What Are the ‘Best Books’?

This piece may be viewed as somewhat nitpicky, but then, maybe they all are. To be sure, I’m not in any way smarter than Eric Skousen. I am certainly far less formally educated than he is. And I in no way can beat his enthusiasm for the subject. But I am opinionated and many of my opinions differ from his. So, that said, here we go.

On page xv of the Author’s Preface of “Earth: In the Beginning,” Skousen makes the following statement :

“God has also commanded us to seek “out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study, and also by faith”(Doctrine and Covenants 88:118).

This is true enough, as far as it goes. However, what constitutes the “best books” is pretty well left up to the reader, at least from this bit of LDS scripture.

For instance, what one reader may think of as the “best books” may be to another reader pure bunk. One may think the best books consist entirely of the 66 books of the Bible. To another, they may be sexy Harlequin romance novels. There are certainly precedents for both.