Howard W. Hunter

I finished Thief of Time but I'm not quite sure what to think of it. It was...in a word...strange. And I'll leave it at that.

I am now reading the biography of Howard W. Hunter by Eleanor Knowles. I am loving it. I am learning so many fascinating things about him that I never would have even guessed. For example, did you know that he had only one sibling, a younger sister, and that for most of his life, his father was not a member of the church? Did you know that he once toured the Orient as the musical entertainment on a steam liner when he was a teenager? He fronted his own band and played the drums, the clarinet, the trumpet, the piano, and more? In his early twenties, he moved to California on his own? He spent most of his adult life in Cali? He had only two sons? (I find that encouraging.) He married in his mid-twenties and didn't go to law school until later in life?

As I read more about Howard W. Hunter, I feel a kinship with him.

Thief of Time

Right now I am reading Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time...or at least I would be if I could find it. (I misplaced it yesterday.) I've heard Pratchett's name tossed around for a while and usually his name and "very funny" are used in the same sentence. I've never read anything he's written so I took the opportunity to pick up a novel. So far I can only describe it as...strange. I'll let you know the final verdict.

Books of 2008

I decided to create another blog. This blog is dedicated to the books I am reading. I will make lists of books that I have read, review books that I feel strongly about, but mostly try to chronicle that books I am reading and when I read them. Books are such a huge part of my life that it only makes sense to keep track of when, what, and where. I have titled this blog The Book Orchard because of a quote by Henry Ward Beecher, which reads thus:

A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party,
a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors."
--Henry Ward Beecher

So far this year (2008) I have read, beginning with the most recent:
Currently reading:
Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
Book of Mormon

Read:
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Winter Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein
Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert