Recently in LDS books Category

This is a second piece on Bushman's Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2008). [See Part 1.] Every faith and denomination has an approach for balancing faith and reason. In Chapter Two of the book, Bushman briefly outlines the LDS approach.

The Mormon Times reports on one of the more interesting MHA sessions in "Reflections of an Emma Hale Smith biographer." Both stories make interesting reading: the story of Emma Smith, Joseph's first wife; and the story of Linda King Newell, the surviving author of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, which won the MHA best book award in 1985. Co-author Valeen Tippetts Avery passed away in 2006.

Here are links to three recent discussions of LDS books that might make it under your Christmas tree this year, either in the traditional manner (you buy it for a loved one) or the modern guaranteed-to-get-it-right style (you buy it, hand it to a loved one, and say "this would make a great present to me if you don't have something else lined up").

Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants: A Guided Tour Through Modern Revelations by Steven C. Harper has just been published by Deseret Book, just in time for the 2009 course of study in LDS adult Sunday School. I haven't read it through yet, but I did run some benchmarks on it (see below) to see just what kind of book it is. I'll give it a thumbs up.

And on sale at a bookstore near you, if you live in Utah, or at Amazon, if you don't. Keepapitchinin provides excellent commentary. The LDS Newsroom has posted an article giving additional details. It starts out:

The inaugural volume of the much-anticipated Joseph Smith Papers, released today, brings to light a project that has been under way for many years. This landmark publishing venture begins with Joseph Smith's personal journal entries, covering the years 1832 to 1839.