Goodreadsby Angie
15 Feb 2008
3:02 pm0
For a long time, I’ve been looking for a program that I could use to organize my books, rate and review them, and share preferences with others. A couple of different friends recently introduced me to a website called Goodreads and I have very much enjoyed listing and cataloging some of my favorite books there. I even found this super cool flash doohickey that can keep track of what I’m currently reading (or have read, or want to read, depending on how I code it):
And, yes, it is quite normal for me to be in the process of reading three or four or five different books at a time. I don’t know how much good my thingamajig does, just sitting here in this post, but maybe I can figure out how to display it in the sidebar somehow… Anyway, this project has also made me realize that I read far too much fiction and could really use some good moral fiber in my literary diet, if you know what I mean. I have already begun to try to remedy that, but I’d be open to recommendations!
“The Peacegiver” by James L. Ferrellby Angie
29 Jan 2008
11:01 am0
Justin Bradley offered to lend us this book on Friday, with a very high recommendation. Both Jim and I read the whole thing over the weekend: it’s a quick read, and rather hard to put down. I loved it – It was profound and insightful, but in a very real and familiar way. The protagonist is invited to understand forgiveness and mercy through visions faintly reminiscent of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” except that the scenes he witnesses are from the scriptures, rather than his own life. As the story unfolds, it teaches about the Savior’s Atonement and the role of healing it can play in our relationships.
As a side note, I found it ironic that one of the complimentary comments on the back cover was from C. Terry Warner, which called it, “An invaluable, compelling book of hope and discovery – about Christ, about others, and about ourselves – unlike, I think, any other book you have ever read.” Though I agree with almost his entire statement, it actually did remind me of another book I have read: C. Terry Warner’s very own “The Bonds that Make Us Free.” Brother Warner’s volume, while not written in narrative form like “The Peacegiver,” taught similar concepts in its message of humility, forgiveness, and peace. If you were touched by one, I think you will very likely enjoy the other as well. Not surprisingly, Brother Warner and Brother Ferrell both work for the Arbinger Institute, a foundation based on principles of peace and individual accountability.