A quiet week. There is news of two upcoming anthologies from Peculiar Pages Press, five new books from Cedar Fort, and Boarderlands gets its run extended a week. Also, a slew of great posts here at Dawning of a Brighter Day. Please send any suggestions or announcements to mormonlit AT gmail DOT com.
News and columns
Scott Hales on LDS speculative fiction.
Peculiar Pages Press announced its newest anthology of Mormon literature: Fire in the Pasture: 21st Century Mormon Poets, edited by Tyler Chadwick. It will be available on June 30. It is “the first serious new collection of Mormon poets since the Eugene England and Dennis M. Clark-edited Harvest in 1989.”
Wm Morris and Theric Jepson announce the final set of works admitted to the upcoming Monsters and Mormons anthology, to be published by Peculiar Pages Press.
Each of the authors at Six LDS Writers and a Frog have written retrospectives on their 5 year anniversary. Several of them look back on their favorite posts.
Write Here in Ephraim writing conference. April 9, 8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. at 105 E. 200 S. in Ephraim, UT. 20 authors, many of them LDS, will be there. Abel Keogh, Linda Garner, Karen Hoover, Michael Young, Jewel Adams, Berin Stephens, Heather Justesen, Rachelle Christensen, Julie Bellon, Shirley Bahlmann, Gregg Luke, Tristi Pinkston, Cheri Chesley, Joan Sowards, Cory Poulson, Don Carey, Clint Johnson, Michael Knudsen, Bron Bahlmann, Carole Thayne Warburton, and Rebecca Talley.
Shannon Hale, James Dashner, Ally Condie, Brandon Mull, Jessica Day George and Nathan Hale will be doing an author event on April 22 at Logan, UT, at the main library, at 6:00 pm.
New Books
Wings of Light, by Laura Bingham. Sweetwater Books (Cedar Fort). Young Adult Fantasy. Sequel to the 2009 book Valor. Sweetwater Books is the Cedar Fort imprint for books designed to be sold to the national market. Elves, magic, and adventure.
Wasatch Summer, by Anola Pickett. Cedar Fort. Middle grade, historical. 1889 in Cache Valley. 11 year old girl tends the sheep, faces danger.
Balance, by Jean Stringham. Cedar Fort. Young Adult. Follow-up to her 2010 novel The Hoarders. A 12-year old girl dreams of sophistication, despite living in an unsophisticated family full of kids.
The Third, by Abel Keogh. Cedar Fort. Speculative/dystopian. Set in a future where the government makes it illegal to have a third child, and enforces oppressive environmental policies. This book previously was scheduled to be published by Valor Publishing.
Sudden Peril, by Frank Richardson. Cedar Fort. Suspense/thriller. Civic-minded people gather together to fight secret combinations who threaten the foundations of a free society. Second published novel.
Reviews
The Assignment, by Jean Holbrook Mathews. Jennie Hansen, Meridian Magazine. Favorable.
Pathfinder, by Orson Scott Card. Bloggin’ ‘bout books, B. Never a fan of OSC before, BBB “found the storyline compelling, the characters engaging, and the whole idea fascinating”.
The Healing Spell, by Kimberley Griffiths Little. Bloggin’ ‘bout books, B+. “A vivid setting, a timeless wisdom . . . Little gets everything right in this beautiful story of a child’s search for redemption.”
Long Spoon Lane, by Anne Perry. Framed and Booked, 4.25 out of 5. Favorable.
Blackberry Crumble, by Josi S. Kilpack. Gabi Kupitz, AML-List. Favorable.
Shadows of Brierley: The Wanderer, by Anita Stansfield. Mormon Times, favorable.
Theater
Eric Samuelsen’s Boarderlands, at the Rose Wagner Theater, SLC, sold out its run, and Plan-B extended the run for an extra week through April 17.
After all of the glowing reviews last week, here is a negative review of Boarderlands by Tired Road Worrier. He called it “overwrought and contrived.”
A positive review of Boarderlands by Megan Pedersen (one of the contributors to Utah Theater Bloggers Association).
Julie Webb on her experience playing Eve/Gaia in Eric Samuelsen’s The Plan
Elizabeth Leavitt is a former playwriting student at BYU, whose play Stuck on the Edge was performed on a BYU main stage in 2007. She went on to a MFA degree at UNLV in 2010, in a program that was just discontinued. BYU student at UNLV. In December 2010 the Nevada Conservatory Theater performed her adaption of Frank Wedekind’s German language play Spring’s Awakening. The 1906 original is also the basis for the recent Broadway musical Spring Awakening. Leavitt also won a 2010 Kennedy Center American Theater Festival Merit Award for her play Whales Save Us!.
Ken Jennings on The Book of Mormon musical, at the New York Daily News. Jennings compares it to the actual Book of Mormon.
Movies
Review of Once Upon a Summer, by KevinB at LDS Cinema Online. B-. Some nice writing and characters, but not fleshed out enough, and some odd choices in the depiction of spirituality.
Best Sellers
New York Times Bestseller lists, April 10th
Hardcover Fiction
DARK PRINCE, by Christine Feehan, a reprint of a 1999 book, fell off the list after one week.
Trade Fiction Paperback
#10. HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, by Jamie Ford (44th week). ↔ Up one spot on the paperback list. Down to #33 on the Combined Hardcover and Paperback Fiction list, fell off the Combined Print & E-book Fiction list.
Children’s Chapter Books
#2. A WORLD WITHOUT HEROES, by Brandon Mull (2nd week). ↓ Drops one spot from #1.
MATCHED, by Ally Condie fell off the list again after 14 total weeks.
Children’s Series:
THE TWILIGHT SAGA, by Stephanie Meyer dropped off the list after an amazing 189 weeks. I never thought I would see the day. I have no doubt she will be back. When is the next book, Stephanie?
Deseret Book LDS Fiction Bestsellers this week
1 Blackberry Crumbleby Josi S. Kilpack ↔
2 Shadows of Brierley, Vol. 1: The Wanderer by Anita Stansfield ↔
3 Vengeance by Clair M. Poulson ↔
4 The Great and Terrible Six-Volume Set by Chris Stewart ↔
5 The Silence of God by Gale Sears ↔
6 The Kingdom and the Crown 3-Volume Set by Gerald N. Lund ↔
7 Mark of Royalty by Stephonie K. Williams, Jennifer K. Clark ↔
8 Borrowed Light by Carla Kelly ↑
9 Abish: Mother of Faith by K.C. Grant NEW
10 Millennial Glory, Vol. 10: Adam-Ondi-Ahman by Wendie L. Edwards NEW
11. The Book of Malchus by Neil Newell, William Hamblin ↓
.
>I forgot to let Andrew know about it, but Mike Allred’s new Madman book came out this week.
.
Whoops. Here’s that link.
Just one small correction. I did not find Borderlands “overwrought and contrived.” I found the ending to be “overwrought and contrived.” As a whole, I enjoyed the production.
I have the same problem with most of Richard Dutcher’s work. I like the overall productions a lot more than I like the endings.
Tired Road Warrior
Sorry for oversimplifying your review, and thanks for the correction.