Books read

Welcome to Shauna as a fellow blogger.

I've been sick this week, which hasn't been all that fun, but I think I am beginning to recover. The first day I stayed home I slept most of the day and then still slept that night. Subsequent days I rested a lot but was still able to get some reading done. I am about half way through a new book I received as a Christmas gift, a biography of the Prophet Joseph Smith by Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, a cultural biography of Mormonism's founder published just this year by Alfred A. Knopf in New York. I had a lot of other titles to choose from, which were also Christmas gifts, but I decided to start this one first since just last week we commemorated the 200th anniversary of Joseph's birth.

I have read 12 other books this year, down slightly from my yearly average of about 14, which is pretty good considering I spent big chunks of the year compiling, editing, and publishing my first two books: Batt & Lee Ancestors in March 2005 and Claudia: An Elect Lady in May 2005. I have three other books in varying degress of preparation: my missionary journal (which I had hoped to have completed by December 2005, the 35th anniversary of my returning from my mission), a compilation of sermons delivered by members of our family through the years, and a compilation of blessings given to members of our family.

The books I read this year include:

• Fire in the Bones: William Tyndale--Martyr, Father of the English Bible, by S. Michael Wilcox (completed Jan 1, 2005)
• The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, by Dave Ramsey (Feb 7, 2005)
• Remembering Joseph: Personal Recollections of Those Who Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith, by Mark L. McConkie (June 17, 2005)
• 1776, by David McCullough (July 28, 2005)
• Book of Mormon (Aug 3, 2005)
• Prelude to Glory: Our Sacred Honor (vol 1), by Ron Carter (Aug 13, 2005)
• From Yalta to Berlin: The Cold War Struggle over Germany, by W. R. Smyser (Sept 10, 2005)
• The Path between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914, by David McCullough (Dec 14, 2005)
• Book of Mormon (Dec 23, 2005)
• The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember, by Fred Rogers (Dec 26, 2005)
• Our Search for Happiness, by M. Russell Ballard (Dec 27, 2005)
• Pearl of Great Price (anticipated completion Dec 31, 2005)

I hope you all have a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year!