Welcome to Litsy!

Most recent book club pick! This one had been on my list for a long time so I‘m glad I finally got to read it, even if it was… a little hard to read at times ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a book club pick and I‘m really looking forward to the discussion next week. It was challenging and difficult to read at times but very interesting- going into the history of Joseph Smith and the Mormon church, the fundamentalists that broke away to pursue polygamy and the abuse & underage marriage that goes along with that.

Very interesting book about Mormon fundamentalists with, in parallel, historical information about the creation of the Mormon faith.

It's also the story of a true crime, the one committed by the brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty. Jon Krakauer also talks about the underage marriages and incestuous relationships in some of the fundamentalist communities. All these make for a difficult read, but it's a necessary one.

I like to check out the travel sections for books for my geographical Litsy challenges. I‘m not sure why this was in the travel section but it‘s been on my tbr a long time having read three other books by him. I was pleased to find it.

This was on my list for a billion years and did not disappoint. I may have a "slight" obsession with the FLDS and Warren Jeffs so a new insight is always welcome. I do feel this went more into the history of the religion and not as much into the crime commited so I wish I would have seen more of that though

#Pantone2023 #ReadySetRead #BookChain #AuldLangSpine #BookspinBingo #Jumpstart2023

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excommunicated from the mainstream LDS church, two fundamentalist brothers, strict constitutionalists, performed the ritualistic murders of a third brother‘s wife and child. They were convinced this “removal revelation” was “the lord‘s business.” Woven through this crime‘s disturbing details is a history of the LDS church, bearing in mind that these men belonged to an offshoot. This is THE book that got me interested in cults. #reread

@shadowspeak17 I got your list and I have to say, I am intrigued!

This is my 4th or 5th year doing this (how many has it been?) and @monalyisha hasn't steered me wrong yet so I'm trusting the process. Other than the tagged, which I'm super excited for, and Jane Eyre I have heard of none of these books. I've read some blurbs and I'm excited to get started.

Looking forward to the New Year! Hope my list is as exciting for you!!

#AuldLangSpine

Not the typical spooky read, but I‘m using this #Nonfiction, #TrueCrime, culty pick because it‘s just as horrifying! #ScarathlonDailyPrompts #PhotoChallenge Day 23: #Story. #Cults #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2022

Hubby and I just finished watching the Disney+ series and now I just have to read the book. It‘s about time too, it‘s been on my TBR forever.
Celestial book sleeve is from Maple Leaf Stitching. Use code BOOKLOVER10 to save 10%🛍️
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Took today off since Artie is getting his four month vaccines later. He decided to sleep in so I get to actually read my book AND drink my coffee while it‘s hot! What is this?!

This was a fascinating read. Sometimes it was very dry and read like a history textbook, but I really enjoyed it… enjoyed the Hulu series after reading it too!

I had expected the focal point of the book to be more current day with the murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty. I was surprised by how much of it actually centered around Mormon history. It bears relevance to the case examined in the book and I certainly learned a lot from it, but it did have a textbook feel to it, consequently making it quite dry at times.

There‘s a TV series I watched on this, so thought it would be interesting to read. I was right. It was not very enticing, so took me awhile to read. But I learned a lot of crazy things!

I‘m obsessed with the Disney tv show Mormonism doesn‘t really exist to any great extend in the UK we have Quakers & the Plymouth brenthren but very small minorities so Iv found this harrowing, any religion can quickly turn into fundamentalism IRA claim to be Catholic,Taliban claim to be Muslim etc so Iv had to Get the book to wrap my head around the insanity the corruption.those poor women ! Crying out for help to their church; lambs to slaughter

#BookSpinBingo
July 2022

Have been meaning to read this for awhile. Loved the show Big Love on HBO a few years ago and wanted to learn more about this religion. It was a fascinating read and I‘m taken aback by how much the history of Mormonism is similar to other religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism etc). Had no idea that Mormonism is among the fastest growing religions in the US, if not the fastest.

I had to read this after watching the series on Hulu. Worth the 7 week wait from the library!!

Going into this book I knew there would be A LOT of history not so much on the crime itself. I do wish there was more but I enjoyed learning more about FLDS and how the brothers got into some really fanatical beliefs. It blew my mind that they believed God gave them revelations to kill. Not random people but people that may have crossed one particular brother. 🤔 3.5-4 🌟

I have time to kill before I head into work so I am gonna kick back with an iced coffee and the latest Crimes & Cocktails book club pick. I have until next week to finish this one but I have been struggling. It just isn't pulling me in like the previous months picks. I really want to watch the show though so I NEED to finish it!

Finally digging into #20in4 with Under the Banner of Heaven. Lots of history! 😊

Housework and audiobooking, although I am beginning to think maybe I shouldn't be listening to this at a semi loud volume with my windows open. 🤔😬

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a sure fire way to get me to read books that have been languishing on my shelves for YEARS is to make a series or film adaptation of said books. I was expecting a 5 star read but did not realize that the history of Mormonism makes up the majority of the book. 😴 I was initially fascinated but quickly tired of it and began skimming those sections. Now off to Hulu I go!

This is totally readable, but I feel like the title is misleading. It‘s more like the “history” of violent faith. I‘m a history buff, but theology is not an area that I care about at all.

I was shaken to the core by all of the crimes committed in this book. It‘s sickening. It‘s rampant. It‘s wrong. If you read, there are triggers for everything you can think of. That being said, I will def be finishing the show! #truecrime #hulu

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A little time to relax. I‘m loving this book! No, it‘s nothing like the series on Hulu but I love the information that Jon Krakauer gives. It‘s interesting! Happy Friday! 😋

Very well done book. It juxtaposes the horrific murders of a mother and her toddler daughter against the history of the early LDS church that informs the extremist, fundamentalist sects of breakaway LDS groups today. I felt the book was fairly even handed in recounting atrocities both perpetrated upon and by the early Mormons, particularly in my home state of MO. If you are watching the show, don‘t expect the book to follow that track. 👇🏻

The Hulu show based on this book is amazing! But! I can‘t be waiting around each week for new episodes so I bought the book. It‘s so good!

When the new episodes air tomorrow, I don‘t want to be bothered about anything, so I made this pork chop casserole in advance. 😆😉
#truecrime #currentlyreading

Krakauer knows what he‘s doing when it comes to research, and relaying it in such an interesting way. It was so easy to fly through this one!

Struggling big with reading right now so I decided to give into my obsession with the TV series and start this book. I need to know more! 🤣

Has been on my list for years but the new TV show forced my hand lol. Whether you already know a lot of Mormon history or not this incredibly well researched book will be impossible to put down. Krakauer swiftly covers a large swath of Mormon and particularly Fundamentalist Mormon history from Joseph Smith to the Lafferty brothers. It‘s a book that is still sadly relevant today. After reading I recommend watching Prophet‘s Prey.

Im glad I read this. It made for a great book club discussion, but I really struggled to get through the first 125 pages. After that, it went much quicker. I do feel like I learned a bit. I have more questions & got frustrated a lot, but that‘s life sometimes!

And if I remain in the dark about our purpose here, and the meaning of eternity, I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few more modest truths: Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here, and why - which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive.

“If you want to know the truth,” he says, squinting against the glare, “I think people within the religion - people who live here in Colorado City - are probably happier, on the whole, than people on the outside.” He looks down at the red sand, scowls, and nudges a rock with the toe of one shoe. “But some things in life are more important than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself.”

I‘ve really enjoyed Krakauer‘s other books, but this one fell flat for me. Maybe it was the abridgment, maybe it was Krakauer‘s monotone reading voice, maybe it was something else. It just didn‘t pull me in like his others. 🤷🏼‍♀️

That moment when the audio file hasn‘t been updated and your book tells you it is continued on disc 2 😂💿 #MarvellousMarch

Well written. Highly disturbing. #19822022 for 2003 @Librarybelle

I really enjoy Krakauer‘s writing. I‘m looking forward to this one.

Fascinating. Weaving a compelling story around an historical account of the Mormon faith. It embodies the expression "page-turner."

This is one scary and disturbing book. The descriptions of the extreme fundamentalists' beliefs and actions are horrifying, but the book also includes a lot of interesting history about the LDS Church.

So far, I've managed 8 hours and 40 minute, for the #20in4 readathon, which is more than I expected to do by this point, so I'm pretty happy about that! @Andrew65

I‘ve read Jon Kraukauer‘s earlier book “into thin air” about the catastrophic trip to Mount Everest he was on,which lead me to this one. This book follows the murders committed to two FLDS brothers, and the violent history of Mormonism and how it could have contributed to the brothers actions. The book is very well written, but can feel more like a textbook at times. The interviews with the brothers by the author were fascinating

I think if I had read this closer to its publication in 2003, I would‘ve found it more shocking & revolutionary. Between a bunch of Mormon history I got in high school* & the subsequent books written about the Jeffs family, et al., I knew the meat and bones of this story. But the true crime part with Dan and Ron was new-to-me and fascinating. I‘m not usually a fan of true crime, but Krakauer is a fantastic writer. I still like Into Thin Air more.

You know you have celiac when...you have a gf prep area!

Enjoying this gluten-free (but definitely not healthy 😂) breakfast treat while listening to the final part of Under the Banner of Heaven.

#cheerwineandabook

A very comprehensive, disturbing, genre-defying book. I knew a decent amount about Mormonism before but the focus on plural marriage here had a lot of new content for me, and linking this specific murder to so much history was a really deep and fascinating approach. I got a little lost in some of the history (I‘m not American and I think I was missing some context?) but I really liked it.

#scarathlon2020 #teamharkness @StayCurious +6 pts

I expected this to be a true crime read about the Lafferty murders, and it is in part, but it‘s also much more than that. Krakauer provides an in-depth look at the history of Mormonism and the split between Mormon Fundamentalists and the mainstream Mormon church. Much of the content is very disturbing, but it‘s very well done and has a “page turning” quality to it.

I'm a fan of Jon Krakauer's work, and Under the Banner of Heaven is no exception. It tells the story of a murder committed by two members of a fundamentalist sect of the LDS church, and juxtaposes that act with the beginnings and formation of the LDS church more broadly. The book has drawn some criticism from the Mormon community, but I recommend it to shed some light on a piece of little-known American history. #heavenly #BoundTogetherJune

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It‘s not often I finish a book and am truly haunted by what I‘ve read. I‘m still trying to process a lot of the information and understand how such terrible things can be done in the name of Faith. This is a really deep dive into the LDS religion and the splinter groups that form the FLDS. Krakauer takes the murder of an FLDS members wife and her baby and works outwards to explore how the church went from Joseph Smith to that.

4⭐
This was a deep dive into a topic that I knew not much about.

Do you ever read something in a book and your mind immediately goes to a person you know?

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