Wife No. 19 (Ann Eliza Young)

Why I have this book: I don't even remember how it came to my attention, but it was only $1.99 for the Kindle edition, so I bought it.

This book was written in 1875 by an (ex) wife of Brigham Young. I haven't looked into it, but I'm guessing she's the only one who made the move to divorce him, although if she is to be believed, most of the others should have done the same.

I'm trying to voice what I think. The book itself was easy to read (although there were plenty of typos), and the things she wrote about were compelling and interesting. Some things were very disturbing, especially her description of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Enough of what she wrote coincides with things I read in Saints Volume One (history of the Mormon church published by the Church itself) to find her accounts believable. I tried to do at least a short Google research on things I questioned, and I either verified what she said or found nothing at all on some of her claims. I honestly can't say it feels like she's lying. Maybe there were things she "heard" and took as truth, but she did mention a few times that she hadn't been able to verify something that she was sharing, so it feels like she was being careful in what she wrote.

Some of the things happened before she was born, so she obviously was using the memories of others and was writing about things she didn't actually witness herself. That doesn't mean they aren't true, though.

Overall, the picture she paints is that the early Church was very much like what we read about the FLDS Church led by Warren Jeffs. The author alluded to NOT sharing things that "decency and womanly modesty forbid [her] even hinting at." She says those things make what she did share "tame in comparison." And what she did share was already enough to conclude there was a lot of evil happening in the early Church.

It's possible she was just a disgruntled polygamous wife and bitter woman and made it all up or at least exaggerated points just to get her 15-minutes of fame (whatever that looked like in 1875). I don't think so, though. There were probably two stories she told that made me think, "Um... that seems like a stretch..." where I also couldn't verify them nor dispute them through my own (short) research.

I guess if I had to put a number on it, I'd say I believe somewhere between 80-90% minimum of what she wrote. I'm not sure every single polygamous wife was as unhappy as she made them out to be (without exception), and I don't think all men were as awful as she suggested. The Church acts like only a small number of men and women actually practiced polygamy, but she paints a very different picture. I'm not sure which to believe, but I do think the Church has more reason to downplay polygamy than she did to lie about that.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads. 

There is a description of the Mountain Meadow Massacre which is very difficult to read, as well as other acts of violence and murder that are just awful. She talks about situations involving suspected adultery (or were they classified as "plural marriage?"), but nothing sexual is described at all. I don't recall if there is any swearing. If there is, it is mild and infrequent.

Actually, I'm Not Okay (Danny Baker)

Why I have this book: I bought it as part of a series on depression from The Depression Project. I honestly don't know how it came to my attention, but the books were inexpensive, so I bought them.

So from what I can tell online, this book was only 45 pages long. It's unnumbered when I look at the book on my iPhone Kindle app, so I can't verify that at the moment, but it sure seemed longer than that. It's more of a document/pdf that I sent to my Kindle, so it's not even a real book in the sense that it was published by mainstream publishing. However, someone had added it to Goodreads, so I was able to add it to my "read" shelf.

I gave it two stars on Goodreads. I felt like a lot of it was redundant. I do feel like after reading this book, I can conclude that I don't suffer from depression. Do I get down at times? Sure. Do I have situations in my life that make me sad? Yeah, I do. But I don't suffer from the kind of depression talked about or described in this book. I'm grateful for that.

Maybe if someone suffers from the kind of depression the book describes, it would be more helpful than it was for me.

Clean. I don't remember anything offensive. It's possible there was a swear word or two, but I can't be sure on that. To be honest, I skimmed a bit of it just because it was redundant.

The Good Sister (Sally Hepworth)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library because I liked another book the author wrote.

I liked this one a lot, as well. It's a real page-turner, and ended with a bit of a creepy jive. Nothing gory or graphic or over-the-top for me, and I'm pretty sensitive to that type of thing.

Her writing totally sucks me in, so I'll be watching for her next book that's coming up in a few months.

There were probably a few swear words, including maybe an F-word here and there. Premarital sex happens (not described), and it's in the realm of "no big deal, this is common in today's age."

Of Literature and Lattes (Katherine Reay)

Why I have this book: I bought it because I've read and enjoyed other books by the author. I actually bought it at the same time I bought the previously reviewed first book in the series (The Printed Letter Bookshop) with a gift card my friend gave me for my birthday. (So kind and thoughtful!)

Well, I had high hopes for this book since I enjoyed the first in the series so much, but sadly, I just couldn't get into this one. I can't decide if I didn't enjoy it as much because I didn't spend as much time in it, or if I didn't spend as much time in it because I didn't enjoy it that much. I had a hard time believing the main love story... the male half of the love match seemed like a pretty immature guy. Nice, but immature. I didn't really "feel" them fall in love. It just kinda happened. The female protagonist was also immature, but apparently was also brilliant. Her personality didn't really tie into her brilliance very well. I don't know. It just didn't all mesh for me.

Also, in this book and the previous one, the author used the word "cacophonous" several times. I just feel like when an uncommon word or phrase is overused, it becomes distracting. (Or maybe everyone else uses the word "cacophonous" and I'm the odd one out?)

So... I gave it two stars on Goodreads. 

Clean.

The Printed Letter Bookshop (Katherine Reay)

Why I have this book: I really liked other books by this author, and I do like "bookshop" themed books, so...

I really liked this one. A lot. I wish I could have given it 4.7 stars, but (again) I can't, so I went with four stars. I almost did five stars, but then I remember books like Unbroken or classics that earned five stars, and it's just not in the same category... but man, it was close. I really, really liked it. A lot. (Haha... I should just give it five stars.)

It reminded me of The Newport Ladies' Book Club books because it was told from different perspectives. I loved the theme of friendship and womanhood (and the struggles we seem to have as life goes through different phases) and the books... the quotes from books and the book list in the back. It was all just perfect for me right now.

I loved this quote: "Love in action is a hard and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams."

And... it's clean. I don't remember any swearing. (Wait... I just mentioned this in the last review I did of one of her books a few days ago.) I LOVE this about this author. Thank you for writing clean books! (In case she ever sees this... haha...) There is a backstory of an extramarital affair, but it's with regret and sorrow, not acceptance.

The Blue Castle (L.M. Montgomery)

Why I have this book: I think I've read it twice before in paperback, but got the Kindle edition for a steal a few years ago.

I love this book. Apparently it was a bit scandalous when it was published since society felt like Ms. Montgomery was a children's author, and this one is for adults. I can see how it raised a few eyebrows, but obviously, it's nothing compared to even mainstream books that are published these days.

In any case, I gave it five stars on Goodreads. It's funny, sweet, romantic, sad at times, and an overall enjoyable read.

Interestingly, this book uses the word "dope" in it, which was also used in Blue, which I reviewed earlier this week. In this book, it wasn't hard to figure out how it fit in... she was talking about medicinal concoctions. In the other book, they were talking about soda. It's interesting how words are used differently at different times in history or in different regions of the world.

Also, two quotes that struck me:

"The moment when a woman realises that she has nothing to live for - neither love, duty, purpose, nor hope - holds for her the bitterness of death." ("Realises" is how it is spelled in the book... Spellcheck isn't liking it.)

"I've been trying to please other people all my life and failed... After this I shall please myself. I shall never pretend anything again. I've breathed an atmosphere of fibs and pretences and evasions all my life. What a luxury it will be to tell the truth! I may not be able to do much that I want to do but I won't do another that I don't want to do..." (Again, the spelling of "pretences" is from the book.)

Clean by today's standards. There's a bit of underlying sensuousness and a few mild swear words. One character had a baby out-of-wedlock (which was one reason this book was considered scandalous).  

A Handful of Stars (Cynthia Lord)

Why I have this book: I bought it on Kindle for my daughter a couple of years ago.

I liked this book quite a bit. It's for the younger ages... upper elementary to junior high, but I thought it was great as an adult reader. It's a good tale of friendship that is meaningful, but not heavy. 

I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

Clean.