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Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer. This was a very fast read - based on the fact that I read the whole thing yesterday, and that was while dealing with a Crabby Screaming Baby (tm) all afternoon. (I still couldn't put it down.) It is about Mormonism, Mormon fundamentalists (that is, polygamists), and the violence inherent in that culture. I know a decent amount (I thought) about Mormons, especially as someone who has lived a good chunk of my life in the Intermountain West surrounded by them, but this book kind of freaked me out. He specifically focuses on a murder outisde of Provo in 1984 - two men who murdered their sister-in-law and her baby in cold blood because God told them to do so - and then discusses their story, interspersed with chapters on the historical roots of Mormonism. (Plural marriage basically came out of the fact that Joseph Smith couldn't keep it in his pants, and well, he was a prophet, so God told him that not keeping it in his pants was a good thing, no, in fact, sacred! Really. I had the Church Lady's voice echoing in my head: "Well, isn't that conveeeeenient!") I didn't know how blood-soaked and vengeful the whole Mormon history is. Just amazing. Krakauer is the guy who wrote Into Thin Air, about a string of deaths while climbing Mt. Everest; basically, this book reads like an adventure story, only it happens to be about religion and religious history.

The last few chapters really grapple with some big questions - though without actually answering them (unfortunately). I'll transcribe a passage that struck me, because I think a few of you will be interested:

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Creepy creepy fascinating stuff. Needless to say, the LDS heirarchy does not approve of this book; I found it riveting.