History of Joseph Smith by His Mother

The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother is deeply entrenched in LDS literature. This is a must read for all Mormons and anyone trying to understand the life of Joseph Smith. After reading this you will realize that every other book about Joseph Smith either quotes from Mother Smith or has reference to it.

The story begins with a genealogy of the Smith and Mack families. Then moves to the childhood of Joseph. The bulk of the book concerns the building of the restored Church on Earth and the trials and tribulations the Prophet and his family suffered in doing so.

Escape

I know that Carolyn Jessop is not a Mormon but rather a Fundamentalist. However this gives insight into fundamentalist viewpoint. It also helps members of the LDS Church understand the differences between between the two religions so that they can better defend themselves to those who are ignorant of the distinctions between the two.

Life Everlasting

Life Everlasting was written by Duane S Crowther. Crowther also wrote the book "The Prophecies of Joseph Smith" which has been proven wrong by the Brethren time and time again. Therefore I would recommend caution as you read Life Everlasting. When I read it I only read the quotes. This book has some excellent quotes in it and I use it as a resource for that purpose. I stay away from the interpretations in the book and recommend that you do the same. In fact I try to only read Doctrine written by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

My First Mission

George Q Cannon wrote this book to start "The Faith Promoting Series". This was aimed towards increasing faith in the youth. The book is about his First Mission to the Hawaiian Islands in the Mid 1800's. As a youth he sets out to learn the language and teach the people. It was a very successful Mission.

Porter Rockwell

Another excellent book is Porter Rockwell by Richard Lloyd Dewey. There are tons of books on Porter Rockwell and so I did a lot of research before choosing which book to read. I read Dewey's because he put an immense amount of research in to his book. The problem with Rockwell is most of the story's about him are entwined with myths. This book is the facts.

Leaves From My Journal

My wife bought me this book for my birthday a couple years ago. The book is exactly what it says, Leaves from President Wilford Woodruff's Journal. Aparently she didn't have 5 grand to buy the complete set. No worries this book is excellent and has some choice passages from the Journal.

Autobiography of Parley P Pratt

This is one of my all time favorite books. I have read it several times. Parley P Pratt's life experience was very similar to the Prophet Joseph Smith's. Early in life Parley decided to give up everything for the Gospel and shortly after was led to the Book of Mormon. I recommend this book to everyone.

Why I Have Created This Blog

I am writing this blog to share my list of Mormon Books that I have read. I am going to place each book in a separate post. I will also add my comments for each book and hope that you will do the same. I am going to stay away from trying to write a review or critique each book. There is enough of that online. I will try to keep the posts short and sweet and to the point.