Book Reviews

Presidents’ Body Counts by Al Carroll Part 2

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

Bill Clinton

Clinton not only didn’t try to stop the Rwandan genocide, he pushed for the UN to withdraw and denied a genocide was happening. Clinton could have saved 300,000 to 600,000 lives if he’d sent just 5,000 US troops to intervene.

Right-wing terrorists murdered at least 288 people from 1995 to 2012 and attempted to assassinate Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama. Clinton’s mishandling of the Branch Davidians, Randy Weaver, and the Republic of Texas militia led to more recruitment for right-wing terrorists.

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Presidents’ Body Counts by Al Carroll Part 1

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

When presidents of the United States are ranked from best to worse, they’re generally judged on subjective things like leadership, charisma, etc. and the lists end up merely being a popularity contest, often based on the politics of the person doing the ranking. George Washington is often listed as one of the best presidents, not because he did anything particularly noteworthy while president, but simply because he was the first.

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Trespass

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I quite enjoy Amazon’s short story collections, but I wish they’d publicize them more. I only found out about Trespass recently even though I’ve read these collections in the past. All of the stories this time around are worth reading. I think the theme that ties them together is each features human’s relationship with wildlife.

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Ang Aklatan Part 3 of 3

~ D. J. Moore ~ 2 Comments

Continuing my review of the Ang Aklatan…

We’re told three letters regarding Jesus Christ are included, but there appear to be only two and neither of them are written in the form of a letter.

The Gospel written by Angulu

Angulu was chosen of God at ten years of age, despite his father not being a believer in Christ. He’s told to go to Jerona. When he attains manhood at age twelve, he travels to Jerson. During the journey, he rests by the side of the stream Taborong and sees a rather Freudian vision of a rod of a tree sprouting up and a handmaiden taking hold of the rod. The rod of the tree divides a fertile land. A great tree, representing a prophet, arises out of the land, bearing fruit.

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Ang Aklatan Part 1 of 3

~ D. J. Moore ~ 2 Comments

Through a series of dreams, Elisha M. Enoc translated the Aklatan from a set of copper sheets he discovered after having a vision. The Aklatan contains a record of the ancient history of the Philippines, Taiwan, and Borneo and Christ’s visitation to the ancient people of these islands, just as the Book of Mormon describes the ancient history of America and Christ’s visit to those people. While all the books of the Aklatan have been translated, not all have been published yet.

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Black Stars

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In “The Visit” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, gender roles are reversed. Men are expected to be house husbands while their wives work. Medical research focuses on women, so men’s health issues like enlarged prostate are not funded. Male masturbation is outlawed instead of abortion. Single men who go out without a woman are harassed. This story has a very obvious message about gender discrimination, so readers who don’t like being preached at will likely bounce off this story, but at least the characters are realistically drawn.

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