(see book 1 of this series) ( )

Rather than spending a year reading it, I felt I got a lot more out of it by reading it more quickly. That helped me see similarities and themes better. It was heartening to get a better picture of his life. ( )

This was the manual published for 2012 women's and men's classes in the LDS Church. The reading is often dry platitudes, with moments of thought-provoking inspiration. This is for devotional reading, no really for pleasure.

Chapters are divided into doctrinal subjects and compiled from various quotations of George Albert Smith throughout his lifetime. One paragraph might be from 1911, then silently the next is from 1932, then the next from 1907.

There is an interesting, lengthy historical introduction, but the book doesn't really give much historical context. I would have liked to read how his teachings were directed to the Saints of his day dealing with the influenza epidemic, the Progressive movement, World War I, the red scare, the depression, and prohibition.

The real point of this book isn't to explain George Albert Smith's teachings about life, but to inspire modern Latter-day Saints to live the gospel. The book employs George Albert Smith's famous Christian emphasis on friendship, kindness, and compassion. He led the Latter-day Saints with a warm embrace rather than dogmatic force. ( )