Book reviews published by the Association of Mormon Letters (http://mormonletters.org).uuid:6c7f9fe0-6a86-445c-89ec-2ff885d782d3;id=22013-05-25T05:09:28Z5062

Peculiar Pages, 2011 Perfectbound paperback: <br />522 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-9817696-6-7 <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-9817696-6-0 Price: $21.99, Kindle: $4.99 URL: www.peculiarpages.com<p> Were There Not Three in the Fire? <p> Reviewed for the Association for Mormon Letters by Harlow Clark <p> Back during my brief teaching career, a fellow who taught Accounting used to come to the English Department's reading nights. He told me my writing made Mormon culture accessible to a non-Mormon like him, and one day he said he would like to write a book, a dialogue called "God Speaks to an Economist." God tells the economist that while economics is based on the theory of scarcity and the competition for scarce resources, God's economy is based on abundance. "All that my Father hath is yours," and that promise is available to all. "Now that's abundance!" he said. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5062">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-10T00:00:00-06:002012-02-10T00:00:00-06:00Harlow S. ClarkPeculiar Pages, 2011 Perfectbound paperback: <br />522 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-9817696-6-7 <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-9817696-6-0 Price: $21.99, Kindle: $4.99 URL: www.peculiarpages.com<p> Were There Not Three in the Fire? <p> Reviewed for the Association for Mormon Letters by Harlow Clark <p> Back during my brief teaching career, a fellow who taught Accounting used to come to the English Department's reading nights. He told me my writing made Mormon culture accessible to a non-Mormon like him, and one day he said he would like to write a book, a dialogue called "God Speaks to an Economist." God tells the economist that while economics is based on the theory of scarcity and the competition for scarce resources, God's economy is based on abundance. "All that my Father hath is yours," and that promise is available to all. "Now that's abundance!" he said. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5062">Continue reading</a>5063

Covenant Communications, Inc. Price: $19.99<p> Reviewed by Trevor Holyoak for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Joseph Smith is one of my personal heroes, and when I first heard that this movie was coming out, I have to admit I was worried. I was afraid it might turn out like a certain attempt a few years back at turning the Book of Mormon into a movie. But then I found out it was being made by Christian Vuissa, who had recently made what I consider to be some of the better movies in modern Mormon cinema (such as <i>The Errand of Angels</i>), and I expected that he would probably do a good job. I didn't make it to the theater when it was playing, so I was excited when the opportunity came up to review the DVD. As it turns out, I am mostly happy with how it was done. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5063">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-10T00:00:00-06:002012-02-10T00:00:00-06:00Trevor HolyoakCovenant Communications, Inc. Price: $19.99<p> Reviewed by Trevor Holyoak for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Joseph Smith is one of my personal heroes, and when I first heard that this movie was coming out, I have to admit I was worried. I was afraid it might turn out like a certain attempt a few years back at turning the Book of Mormon into a movie. But then I found out it was being made by Christian Vuissa, who had recently made what I consider to be some of the better movies in modern Mormon cinema (such as <i>The Errand of Angels</i>), and I expected that he would probably do a good job. I didn't make it to the theater when it was playing, so I was excited when the opportunity came up to review the DVD. As it turns out, I am mostly happy with how it was done. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5063">Continue reading</a>5061

Oxford University Press, 2011 Hardbound in signatures: <br />637 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-19-529770-9 <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-19-529770-6 Price: $35.00<p> Reviewed by Marcello Jun de Oliveira for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Every once in a while, a popular periodical will run a story about the state of biblical illiteracy common among the general populace -- including the church-going faithful. The common joke is that the Bible is the most revered never read book, or the best selling least read book, in the history of the printed word. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5061">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-09T00:00:00-06:002012-02-09T00:00:00-06:00Marcello Jun de OliveiraOxford University Press, 2011 Hardbound in signatures: <br />637 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-19-529770-9 <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-19-529770-6 Price: $35.00<p> Reviewed by Marcello Jun de Oliveira for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Every once in a while, a popular periodical will run a story about the state of biblical illiteracy common among the general populace -- including the church-going faithful. The common joke is that the Bible is the most revered never read book, or the best selling least read book, in the history of the printed word. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5061">Continue reading</a>5059

Bonneville Books, 2012 Trade paperback: <br />226 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-59955-947-1 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-59955-947-6 Price: $15.99<p> Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> The writing industry goes through its phases, and Jane Austen rewrites are definitely what’s cool right now. Some are passable, some are not— and hard to imagine for an Austen remake, but some are erotic. Authors both national and LDS are experimenting with the trend, and I’m pleased to report that author Rebecca H. Jamison has really done a nice job with her novel <i>Persuasion</i>. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5059">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-06T00:00:00-06:002012-02-06T00:00:00-06:00Tristi PinkstonBonneville Books, 2012 Trade paperback: <br />226 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-59955-947-1 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-59955-947-6 Price: $15.99<p> Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> The writing industry goes through its phases, and Jane Austen rewrites are definitely what’s cool right now. Some are passable, some are not— and hard to imagine for an Austen remake, but some are erotic. Authors both national and LDS are experimenting with the trend, and I’m pleased to report that author Rebecca H. Jamison has really done a nice job with her novel <i>Persuasion</i>. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5059">Continue reading</a>5060

Sweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc., 2011 Trade Paperback: <br />207 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-59955-915-3 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-59955-915-5 Price: $13.99<p> Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Amelia Marie Bedford is really good at her job. She’s got the wardrobe for it, the clientele, she knows her market—and she’s making enough money to save for college. It’s too bad that not everyone agrees with her chosen profession. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5060">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-06T00:00:00-06:002012-02-06T00:00:00-06:00Tristi PinkstonSweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc., 2011 Trade Paperback: <br />207 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-59955-915-3 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-59955-915-5 Price: $13.99<p> Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Amelia Marie Bedford is really good at her job. She’s got the wardrobe for it, the clientele, she knows her market—and she’s making enough money to save for college. It’s too bad that not everyone agrees with her chosen profession. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5060">Continue reading</a>5058

University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 2011 Hardback: <br />518 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-87062-380-X <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-87062-380-6 Price: $45.00 <p> Reviewed by Kris Wray for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> The latest installment of the popular <i>Kingdom in the West</i> series from Arthur H. Clark Company, entitled <i>Playing with Shadows: Voices of Dissent in the Mormon West</i>, has been released. This makes thirteen volumes announced thus far, with twelve actually published (<i>At Sword’s Point v2</i>, by MacKinnon, is scheduled for release in 2013.) <i>Playing with Shadows</i> was coedited by Polly Aird, Jeff Nichols and Will Bagley. It tackles the complexity of dissent, apostasy, and the "shades of resistance" in-between as exhibited in histories by four nineteenth-century members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS): George Armstrong Hicks, Charles Derry, Ann Gordge and Brigham Young Hampton. At different points during their sojourn in the Zion of the American West, they all became disillusioned with some aspect of the Mormon religion, or members within the faith (often leaders), or both. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5058">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-04T00:00:00-06:002012-02-04T00:00:00-06:00Kristopher S. WrayUniversity of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 2011 Hardback: <br />518 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-87062-380-X <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-87062-380-6 Price: $45.00 <p> Reviewed by Kris Wray for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> The latest installment of the popular <i>Kingdom in the West</i> series from Arthur H. Clark Company, entitled <i>Playing with Shadows: Voices of Dissent in the Mormon West</i>, has been released. This makes thirteen volumes announced thus far, with twelve actually published (<i>At Sword’s Point v2</i>, by MacKinnon, is scheduled for release in 2013.) <i>Playing with Shadows</i> was coedited by Polly Aird, Jeff Nichols and Will Bagley. It tackles the complexity of dissent, apostasy, and the "shades of resistance" in-between as exhibited in histories by four nineteenth-century members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS): George Armstrong Hicks, Charles Derry, Ann Gordge and Brigham Young Hampton. At different points during their sojourn in the Zion of the American West, they all became disillusioned with some aspect of the Mormon religion, or members within the faith (often leaders), or both. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5058">Continue reading</a>5057

Signature Books, 2011 Hardcover: <br />616 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-56085-2143 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-56085-2148 Price: $49.95<p> Reviewed by Roy Schmidt for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> When I first heard Signature Books was to publish <i>The Nauvoo City and High Council Minutes</i>, I was very excited. While these records have been partially published in the past, they were not easily accessible. I could not be more pleased with this publication. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5057">Continue reading</a>

2012-02-02T00:00:00-06:002012-02-02T00:00:00-06:00Roy SchmidtSignature Books, 2011 Hardcover: <br />616 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-56085-2143 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-56085-2148 Price: $49.95<p> Reviewed by Roy Schmidt for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> When I first heard Signature Books was to publish <i>The Nauvoo City and High Council Minutes</i>, I was very excited. While these records have been partially published in the past, they were not easily accessible. I could not be more pleased with this publication. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5057">Continue reading</a>5053

Bonneville Books, 2012 Trade Paperback: <br />245 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-59955-920-X <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-59955-920-9 Price: $15.99<p> Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Confident, talented interior decorator Rena has everything she could possibly want - a fantastic career, a bright future, and a very pleasant boyfriend. If she pretends hard enough, she can believe herself to be happy, but she wants more. She wants someone to fall madly in love with her and sweep her off her feet, but she's over thirty, and it just seems that such things will never happen. The most exciting thing that ever happens to her is helping her best friend, Tucker, redecorate his flip home. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5053">Continue reading</a>

2012-01-31T00:00:00-06:002012-01-31T00:00:00-06:00Tristi PinkstonBonneville Books, 2012 Trade Paperback: <br />245 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-59955-920-X <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-59955-920-9 Price: $15.99<p> Reviewed by Tristi Pinkston for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Confident, talented interior decorator Rena has everything she could possibly want - a fantastic career, a bright future, and a very pleasant boyfriend. If she pretends hard enough, she can believe herself to be happy, but she wants more. She wants someone to fall madly in love with her and sweep her off her feet, but she's over thirty, and it just seems that such things will never happen. The most exciting thing that ever happens to her is helping her best friend, Tucker, redecorate his flip home. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5053">Continue reading</a>5054

New York: Riverhead Books, 2002 Hardbound in signatures: <br />577 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-57322-182-1 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-57322-182-5<p> Reviewed by Harlow Clark for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Thinking to Thank the Jews and Thank the Jews For <p> In 2 Nephi 29 (Book of Mormon), Nephi pauses in the midst of an apostrophe to future readers who will reject his words to remind them of their debt to the Jews. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5054">Continue reading</a>

2012-01-31T00:00:00-06:002012-01-31T00:00:00-06:00Harlow S. ClarkNew York: Riverhead Books, 2002 Hardbound in signatures: <br />577 pages <br />ISBN-10: 1-57322-182-1 <br />ISBN-13: 978-1-57322-182-5<p> Reviewed by Harlow Clark for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Thinking to Thank the Jews and Thank the Jews For <p> In 2 Nephi 29 (Book of Mormon), Nephi pauses in the midst of an apostrophe to future readers who will reject his words to remind them of their debt to the Jews. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5054">Continue reading</a>5055

Oxford University Press, 2011 Hardbound in signatures: <br />637 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-19-529770-9 <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-19-529770-6 Price: $35.00<p> Reviewed by Harlow Clark for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Thinking to Thank the Jews and Thank the Jews For <p> In 2 Nephi 29 (Book of Mormon), Nephi pauses in the midst of an apostrophe to future readers who will reject his words to remind them of their debt to the Jews. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5055">Continue reading</a>

2012-01-31T00:00:00-06:002012-01-31T00:00:00-06:00Harlow S. ClarkOxford University Press, 2011 Hardbound in signatures: <br />637 pages <br />ISBN-10: 0-19-529770-9 <br />ISBN-13: 978-0-19-529770-6 Price: $35.00<p> Reviewed by Harlow Clark for the Association for Mormon Letters <p> Thinking to Thank the Jews and Thank the Jews For <p> In 2 Nephi 29 (Book of Mormon), Nephi pauses in the midst of an apostrophe to future readers who will reject his words to remind them of their debt to the Jews. <a href="http://mormonletters.org/Reviews/Review.aspx?id=5055">Continue reading</a>