I'm not a BookTuber or a Bookstagrammer (I do have an Instagram account for Bloggin' 'bout Books, but I don't post there very often).  To be honest, I sort of forget these mediums exist even though they revolve around my favorite subject: books.  Thank goodness for the lovely Nicole over at Bookwyrm Knits who posted about a fun Fall reading challenge that was announced a couple weeks ago on BookTube (just FYI: her links go to the 2020 challenge).  The Fall Into Reading Challenge is a prompt-based challenge that is hosted by four YouTubers:  Tia at Tia and All the Books, Kelly at Cozy Reader Kelly, Angie at Literary Labors, and Rainey at Rainey Day Reads.  Because the prompts are very general, I'm going to do the harder 24-square level:

I'm not going to pre-plan any reading for the challenge since the books I'm already tentatively "planning" to read in the next few months fit these categories pretty well.  We'll see what I end up doing.  You can track my progress with this challenge—and all the others I'm participating in—by checking out the left sidebar of my blog.  For more details, like which books I'm using for which challenges, click on the "Reading Challenges" tab in my blog header.

Also, you may not know or may not remember that I started Ready for a Reading Challenge? at the end of 2019 to act as a database for all the reading challenges going on around the Internet.  While there's not a lot going on over there at this time of year, pretty soon it will be hopping with lots of announcements about new challenges for 2022.  If you are hosting a challenge in the new year or if you see one announced, please let me know so I can add it to the database.  Free advertising!  

If you haven't got a clue what a Mormon is, let alone a Mormon Mention, allow me to explain: When I see a reference to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nickname: Mormons) in a book which was not written by a member of the Church, I post it here. With commentary from Yours Truly.  I'm no theologian, but I try to explain doctrinal issues as well as debunk myths and clear up misconceptions.  Speaking of, I should probably make this crystal clear: My dad only has one wife. As does my husband.  And, yes, people really have asked me those questions.  (I've also been asked if I have horns.  Of course I do!  I just keep them hidden under my hair.  Duh.)  Just FYI: mainstream Mormons haven't practiced polygamy for more than 120 years.

Everybody got that? Great. Let's move on...

In The Cold Vanish, Jon Billman talks about the search for a man named Troy James Knapp, a survivalist who lived off the spoils he acquired from breaking into cabins in Southern Utah for seven years before he was caught and jailed in 2013.  

• Of Southern Utah's arid landscape, Billman says:  "It was drier than a Mormon wedding." (205)