for $5.95 you will get
philosophy
love
conversion
adventure
sects
drugs
rock and roll

and even if you don’t love it
as much as i do
you are only out a couple dollars.
or even if you aren’t mormon
as much as i am
at least you will gain some insight into us peculiar people.

. . . your favorite mormon-themed book for really cheap?
By cjane
Dear cjane, July 17, 2009
http://dearcjane.blogspot.com/2009/07/your-favorite-mormon-themed-book-for.html

I had a hard time getting into this book at the beginning. I suppose I didn’t relate to Abe and Maddie as well as I did to Lizzy in Lyon’s previous book House on a Hill. Abe seemed to be too modern minded for the historical time period and that threw me off. His first point of view chapter felt too preachy for me to really get sucked into the story at the start, but I ended up enjoying his character later on. I also felt for Maddie as she tried to heal from the death of her fiancee. While on the surface this seems like the typical LDS romance plot—girl converts boy to gospel and they marry—Lyon’s characters have layers that made it feel unique and fresh.

At Journey’s End by Annette Lyon
By Gamila
Gamila’s Review: YA and LDS Fiction, July 18, 2009.
http://gamilareview.blogspot.com/2009/07/at-journeys-end-by-annette-lyon-abe.html

…from my experience as a Mormon missionary, I have found that virtually every philosophy presented by the world contains at least some truth and can be related to the gospel. This sister, however, decided it would be her job to completely erase everything the investigator had learned from her professors and then replace it with the missionary lessons. The climax of her story came when she finally convinced the woman that secular teachings were derived from the adversary, and that all the truth she needed, she could find in the church.

A summer reading list for the thoughtful Mormon reader
By McKay Coppins
Mormon Times, Jul. 18, 2009.
http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/mckay_coppins/?id=9716
Books by Mormon authors included were:
* The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
* To Draw Closer to God by President Henry B. Eyring

… perhaps his most personal novel. …Reminded me of Stephen King even though the supernatural touches are very light, I wasn’t surprised to find out he wrote this after reading Pet Semetary and wanting a different ending. I may not like his political views, but he can be a wonderful writer, at his best when showing the cracks in a strong marriage between a husband and wife put under stress. A lot of the details were based on Card’s own life (he wrote for a computer magazine that had similar Machiavellian scheming) and makes this a winner.

Moar Book Reviews!: Lost Boys, by Orson Scott Card
By MacGuffin
Darth Ennui, 18th-Jul-2009
http://mac6uffin.livejournal.com/140077.html

… as Latoya Peterson pointed out in a piece for Double X … the current crop of pointy-toothed dramas continues the genre’s fascination with sexual violence and the idealization of the chaste woman. I can’t fault her for taking issue with eroticized depictions of abuse, often against women. But she’s wrong to equate the sexual politics of True Blood with those of the abstinent, repressed Twilight. These two are not the same animal.

Rough Sex With Vampires: What Does “True Blood” Tell Us About Women and Sexuality?
By James Brady Ryan, Nerve.com.
AlterNet.org, July 18, 2009.
http://www.alternet.org/sex/141317/rough_sex_with_vampires:_what_does_%22true_blood%22_tell_us_about_women_and_sexuality/

The success behind the books stems from the ability of Stephenie to convey an array of emotion within each character, mainly Bella, from whose point of view of the books are written, with a few exceptions. Stephenie has written the books in such a fashion that readers don’t simply enjoy them; they climb into the world of the Cullen family. The books span beyond simply an interesting plot; they tug at the emotion and heartstrings of tweens, teens and adults alike.

Twilight Parents 101: Who is Stephenie Meyer?
By Kimberly Sherman, Twilight Parents Examiner
Examiner.com, July 18, 2009.
http://www.examiner.com/x-13198-Twilight-Parents-Examiner~y2009m7d18-Twilight-Parents-101-Who-is-Stephenie-Meyer

Julie is very good at writing suspense. I read this book rather quickly because I had to see if everyone made it out alive. I felt the book had a good ending, though some people have a thing against a “Happy Ever After” type ending. Personally, I don’t mind reading a happy ending once in awhile. I have had too much reality in my own life lately and like to be taken away to a happy place when I read.

Review of “All’s Fair” by Julie Coulter Bellon
By Sheila
LDS Women’s Book Review, July 18, 2009
http://ldswbr.blogspot.com/2009/07/review-of-alls-fair-by-julie-coulter.html

Though it might be common for a reader to turn to a commentary in search of a particular doctrine or passage of verses, the two volumes’ construction also gives them a format friendly to reading chapter to chapter. Nyman even suggests portions that might be skipped in each chapter for a reader who is continuing from chapter to chapter.

Monte S. Nyman’s latest commentaries: 2 volumes on the D&C
By Steve Fidel
Mormon Times, Jul. 17, 2009
http://mormontimes.com/arts_entertainment/books/?id=9524

In his book, “Juanita Brooks: Mormon Woman Historian,” Levi S. Peterson describes a woman who lived two distinct lives. In one, she was the Bunkerville, Nev., native one or two generations away from early-Mormon pioneer life, bred to be a farmer’s wife and live a life similar to her mother and grandmother. But there were life changes in store for Brooks (1898-1989), a remarkable individual who experienced most of the 20th century. Left a young widow with a baby, she entered academia. As middle age approached, she made another life change. She married a sheriff, Will Brooks, and quickly had four more babies. Had she stayed single, opines biographer Peterson, she likely would have had a distinguished academic career, editing and writing literary criticism. Instead, her return to a domestic life signaled the career of Mormonism’s most tenacious historian. Brooks’ achievements brought much-needed candor to Utah and Mormon history.

Political Surf on biography of Juanita Brooks, Utah historian
by Doug Gibson
Ogden UT Standard’s Political Surf Blog, Jul 17th, 2009.
http://blogs.standard.net/2009/07/17/political-surf-on-biography-of-juanita-brooks-utah-historian/

This book has received more award and list loving than any book of mine besides princess academy. It’s a very precious book to me and my husband’s favorite. I’m thrilled to have it coming out in paperback.

Presenting…Dashti
By Shannon Hale
squeetusblog, July 17, 2009.
http://oinks.squeetus.com/2009/07/presentingdashti.html