Sunday in Outer Blogness: Books edition!

Yay, Mormon Alumni Association Books is finally taking off! I just got the first proof copy of our first book in the mail:

Now I need to do some work on updating the website — the current list of books there is a list of recommended titles from other publishers — plus I would like to start contacting people about reviews, publicity, etc. And on that note, let me start this SiOB with all of the book-related items that have shown up in my LDS-interest newsfeed over the past fortnight!

For example, By Common Consent’s press has just announced a batch of new books including a version of the Song of Solomon!

Here are some other recent reviews:

• Moth and Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death
• The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth and Corporate Power
• a film: I Am Elizabeth Smart, and
• a selection of favorite Christmas books for kids!

And here’s the one that I just got done purchasing for myself: Dendo! My personal favorite genre to read for pleasure is comic-book memoirs about life in other countries — and this one has the bonus of being about Sister Missionaries!! (A fascinating group, tragically underrepresented in the missionary-memoir genre.)

And here’s a fantastically fun but not-quite-Mo-related (though Mormons get a mention) book discussion — Ana Mardoll is reading another book I’m dying to read: Prairie Fires, the new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, which gives a bunch of additional context to the beloved children’s series.

In news, some Mormons are not happy that the leadership of the CoJCoL-dS had such a cordial meeting with Donald Trump — and particularly didn’t like them complimenting Trump on his commitment to religious freedom, considering Trump’s attempts to explicitly discriminate against Muslims.

Also, despite lingering transparency problems, the CoCJoL-dS has also started subtly adding the infamous hat to some pictures of Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon translation process! Speaking of the Book of Mormon, Alex had finally finished deconstructing the last few chapters.

Sadly, the CoJCoL-dS completely shuts women out of any say in how the church is run:

My stake president felt that Mystery General Authority actually did appreciate my effort, was complimentary about the report’s quality and not at all defensive about its content. According to Mystery General Authority, they were already working on some of the policy changes I had suggested and after reading my report, were now considering some of the other suggestions that I had made that they had not thought of before (Which suggestions? I dunno).

That General Authority’s anonymous response had been vague, kind, noncommittal and nonthreatening. It wasn’t a good response, nor was it a bad one.

But when I told fellow Exponent blogger EmilyCC about what he said, her response was perfect. “April,” she said. “How do you feel about that?”

Well, I felt frustrated. This cleverly crafted response precluded any follow-up on my part as an advocate, and any accountability on the part of priesthood leaders. Even as priesthood leaders promised change, they upheld patriarchy by excluding me.

And here’s an interesting related church news item: there’s a popular idea that universities and businesses use affirmative action to give women and minorities over white males (who get in on their merits and/or connections), but it turns out that BYU until recently had an admissions policy that explicitly favored men over their more-qualified female counterparts. But maybe things can change.

In Mormon culture, imagine living in this amazingly Mormon town! And Jeremy Runnells is putting out another version of the CES letter.

In theology, Lynette would prefer a less micro-managing God, Stephen Marsh discussed what is doctrine, Knotty mused about baptising Trump’s parents for the dead, and hawkgrrrl analysed why people go to church.

Some current and former Mormons are also talking about non-Mo-related stuff like terrible films and reading letters from the WWII archive!

And let’s close with a joke that is very timely… Happy reading!