In my mission, were allowed to read nothing besides the scriptures and those few books in the “Missionary Libraryâ€. I have always been an avid reader, so having a very limited reading supply was one of my challenges as a missionary. I was an English-speaking missionary, so my gospel study time was not shortened by language study time. As a result, I read the scriptures and those few books many times over. This actually was not bad, but by the end of my mission, I was desperate for something else.
In my last area, we volunteered at a library, shelving books for our service hours. To keep me from completely losing my mind while surrounded by all of those glorious but forbidden books, I carried a small notebook and pen with me to write down any and all books that looked even vaguely interesting so I could read them when I got home. I think I read all that were on that list.
In that last area, my companion and I lived with two other sisters who served in a neighboring ward. While out tracting, they’d run into a guy who gave them a well-worn copy of the book The Godmakers to help them see the error of their ways. They accepted the book, deciding it was better they took it than him giving it to someone else. Thus, that book was kicking around our apartment, on a small bookshelf next to the table where we’d eat. It was very tempting… sitting there in arms reach every morning as I’d munch my granola or cheerios… just right there…
Until that point, I’d had very little experience with anti-Mormon stuff. I knew it was out there, but I’d pretty much ignored it and avoided it. I’d read one of the pamphlets handed out at the Manti Pageant, and another one handed out at a temple open house, but they just left me rolling my eyes. One of my earlier companions had collected those little comic book things that were anti-everyone (anti-Mormon, anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim, and a couple more), and we’d found them fairly entertaining. I thought “real†anti-Mormon literature would be more substantial. I don’t remember my parents discouraging me from reading anti-Mormon things, but I recall many youth leaders telling us to completely avoid it, that it was evil and would corrupt us. I basically believed them, and thus, when I gave into temptation and read The Godmakers, I felt like a little kid sneaking into the cookie jar while mom was in the other room. Or worse.
So I read it and was indeed shocked, not by what it was saying, but that anyone could possibly take it seriously. Even then I knew of its reputation as really bad anti-Mormon stuff, and knew there was “better†stuff out there, but still it was actually enlightening because I learned that, instead of anti-Mormon stuff being something to fear, it was something that could be countered. You’d think I would have figured it out earlier on my mission, if not sooner, because we ran into quite a few people who wanted to argue, and I had no problem countering their arguments, but I just thought anti-Mormon books were different, even though a lot of what those people were arguing came from those books. Somehow, I just didn’t make a connection. Thus was born an interest in LDS apologetics, an interest that I’ve enjoyed feeding for quite a while now.
Therefore – though it pains me to say it – The Godmakers is one of the most influential books in my life. I’d always enjoyed reading doctrinal books, but after that, I delved much deeper into LDS doctrinal and historical works. It’s been a very rewarding delve.
So I ask you, is there a particular book (besides scripture) that has been particularly influential to your LDS world?
Those comic books are Jack Chick tracts, and they’re hilarious, especially the off-hand claim that they have been “publishing Gospel literature(?!) for over 40 years.” I guess I just can’t recognize good Gospel Literature when I see it 🙂
They have a few anti-LDS tracts, but I think the anti-Catholic “Death Cookie” tract to be a particularly egregious example of everything wrong with Protestant anti-what-have-you-ism.
A few works that have strongly influenced my LDS world:
As far as books in the mormon area that I’ve enjoyed and made me think differently about my LDS world:
History-
The Mormon Experience, Brigham Young Bio, Adventures of a Church Historian,
by. Arrington- the standard of a LDS historian for me.
History of the church- worth it if you put in the time, atleast untill the joseph Smith papers come out.
contemporary-
Refuge by terry tempest williams- honest and beatifull writting that seems geographically acurate. A great story
Goodbye I love you- so sad, and doesn’t seem to marginalise other voices.
Before the Blood tribunal- a great hero for LDS teens.
Fiction-
Miracle Life of Edgar Mint-best begining of a book I know of.
Also have skimmed parts of the backslider and Giant Joshua and liked them.
In my LDS world I think of Christian books written that resonated:
Wise Blood-Flannery Oconnor
Cost of discpleship-Bonhoffer
Orthodoxy- GK Chesterton
all classics that seem to be above and beyond LDS authors who look at theological treatments.
so much for putting down just one book.
Chick tracts! Thank you, Ben. It was annoying that I couldn’t think of what they were called.
Mike, I would probably put Believing Christ on my list, too. I had him for a New Testament class, and he made me see things in a different light. So I read his book. Like your experience with it, it changed the way I thought about grace and works and salvation.
Ryan, I’m unfamiliar with most of the books you listed. I’ll have to look for them.
Okay, I just read the Death Cookie tract. Ugh. That is just… wrong on so many levels.
Slightly off-topic:
I read my copy of “The Joy Of Cooking” several times on my mission out of desperation. It’s a surprisingly good read.
Jesus the Christ by James Talmage. It really had a big part in helping me commit to the gospel. (Converting was easy for me, committing not so.)
I loved Talmage’s The Great Apostasy. And, while everybody seems to be discussing C.S. Lewis- I loved Screwtape Letters when I was a teen. I also loved Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World. It has a great Christian message.
Mormon Works:
Aproaching Zion by Nibley
Jesus the Christ by Talmage
Viper on the Hearth by Terryl L. Givens (more of a literary history/analysis, but a great book nonetheless).
Biblical Mormonism by Richard Hopkins (not perfect, but it’s strengths greatly outweigh its flaws. A great work of Mormon apologetics that gives genuine insight to the gospel as well. Helped me make it through the latter part of mission).
Fiction (If fiction is equipment for living, these books equipped me to live):
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (no relation)
Though I very much appreciate Hugh Nibley’s contribution to gospel scholarship, the only opinion ‘Approaching Zion’ changed in my mind was that of how I felt about Hugh Nibley. Reading the fine biography about him written by Boyd Peterson (his son-in-law) made all the difference in the world to me in explaining how Nibley came about his (big L) Liberal, anti-capitalist views. That he felt that way is of course fine, but elevating those opinions to the same status as that of his scholarly writing is another point completely.
In answer to the original query, I’d say B.H. Robert’s Comprehensive History of the Church and Joseph Fielding Smith’s, “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” have made the longest continuing impact on me. The closer I can get to what Joseph actually said (even if it differs from sanitized versions of church ‘history’ and causes me to wonder), the better.
Well, I’m hardly an anti-capitalistic and socialistic liberal – what Approaching Zion did was show me wealth is largely incompatible with the gospel. I’m still fairly conservative, but the best thing about Nibley is (as I think Clark Goble has said on his blog) he reminds us of those aspects of the Gospel we would rather not want to admit are there (and the anti-wealth strain is fairly strong in the scriptures).
I’m not sure I agree that Approaching Zion was one of the great books, but I can’t imagine a way of discussing that without a huge threadjack.
I’d agree with George Carlston that “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” is a wonderful book. One of my personal favorites is Matthew Brown’s Gate of Heaven on the temple. A fabulous, insightful book that helped me understand the many layers of complexity in the temple.
Mike Parker: “Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses by Richard Lloyd Anderson. Certainly the most important book on the Book of Mormon of our time.”
Anderson’s thin little book published almost a quarter century ago on an LDS press with limited circulation may have solidified a few shaky testimonies, but I can’t imagine the book’s overall strategic impact rivaling Terryl Givens’s By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Tradition (Oxford, 2002). Givens’s is a truly ground-breaking study, the first non-polemical book on the Book of Mormon published by a press outside the Mormon market (and no slouch of a press at that). For years to come Givens will be the first place non-Mormon scholars curious about the Book of Mormon will start their study. Mormons looking for a learned and articulate rationale for the book’s importance to modern Mormonism will start here as well.
Foucault’s Pendulum for a wide, wide variety of reasons. It really clarified for me the danger of religious or conspiratorial thinking gone awry. But it also opened my eyes to an other element of European history. Finally it turned me back onto philosophy and the like and especially semiotics. It’s really a great book. Has a couple of funny lines about Mormons too.
Arthur Henry King, Arm the Children: Faith’s Response to a Violent World (BYU Studies, 1998), is a gem of a book. It makes my heart sing. I can reread the essays again and again and always get something new. (The BYU Studies edition updates and expands King’s earlier work Abundance of the Heart [Bookcraft, 1986].)
Carthage Conspiracy by Elder Oaks. A surprisingly even-handed treatment of the prophet’s last months. Answered questions I had about the so-called “trumped-up” charges.
The book that lead me to join the Church, “The Road Less Travelled”, by M. Scott Peck. It’s the book that finally humbled me enough to believe that God exists and He does love me.
“Very Far Away from Anywhere Else”, by Ursula K. Leguin. One of those “small” books that teaches the meaning of true love.
Elder Oaks’ first book, the one that taught me that if we don’t have a desire to change, we won’t.
“As a Man Thinketh”, by James Allen. Another “small” book.
Philip Barlow’s Mormons and the Bible is really good. I find myself often returning to its pages.
Sterling McMurrin’s Theological Foundations of the Mormon Religion had a strong impact on me, in that it helped me (as a non-philosopher) think systematically about a number of theological issues and make connections that I had not made before. Yes, I know it’s considered passe by some of the LDS-Phil crowd. Yes, I know some of McMurrin’s treatment is now deemed simplistic, unoriginal or outdated. Yes, yes, yes. But I read it at just the right time (for me) and it delved deeply enough into Mormon theology to be interesting, without going overboard and making my eyes glaze over (Blake Ostler’s latest tome — important as it is — is sometimes a little more information than I want).
Robinson’s and Blomberg’s How Wide the Divide has been really important for me, at least judging by the role it has played in religious conversations I’ve had with non-members. Wherever one comes down on the whole “Robinson-turned-Mormonism-into-Protestantism-(gasp!)” question, I thought it was a fascinating and important interreligious dialogue.
I really enjoyed reading Talmadge’s The Great Apostasy as a missionary. (Was that approved mission reading?) I don’t remember that much about it anymore, but if I recall correctly, its thesis was basically: “The Catholic Church can’t be true, cause look at all its dirty laundry!” I get Talmadge’s point, of course, but one wonders if it is in Mormonism’s interest to engage in this sort of thing, given what can be made of much of our own history.
Aaron B
I’m sure many books have influenced me, but for some reason what first comes to mind is various essays and sermons:
Hugh Nibley’s “Work We Must, But the Lunch is Free”
Neal A. Maxwell’s “Patience”
Martin Luther, “The Bondage of the Will”
Eugene England’s “Easter Sunday”
J. Reuben Clark’s “To Them in The Last Wagon”
C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”
Bruce R. McConkie’s “The Purifying Power of Gethsemane”
John Winthrop, “A Little Speech on Liberty”
Martin Luther King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride”
There is C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce; I go back and re-read that one often.
Believe it or not, “A Study in Scarlet” actually landed me *in* the church. (It is nonsensically full of anti-mormon sentiment–mostly out of ignorance than malice, as I took it–things like shooting people for attempting to leave Utah, forced polygamous marriages, Brigham Young portrayed as a tyrant, etc.) I had read it for an English Class freshman year in college, and at the end of the year found myself belligerently questioning the only LDS student on campus…to the point of getting myself baptized a week and a half later. Funny how that happens.
I had heard of “The Godmakers” ages ago, but had forgotten it. When I first read the title in your entry, it registered as one of Daniel J. Boorstin’s works (The Discoverers, The Creators, etc). I had a good laugh when I remembered what it actually was.
As for books that have influenced me as a Latter-day Saint…
“Go Forward with Faith” by Sheri L.Dew–I have always felt a little like President Hinckley is “my President.” I joined the church just after he became President, and thus he is the only living prophet of my life. He is a man of profound spiritual depth, and it was fascinating to see what in his life had helped to bring such character to be.
“Words for Women: Promises of Prophets”–This is just a collection of quotations, perhaps a little on the fluffy side, but there were several in there that color my thought to this day.
“Women of Covenant”–Somehow, in my first few years in the church, I just didn’t “get” Relief Society. This book took it from “just a class” to having a real and active purpose for me. It really brought home “Charity Never Faileth” in a way that nothing else seemed to be able to.
“Miracle of Forgiveness” by Spencer W. Kimball–I’ve been given this book to read by two different bishops at two very different times in my life. I don’t think that says so much about me as it does about the book, given how very different those times were. The first few chapters can really weight a person down (just making sure you don’t leave anything out 😉 ), but beyond that it is amazing. It really has brought the Atonement alive for me–it’s no longer just a transaction, more of a transformation.
And, to be fair, I have to mention “The Work and the Glory,” alongside “Church History in the Fullness of Times,” but I’m just a bit of a Church History geek that way. Oh, and “Joseph Smith’s Kirtland,” by Karl Ricks Anderson (He was my Institute teacher just after I was baptized–in the Kirtland Stake–and his enthusiasm for that time, and the classes he taught will forever color my perceptions of the synthesis of the church as a whole.
Also, “Paul” by Gunther Bornkamm. This was a text used in a class I took in college (before I joined the church) on the authenticity of and the questions surrounding the Pauline letters of the New Testament. In light of Latter-day scripture, I don’t think I need to clarify how that might feed in to my testimony. (and my longing for purer scripture)
I think the book that first got me interested in LDS topics was The Truth about the Godmakers by Gilbert Scharffs that one of my BYU room-mates had lying around. From there, reading FARMS Review of Books was some of the best mission prep material one can get.
On my mission, life only got better when the prez gave me special permission to read other books. I read Richard Bushman’s Joseph Smith and the Beginning of Mormonism, my all time favorite book until recently (for obvious reasons). David Palmer’s In Search of Cumorah, Donna Hill’s Joseph Smith, Nibley’s New Approaches and The World and the Prophets, and some Studies in Scriptures volumes, and R&B’s How Wide the Divide.
In what I have read since then, it is hard to recapture the burst of light that those books were for me in that setting. The new David O. McKay book had some promise, but then it got bogged down in BYU budget battles, Brittish baseball baptisms, and the Benson-Birch connection.
Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaredites.
The most influential books for me are: Steadfast and Immoveable, by Robert Millett
Reaching for the Invisible God, by Philip Yancey
All of Cheiko Okazaki’s books
Mere Christianity, by CS Lewis, also the others you’ve mentioned.
Les Miserables, I think the real story there is the humanity of the priest.
If we asked this question to Elder Maxwell in 1980 (reading Things As They Really Are)he would say CS Lewis and George Macdonald. I am familiar with a lot of CS lewis, having read all I could get of him in college, but anyone have some recomendations of where to start with Macdonald?
Also want to recommend Stegner’s books on mormons. the prose are excellent, and the treatment sympathetic.
Peace Like a River
by Leif Enger
I have a dilemma. Two co-workers introduced me to this book. I read it, fell in love with the characters, and while the ending shocked me, it was a fitting end to the journey. This book made me think long and hard about important gospel issues, but the context in which they were brought up was so fresh and innocent, the characters so appealing, that I found myself wishing I could live in the simpler world and times of the book. Having enjoyed the book as much as anything I had read in years, I enthusiastically recommended it to all: my wife’s Relief Society book club, my extended family (I even bought it for my Dad’s birthday). They all hate the book. Some of them are irked that I recommended it to them. My cousin, a librarian, says she is searching for a book to give to me that will in some small way make up for just how rotten this book was for her, but can’t find anything comparable.
Is something wrong with me? Why did I love this book so much. My two attorney co-workers were just as smitten with it as I am. Both my wife and my dad have speculated that it is “an attorney thing,” that somehow the sense of justice found in the book resonates with attorneys more than it does with the rest of the community. I don’t buy it. My wife also wondered about whether LDS people are so adverse to the idea of gifts of the spirit, spiritual manifestations, miracles and healings occurring outside the official confines of the church that they couldn’t get into the book. I don’t buy that either. Help me figure out this mystery, please! Has anyone read this and liked it? Is anyone brave enough to read it based on my recommendation, knowing how little success I have had in convincing others it is an incredible story?
My wife and I both liked Peace Like a River quite a bit. She was introduced to it in a Relief Society book club. Some there didn’t like it, some did. Complaints she heard were about the brother escaping justice and about the sister being too smart. Its questions about spiritual experience and other issues are interesting, even important, and the story and characters are entertaining. I think it’s great writing.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood made me very aware of women’s issues at a young age, and the ultimate consequences of extreme liberalism or conservatism. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand lead me into realms of introspection that definitely changed my perspective on how I approach my future.
As for church/Christian books, Erasmus’ Handbook for the Christian Knight (Enchiridion Militus Christiani), Eyring’s To Draw Closer to God and Sheri Dew’s No Doubt About It & No One Can Take Your Place been essential. And Bushman’s RSR is definitely climbing the charts of favorites.
One can distinguish between books that were influential at a significant point in one’s life and and best books that one would recommend now. As in Tanya’s example, the influence of a book can have more to do with timing and circumstances as the innate quality of the book.
That said, these two books qualify under both categories for me:
LDS book: Since Cumorah by Hugh Nibley. This book not only introduced me to Nibley but to the entire concept of approaching the Restored Gospel with both faith and intellectual rigor. A propos Tanya’s post as well, I hauled my copy on my mission with me. So many of my fellow missionairies read it that I lost track. Of course, our mission president had a particular approach to reading lists — as a French professor he encouraged us to read as much literature as possible “for language study.”
non-LDS book: The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade. By far the most enlightening book on the temple ever written by either LDS or non-LDS authors.
[removed by editor because it was nothing more than trolling]
Seven Years in Hanoi
I just read the sacred and profane a couple weeks ago- It’s wonderful. It makes you apreciate the spirituality of holy places in our faith. It’s concepts applied perfectly to mormonism.
when I think about it I have to recommend the works of huston smith-World Religions and Why Religion Matters. I read those my senior year at the Y and felt like those matched anything I learned in class.
Yes I was just trolling and complaining that every one of my post has either been deleted or edited as above. I am not an anti. I am currently the Elders Quorum teacher. But it seems that anything I say is deleted. I just thought that you should all know that you are reading a heavily edited thread.
Japanguy
japanguy: Here’s a text for your next EQ lesson: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10).
You can illustrate by telling the brethren how you recently had it out for a Mormon blog who had offended you but somehow found it within yourself to forgive them. It’s a solid Christian message, always relevant, never dated. They’ll like it.
Japanguy, here is a tip to avoid getting deleted: stop posting for no reason other than to annoy. Taking your complaints from one thread to another repeatedly is considered trolling. The M* comment policy has been in place since the blog began, so when comments are repeatedly contrary to that policy and continue after requests to stop, it is considered trolling. Therefore, yes, you are trolling. And I realize I am merely feeding you, but I am hoping you are acting in sincere ignorance and this post will help you see why your trolling is not welcome. M* has previously enjoyed good discussions, and we find it very frustrating when trolls purposefully derail our conversations. Can we possibly be any clearer?
Well Tanya,
Thanks for explaining in a nice way that anyone that has different opinions or view is not welcome to your blog. I will go away if you just want to play with only those with identical views. Enjoy your narrow world and Good bye all,
Japanguy
As a teenager, other than the BofM, “the Restored Church” and Jesus the Christ, the only books on Mormonism that were available in our local library were “The Mormon Murders” and “Secret Ceremonies”. Quite a polarized selection and a warped way of being introduced to the endowment ordinances.
Did you hear the author of Secret Ceremonies committed suicide about five-six years ago (http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/10/27/laake/)? Regretfully when I read up on that it reminded me of the grisly fate of Madalyn Murray O’Hair (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O'Hair) the person who was most instrumental in removing public prayer from public schools, and founder of American atheist, leading to the obvious line of conclusions based on the similarities of both agendas in my own mind.
Today those two books don’t seriously stand out in my mind as being influential but I think that it did expose me to alternative paradigms of how the Church is viewed by outsiders and dissenting/former insiders.
I really enjoyed reading Orson Pratt’s “The Seer” about 10 years ago because, although obscure today, it was truly one of the first works from an LDS author (& authority) that explored from a faithful perspective the theoretical implications of the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith as the restored and fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the bloggernacle had been established in the 1850s, Orson Pratt would have been the most predominant poster. Some of his more exotic posts would have been related to “Heavenly Mother”, “spirit fluid”, and “where does my spirit arm go if my physical arm is severed?”
Thanks for explaining trolling. I thought it meant like when people go fishing and they trawl and sort of just fish in the blogging pool. Or something like that.
I have thought, “what is with this trolling stuff?”
Ryan, I have read some of Wallace Stegner, not much, but I read a quote he made somewhere, I think Jon Krakauer’s book about how it is impossible to write about Mormons because it’s impossible to explain it. I think that may be why there are not very many good fiction writers about Mormons.
Mark, you made me laugh out loud. Thank you.
The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell.
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis.
annegb
Stegners “the Gathering of Zion” has such a beautiful description of the treck west. “Mormon country” is a snapshop of mid centery mormonism. worth a look. I think he is good about writing about utah because he grew up in Utah with mormons and had a positive experience-he came back to utah-he is removed and sympathetic at the same time. and a heck of a writer.
Yeah, he likes us.
There is a book called Following the Wrong God Home, written by a guy whose last name is Owen, I believe. He lives in northern Utah, but was raised in the east, as part of the sect that formed after Joseph Smith died, the reorganized, I can’t remember what it’s called now. It’s a sort of cynical take on Mormonism, but a very good description of our history in the trek west. I learned a lot and only had a few quibbles.
Mark Simmons #36: I really enjoyed reading Orson Pratt’s “The Seer” about 10 years ago because, although obscure today, it was truly one of the first works from an LDS author (& authority) that explored from a faithful perspective the theoretical implications of the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith as the restored and fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I agree that The Seer is interesting. Please note for the record that Brigham Young and the other members of the Twelve formally disavowed it and censured Orson Pratt, who publicly accepted the censure and asked forgiveness.
Fascinating stuff, but completely speculative.
annegb
I’ll have to check that book out
http://www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=0-8061-3488-7
Mike,
My point exactly – plus, Brigham Young has been quoted as saying some pretty far out stuff himself but we still accept him as a prophet, seer and revelator.
Hijack on:
Prosperity is something I’ve been studying for some time. In 2Ne1:20 Lehi quotes the Lord, “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.” – What does ‘prosper’ mean? Well, the quote I mentioned above, almost verbatim, is mentioned many times in the scriptures. Then there are many, many examples of when the people obey they are blessed with happiness and ‘prosperity’ – which usually means riches. The quote above, in one form or another, and specific examples of the people obeying and being blessed or disobeying and being ‘cut off’ is exhibited in the BOM at least 50 times.
– Name another concept that is taught as often and as forceful in the BOM.
Your mentioning of a ‘Rush Limbaugh conservatism’ is vague above, but in general means a fiscal and social conservative. A Robert Kiyosaki type. Someone like me, a SUV driving, business owner that works his tail off to have the good things in life for himself and his family and hope to bring better things to those around him. Marriott, Covey, Young, etc. are these bad people for gaining wealth? Have they been able to help others because of their station in life? Many of the GA’s today and in recent history have been very successful men, in every definition of the word.
– Am I evil for wanting the good things in life? Am I wrong to want to be like the above named men? Can I be successful financially and still fulfill my calling from the Lord? ABSOLUTELY. Will it make it harder, probably. Many, many people have failed in their attempt to mix the will of the Lord and money. My parents are an example. I will break that chain. I will be successful in everyway, unless the Lord sees fit to not have it that way.
Sorry, but I believe Nibley was a great historian. But when he went out and spun the world as he thought he saw it, I think he was wrong on a few accounts. He was not a prophet, only a scholar and a human.
Hijack off:
Now to the OP – The books that have influenced my spirituality the most:
The Book of Mormon – but Tanya asked for books other than scripture.
Jesus the Christ – Talmage – Going on a mission to KY (the Bible Belt) was difficult. This work helped me to understand not only my Savior but also the New Testament. What a blessing to have it in the mission field.
D&C class and the photo copied manual put together by Brent L. Topp.
http://religion.byu.edu/FacWebs/top.htm
I still have it. He is an incredible teacher. Made the D&C come alive. Really challenged us, and his research helped me to understand, and more importantly, gain an appreciation for the early saints’ work.
A River Runs Through It – Norman Maclean. The BOM is the only book I have read more times than this. You’ll probably think this an odd choice. You may have seen the movie. Well, please throw out the image of B.Pitt from your head. The book was the first piece of fiction ever printed by the University of Chicago Press. It was so well written, they felt it worthy. It is a story of love, anger, and family. The main character struggles with family members he wants so badly to help, but in the end finds it’s only himself that he has any real influence over. And in the end is haunted by the players in his life that influenced him.
If you’ve got a dysfunctional family as I do, if you appreciate good story telling, if you are a sucker for writing that is better than your own – I highly recommend it. It has forced me to ask the deep questions about myself, my past, and what I want for the people I care about in my life.
i saw them at the gibson ampitheartre here in LA they rocked so hard!!! I LOVE U NICK JONAS!! lol wow that does not sound like me.