The fictional McKensies of Scotland and the fictional Pedersons of Norway are among the converts who, late in the season, set out for Zion during the inaugural year of the great Latter-day Saint handcart migration.  Three previous companies have made the trip without undue incident, but the lateness of the last two-one captained by James G. Willie and the other by Edward Martain-eventually causes them to be trapped by early winter snows in what is now Wyoming.  The disaster that results also provides the circumstances for people driven by the fire of their covenants with God to rise to heights of unsurpassed courage and endurance.  Part of the mixture of tragedy and triumph is the rescue effort that Brigham Young mounts when he finally learns of the emigrants' plight.  


This is officially my new favorite book right now.  If you are into mormon pioneer history, you are going to absolutely love this story about the Willie and Martain Handcart companies.  But a fair warning to all of you who cry easily...I was getting choked up in the Preface when author Gerald N. Lund was talking about how he came to write this book.    He took pioneer journals from those companies and used the stories in them to create this story, set to fictional characters.  This book seriously has something for everyone...romance, history, action, tragedy, and triumph.  One of my favorite parts of the book is at the end of every chapter, the author put chapter notes with stories from the pioneer journals, as well as history tidbits to give readers a better understanding of what was going on in that time period with the saints. I would highly recommend this book to any Latter-day Saint or even just anyone interested in history.  


Recommended by: Scott


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Sorry there was no new post today...I've been feeling under the weather so reading was the last thing on my mind.  I will do better next week!  I've got some great books in the next few weeks coming up!


Any recommendations for books you would like to see reviewed or ones that you have read that you would recommend?


Sincerely,
Kylee Brown

An underground classic since its first publication in 1996, Fight Club is now recognized as one of the most original and provocative novels published in this decade.  Chuck Palahniuk’s darkly funny first novel tells the story of a godforsaken young man who discovers that his rage at living in a world filled with failure and lies cannot be pacified by an empty consumer culture.  Relief for him and his disenfranchised peers comes in the form of secret after-hours boxing matches held in the basements of bars.  Fight Club is the brainchild of Tyler Durden, who thinks he has found a way for himself and his friends to live beyond their confining and stultifying lives.  But in Tyler’s world there are no rules, no limits, no brakes.

I've never seen the movie, but I'd always heard it was a pretty good movie.  This book is WAY different than I thought it would be.  I wouldn't really call this book good or bad.  It was in a few words, different, disturbing, and dark.  There is a pretty good twist at the end that really ties the entire thing together and a lot of things make sense.  The author's writing style is kind of hard to follow at first, and it took a while for me to get into.  But this is a short read, only about 200 pages, and for people that liked the movie, you will probably really like the book.  NOTE:  There is a lot of graphic language in this book for people who don't like to read books with that in it.  You can find this book new on Amazon.com for about $8.00 or used on Half.com for under $2.00.  

Recommended by:  Jess

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars