Sunday Salon: Polygamy Edition

This week my reading had an unexpected theme – polygamy. It started when I picked up Carolyn Jessop’s Escape. She was married to one of the leaders of the FLDS cult that was raided in Texas in 2008. She made her escape before the raid though. It was the May pick for the non-fiction book club at my church. I really enjoyed the book (my review will be out soon) and finished it in record time. Then it turned out that I couldn’t go to the book club meeting. I was still intrigued by Carolyn’s story and discovered that she wrote a follow-up book after the Texas raid called Triumph so I grabbed that from the library and devoured it as well.
Even after reading those two books in a row, I wanted to read more about polygamy but I wasn’t sure where to go next. I found The 19th Wife on my TBR shelf. It’s a combination historical fiction/modern day murder mystery. The historical fiction part involves Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young’s 19th wife. I think it will be good but I’m having trouble getting into it. I suspect it’s because I’m more in the mood to read another real-life memoir involving polygamy. I don’t know what it is about the lifestyle that has me so intrigued but I can’t get enough! If you have any suggestions about which books I need to put on my polygamy reading list, please let me know.

I also discovered yesterday that the TLC reality show Sister Wives is streaming on Netflix. I have watched an embarrassing number of episodes already and plan to watch even more today. (I had surgery Thursday so I do have an excuse for being a couch potato this weekend!) I like that there isn’t a lot of drama, at least not so far. I don’t like reality shows with tension and yelling. The wives seem to all get along really well. However, it bothers me that the show and Kody and his wives gloss over the theology behind their belief in plural marriage. I enjoy seeing how they live their day-to-day lives but I also want to know more about their faith and why plural marriage is an important part of it.

How’s your weekend going – any unexpected themes emerge for you this week?