Tag: book reviews

What I Read: June 2022

This month I was the ending of a lot of things: my speculative fiction class at BYU (which convinced me to apply to grad programs next year), my Under the Banner of Heaven analysis for Public Square Magazine, and my presentation on colonialism in the Stormlight Archive for the Mormon History Association. We’ve also put the podcast on summer break.

woman leaning on table
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I am kind of exhausted and looking forward to a summer break and maybe getting back into some fiction writing of my own after all this academic and nonfiction writing. I’m going to just try to relax for the whole month of July, then jump back into the mix in August as the kids go back to school. (Did I mention my youngest is starting first grade?! It feels both so long in coming and too soon at the same time.) I will certainly be doing a lot of reading during the break, trying to catch up on a few books people sent to me for review as well as books that I bought at LTUE and MHA. A reader’s work is never done!

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What I Read: May 2022

I’ve been having a blast in the “fairy tales and other speculative fictions” class I’ve been taking at BYU this term. In fact, it’s almost over! Most of my reading this month was for the class. I have a good stack of books I’m halfway through but can’t seem to make progress in because of all the assigned reading. I forgot how much time college courses absorb. But no regrets, because I’ve also done of lot of reading on theories of speculative fiction, which doesn’t show up here, as it’s mostly articles, but will no doubt help me in future research.

Writing updates: I didn’t make the cut for the Mormon Lit Blitz this time, but I’m very intrigued by the titles of the finalists. If you’re reading along, join me on social media to chat about the entries. For my class’s final project, I’m working on a paper about Piranesi and the power of stories in the pandemic. And this weekend I’m presenting at the Mormon History Association conference about Mormon colonialism in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. This builds off of last year’s paper on Mormon theology in the series. If you missed it, also make sure to check out the latest episode of Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree about films and faith crisis based on an essay by Chris Wei. I think it’s our best episode yet!

Book reviews after the cut.

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What I Read: April 2022

It’s a speculative fiction blitz this month with only four book read. I’m a little surpri My nonfiction reading has been tied up with a couple projects including finishing my presentation for the Mormon History Association conference in June. I’m going to be talking about Mormon colonialism in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive, which has been fun but exhausting to research. I also started my reading for the graduate class in speculative fiction I’m taking on a post-baccalaureate basis. This is one of my goals for 2022; I’m hoping it will help me decide whether I really want to go back for an MA or MFA in the next few years.

I’ve also squeezed a little fiction writing in, submitting to a couple flash fiction contests. I didn’t make the cut for the Mormon Lit Blitz, but I’m excited by the titles of this year’s semifinalists. Tune in on May 30 to start reading with me!

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What I Read – February 2022

young woman reading book in winter park
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A short month with a lot of great books in it! I also got to attend the Life, the Universe and Everything Symposium for the first time since presenting at it as a student in 2008. I learned a lot from the panels, met up with some online acquaintances, and made some new writing friends who I’m hopefully going to start a critique group with. Lots of writing to do this month, so let’s get on with the reviews!

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What I Read – January 2022 & 5×5 Challenge

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New year, new reading challenge! This year, I’m trying out the 5×5 Challenge (via the Scholé Sisters homeschooling community). The premise is to pick 5 categories or topics you want to read about more in-depth this year, then select 5 books for each category over the course of the year. It comes out to about 2 books a month. I’m hoping this will be a way to balance my need for structured reading with the ability to still pick up random books from the library (or more realistically, the new Brandon Sanderson novel).

My five categories for 2022 are:

  1. Old Testament Context – Our church’s Come Follow Me curriculum this year is on the Old Testament. In addition to reading a new translation, I want to get some background on how to get your head around the Old Testament. Some of these will be LDS-specific and some more generally Christian or even Jewish (I hope to pick up Robert Alter’s Psalm translation.)
  2. Mormon Lit Backlist – Filling in some works by Mormon authors that have been on my TBR pile for a while that I need to get to.
  3. Stoicism – It’s been a rough year for me coping with the new political environment in Utah (really, several years and the whole country would also work here). I’m hoping that reading about stoicism will give me some tools to both act according to my conscience while not drowning in anxiety and anger.
  4. Reading the Hugos – Working my way backwards through the novel winners that I haven’t read yet.
  5. Books Becoming Movies – Because I like to have read the book first, plus my other categories are so serious that I felt like I deserved a break.

Now on to the reviews!

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