Making our history one step at a time
Spencer's "First Nephi" has given me a chance to be reconciled to Nephi, and for that I am grateful. Despite all our efforts to make Nephi a symbol of perfect obedience-- for better or worse-- Spencer shows us a human side of Nephi you may miss otherwise.
The memoirs of a Russian Orthodox monk in the last days of the Soviet Union. Truly a colorful cast of characters that shows how faith can shine even in the darkest of times.
Isn't it sad that you can get the same queasy feeling going to the doctor that you do going to a car dealership? Many today are asking how to pay for healthcare. But Dr. Makari asks a question that gets closer to the root: why is healthcare so expensive in the first place?
The Church history department didn't disappoint with Saints Vol II. I will say, this one will be harder to talk about around the dinner table (I already sparked one family fight) A gripping tale with complex characters, moral ambiguity, and great pacing.
The "Name of the Wind" has some intangible quality about it that gives it the solidity of a real thing. You have the impression of a world that has only been explored in so small a part, you couldn't finish telling stories about it. It spends time describing simple pleasures like a few beautiful notes on a lute or the feel of a breeze and yet is simultaneously an absolute page-turner.
There is always a space between the ideal as taught by the gospel and where we are now. Some are more painfully aware of this gap than others. But it is in this space where grace operates.
A double book review: "Not in God's Name" by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and "The Book of Lemuel" by Mette Harrison. Both challenge dualistic interpretations of scripture that separate a righteous Us and a wicked Them.
11th century Christian from England disguises himself as a Jew so he can train as a physician in a Persian hospital. Historical fiction at its best! It captures an era that I wish we engaged with more.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
