What I've been reading #6

I like this picture which symbolizes to me that reading can lead to growth and
increasing our understanding.  It can be a seed that grows to fruition of our thoughts
to action.

I've enjoyed reading some more good books and am pleased to have the time to get back to doing that regularly.  I'm glad to say that it seems my daughters are increasing their reading here lately and fun to be involved with them a little bit.  Jaime ask me for a recommendation on a book with a certain topic the other day (I'm choosing not to mention the topic), so I recommended it to her and bought it and sent it to her via Amazon.com.  Haleigh continues to read up a storm.  She had a chance to earn some money the other day and now has a list of books she wants to purchase.  Hilary has gotten into one of my favorite series of books which is the Ender's Saga by Orson Scott Card and she has been reading some of that.  Which by the way I notice he will be having a new book come out in that series on November 28 of this year.  Now what about Megan?  I don't know if she is reading or not.  I suspect that she is tied up in some other pursuits currently.  Here is what I've been reading:

The Silence of God by Gale Sears

This was a very enjoyable book about the first LDS family in Russia starting around the tend of the rule of the Tsars and the Bolshevik revolution.  It is a novel based on the real experiences that they had.  It was written well and grabbed me and made me interested in finding out about the family and wanting to know what would happen next.  It even seemed possible that a sequel could be written although I haven't heard anything about that eventuality.  The family is introduced and seems very normal like we would expect good Mormons to act in Russia.  Then things begin to change in their country and their tiny niche of religious comfort is destroyed as the country changes its ideology and attempts to destroy all religion in general.  An enjoyable read.

The Confession by John Grisham

I read this book because my daughter Hilary had read it and enjoyed it.  I had read a couple of his books in the distant past but nothing in recent years and decided to give it a try.  It caught me very quickly and pulled me in.  I would call this book not so much of a courtroom procedural but rather a "law procedural".  He tells the story of a young girl who disappears and is presumed murdered.  The perpetrator is found and after confessing his guilt ends up on death row but the body is never found.  Years later as the death penalty approaches for the man who has declared his innocence since his confession, a creepy career criminal enters a minister's office in another state and confesses to the murder.  Lots of questions of ethics and some religious questions are brought up to consider.  For me it was a fast read and I found many of the characters very worthwhile examples (i.e. the family of the man who was falsely imprisoned for years & the minister).

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card

If you have read my summaries in the past you know I typically enjoy books written by Orson Scott Card.  This one is no exception.  As a matter of fact I like this book more than others he has written recently.  For a few years I wasn't able to do much reading but now I think I have caught up on all his books I missed.  This book is the direct sequel of Ender's Game.  It does an excellent job of filling in some of the gap between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.  It also does well with incorporating things that were discussed in the "Shadow Series" that parallels Ender's Game.  It is a pleasure to see how OSC deals with peoples thoughts and feelings.  To see how people learn from life--not always logically (or correct lessons for that matter) is also one of OSC's fortes.  I recommend this book if you have read anything in the Ender's Universe and you enjoy OSC. 

Containment by Christian Cantrell

I purchased this book for my kindle because it was a really great price and seemed interesting.  I was not familiar with the author so didn't know what to expect.  It was surprisingly good.  This is a colony of humans sent to Venus to learn how to eventually learn how to colonize the galaxy.  They struggle and the second generation holds the hope of the whole colony.  What one brilliant young man learns and then ultimately acts on will change everything.  I would recommend this book if you are a science fiction fan.  Don't expect that you won't guess what is about to happen, but instead enjoy how the author brings it about. 

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." 

My sentiments exactly, I can make do with an old coat, but sometimes I just gotta have that new book!

Austen Phelps was a minister and professor of sacred rhetoric and homiletics.