk of these suggestions refer to changes that begin in the home. The failure or success of this nation rests solely on the family. A bright future for this country depends on mutual respect, loyalty, "the soft answer," financial honesty and prayer.

There is such hope in his words. You can't help but want to be better after reading this book. Don't read it just once. It was meant to be studied in depth again and again.

The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama (4 of 5 Hanging Chads)

I feel I should preface this review by stating that I in no way consider myself an expert on politics. Only recently in the past couple of years have I become concerned about the subject. In light of the upcoming election, I feel the need to make an informed decision. I've never been one to make decisions based solely on the opinions of others. I've always had to do my own research.

I am reminded of several conversations I had with investigators as a missionary. I remember telling many of them that it was always best to ask the defendant his or her side of the story, rather than make a decision based on only the criticism of the opponent. Essentially, I was telling them, "let us tell our side of the story before you give your final answer."

That is what I am determined to do here. I firmly believe that every man and woman has the power to affect the course of history in significant ways. We shouldn't let someone else vote for us. The future of this nation is too important. We should investigate both sides and then decide. McCain and Obama have both written books. I have put holds on books by both authors. The Obama books just showed up first.

That was a rather lengthy introduction, wasn't it? Sorry. You probably came here to get my opinion on the book, not the history of my interest in politics. Oh well, it can't be helped. No book review is completely objective. Every reader experiences a book within the context of his or her own life. If you can't remove or isolate the context, you might as well understand it.

I enjoyed the book, but I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to get a detailed picture of Obama's stance on the issues. There was some of that, but that wasn't the main focus. I believe the "hope" that Obama was referring to in the title, describes his belief that there are countless Americans who have been disoriented by the current state of politics, but who are just waiting for a change, a new spark to become revitalized. He wants to awaken the American spirit once again. While this may be a very exciting idea, I'm still not quite sure if he has all the details worked out. Based on his current success though, we cannot completely doubt his theory.

Ok...this is too long and I need to get to bed. He starts the book talking about the beginning of his political career. He guides us through his elections to state and national offices. He talks about his initial challenges and successes. He eventually turns to policies halfway through. Barack Obama wants universal healthcare. He wants to devote more resources to education. He believes that discussions about race should not center on white vs. black; the discussions should always focus on achieving equality for all races. He believes that religion is a critical part of America's history and it should stay that way. He talks a lot about his own religious awakening. He believes that the family is the core of American society. If the family fails, the nation fails. Obama talks about how he met his wife during a summer law internship, marriage and the births of his two girls.

It was a good experience. It felt a little empty at times, but I'm still excited to read his other book, Dreams of My Father.

The Power of Total Engagement - Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr (4 of 5 Sunday Afternoon Naps)

I pulled this book off the shelf in one of my many wanderings through the Bingham Creek Library. It is a good resource for anyone who feels that they are running faster than they have strength.

The origin of this book was Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr's quest to improve the performance of professional tennis players. As they studied the habits of the sport's top players, they discovered that the top tier athletes had developed various "rejuvenation rituals." Between points, games, practices etc. they were able to quickly move from intense action to deep rest stages. This allowed them to effectively recover their strength and be back at the top of their game faster than their competitors. Tony and Jim concluded that the most successful athletes lived life as a series of intense sprints followed by periods of rest, instead of one long and exhausting marathon.

Tony and Jim spent many years helping professional athletes develop their own rejuvenation rituals. With time, they decided that they could also adapt their ideas to help top business professionals. They found many ways to help men and women in office environments take short breaks throughout the day to help them maintain their efficiency and effectiveness in the long hours of the afternoon.

It's always amusing to see how the world is always one step behind God. "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Any primary student is already familiar with the principles discussed by Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr. I'll admit that it was somewhat interesting to see these principles applied to the worlds of sports and corporate business, but there wasn't anything life-changing in these pages for an active member of the Church.

The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale (4 of 5 Gusts of Wind)

Once again, I was the last one in my family to read The Goose Girl. And I'm the one that's supposedly studying English Literature at the University of Utah... Apparently it's not yet part of the literary canon. Ironically, my Dad worked with Shannon Hale at Allen Communication once upon a time. He'd have to clarify what exactly her job title was. I've listened to many family conversations about the book, but I'd never taken a gander for myself. Well, now I'll have something to say tomorrow night at Sunday dinner!

I enjoyed the book. It was a little slow getting started, but once it got going, it had enough momentum to keep me interested. The plot is somewhat predictable. From the onset, the Cinderella formula is apparent. If you go in for the plot, you'll be disappointed. By then end of the book, I was almost hoping that something would go wrong. It just seems that all the books I've read lately tie up all the loose ends in a nice pretty bow. Is this not the case with the majority of books out there? Why do so many of them end that way? Is it because authors don't believe that their books will sell if it they don't include a happy-ever-after ending? Why then do literature classes insist of teaching all of the books out there in which everyone dies? Do we indeed place more value on the "depressing" books, even though we enjoy the happy-ever-after stories more? Do we all just wish we could live out or lives in a fantasy world? I welcome any insights or discussion regarding these questions.

There are three elements of the book that I believe special attention and praise. The first is the poetic language that Shannon employs. This book makes for a fantastic bedtime story. The gentle sway of her words have a tendency to lull the reader into a pleasurable state of relaxation. The second is her treatment of magic, important but not overbearing. Her treatment of animal speaking, people speaking, and interacting with the wind was quite intriguing. And of course, number three, let's not forget the chickflickgoodness...

The Heartbeat of Halftime - Steve Wunderli (5 of 5 Titans)

For anyone not currently attending the University 16th ward, this review will not be nearly as amusing. Steve Wunderli is the second counselor in my bishopric. About a month ago his brother came to our ward to speak in sacrament meeting. During his talk he mentioned that his brother Steve had written a book. I can't speak for everyone else, but I was quite surprised to find out that we had a published author in our midst. I knew that he worked for Bonneville Communication, but I had never expected to discover something like this. What's more, he has another book called The Blue Between the Clouds, which I just ordered from Amazon.com for about five bucks. I couldn't find Blue at the library. Let me know if you'd like to read it and I'll pass it along to you.

The Heartbeat of Halftime is only about 175 pages, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The best way to describe it is the movie The Sandlot's equivalent to football. A bunch of eighth grade students at Olympus Junior High join together to try and take the state championship. Before this season (1972), they had won only two games. These wins were due to car accidents, arrests, etc. of the opposing team members, which left that with a significant disadvantage. A new kid, nicknamed Spray Can moves into town from Idaho. He's a big kid who give them new hope of taking the championship.

At the same time, Steve's dad is dying of cancer. Steve feels that he has something to prove to his father and everyone else. This subplot provided some additional depth to the story without being too sentimental.

It's everything you'd expect from a junior high/high school story: bullies, discovering girls, pranks, sports, dealing with parents, growing up, etc. I can't wait to get to church on Sunday and ask Steve how much of it is true. I know he was quite a handful when he was a kid. If this book is true, it surely cements that reputation.

One caution: The night before each game the boys from the Olympus team march onto the field to "mark" their territory... It's not crude in any way. It's just boys being boys. If by chance, you think you might be offended by this content, you might try Steve's other book.

Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin (9 of 10 nice people)

I first heard about this book in my American History A.P. class. My teacher had done her own abridgement for us to read as a cultural study of life for the Negro in the Deep South during the Martin Luther King Jr. era (1959) in preparation for the test. A white reporter from Texas whose specialty is in racial matters feels compelled to really live as a Negro as it’s the only way to really discover their true situation. He discusses his plan with his wife, and she agrees that if he feels he must, she would consent to life as a single mom during his absence.

The experiment is this: Would the black Mr. Griffin- with the same name, skills, wallet, and even reason for being there (to study the condition of Negro life in the Deep South) be treated differently from the white Mr. Griffin? He consults a dermatologist who administers oral medicine in conjunction with long exposure to ultraviolet rays to temporarily darken his skin. He finishes up with some shoe polish to make the change more convincing, and emerges as a Negro in the same city he lived in for a time as a white. He visits the same drug stores and restaurants he patronized as a Caucasian-with the same wallet and name, but is met with drastically different experiences due only to the color of his skin. He searches in vain for a job in which he can use his skills as a writer only to be rejected repeatedly. His life is threatened on numerous occasions, and he sees first hand the putrescently tactless side white men unabashedly show to Negros in their conversation, which ironically serves as evidence that in some cases the white men’s characters are far more degraded than the Negros’. While much abuse, hypocrisy, and hate are found to be typical characteristics of whites (a side seen only by Negros, he notices) living in the deep south, Mr. Griffin does try to be fair in reporting the good as well as the bad of the people with whom he associates, whether they be blacks, whites, or of a mixed race. After weeks of his experiment he resumes his white skin color, goes back to some areas again as a white and publishes what he has done and the experiences he had. This, of course enrages many racists across the country which put him and his family at risk for retaliation. He's even lynched in effigy once.

As part of our country’s history and dealing with the subject of race and the discrimination that so unfortunately arose because of it, it is my opinion that the viewpoint Mr. Griffin has provided to the world at quite a personal risk is a rather valuable one. It is told from both sides of the conflict, which in this particular situation is fundamentally (but apparently not) impossible to do. The good news is this: my personal experience is that racial discrimination fades with each generation. Perhaps it is due to increased globalization, a more homogenous culture, more interracial marriages, and better education on the matter. I don’t know, I’m not an expert. Obviously the eradication of unjust treatment has come a long way since then, which is a very good thing.

This book is not a happy one, nor is it one I would want a child to read due to what it deals with, but it is a good resource as far as the social culture of the time and area are concern