The Book Of Mormon

Title: The Book of Mormon
Author(s): Written by God's prophets in the ancient Americas.
Length: 531 pages
Summary: Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites—Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile—Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation—Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—The interpretation thereof by the gift of God.

 An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven—Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations—And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ. (Translated by Joseph Smith Jun)

My Testimony:  I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and for Joseph Smith in restoring the true church once again upon the earth. I know this church is true, and believe that Christ will come again. If there are any questions you have about the LDS church or this Book, please check out the website, lds.org, or better yet, read the Book for yourself.

May God watch over you and your endeavors and may we always be thankful for His guidance in our lives.  

Happy 2013. :)

RANSLATED BY JOSEPH SMITH, Jun.

Steel, Carrie Vaughn

Title: Steel
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: 2011
Length: 287 Pages
Summary: (from book) Sixteen-year old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but has never held a sharpened blade.When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure. 
The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief , and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home-one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

My Thoughts:  Wow. This book had so much potential  and just tanked. You never get to see inside the heroine's head and the entire book is just one chain after another of everything falling into place. The descriptions were terrible. "They studied each other, eyes only inches apart, so it wasn't as if they could really see each other."  And the romance had no build up whatsoever. She's just stuck with this guy, never hints that she likes him, and then all of a sudden, starts kissing him. I would have liked the book better if there hadn't been any romance at all. It felt thrown in there just for the heck of it.
And the sword, again so much potential. But nothing much happens to it as a story piece until you find out fifty pages from the end that ohmygoodness it's a magical sword made from blood.
What the heck.
So she gets it into her head to fight the bad guy and that will send her home. There's not a clear logical explanation of how exactly she got to that point, but she does it anyway. That fails, she magically decided to try something else and that's what sends her home.
This book as a whole felt very....shallow. Definitely not the adventure I was looking forward to from the cover.

Things To Be Cautious Of:  Swearing. Several uses of some bible swearing, violence: sword fighting, bleeding, nothing descriptive believe me, and mentioning of rough pirate activity of a inappropriate nature.

The Time Thief, Linda Buckley-Archer

Title: The Time Thief (Book 2 in the Gideon Trilogy)
Author: Linda Buckley-Archer
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: 2007
Length: 488 Pages
Summary: (From book) Peter Schock has been left behind in 1763. Kate Dyer is beginning to suffer some disturbing side effects from time traveling. And the Tar Man, who was terrifying even in the eighteenth century, is loose and wreaking havoc in twenty-first century London with twenty-first century technology at his disposal! Can Kate find a way to bring Peter back and stop the Tar Man for good?






My Thoughts: This series is so creative! And certainly thought provoking. I'm feeling really sick right now, so I don't have much of a review, but the sequel definitely gets a thumbs up.

Things To Be Cautious Of:Minor Violence, character death, mild swearing.

What I Learned: Time travel might not be such a good idea.