Book Reviews

So I am working on my reading list for 2013. I'm not doing so hot but I'm at least reading more than usual. I keep trying to read Count of Monte Cristo and I keep getting lost or my mind wanders off to other things... I'm thinking I'm not smart enough for the book... which is said because I'm pretty sure the 9th grade honors english class at my Jr. High had to read that book.... and they're 15-years-old.

Here's a review on what I have read so far:

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
Oh my goodness! I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It's a great simple read and it has SO many great ideas and suggestions on how to better budget your money, how to be a millionaire in your retirement, how to make it easier so save money now, perspective on how you're spending your money and suggestions on better spending habits. The book even gives suggested companies and bank accounts to help with the process of bettering your financial circumstances. The main idea behind the whole book is making everything "automatic." Set it up so that your pay checks are automatic being split and transferred into spending, savings, retirement, investment, etc. acocunts. Once you do all the work ONE TIME, to set up all of these accounts and the automatic transfers, you don't have to think about it anymore.

Crossed and then Reached by: Ally Condie
These were the second and third books to the book Matched I read last year. As I said in my review of Matched; basically this was a trilogy that I would say was a mixture of The Giver and The Hunger Games but more geared towards girls. Again, I read Matched in one weekend. It was interesting and a light read but intriguing enough that I couldn't put it down. Crossed was hard to get through and I even considered just forgetting the whole thing but I got through it. Crossed was hard for me because it was more about the "love" story and the girl was so whinny and it was getting old. Overall I would say you will still need to read Crossed because it has information that you need in order to understand things in Reached, the third book. Now Reached was awesome and I'm so glad I didn't give up. The book was more like the first book where it was interesting and intriguing but a little more intense. Not too intense that it was almost stressful to read but more of an intense that made you want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. Again this trilogy reminded me a lot of The Hunger games but I will tell you this... the ending was better and had a much more satisfying resolution and ending.
I would recommend this trilogy to read. It was a fun, easy, page turner set of books.

Adding to my reading list (as if I'm going to finish all the other books but) with good reason.

1. The Mediation & Atonement of Jesus Christ by John Taylor
Usually I'm not one for religious books. I read my scriptures and conference talks for religion and anything else is for my imagination to soar off into adventure or another world or silly girly giddiness or curiosity, etc. BUT Elder Scott came to my YSA Stake Conference back in September and he said that we should read this book and I figured, if an apostle of the church is telling me I should read a book... I probably should read it.

2. I Sit All Amazed by Stephen Mikita
Another church book (haha I must be growing up or something). I went to a fireside that he spoke at and it was amazing and the spirit was so strong. He was born with a muscle disease and is a parapalegic. He was so humble and grateful for all his blessing and it really put things into perspective for me of how much I truly have. I mean, I know I have been blessed in so many ways but to see this man, who has been given so many trials, be so positive and grateful was a huge reminder that I should be grateful for all that I have... big and little. Anyways... made me want to read his book.

3. Austenland by Shannon Hale
This was recommended to me by a friend of mine who doesn't enjoy reading and she has read this book three times. As she told me about this book she got so excited about it that she said she would read it again with me.