This Month in Mormon Literature, Early January 2015

Several end of the year best-of lists are out, with Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance being the most-often mentioned. Scott Hales ended his Garden of Enid graphic web-series,  much to the sadness of its many readers. He immediately began a new series, Mormon Shorts. There has been a enjoyable uptick in Mormon literary criticism. Mette Ivie Harrison’s long-anticipated mystery The Bishop’s Wife and Josi Kiplack’s last Sadie Hoffmiller mystery Wedding Cake have been released. Jared Hess and Greg Whitely have new movies premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.

Please send any announcements, news, or corrections to mormonlit AT gmial DOT com.

End of the Year lists

Amazon 2014 Best Books of the Year; Science Fiction and Fantasy (20 books) included Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance.

Amazon 2014 Best Romances (20 total): Charlie Holmberg, The Paper Magician. (Which is a funny designation, it looks more like a YA fantasy).

Kirkus’ Best Children’s Chapter Books (6 total) included Shannon and Dean Hale’s The Princess in Black.

Barnes & Noble Best Teen Books of 2014 (16 total) included Ally Condie’s Atlantia and James Dashner’s The Rule of Thoughts.

Dahlia Adler. B&N Book Blog. The Best Contemporary YA Romance of 2014 (6 total). On the Fence, by Kasie West
. A truly adorable book about a girl named Charlie who’s surrounded by testosterone and starts to find her feminine side while falling for the boy next door. West stole my heart with her first contemporary YA romance, The Distance Between Us, and though this cute, fun summer read feels a little more light and predictable (as the friends-to-lovers trope tends to be), I loved the family dynamics even more. Most importantly, West holds up as one of the queens of romantic YA banter, which ensures I’ll be buying all her contemporary romances from here on out.

Carys Bray’s A Song for Issy Bradley was one of 12 books on The Sun Book Club top reads of 2014.

Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance won the Audible Listener Favorites of 2014, for Best audio books, voted by listeners. Sanderson won in 2013 as well, with Steelheart. The book also received “Best in Fantasy”. Also in Top 20: Monster Hunter Nemesis, by Larry Correia. One of 18 “Editor’s Picks” was Laura Andersen’s The Boleyn King. “Andersen has created a world in which the infamous ladies’ man King Henry VIII did not behead his second wife, Anne Boleyn, but remained married to her after she gave birth to a son destined to be king. At once a tale of intrigue, romance, and suspense – with a dash of political mind games – Andersen’s creation is an addictive alternate history. Esteemed narrator Simon Vance lends his voice to the series that just gets better with each book.”

There were six Mormon-authored finalists in the GoodReads Choice Awards 2014.

▪   Fantasy: Brandon Sanderson, Worlds of Radiance. 2^nd place.

▪   Horror: Larry Correia, Monster Hunter Nemesis. 10^th place.

▪   Science Fiction: Orson Scott Card and Aaron Jonson. Earth Awakes. 10^th place.

▪   Young Adult Fiction: Kasie West, On the Fence. 14^th place.

▪   Middle Grade & Children’s: Jennifer A. Nielsen, The Shadow Throne. 8^th place.

▪   Middle Grade & Children’s: Brandon Mull, Five Kingdoms. 12^th place.

7 Mormon books that changed the conversation in 2014. Jana Reiss, Flunking Sainthood. “Funniest memoir: Craig Harline’s hilarious, honest, and self-deprecating Way Below the Angels: The Pretty Clearly Troubled but Not Even Close to Tragic Confessions of a Real Live Mormon Missionary (Eerdmans) is one of my favorite books of the year . . . Gentlest consolation literature: On this blog we spent five weeks reading The Crucible of Doubt (Deseret Book) and discussing it together. I’ve never allotted that much time to a single book before, but that’s how impressed I was by the loving, reflective guide to doubt and Mormon questioning that Terryl and Fiona Givens offered readers. This book (and the many firesides and events related to it) is opening new avenues in how Mormons speak about doubt. The fact that it was released by the Church’s official publishing house is a good sign of greater frankness. Most influential book about women in the Church: It’s been a rough year for Mormon feminists, but for me one bright spot is a growing contingent of moderate voices that are pushing for incremental change. They aren’t advocating for priesthood, but recommending many administrative and policy changes that can empower women without changing doctrine. Neylan McBaine’s book Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact (Greg Kofford Books) is breaking ground in this area. As a manual for grassroots change at the local level, I hope it will be read by many who support a stronger role for women even if they aren’t comfortable with more radical change . . . Grittiest narrative about polygamy: It’s clearly been a banner year in the Harline family, because this absorbing book based on the diaries and letters of 19th-century polygamous wives is by Paula Kelly Harline, who is married to the memoirist Craig. What I liked most about The Polygamous Wives Writing Club (Oxford) was its effort to let ordinary women speak for themselves. Wisest Dear Abby book for Mormon Millennials: Don’t be misled by the hideous cover to this [Letters to a Young Mormon] brief epistolary jewel by Miller, a professor in Texas. That old adage about not judging a book by its cover has never been more true, because this series of short letters to a hypothetical young Mormon is outstanding and so worth your time. Arranged around topics like sin, scripture, agency, prayer, and the temple, the book offers friendly guidance from a fellow pilgrim who nimbly balances faith and doubt. I love that it is theologically informed but written accessibly, with a pastor’s heart . . . Most pioneering book on Mormon theology:  Does Terryl Givens ever sleep? His new book Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity (Oxford) is not written for a general audience like The Crucible of Doubt. But if you are up for an enlightening scholarly tour of Mormon beliefs and how they have (or haven’t) changed over time, take the time to read this . . . Most gripping suspense novel: . . . don’t start reading Mette Ivie Harrison’s new mystery The Bishop’s Wife (Soho Press) unless you’re prepared to stay up late to finish it. It’s that riveting.

KUER Radio West. 2014 Holiday Book Show. Featuring representatives from thee Utah independent bookstores. Among there recommendations is Braden Hepner, Pale Harvest. “A very talented young author. It is a dark, bleak, sad story, but beautiful . . . The story of a young man trying to keep a family-owned dairy farm alive in the face of never-ending work, exhaustion, and shrinking profits, and a small town that is dying the thousands of deaths that small towns in the west die every day these days. It is lovely. There is a woman who comes into the picture from Salt Lake with her worldly ways, who sweeps him off his feet . . . all he wants to do is marry her and settle down a run the dairy farm the way he thinks it should be run, and all he gets in this book is not that. But it is one of those books that is brilliant because it is sad, because it treats a very difficult subject truthfully, and with beauty.” Also recommended, Chris Crowe, Death Coming up the Hill, Shannon and Dean Hale, The Princess in Black, and Ally Condie, Atlantia.

The 2014 Swoony Awards, presented by Bookworm Nation for “clean fiction” were announced. 1700 votes were cast. Best Novel of the Year: As You Are by Sarah M Eden. Best YA Contemporary Romance; Just One Wish by Janette Rallison. Best New Adult Contemporary Romance: Dreaming of Ivy by Shannon Guymon. Best Paranormal Romance: Spirit of the Knight by Debbie Peterson. Best YA Paranormal Romance: Discern by Andrea Pearson. Best Historical Fiction: Hope Springs by Sarah M Eden. Best Regency Romance: As You Are by Sarah M Eden. Best High Fantasy Romance: Missing Lily by Annette K Larsen. Best Anthology: The Fortune Café by Julie Wright, Melanie Jacobson & Heather B Moore. Katie’s Choice: Under a Georgia Moon by Cindy Roland Anderson. Kathy Jo’s Choice: Dreaming of Ivy by Shannon Guymon. Heidi’s Choice: As You Are by Sarah M Eden.

Jennie Hansen Top Ten (Plus a Few) LDS novels of 2014.

News and blog posts

Scott Hales ended his Garden of Enid graphic web-series, much to the sadness of its many readers. He immediately began a new series, Mormon Shorts, featuring short Mormon comics. Scott thereby revealed that he was the author of the Mormon Shorts twitter feed, where he had been anonymously publishing humorous micro-Mormon fiction for the last year. For now on anything Scott will be a suspect for any anonymous works that show up.

Vote in the 2nd Annual #MormonPoetrySlam.

LDS.net is holding an LDS-themed poetry contest in January. Poems must be themed in Mormon culture, history, or beliefs fitting the tone and purpose of LDS.net. Original, previously unpublished poems are welcomed. Limit 5 submissions per participant. Email your poem with your full name to submit@ldsnet.email by January 31 at midnight MST.

In reply to Michael Austin’s essay “The Brief History and Perpetually Exciting Future of Mormon Literary Studies”, Scott Hales wrote “Still Dawning?: A Response to Michael Austin”, and Wm Morris wrote “Mormon literary criticism’s chicken and egg problem”. Hooray for literary criticism!

Emma Lou Thayne, a giant in Mormon literature, passed away on December 6, 2014, at the age of 90. She was a noted author of poetry, fiction, essays, hymns, and travel stories, as well as her work as an educator, coach, LDS Young Women’s board member, and Deseret News board member. I did a memorial article on her life, bibliography and links to tributes. Here are two more recent articles. Funeral Lessons from Emma Lou Thayne, by Kate Holbrook (Patheos). Salt Lake Tribune article on Thayne’s funeral, by Peggy Fletcher Stack.

Edward Herrmann, a stage and screen actor known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his role on the Gilmore Girls, died at age 71 on December 31. Herrmann was not a Mormon, but he appeared in several Mormon/Utah-made films in recent years, including A Christmas Wish (Craig Clyde, 2011), Redemption: For Robbing the Dead (Thomas Russell, 2011), Christmas Oranges (John Lyde, 2012), and Heaven’s Door (Craig Clyde, 2013). He was also the narrator for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s 2008 Christmas concert.

Orson Scott Card gave a TED talk at Utah State University. “Creative Education-How To Keep the Spark Alive in Children.

The Good Word Podcast Interviews: Lyle Mortimer, founder and CEO of Cedar Fort Books, and singer/actor in the Utah Lyric Opera Society.Terri Pontius, widow of the author John Pontius.

A Meridian Magazine feature about Gerald N. Lund.

Jennifer Quist on writing Love Letters of the Angels of Death.

The weird world of Mormon pop-song parodies. An article about Mormon youth-made YouTube videos, by a non-Mormon. (Death and Taxes).

Theater

For Tonight, an indie-rock/folk musical (music and lyrics by Shenelle Williams and Spencer T. Williams, book by Whitney Rhodes, Spencer T.Williams and Shenelle Williams) will be performed on January 18 at the Goodspeed Opera House in New York City, as part of The 10th annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals. For Tonight’s story is inspired by the life of one of the writer’s great-great-great-grandfather in the 1830’s in Northern Wales/Liverpool. When their parents die of a mysterious illness in their small Welsh village, surviving siblings Thomas, Haydon and Nettie are forced to fend for themselves. Inspired by the gypsies who once shared their home, Haydon heads off to Liverpool, guitar in hand, to find what he’s been missing. There he meets Mirela who speaks to his wandering soul. Through a riveting indie-rock/folk score, For Tonight explores the indelible power of home.  For Tonight made its professional debut in the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival in July as a developmental reading and was the first reading in the history of the festival to be extended, adding a fourth performance of a concert version of the show.

Utah Theatre Bloggers Association UTBA reviewers sound off: EXCELLENCE IN 2014. UTBA reviewers celebrate the best of the 200 plays they reviewed in 2014. “Excellent New Plays. Melissa Leilani Larson‘s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice performed at BYU is one that I hope may see an extended life in Utah and the rest of the country. This show I believe captured the essence of Jane Austen and touts a strong script ideal for both professional and community theaters. Yes, there as many beloved film versions and spoofs already, but this well paced script should help any audience be transported in the visceral way only theatre can. —Zach Archuleta, UTBA reviewer.Who thought two economists standing on a chapel roof could be anything more than scholarly joke? Eric Samuelsen. The 2013-14 “Season of Eric” at Plan-B concluded earlier this year. Audiences were treated to a breadth of drama from this local playwright: all world premieres, all timely pieces. Samuelsen’s Clearing Bombs at Plan-B Theatre brought economics to the theatre, and I think it surprised a lot of us how much we enjoyed it. Though maybe we shouldn’t have been all that surprised. —Dave Mortensen, UTBA founding editor

Tim Slover. A Joyful Noise. Covey Center for the Arts, Provo, December. Russell Warne, UTBA Review. “At the Covey Center for the Arts Joyful Noise is an annual tradition, and it’s not hard to see why. Tim Slover‘s script (which I have praised before) is sublime, funny, and supremely literary. And although a message of redemption and spiritual healing is central to the play, Slover never veers into didaticism or maudlin emotion. Instead, Slover has created a work that would be acceptable to people of almost any religious persuasion—or none at all. As a result, the Covey Center has found a show that appeals year after year and offers a touching message appropriate for the Christmas or Easter holidays.Under the direction of David Hanson, this production is strong enough to warrant clearing an evening during the busy December season to see the show. Hanson uses the tight space of the Covey Center’s black box efficiently, and he was able to manage some of the complex moments (such as in front of the theater or during the last sermon) without causing any confusion . . . This production of Joyful Noise is one of the strongest of the four that I have seen. The love and care involved with this production keep Joyful Noise from devolving into a slavish, soulless annual ritual (like some local recurring stage productions). The result is a pleasing show and an important reminder of the central component of the Christmas season.”

Mahonri Stewart. Evening Eucalyptus (Marilyn Brown, AML). “The story rings a bit like something our Western citizens might write about the beliefs of the Native American culture. The plot presents a visit to the past that includes basic synergy and its haunting influences in our lives . . . The production at the old downtown Provo Library, now the Echo Theater, was adequate, but not perfect. As usual, probably “more money” would have helped . . . However, I was touched by the excellent writing and the introduction to the Aborigine culture. Mahonri is a masterful writer (as we all know) and it is always a pleasure to grapple intellectually with what his clever mind produces time after time.”

Salt Lake Tribune Op-ed: Why is ‘Book of Mormon’ play tolerated and even praised? By Kate Wilson. “Such religious ridicule would never be deemed acceptable directed at other religions. Imagine what would happen if a musical titled The Torah or The Quran hit Broadway, similarly demeaning the beliefs and lifestyles of their respective religions. Protests and claims of anti-Semitism and racism would inevitably break out . . . It is clear that a double standard has been created in our culture when it comes to religious satire. Amidst an attempt to maintain political correctness, we have ironically overlooked the fact that it is neither consistent nor universal.

A fully-orchestrated original cast album of the Erica Glenn and Melissa Leilani Larson’s musical Weaver of Raveloe has been released on iTunes.

Single Wide, a musical by Jordan Kamalu (music and lyrics) and George Nelson (book and lyrics) that premired at BYU in March, was accepted as a finalist for the New York Musical Theater Festival.

James Arrington. The Farley Family Xmas . SCERA, Dec. 15 – 20. “Playing for the LAST TIME (yes, I mean that).”

“Does God Exist On Stage? Theater and Religion” by Jonathan Mandell (Howlround). Could the theater offer to both theater artists and theatergoers a kind of substitute for the awe they felt as children towards a religion that they no longer can as readily accept intellectually or morally?

Playwright Nathan Christensen, currently located in Oklahoma, has been doing a regular column at the New Musical Theater blog.

Short stories and essays

Matthew James Babcock. “My Nazi Dagger“. War, Literature, & the Arts, An International Journal of the Humanities. Vol. 26, 2014.  

Nancy Fulda. “Recollection”. In Carbide Tipped Pens, Ben Bova and Eric Choi, editors. TOR, Dec. 2. An anthology of new hard SF stories that follow the classic definition of the genre, in which some element of science or technology is so central to the plot that there would be no story if that element were removed. The aim of the editors was to collect stories which emphasize plot, character, science, originality and believability in equal measure, not only to entertain readers but also to educate and to return the sense of wonder of the Golden Age to a new generation of 21st Century readers.

Brad Torgersen. “The General’s Guard.” In Riding the Red Horse. Edited by Tom Kratman and Vox Day. Castalia House, Dec. 12. Military science fiction stories.

New books and their reviews

Rachael Anderson. Rough Around the Edges Meets Refined. HEA Publishing, Dec. 15. Contemporary Romance. Meet Your Match #2.

JoLyn Brown. Run. Walnut Springs, Nov. 15. YA general. First novel. A 16-year old girl is shipped to a small town for the summer to live with aunts, and discovers family secrets, tries to heal her family.

Mindy, LDSWBR. 4 stars. “JoLyn does a great job of capturing teen-age issues in this book.  But, poor Morgan had quite a few . . . I really, really liked this book and I found that I didn’t want it to end.  I appreciated where the author went with the story and I loved the relationships that develop.  A tragedy occurred when Morgan was young that she has blocked out, and I loved the journey she takes to help herself and her parents heal.  The characters are strong and the story reads quick and is very well written.  I look forward to more from this author.”

Jennie Hansen. 5 stars. “She endures the angst of teenage romance, disastrous discoveries about her past, and questions her relationship to God. A well written YA novel.”

Shannen Crane Camp. Catching June. Sugar Coated Press, Dec. 6. YA romance. June #3. The adventures of a Hollywood starlet continue.

Michaelbrent Collings. Twisted. Self, Dec. 9. Horror. An evil killer ghost stalks a family.

Jared Garrett. Beyond the Cabin. Self, Dec. 1. YA Contemporary. Based on the author’s own experiences being raised in a splinter sect of Scientology called the Process and later called the Foundation Faith of God. The author left the group at age 17, and joined the LDS Church at 19.

Daron D. Fraley review. “A sometimes disturbing, sometimes enlightening journey into the confines of a reclusive cult where fourteen-year-old Joshua Kerr just wants to grow up normal, in a normal family. His internal struggle to rise above fear and anger—and his ultimate success in doing so—greatly contrasts the false images of piety portrayed by the neglectful and controlling adults of the group. The scenes of cold indifference, glaring hypocrisy, and swift injustice will have the reader cheering for Joshua’s plans for escape. But what Joshua ends up doing, in the end . . . or rather what he discovers about himself . . . will truly touch the reader’s heart. One of the best books I have read this year.”

Kari Gray (Nancy Campbell Allen) Dark Destiny.  Self, Dec. 4. New Adult Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy. Set in New Orleans. First in a trilogy of novellas. 

R. C. Hancock. An Uncommon Blue. Sweetwater Books, Dec. 9. YA SciFi/Systopian. Color Blind #1. Caste-bound future society.

Reading For Sanity. 3.5 stars. “Hancock has created a whole world with a whole history and just thrusts the reader into the middle of it.  His characters are well-developed, they grow (or don’t, depending on whether they should), they evolve, and they demand you care about them.  The story moves very quickly – sometimes, a little too quickly.  I had too many questions about the fire: why fire?  What was the purpose of the fire? Why the caste system?  And why are Melanges (mixed colors) more valuable than pure Reds or Greens?  Some of my questions were answered as I read, but those that weren’t, and the terminology Hancock uses, had my head spinning. That being said, however, the story was enough to incite me to keep going.  While rather predictable, I definitely wouldn’t mind checking out the upcoming second book of this series.  Some of the side characters I care too much about to never see again.  Some, I just want to see get their just desserts, and some are just too deliciously insane to cast aside.  I want to know what happens!  And I want answers!”

Mette Ivie Harrison. The Bishop’s Wife. Soho Crime, Dec. 31. Mystery. A Draper, Utah Bishop’s wife investigates possible disappearances in her ward. First in a projected series. The first adult mystery by Harrison, who has had several YA novels published in the past. For reviews and discussion, see my review round-up, and Theric’s posts at AMV.

Stacy Henri. Hope Rising. Forever, Dec. 16. Historical romance. Of Love and War #2. An American nurse and soldier meet in France in WWI.

Josi Kilpack.Wedding Cake. Shadow Mountain, Dec. 30. Culinary Mystery. Sadie Hoffmiller #12. The conclusion of the popular series ends with a battle between Sadie and her nemesis at her wedding.

Provo City Library Staff. “Kilpack has ramped up the action in her final book, making this one of the fastest-moving books in her series. This will be a great conclusion to fans of the series, but don’t try to read it if you haven’t read the rest of the series, as the author brings back a lot of characters from her earlier books. On top of the action, devotees of the series will be glad to see a conclusion to the long-term relationship between Sadie and Pete. This is a fun and exciting read for lovers of the series.”

Mindy, LDSWBR. 5 stars. “Prepare your life for not getting anything else done until you finish this book.  The epilogue is so lovely, it had me smiling through my tears. This book is everything I wanted it to be with many surprises mixed in.  Again, Jane doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to Sadie and the people she loves.  It was fun to have the other book’s mysteries mentioned and their characters.  Sadie will forever be one of my all-time favorite characters, and Pete is including on that list as well.  Sadie is nothing short of amazing, as is the author who created her.”

Robin M. King. Remembrandt. Walnut Sprints, Oct. 31. YA adventure. First novel. 17-year old with an eidetic memory studies at Brown, and gets involved with codes and secret missions.

Mindy, LDSWBR. 4 stars. “I really enjoyed this book.  Alex is an amazing girl.  I was fascinated by her eidetic memory and all of its possibilities.  This book has one adventure after another . . . Alex’s adventures are very page-turning and I can’t wait to see what is next for her.”

Sara B. Larson. Ignite. Scholastic, Dec. 30. YA fantasy. Defy #2. Sword and sorcery, the King’s most valued guard has been outed as a girl, she pines for the king and faces magical villains.

Kirkus: “A girl fighter fights evil in a midseries time filler . . . o dark magic or potential war with the Blevonese can distract Alexa from her Very Important Love Triangle with two bland blank slates. Adequate heroic fantasy only for those who must have every girl-with-a-sword.”

SLJ: “This fast-paced fantasy novel laced with political intrigue spends a lot of time in Alexa’s head as she is torn between her duty as the finest personal guard to her king and a desperate desire to be with her soul mate. Jealousy is a common theme with these realistic characters, examining the complicated ramifications of one person’s decisions. Antion’s politics add a level of depth to the world-building without being too distracting or overbearing. Readers who enjoy love stories that include multifaceted relationships and a suspenseful plot will be enthralled.”

RT Book Reviews. 4.5 stars. “A fast-paced adventure filled with suspense, romance and the fight to follow your instincts, Ignite lives up to its predecessor . . . Her world continues to leap off the page, wrapping readers in mystery, romance and a story they won’t be able to put down.”

Gerald N. Lund. Only the Brave. Deseret, Dec. 8. LDS historical. San Juan Pioneers #2. Stand-alone sequel to 2009’s The Undaunted, about LDS pioneers in southeastern Utah.

James A. Owen. The Twentieth Anniversary Nearly-Complete Essential Starchild. Self, December. Graphic novel. “The massive, beautiful book that was funded by a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign is now available to purchase. Everything that was ever published in the StarChild comics by James A. Owen — and a lot of additional material — is included in this 704 page limited edition hardcover. All of the stories, including the first two storylines, AWAKENINGS and CROSSROADS; the “Little Neil” short stories from the anthology NEGATIVE BURN; the long story “Hobblesmith;” the unfinished MYTHOPOLIS chapters that have never been reprinted; all the development sketches and notes; guest illustrations and art features from some of James’s pro friends; literally everything that had been associated with the title StarChild.”

J. Scott Savage. Fire Keep. Self, Dec. 16. Middle grade fantasy. Farworld #4. The first three volumes were published by Shadow Mountain.

Paige Timothy. Just Desserts. Trifecta Books, Dec. 2. Contemporary Romance. Main Street Merchants #4.

Laura L. Walker. Pierced by Love. Sweetwater/CFI, Dec. 9. LDS Contemporary Romance. LDS singles in Arizona in romance, family drama.

Dorine White. The Awakening. Skyrocket Press, Dec. 2. YA fantasy.

Reviews of older books

Julie Berry. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place (Thinking Through Our Fingers). “This book is funny and suspenseful and all kinds of clever. There are seven girls here, and each is so well-drawn and distinct that they feel absolutely authentic. I had such a great time reading this book, and don’t doubt that slightly older middle grade readers who are ready for a good mystery would absolutely devour it. Julie Berry is so fabulous at so many things, and this book is definitely another bright and brilliant feather in her cap.”

Marilyn Brown. Waking in Tombstone (Jennie Hansen, Meridian). 4 stars. “This is the kind of Western not often seen anymore. It’s gritty and honest, but the language is clean and the emphasis is on people, their motives and emotions, their hopes and dreams instead of playing up the gory aspects of the time and place. Brothels, gunfights, robberies and all of the trademarks of nineteenths century western lore are present and presented in a straight forward, honest manner without dwelling on the less savory aspects. There is sympathy shown for women who are widowed or orphaned, who find there are few respectable jobs available to women who must support themselves. This book will have a wide appeal, not just to Western fans, but to all those, both men and women, who simply enjoy a good story.”

Steve Diamond and Nathan Shumate, editors. Shared Nightmares. (The New Podler Review). Detailed review of all of the stories. “Editors Diamond and Shumate have done a fantastic job corralling these disparate tales into a cohesive collection. If you prefer your horror to be on the literary end of the spectrum, without the usual tired clichés, then check out Shared Nightmares.”

Matt Fraction & Lee Allred & Mike Allred & Joe Quinones. FF – Volume 2: Family Freakout (Theric). “This charming fan favorite is filled with metacomic humor and charming kid supers and gives Mike Allred everything he needs to be at his best. Plus, because it’s meta, we get to see how he draws himself and the missus. And brother Lee, when he comes in to take over writing from Matt Fraction, not only nails a seamless transition but excels. All good stuff. Probably even better if you’ve been baptized into the Marvel ethos.”

Eric Freeze. Hemmingway on a Bike (The Rumpus). “The 15 essays offer a new perspective on what it means to be a literary man. Freeze’s topics range from bike riding to foosball to superheroes to Angry Birds, while he searches for understanding, slogging through the boggy waters of the mundane in an attempt to uncover truths about the human condition . . . Hemingway On A Bike is diverse and insightful. Freeze transitions seamlessly from one topic to the next. In “Freebirth,” he struggles to chronicle the home birth of his daughter: “The lexicon of birth is visceral; it’s a scene, a paragraph, a sentence composed of grunts and swaying hips and breaths and blood. As a man, I can never truly speak this language. How do I describe the poetry of my wife’s birthing body?” He attempts to answer his own question by writing about another of his wife’s creations: a book about the pros and cons of giving birth outside the sterile walls of a hospital. With this juxtaposition, Freeze is able to accept his limited role in childbirth by focusing instead on his wife’s struggles with writing – a process of which Freeze has intimate knowledge. The result is an essay that reestablishes his role as a necessary presence in his wife’s life despite his inability to truly relate to her experience of giving birth.”

Sally Johnson.The Skeleton in my Closet Wears a Wedding Dress (Provo City Library Staff). “I will admit up front that this book was going to have to work hard to win me over. I found the title abysmal (but I object to most titles that could make a complete sentence) and the cover was almost offensively pink. The editing was terrible. For some unfathomable reason, the author chose to make her characters cook in terrycloth aprons. Even more unfathomable was that this fact has stuck firmly in my mind for the course of the entire book. I would like to have a discussion with the author about what terrycloth is and why it is unsuitable apron material, but great for bathrobes. So this book had an uphill battle with me. And, yet, in spite of all of my preconceived and mid-reading biases, I actually found this book quite enchanting. The plot tackles a difficult issue – divorce – head on, focusing a lot on Sophia’s depression and sense of loss, especially in a community that focuses so much on marriage. Her healing is the focus of the plot, not her return to the dating community, giving it a theme that most readers will be able to relate to in one way or another. A surprisingly engaging read – once you can get past your hangups.”

Kathryn H. Kidd. Paradise Vue (Theric). “For twenty years I’ve looked forward to reading what is, according to its back copy—presumably penned by Card—“the funniest Mormon novel ever published. . . . [and] also the best.” I finally bought it last January and finally picked it up recently.

Kathi Oram Peterson. Deceived (Jennie Hansen, Meridian) 5 stars. “Peterson keeps the suspense level high throughout this novel and springs a number of shocking surprises. She takes advantage of firsthand knowledge of a rugged area in Idaho to set a background that is authentic western, then adds decidedly modern technology. Her characters are modern ranchers with a blend of frontier necessity combined with the education and conveniences of today’s world. Her cowboys are as comfortable sitting at a computer as they are at saddling up and riding out.”

Linda Sillitoe’s The Thieves of Summer was the Salt Lake Tribune’s December Utah Lit book club selection. Ellen Fagg Weist, Salt Lake Tribune. Feature article on Linda Sillitoe’s last novel, The Thieves of Summer, which was Tribune’s December Utah Lit book club selection. “Sillitoe’s novel explores the darker side of Salt Lake City during the Great Depression, and both books pull plot threads from headline-making crimes of the period . . . In her writing, Sillitoe is remembered as “a bright star in contemporary Mormon literature and thought,” as Roberts puts it, known for her quiet voice and strong will. “She was one of these people that had kind of a conflicted relationship with the culture and the church,” he says. “She was of it and not in it, in a way. There was always that dynamic of conflict, and she really understood it and described it and used it in her work.” For a younger generation of writers, Sillitoe and her colleagues helped to open doors to a more realistic kind of Mormon writing. “She was publishing that kind of work in the 1980s when it was weird to be writing like that,” says Stephen Carter, editor of Sunstone magazine. “It helped push Mormon literature along because suddenly we had permission.” The book, too, is a cross-genre marvel, “an elephant of a book,” Carter says, another step in the maturing of Mormon fiction, with Sillitoe’s trademark ability to blend lightness and darkness. The family in the story is Mormon, for example, but their culture serves as part of the novel’s backdrop, rather than overtaking the story. One daughter is revealed to be something of a delinquent, while their son gets married quickly after his girlfriend becomes pregnant. Some sections of the book sink into the mind of a neighborhood pedophile in contrast to the sections told through the eyes of the family’s 11-year-old triplets. Those latter sections have a charming tone that’s “deliciously nostalgic,” as one early reader, Lavina Fielding Anderson, tells it. “Three-fourths of it I would be willing to recommend to the church book group, and the other one-fourth would freak them out, and that’s a strange mix to have in a book,” Carter says, admiringly. “It’s a book that almost doesn’t have a target audience.” Video of the Trib Talk conversation.

Karey White. The Match Maker (Shelah Books It). 3 stars. “Fans of The Husband Maker will undoubtedly be satisfied with The Match Maker. White does a nice job progressing the story in exactly the direction readers want it to go, while throwing some interesting complications in the way . . . The book is a quick, easy read. I finished it in a day, which tells me that I was compelled enough by the story to keep listening. I do think that the story spends a lot of time on details that could be omitted (bagel flavors, descriptions of clothing, etc…), and I’m not sure if it’s because I listened to the audiobook, but the dialogue tags (“Charlotte said,” “Angus said,” “everyone said”) started to grate on me after a while. I’m not sure if this was because of the reader or because there were entirely too many dialogue tags. That said, I enjoyed listening to The Husband Maker, and look forward to seeing how Charlotte can win Angus back in the third volume.”

Poetry

Simon Eggertsen. Memoires as Contraband. Finishing Line Press, Oct. Chapbook.

Film

Don Verdean. Directed by Jared Hess. Written by Jared and Jerusha Hess. Produced by Dave Hunter, Brandt Andersen, and Jason Hatfield (all BYU alums). Stars Sam Rockwell, Jermaine Clement, and Amy Ryan. Accepted to Sundance, Jan. 2015. “Don Verdean is a man of faith who has devoted his life to biblical archaeology, scouring the globe in search of artifacts that back up the teachings of Jesus Christ. Now, traveling from town to town, he and his devoted assistant, Carol, spread the gospel by peddling books and DVDs out of his shabby RV while his Holy Land contacts, Boaz and Shem, do the digging from afar. When evangelical preacher Tony Lazarus offers to bankroll Don’s modest roadside operation, the escalating pressure to find increasingly significant relics leads Don and his team down a less-than-righteous path. With more than just the word of God on the line, Don finds himself in the midst of a spiteful feud between two opposing congregations, leaving him to question what is truly important in life.  With a fantastic ensemble cast in tow, director Jared Hess returns to the Sundance Film Festival with this hilarious and biting satire that explores the thin line between faith and fabrication.” In an article that came out last April, the producers gave a shout out to their alma mater, the BYU film program.  “Having all got their start at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, (BYU) studying film, they have made it their business to keep the local movie activity robust as they continue to work together and build something really special for the Utah film industry.”

Most Likely to Succeed, directed by Greg Whiteley. Documentary, accepted to Sundance, Jan. 2015.  Where a college diploma once meant a guaranteed job, now more than half of America’s new college graduates are unable to find employment. Director Whiteley (Mitt, 2014 Sundance Film Festival) locates the source of the problem not in the economy, but in our educational system, which was developed at the dawn of the industrial age to train obedient workers and has changed little since, despite radical changes in the marketplace wrought by technology and the outsourcing of labor. With a world of information available a click away, and the modern workplace valuing skills like collaboration and critical thinking, our rote-based system of learning has become outdated and ineffective.  Charter schools like San Diego’s High Tech High, which replaces standardized tests and compartmentalized subjects with project-based learning and a student-focused curriculum, offer an alternative. Whiteley follows students, teachers, and parents to see if this different model can reawaken the love of learning and offer the potential for a paradigmatic shift in education.

Also coming in 2015 is Masterminds (formerly Loomis Fargo). Jared Hess, director. Script by Emily Spivey, rewritten by Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer. Stars Kristen Wiig, Zach Galifinakis, Jason Sudeikes, Owen Wilson, Kate McKinnon.

The screenwriting team of Hubbel Palmer and Chris Bowman have been identified in Variety two of the ten screenwriters to watch in Hollywood. Their first collaboration was Humble Pie, a 2007 film that Palmer wrote and starred in and Bowman directed.  “Bowman and Palmer instantly hit it off and now find themselves entrenched in a slew of productions, with “The Perfectionist,” adapted from a Wired article set up at Electric City Entertainment, a Participant Media production of James Patterson bestseller “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life” and “Superbago,” a Sony Pictures Animation comedy. The scribes also recently wrapped their first screenplay, “Masterminds” based on the story of criminal David Scott Ghantt.”

The regular entry deadline for the LDS Film Festival was December 15. The extended deadline is January 12.

Liahona, by Talena Sanders. Reviewed by Kevin Burtt, LDS Cinema Online. “A 69-minute documentary that represents her own meditations on Mormonism — an experimental and personal film that’s symbolically enlightening, beautiful, messy, and confusing in the same way . . . Sanders, an assistant professor of Media Arts at the University of Montana, takes an unorthodox approach to Liahona such that even the word “documentary” is misleading.   The film is neither an informational tract about the LDS Church, nor a detailed personal memoir about her spiritual journey through and out of Mormonism.   Rather, Liahona is an art project that combines LDS imagery, music, and voice-overs from decades-old Mormon PR material into a unorthodox package that may entrance, mystify, and annoy viewers in equal measure. Liahona’s documentary-as-visual-poetry approach instead of exposition — and abandonment of traditional documentary staples like talking head interviews — requires viewer patience2 in order to reap artistic rewards.  Sanders has a good eye for imagery, though, and while the voice-overs and historical tidbits are arranged for artistic not informational effect, there is enough organization to glean a few primary themes.  Sanders herself remains unseen, but her voice (and a few recorded conversations with LDS family and friends), provides helpful glimpses into her own spiritual journey . . . Liahona is successful enough with the abstract, artistic elements that its one disappointment is a tonally discordant section that attempts to brief viewers with an assortment of direct (and unsourced) “facts” . . . Regardless, Liahona is a good off-beat, experimental film — a passion project and resume/portfolio builder for a filmmaker with talent, who will undoubtedly move onto bigger and better things.  Finding an audience for this film (even given better distribution) may be problematic:  the lack of straight-forward information about Mormon culture will be an obstacle to non-LDS viewers, while the skeptical tone of the documentary — coming from a filmmaker who has all-but-officially “left the Church” — will alienate some faithful LDS viewers.   But for those interested in ‘unorthodox’ (in any sense of the word) explorations of Mormonism in film, Liahona is one to keep an eye on if it comes to your area.”

The Last Straw (Review by Kevin Burtt, LDS Cinema Online). B-. “Director Rob Diamond has assembled a cast with excellent chemistry, which is the film’s biggest strength.  The McDonald family (+ some friendly neighbors) are likable people with unforced, casual dialogue that sounds like an actual family who have known each other for years . . . All in all, The Last Straw gives us a great loving family and friendly neighbors to hang around . . . And this is actually a problem — the characters in The Last Straw are just too doggone nice!  Christmas films are designed to be ‘feel-good’ affairs so happy endings are a given.   But when the beginning and the middle are also happy, there’s no place for the narrative to go.   Obviously you wouldn’t expect author Paula Palangi McDonald (who wrote the original book based on her real-life family) to pretend her family was worse-behaved than they really were.   But if the ostensible premise is a family learning to love and serve one another through a memorable Christmas activity, and the filmmakers can’t give us a truly dysfunctional family in need of a Christmas miracle in the first place, then the ‘secret service’ tradition of placing straw is cute but ultimately meaningless. And more than simply lacking in drama, this ‘niceness’ undercuts the lesson of the film about charity and service.   Loving and serving people you care about is easy for just about everyone, but serving just the people you like already isn’t what “charity” is about . . . However, the professional cast and general cheerful spirit still make those scenes pleasant, and The Last Straw provides decent Christmas-themed entertainment for those interested in spending time with good people.  Deeper dives into the meaning of Christmas charity will have to wait.”

Nowhere Safe. Brian Brough, director, Brittany Wiscombe, screenplay. Candlelight Media. Broadcast on UPtv on Oct 5, then released DVD. About cyber bullying. It has received some very poor viewer reactions.

Dan Wells says that a film adaption of I am Not A Serial Killer under development now has a director (Billy O’Brien) and star attached (Max Records) to it.

Bestsellers

Dec. 21, 28, Jan. 4

Richard Paul Evans. The Mistletoe Promise

USA Today: #50, #60, #92 (5 weeks)

PW Hardcover: #10, #11, #15 (5 weeks). 13,552, 12,119, 12,094 units. 71,203 total.

NY Times Hardcover: #12, #15, #19 (5 weeks)

James Dashner. The Maze Runner

USA Today: #27, #25, #15 (56 weeks)

USA Today: (full series) #55, #56, #61 (14 weeks)

PW Children’s: #16, #14, #8 (20 weeks) 6788 , 9207, 17,786 units. 221,242 total.

NYT Children’s Series: #2, #2, #2 (115 weeks)

James Dashner. The Kill Order

USA Today: #136, #143, #86 (19 weeks)

PW Children’s: #12, #11, #9 (35 weeks) 8616, 15,853, 16,215 units. 226,317 total.

James Dashner. The Scorch Trials

USA Today: #49, #40, #29 (41 weeks)

James Dashner. The Death Cure

USA Today: #65, #58, #52 (43 weeks)

Shannon and Dean Hale. The Princess in Black

NY Times Middle Grade: #6, #7, #7 (6 weeks)

Shannon Hale. Ever After High: Once Upon a Time

PW Children’s: #18, x, #20 (8 weeks). 6334, 7435, 9355 units. 32,930 total.

RaeAnne Thayne. Snow Angel Cove

USA Today: #134, x, x (5 weeks)

RaeAnne Thayne. The Christmas Ranch

PW Mass Market: #11, #18, x (3 weeks). 9468, 6240 units. 21,635 total.

Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game

PW Sci-Fi: #8