Welcome to our Bindery page! A place where we will be sharing our favorite books for business and pleasure. Our Researcher Joel shares their Inaugural Pick: When the Moon Turns to Blood by Leah Sottile

Mormons are the cult that I return to over and over. They're fascinating. And Mormons are the most successful modern cult, [in my opinion]. My best friend growing up was Mormon and I remember watching 20-year-old Mormon men on their missions wash his brain, trying to convince him that sex was something that could only happen between husband and wife--and that gay relationships were forbidden altogether. Thankfully I had a healthy dose of teenage skepticism--and flat out disobedience--that kept me safe from his family's repeated attempts to indoctrinate me. Anyways, I love researching Mormons, they're incredible! Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell are the funniest losers. When the Moon Turns to Blood by Leah Sottile is an incredible book for understanding how insidious Mormon cultism is and how deeply interconnected it is with American politics. 

This pick comes from our administrator Michelle:

I picked up this book in the summer of 2024 as part of a book club and have since been trying to find ways to erase my memory so I can re-live reading it for the first time. The book covers the meltdown of Reactor Number Four at the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station in Ukraine. It is meticulously researched, giving the HBO miniseries a run for its money. The narrative is compelling and goes to great lengths to acknowledge as many people involved in the disaster as possible. There have been a few redditors who posit that some of the nuclear science in the book is inaccurate, so please, do not try to build a reactor based on this book. Aside from the nuclear faux pas this book is a thrilling recounting of a disaster that still effects the world today.

Let us know what you think of the book in the comments below!