While I would not call myself an expert on Mormonism, I can very confidently say that Mennonites are not the same as the followers of Joe Smith and Mr. Young. In fact, Mormonism has very little to do with this post at all so perhaps it's a bad idea to have it in the title... well I didn't major in English so deal!
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
Memoir
I am a proud flying dutchman! This is yet another book recommended to me by my mother and it did not disappoint. Only after she finished it, laughing til the very end, did she notice that Ms. Janzen is a professor of English at my dear Hope College. Boy do I envy you English majors! Not only can you appropriately title a blog with relevance to the subject, you also have the opportunity to study with such a fun person. At least she sound extremely fun in her writing. You would never guess that her main field of study is poetry (at least until she told you, which she does within the confines of this memoir). Janzen treats her childhood, her family, and her origins with candid humor, deep love and appreciation. While she pokes fun at her Mennonite heritage, it is more like she's laughing with her subjects, not at them. She celebrates her upbringing in all its strangeness and glory. Definitely a worthwhile summer read, especially for any woman with a vendetta against her ovaries... The first chapter will have you hooked ;)
