The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

I love historical novels set in the middle ages. But as I find often to be the case with novels for me, I loved the book but hated the ending.

A Contract with the Earth by Newt Gingrich

I listened to this with my husband over several weeks. I was really pleased to see environmentalism championed as a conservative principle and to see environmental solutions based on those principles. But there seemed to be a lot of filler in this book ("we need to work to achieve consensus blah blah blah") but the basic idea was good.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

I really enjoyed this because I like thinking about constitutional law. Even tho the book felt a little gossipy at times. (OK, I kind of liked that, too.)

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Holy cow. This is one of the very best books that I have ever read. I don't want to say anything about the story because I don't want to give it away. But it has been years since I've liked a novel this much. Highly recommended.

Call of the Mall by Paco Underhill

This was a really fun book. And I don't even like malls.

The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh : A Woman in World History by Linda Colley

This book ranged from fascinating to dreary.

In Defense of Food : An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

If I had to recommend one book to someone who wanted a readable critique of "the Western diet," this would be it. His history of health advice and fads and laws is enough to make anyone angry. The book isn't perfect (for example, I think he romanticizes native diets by neglecting to mention malnutrition issues and he doesn't distinguish between most processed foods and healthy processed foods, such as bagged salads) but it is very good.

Monique and the Mango Rains : Two Years with a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway

Wow! This is one of those books that everyone should read: a Peace Corp volunteer tells the story of an amazing story of a woman with a sixth grade education and a few months of midwifery training who is the sole source of health care for several villages. Highly recommended.

The Dirt on Clean : An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg

If there were an award for which book had the post "ewwww" moments, this one would win. The history of bathing (or, more correctly, the lack thereof) isn't pretty. But this book wasn't very interesting.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

I read this to the boys. They liked it; I thought it was unremarkable.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

I enjoyed reading this, but at the end felt disappointed. The writing didn't hold a candle to The Yiddish Policeman's Union and the plot was disjointed. I'm not sure why it won a Pulitzer.

Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson

This was a pre-read for Simon. It probably isn't as good as, say, The Golden Goblet, but given the paucity of sources for this era and place in history, it is worth reading.

River Torn by Peter Hessler

This was really interesting; I always like books about China. I think he did a good job encapsulating the paradoxes of Chinese culture and politics.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert O'Brien

I read this to the boys; they liked it, I thought it was kind of dull.

The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

I mildly enjoyed this.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Verdict: really weird and really good. I usually dislike it when I notice the writing (even if I am noticing that it is good) but--wow--Chabon is something else. Amazingly creative metaphors and similies. Recommended.

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta

There was so much potential here with a story of the culture war writ small, but it fizzled at the end.

The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis by Leon Kass

I've read about a dozen commentaries on Genesis now; this one is by far the best. Which isn't to say that it is perfect (I thought the handling of the Joseph cycle was a little weak) but--wow!. If you read only one book on Genesis, this should be it.

In the Beginning by Karen Armstrong

eh.

Working the Divine Miracle: The Life of Apostle Henry D. Moyle by Richard D. Poll

This was one of the less interesting biographies that I have read. I also think that Poll may have overplayed his loss of power, but I'm not convinced either way.

The Odyssey retold by Geraldine McCaughrean

I pre-read this for Simon's history reading. I thought it was wonderful and would make an excellent read-aloud for kids as young as five. Kids 8+ could read it themselves.

Latter-day Saint Courtship Patterns edited by Mary Jane Woodger

Latter-day Saint Courtship Patterns is part of Studies in Religion and the Social Order, which is edited by Jacob Neusner. Many interesting tidbits gleaned from the data would make fun discussion topics (only 22% of BYU men and 29% of BYU women expect that a “spiritual confirmation” will help them know when they have found the person they should marry; 60% of BYU freshman think it is wrong to kiss on the first date while only 20% of older students thought the same). But it is hard to overlook the major flaw of the book: every study which included information about its survery population indicated that the participants were all BYU students (or high school students from the Orem and Springville areas). For those studies where the institutional affiliation(s) of its participants were not mentioned, every indication is that they also were BYU students. (One of the folklore essays did indicate that one-third of its participants were from outside of the “Mormon belt.”) So the book is, I think, improperly titled: it isn’t about LDS courtship patterns or even American LDS courtship patterns, but rather about the courtship patterns of BYU students. I’m guessing those aren’t coterminous groups. Not only do I have philosophical objections to letting BYU culture stand proxy for the Church, but a non-LDS researcher who approaches this work will be left with the impression that “creative dating” is a Mormon thing, not a Jell-o Belt thing. And while I’m not a sociologist, some of the research methodology seemed suspect to me, such as comparing the opinions of BYU students to a national sample of high school students. Similarly, a few studies used ‘grounded theory,’ which not only seems to have the potential to find nothing other than what the researcher wanted to find, but in the case of the essay on females in relationships seems (based on the quotations provided, which don’t support the hypothesis) to do just that. It is hard to take seriously conclusions based on interviews with only fifteen different subjects or a four-page piece on wedding receptions. I find sociological research on the Church and its members fascinating and hope that this book will pave the way for more work in the field–work that has larger, more diverse samples and more rigorous methodology.

Piggyback Rides and Slippery Slides - How to have fun raising first-rate children by Lynnae Allred

Do you really need to read a book on how to play with your children? Maybe. Lynnae W. Allred’s new book, Piggyback Rides and Slippery Slides; How to Have Fun Raising First Rate Children, may not exactly be a necessity, but it could be a blessing. In a world where people enroll their three-month-old babies in classes and buy phonics toys for infants, it is safe to say that some parents don’t have a clue as to what is developmentally appropriate or necessary for children. To the extent that this book will help parents who need a little help fending off today’s excesses of hyper-parenting (or who didn’t see good parenting modeled by their own parents), it is, as Martha would say, a good thing. It also has some innovative ideas on making chores and that sort of thing more fun (hint: turn out the lights and aim your searchlight [flashlight] at the grenade that is about to explode [toys, dirty clothes] and see if your child can defuse [put away] it before it explodes in ten seconds). I wasn’t thrilled with her hyperbolic and over-generalized description of the differences between how fathers and mothers play with their children, but I was very pleased with her critique of over-scheduling.

Eighteen Months: Sister Missionaries in the Latter Days edited by Melissa Baird Carpenter

Eighteen Months: Sister Missionaries in the Latter Days, edited by Melissa Baird Carpenter, is a “collective memoir” of the mission experiences of many sister missionaries, including T& S's own Rosalynde Welch. Most essays succeed marvelously in hitting the sweet spot of spirituality without succumbing to the saccharine; we are introduced to the bulimic companion and the golden investigator and both are made equally real. While not all essays evince the best writing style (and a fair number of typos mar the book as well), the genuineness of the stories overcomes these flaws. From ruminations on how the local transvestite manages to keep his makeup immaculate in the humidity to visiting a new convert in prison, it’s all here and it’s well worth reading.

Indian Summer by Alex von Tunzelmann

I don't know that I've ever read a book that was such a mix of fascinating detail, notably good reading, and dry-as-dust detail.

The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

Jacobs, who described himself as being Jewish in the same way that The Olive Garden is Italian, spends a year trying to live, as literally as possible, every commandment in the Bible. He also visits fundamentalists of various stripes throughout the year. The results are hilarious and thought-provoking. Highly recommended.

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is my hero and I don't say that lightly. This book is way fun. Her other works have taken a small slice of life and looked in-depth (anyone who hasn't read A Midwife's Tale needs to stop what they are doing right now and go read it), but this book covers the entire enchilada. What is most fun about this book is that instead of plodding along chronologically, she works thematically. This book will, I'm sure, become a standard text for intro to Women's History and similar classes. And it should be. But it is also buckets of fun and would be a great choice for a high-school aged homeschooler.

The Arms of His Love: Talks from the 1999 Women's Conference

Years ago, I loved the Women's Conference books. Now, they barely hold my interest. I'm not sure if the books have changed or I have. Maybe both.

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

A charming tale of a Polish woman who hid Jews in her zoo. The gentle humor of a life surrounded by animals nicely balances the terrors of Nazi occupation. Recommended.

Setting the Record Straight: Blacks and the Mormon Priesthood by Marcus H. Martins

Millennial Press has a new series of short books on controversial topics. The volume on the priesthood ban was written by Marcus H. Martins, a Brazilian who joined the church in 1972 and would later be the first post-1978 full-time missionary of African descent. He speaks with a faithful voice; he's the chair of the Department of Religious Education at BYU-Hawaii.

The best parts of the book are his personal experiences with living the gospel as a man of African descent both before and after 1978. He related that he is often asked why his family joined a church that didn't allow them to take part in the priesthood. His heartbreaking but perfect response, based on John 6:67-69: "We had nowhere else to go."

But most of the book is, as the back cover puts it, "deeply doctrinal" and not personal. This causes a problem as all one can say with surety about the priesthood ban is this:

(1) We don't know the reason for the ban.
(2) Everything you've ever heard justifying the ban was Mormon folklore and should be ignored; see statements from Elder McConkie and, more recently, Elder Oaks to support this idea.

So Martins says those things. But that isn't enough to make a book, not even one that's a slim 83 pages. What Martins adds often feels like filler and in some cases detracts from his overall message. For example, at one point he makes the argument that the ban wasn't an eternal law, but a custom. He uses a system of classifying laws in order to make this point. Unfortunately, this leads him into unnecessary and bizarre conjecture ("We may assume that electromagnetism and perhaps even the weak and strong nuclear forces might also be controlled by the Holy Ghost.")

He spends some time logically (and scripturally) debunking the more common folk doctrine. And his arguments are pretty good, but they miss the main point: the purveyors of the folklore he is disputing were people sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators. So logical arguments are all well and good, but the real issue is the authority with which the person spoke when making the statement. But Martins doesn't address how problematic it is when he is saying (in effect, because he doesn't name names): "This argument, made by Joseph Fielding Smith or Bruce R. McConkie, is incorrect because it is not scriptural." This, of course, leads to a larger question (that Martins doesn't address): If previous church leaders were guilty of promulgating folklore to explain practice, then could current leaders be doing the same? How does this knowledge of the past affect how we view the present? These may be some of the most troubling questions related to the priesthood ban for twenty-first century Mormons and so it is disappointing not to see them addressed here.

While I'm no expert on the history of the priesthood ban, there were a few statements Martins made that caught me short. In one case, he referred to "the Prophet Joseph Smith's opposition to the ordination of Blacks." But my understanding is that there is no scholarly consensus as to the origin of the ban and that many scholars locate it in the time of Brigham Young, especially since Joseph Smith ordained Elijah Abel, a black man. Martins also seems unaware of the material in the recent biography of President McKay, which contains statements that contradict his assertions that "the Lord appears to have been mostly silent about the issue until June 1, 1978" and that "the leaders of the past had already discussed the matter, and that because they had no ideas of their own to add, they didn't see any need for further discussion." (This latter statement is also contradicted by the efforts of J. Reuben Clark as described in Quinn's biography of Clark.) It is also unfortunate that Martins uses Acts 10:15 to sum up the section where he argues that the Lord only revealed the end of the ban when Church leaders showed interest in it, since the scripture from Acts shows the Lord ending a similar ban (i.e., on eating with Gentiles) that was most certainly not requested by the prophet at the time.

Despite these flaws, I am pleased that Millennial Press has issued this series of books and pleased with Martins' presentation of the issue in general.

Cross-posted from Times & Seasons

Body of Work by Christine Montross

A mildly interesting memoir of the author's experience dissecting a human body as a first-year med student. A better book on this topic is Mary Roach's Stiff.

Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark by D. Michael Quinn

Good stuff, but definitely not for the faint of heart. Reading a book like this with its cringe-inducing GA squabbles, errors, and extremely bizarre personal opinions taught over the pulpit is almost enough to make one a believer in 'faithful history.' Clark certainly was an odd duck.

On the Road with Joseph Smith by Richard Bushman

I can't remember that last time I enjoyed reading a book this much (and I'm not just saying that because my name was on page 78). This is essentially Bushman's diary from the year after Rough Stone Rolling was published and he muses on everything from sales rank at Amazon to the deeper issues of non-member perception of Joseph Smith. There's a blog post on nearly every page of this book--it is that discussion-worthy. Highly recommended.

Last Harvest by Witold Rybczynski

This was interesting: he traced every step in the development of a new neighborhood.

Ice Bound by Jerri Lynn Nielsen

I thought this was be a fairly tame "here's my 15 minutes of fame!" sort of book but I thought it was fascinating.

A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure and Passion Inside One of America's Best High Schools by Alec Klein

This was mildly interesting. The pressure these kids are under is amazing and saddening. I admit that I was reading looking for secrets to the production of super-students. Unfortunately, the only thing I came away with was: "Start with a kid already internally motivated or convince them that you won't love them and/or will punish them if they don't excel."

No thanks.

Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Ooh, this was good--I was prereading it since I'll be having my 9yo read it for school this year. Books like this make me glad that I'm a homeschooler! The story was engaging, the background (ancient Egypt) was fabulous, and I thought Mara was the perfect feminist heroine--even allowed a love story, but noted for her bravery and self-defense. Do not be put off by the cheesy 80s cover art! Highly recommended for adults and kids--would be a great read-aloud.

Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk

So disappointing--it was about as interesting as reading someone else's family history.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Completely entertaining and filled with all manner of interesting tidbits, Weisman's book does justice to its unique topic. It didn't fall down until the last few pages where he suggests a world-wide single child policy as a miracle cure for all of the world's environmental problems. That's too clever by half, but the rest of the book is great.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

So, so hard to read--even novelized, you know the tragedies lived by the Afghani people aren't fiction. But such an excellent, gripping book with love and redemption on every page.

FDR by Jean Edward Smith

Good but not great. Possibly my fault since I've read several others books skirting the subject and so there wasn't a whole lot new here. But a few interesting tidbits.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Better than New Moon but didn't hold a candle to Twilight.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Easily one of the ten best books that I have ever read, this exploration into the experiences of Hmong immigrants with the American health care system shone a revealing light on both. Highly, highly recommended.

Head Start with the Book of Mormon by Vicki Lynn Rasmussen

When I think about the curricula available to evangelical homeschoolers, I instantly become guilty of several of the deadly sins. Oh, if I were a young earth creationist, the riches that would be mine!

Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni

This was a pretty good mix of personal and political reflections on life in Iran and the challenges of being bicultural.

Predators, Prey, and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Solomon

By turns fascinating and tragic, this tale of a childhood on the run from the authorities is a compelling read.

Homeschooling by Samuel Blumenfeld

This book was a nice blend of hysterical fearmongering related to public schools and homeschooling advice too vague to implement (but concrete enough to inspire guilt). Most highly unrecommended.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

I thought it was wonderful and the ending was exactly right. (For some reason, I didn't care too much for the epilogue, however.)

Genesis 1-4 by C. John Collins

Collins has a handful of interesting insights here, but overall this book was a disappointment.

New England White by Stephen Carter

So: I could guess the ending within the first hundred pages, the book consisted almost entirely of unbelievable coincidences, the story was hard to keep track of, and the ending was disappointing. But I still kind of liked it.

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman

Contains some interesting thoughts on the cognitive processes that doctors use to make diagnoses (and misdiagnoses). Not earth-shatteringly good, but fairly interesting.

Little Heathens by Mildred Kalish

Reminiscent of the Little House books (but with adult content), this memoir of life on a farm during the Great Depression was delicious and thought-provoking. It would make for a great book-group discussion. Recommended.