mormonbooks

[mormonbooks]

The afton family

From Five nights at Freddy's?

If I were doing another "Headcanon Mormon Character" tournament I suppose I'd allow it, but "presumably from Utah" isn't much to go on, and my project here is focusing on media (mostly books) where a main character is explicitly stated to be Mormon or LDS. Sorry

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[mormonbooks]

"From my window seat in the second-to-last row, I can't tell where Utah begins. I can't feel the split second I cross out from wilderness into home. But when the Great Salt Lake comes into view on the horizon, a little blue pool hemmed in by desert and mountains, I sigh. This is a homecoming. "I was born in California and lived my entire life in the same zip code. Berkeley is the place that raised me on its chaos and oddball charm. Seventeen square miles of hills and canyons, elite universities and tent cities. Berkeley is my hometown, and it always will be. But Utah is my home, too. A different kind of home. An ancestral home. A place of belonging. A legacy."

-Ellis Kimball in "Let's Call it a Doomsday" by Katie Henry

[mormonbooks]

"Let's Call it a Doomsday" Review

5/5 stars!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the book I was searching for when I started this blog.

In so many ways, Ellis Kimball is me. Some of you have probably seen the quotes I've been sharing on my blog. Those are only snippets of the moments I felt deeply seen by Henry's narration of Ellis's thoughts.

I can't really talk about what I love about this book without some spoilers so, fair warning.

I never expected to find a story with a bisexual mormon teenage girl, dating an exmormon (also bisexual) guy. I never thought I'd read conversations I have had with people in my real life, repeated through the mouths of these characters. I never anticipated a book including that one ridiculously perfect and gorgeous Samoan Laurel President, and realize I guess I wasn't the only one with a girl like that in my ward.

and I adore that none of that was the focus. I love that Hannah and Ellis's connection was something complicated and intimate and that they needed each other, and that they weren't each other's love interests (despite Hannah being canonically a lesbian as Ellis is realizing that she's bi). The plot of the book took center stage in an intriguing and gripping way, while providing a perfect backdrop for Ellis's journey of self discovery (which includes understanding how to live with her anxiety, how to manage her intrusive thoughts, what belief and religion mean to her, and accepting that she is attracted to girls.)

It's so much all stuffed into one perfect package. I would love it if everyone read this book, because that would increase the number of people on earth who could understand me and my experiences. But I strongly urge at least every Queer Mormon to give it a go. It was exciting, fun, and healing.

Breakdown under the cut

1. Well written - 5 stars

I loved absolutely everything about this book. The internal narration of anxiety was gripping, the family dynamics were complicated and relateable, the main character went through a few overlapping character arcs and the were woven together so well. And every description of being a Mormon Teenage Girl was so accurate it felt like Henry had reached into my own mind and put my memories on the page.

2. Fun level - 5 stars

It's been a minute since a book made me want to stay up until 4am. This book did that multiple times. I laughed, I cheered, I cried.

3. Complex faith - 5 stars

This is exactly what I'm looking for in a mormon book! She's a member of the church and she talks about why she loves church, and she's scandalized by certain things, but she also is friends with people who smoke weed, and there's an exmormon who explains why he left and he is respected (and also respectful!) and Ellis questions things that she's been taught and redefines her faith for herself and it's all so wonderful and perfect.

4. Homophobia scale - 5 stars

SPOILERS The main character discovers that she IS a queer mormon. This is what I'm talking about. There is an explanation for how current policy is harmful to queer people. There is self-discovery and questioning, and acceptance. It's beautiful and wonderful. There are also other queer characters!

5. Mormon weird - 4 stars

This is a strictly realistic fiction book, but it doesn't shy away from the mormonness. There are multiple descriptions of church services, family home evening, belief about the afterlife etc. Tal talks about watching the temple videos on youtube (and Ellis is horrified). It's also all about a girl who is obsessed with emergency preparedness which is part of mormon culture, in a way.

6. Diversity of characters - 5 stars

We've got queer characters, we've got south americans, we've got asians, we've got jewish characters. In other words, a pretty accurate picture of the population of Berkeley, California.

7. Other problematic stuff - 5 stars

I have no complaints. Henry grappled with issues like mental health, homelessness, family trauma, belief, etc with lots of care, compassion, and nuance.

[mormonbooks]

"I don't know if I'll stay in the church, the community, the culture that created me. I don't know if I'll live the kind of life my parents and ancestors did, or if I'll forge my own path in the dark. I don't know if I'll stay or go, though I want to stay. I want to stay as much as I want to live happily inside my own soul. I'll stay as long as I can do both. I do know that if I'm ever forced to choose, I will choose myself"

- Ellis Kimball in "Let's Call it a Doomsday" by Katie Henry

[mormonbooks]

Screaming crying throwing up

[mormonbooks]

Wickedness never was happiness. That's in the scriptures themselves. I believe Tal, though, when he says he's happy. Maybe the passage is backward. Can real happiness, the kind that doesn't hurt a soul, ever be wickedness?

-- Ellis from "Let's Call it a Doomsday" by Katie Henry

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"Gay Mormons exist; I know some. And sometimes I wonder, How do you stay? How do you stay when the whole system was designed without you in mind? When there are so many things you have to give up? When it's cruel and unfair and wrong that you should even have to? But I know how; I know why. They stay because they believe this church is true. I wonder if sometimes they wish they didn't."

-- Ellis in "Let's Call it a Doomsday" by Katie Henry

[mormonbooks]

I am a TRADITIONAL MORMON and I follow TRADITIONAL MORMON VALUES

I am a COMMUNIST

I believe in PRISON ABOLITION

when I see someone being HOMOSEXUAL or TRANSSEXUAL, I mind my OWN DAMN BUSINESS

I support ROBUST URBAN PLANNING

I think all young women should learn INTEGRATED PEST CONTROL

I like my women how I like my men: VOTING IN EVERY ELECTION and BECOMING DOCTORS

I believe people are INHERENTLY GOOD and need to be ENCOURAGED WITH COMPASSION, not CONTROLLED WITH AUTHORITARIANISM

I think HANDCARTS are the BEST WAY TO TRAVEL

I practice WITCHCRAFT, MAGIC, DIVINATION, and ASTROLOGY

FOLLOW MY BLOG FOR MORE TRADITIONAL MORMON BELIEFS

[mormonbooks]

LDS/Mormon Folks! I need your help!

Are you LDS?

Does your family come from a racial, ethnic, or national background with cultural practices your family still participates in? Or have you rediscovered and reengaged with former cultural identities through your membership in the Church?

Did a patriarchal blessing (yours or someone else's) play a role in that process?

If so, I would love to talk to you or anyone else you know who might fit that description. I'm exploring how patriarchal blessings interact with cultural practices that originate outside of our community. Language, food, cultural practices and rituals, dress, anything like that. I'm writing a book about patriarchal blessings and this is a topic I'm currently researching. If you know of anything that talks about this, please let me know!

[mormonbooks]

Latter-day Stonecatchers is closing their shop!

If you'd like any stickers or pins (including a magnetic "pin" for the I'll Walk With You design), they're at a VERY reasonable prices right now — and won't be available after the shop closes.

Link here:

:)

posted 06/19/24

[mormonbooks]

I'll have a full review coming out soon, but I just read the first chapter of "Tales of the Chelm First Ward" and I am enamored with it. It's hilarious, filled with clever word play, with delightfully profound morals tucked into stories about foolishness and nonsense.

[mormonbooks]

The Bishop's Wife Review

4/5 Stars!

This book was nothing like how I expected it to be and everything I needed and wanted it to be. I expected the kind of novel you could recommend to your mom for a bit of light reading on a Sunday afternoon. The Bishop's Wife. She's a mormon woman who is doing her best to take care of her ward.

I was pleasantly surprised at the moderately progressive tone the book took within the first few chapters (asking questions about the sexism in the church, the fear of judgement 'imperfect' families face, etc) but I soon realized that it there was much more. This novel is a deep commentary on Mormonism, digging into the deep and unpleasant parts, and asking difficult questions that most members like to avoid. It does it all through the eyes of a faithful middle-aged woman, who knows what she believes and uses her faith to bring justice to her community, even when she has to struggle against the church institution and her own husband to do it.

In my opinion, it's a great work of mormon feminism, that allows our culture to shine through in all it's glory and with all it's flaws. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, genuinely. The mystery is engaging, the community is loveable, the plot twists are gut wrenching. Truly a work of art. I'm excited to read more of Harrison's work

Breakdown under the cut

1. Well written - 5 Stars

Yes. The prose is beautiful. The plot is engaging. The mystery is complex and the new information always threw me. It was gut wrenching at times. It was comforting at others.

2. Fun level - 5 stars

It's a slow-paced story, with many moments that skip weeks or months where not much happens. But I enjoy stories like that. It gave breaks between the page-turning mystery solving moments.

3. Complex faith - 5 Stars

This is probably my favorite part of this book. The villains and the heroes are all mormons, and they all approach their faith and their religion in different ways. Linda obviously has more progressive views, and is enraged by the misogyny of many of the men in this story. Those men are not shown to be anamolys per se but they're also not shown to be the norm. Many women in the story have opportunities to voice their questions and doubts but it never makes them any less mormon. People exist all over the scale of mormonism and it feels like the most honest portrayal of our culture that I've read so far.

4. Homophobia scale - 3.5 Stars

It's not a major plot point, but it's mentioned that Linda's son Samuel joined the GSA at his school and she is proud of him for that. She also suspects that her other son might be gay, and worries about how that will affect his relationship with his father. I imagine this will be explored further in the series. It's refreshing that Linda is pro-LGBT but it also seems to treat the church's heteronormative stance quite naively and I'd love to see Harrison really dig into that topic in the future.

5. Mormon weird - 4 stars

Realistic Fiction, but definitely uniquely mormon. The characters in this book could not be swapped out with "generic christians." some of the problematic and dangerous beliefs are uniquely mormon, but so are the beautiful and comforting ones. There is a lot of discussion of the plan of salvation, that I appreciated. I also liked Linda's realistic approach to faith, and her honest moments of doubting, or referring to things as "legends" and "myths." Things don't have to be doctrine to be important in our culture

6. Diversity of characters - 2 stars

I don't think race is ever touched on in the novel, and they all live in Utah and have typical european-american names, so it's easy to assume they are all white. And despite being essentially a work of mormon feminism, a very small percentage of the speaking cast are women.

7. Other problematic stuff - 4.5 stars

I deeply enjoyed the novel as a snapshot of a mormon town, however that does mean that, despite her progressiveness, Linda has a realistic understanding of gender, as a middle-aged mormon woman. She has some beliefs and attitudes toward men that I found frustrating, although understandable.

Conclusion:

I gave this book 5 stars on goodreads but that was before I did my breakdown. I wish it had been more diverse, but I think Harrison explores race in the church in future novels. We'll see.

I LOVE Linda Wallheim. I LOVE the way Harrison talks about Mormon communities and Mormon faith and Mormon culture. I love how much this book made me feel. This is decidedly GOOD mormon rep, with all the determined faith mixed with struggles against flawed systems and truly terrible people. like. I cannot express how much I hate the villains in this book.

I can't wait to see Linda's next adventure.

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ppl misunderstand me when I say "I want more [thing] in stories". I don't mean "I'm going to love every single one" I mean "I'm very picky and I want more of it in circulation so I can actually choose from a wealth of them and be discerning". I see ppl being like "you say you want more of [this thing] but you don't like [example of it]" YEAH CUZ I'M PICKY!!!!!!!! I have opinions and standards????? not all of them are gonna be the same I wanna be able to look at 100 of them and go "I want these 20" not "I only have 3 to choose from and I don't like any of them" you feel me??????

[mormonbooks]

Some of my favorite scenes from Stripling Warrior by Brian Andersen

(Fe and Riley are my favorites ... If you couldn't tell)

[mormonbooks]

Stripling Warrior

4/5 STARS

Summary: This collection of comics (3 issues and an Annual) has the worlds first ever Gay Mormon Superhero! In fact, it has a lot of different Queer and Mormon (or Mormon-adjacent) characters, all fighting against injustice.

The main character, Sam Shepherd, gets visited by an Angel soon after marrying his husband Jase. The Angel (Abish from the Book of Mormon) calls him to be The Hand of God and punish sinners. He fights homophobes, misguided missionaries, and Cain himself, alongside his companion, Fe, who also received powers from Abish.

Read at your own risk: This book is has a complex approach to mormonism, as well as deceptions of queer sex (Not explicit but pretty nsfw). I think it's a lot of fun, and is an honest portrayal of queer mormon experiences, with fun fantastical versions of Mormon beliefs (Like a Holy Ghost Force Field).

Overall, I enjoyed it! I've been dying for a Mormon Superhero, and queer mormon superheroes are even better. I would love to see more stories with Sam, Fe, Jase, Shonda, and Riley in the future.

Spoilers and Review Breakdown Under the Cut

1. Well written - 3.5 Stars.

Overall, I think the writing is done well. Some of it is cheesy, and there are a couple of deus ex machina's but it feels like it fits in the genre and with what the comic is trying to do.

2. Fun level - 4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed it! I read the whole thing in one sitting and it was engaging and exciting and it made me laugh.

3. Complex faith - 3.5 Stars

This one is complicated to answer. This definitely feels like media aimed at ex-mormons. Most of the characters are Ex (or "Jack") Mormons, and don't have high regard for the church as an organization. They do believe in Angels and Heavenly Mother (cause that's where their power comes from) but the church officials (like mission presidents) are shown as villains. It's a very irreverent story. And there's a part in the last issue where Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father are pitted against each other that I didn't really like.

The only exception is Riley, an asexual missionary who states his firm testimony a couple of times. He is one of the heroes, but still firmly believes in the gospel.

I like it because it has characters from all over the spectrum of mormonism (from actively serving a mission to "my parents were mormon but we don't really talk about it" and everything in between), which I think is cool, but it's also definitely got an exmo bias.

4. Homophobia scale - 5 stars

it's so gay!!!!! They have a character for each letter of LGBTA, it's delightful.

It is also NSFW. Nothing explicit (?) but characters are often naked, and the two married couples are shown being intimate quite a few times. I don't normally love stories like that, but for a comic that is about the sacredness of queer intimacy, I understand why it's included.

5. Mormon weird - 5 stars

SOOO much mormon weird. Abish is an angel. The heroes have Liahona Guides. The big villains are Cain and Ammon. It's so much fun.

6. Diversity of characters - 4 stars!

The main character and his husband are both white guys, but Fe is latina, her wife is black (and trans!), and Riley is a POC.

7. Other problematic stuff - 3 stars

I love this comic but I don't think it's for everyone. On top of being irreverent and nsfw, it also incorporates some indigenous american culture into the mythos in ways I'm not sure about. This is going to happen with anything that talks about Nephites and Lamanites, but mostly I don't know why Ammon has a pet Quetzalcoatl. 🤷

But, like I said, I did enjoy it. I think there's a lot of potential in these characters and I would love to see more stories with them

[mormonbooks]

The Bollywood Lovers' Club Review

This book absolutely wrecked me (affectionate)

4/5 Stars!!!!!!!

Amrita Sidhu moves away from her home in California, leaving behind a community and extended family where she knows who she is. Her new home in Ohio is cold and lonely but at least she has a couple of classes with Dave Gill, who is sweet and funny and awkward and Mormon. Amrita is Sihk and is not supposed to be dating anybody, certainly not a Mormon kid that her family doesn't even know. Dave is already struggling with how to tell his parents he won't be going to college like they expected, and he's still undecided on a mission. Falling for a girl outside his religion just adds another secret into his life.

This book centers around religion, faith, family expectation, and personal goals. I wish I'd had this kind of book to read growing up. For once I felt like my high school experience was accurately portrayed.

Spoilers under the cut

1. Well written - 5 Stars

Admittedly, you could probably find flaws in the plot if you looked. It's a High School Romance. Some things are cheesy or happen too fast or whatever, but personally I found the story and writing style engaging, realistic, relatable, and anxiety inducing at time.

2. Fun level - 5 Stars!

I love to read, but it's not often a book can hold my undivided attention for 4 hours straight. This book did. Every time I picked it up I felt myself sucked into Dave and Amrita's world. It might not be everyone's cup of tea (it IS a high school realistic fiction novel. No magic or spaceships) but I was entertained the whole way through.

3. Complex faith - 5 Stars

This is my favorite representation of Mormon life that I have EVER seen. It is exactly the kind of book I am looking for in this project. Dave is Mormon. He goes to early morning seminary and helps out in his ward. He loves his faith but he's also not afraid to ask questions about how things pertain to him personally. He grapples with his faith, and with what people have told him to do, before coming to his own conclusions.

Importantly, Amrita's religion is portrayed just as complexly throughout the book. And neither Dave nor Amrita ever consider giving up their faiths or converting or anything. I appreciated that they included Dave's grandfather, who converted to Mormonism from Sihkism, and explored how Dave feels this disconnect when he visits the gurdwara, like it's a place he should belong, but doesn't.

This book treats religion as a mixture of personal beliefs, family tradition, and community belonging, which is how I feel about my religion.

4. Homophobia scale - 2.5

Absolutely no mention of queerness at all. So it just gets the most medium score. There was no preaching but no gay people.

5. Mormon weird - 2

We had Dave explaining his green jello video project at one point, and a portrayal of Mormon wedding reception in the church gym (someone in Dave's ward at the beginning of the book). But overall it was light on the things that make Mormonism unique. Which I think worked for the story it was telling but does get it a low score in this area. It made me feel all the more represented for that I think.

6. Diversity of characters - 4

There are only like, two white girls in the whole story. Everybody else is Punjabi/Indian. Although that's really just one demographic, I am giving it a high score here because of how much it showed of Punjabi culture, and how much respect and honor those traditions were shown by the narrative. It wasn't just a ton of token characters, it was genuinely working to share a kind of story that doesn't always get told.

7. Other problematic stuff - 5

Didn't notice anything more of note.

Conclusion:

This is the kind of story I wish I had been able to read in high school. This is the kind of book I could recommend to someone as just, genuinely a good story and also it includes mormons. And Mormons done well! I feel like a lot of Mormon media I've seen focused a lot at making fun of ourselves, and I love that this book doesn't do that at all.

The end was heartbreaking. But I like that it allowed each character their choice, and it gave honor to prioritizing something other than romantic love.