Covenant Motherhood by Stephanie Dibb Sorensen is an inspiring book for Latter-day Saint mothers who wish to refresh their understanding of the Atonement and how covenants, the atonement, and the life and mission of Jesus Christ directly relate to their own role in their homes as mothers to children. As the mother of young children

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The Mormon Tabernacle Choir by Michael Hicks (University of Illinois Press, March 2015) is a biography of the choir itself. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I’ve grown up with the choir: songs during the biannual general conferences, recordings in my home. Because of my background, I was interested

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I Walked to Zion by Susan Arrington Madsen (Deseret Book, 1994) is a delightful collection of first person accounts of Mormon pioneers who traveled across the American Great Plains to Utah from the late 1840s to 1860s. Although the volume is probably intended for adults to read, the engaging and interesting stories of the pioneers have such

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Like historian Matthew Bowman, I am an active participant in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church. Bowman’s recent overview of the history and people of the Church, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith (published January 2012 by Random House), provides a different perspective

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Brigham Young: American Moses (by Leonard Arrington, first published in 1985) captures the unusual personality and able leadership of the controversial second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon church). Although I did not find Mr. Arrington’s text to be fascinating, the stories about Brigham Young were noteworthy, and I

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The life of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, although short, was full of faith and controversy. In his cultural biography, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, Richard Lyman Bushman approaches Joseph Smith’s life for all it was, without apology. Bushman does not omit controversy from Joseph’s life; rather, controversy surrounding Joseph is carefully researched in the

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