The Indifferent Stars Above

Brown, Daniel. The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride. New York: Harper, 2009.

Before I am attacked for reading a book about the infamous Donner party, let me start by saying this: this book is not gruesome, and it doesn't actually focus that much on the unfortunate choices the Donner party had to make when they were trapped. The focus is more on the trip itself, the culture of that time, the mistakes leading up to being trapped in the snow, the weather conditions that year, etc. etc. It is actually a very interesting read. I enjoyed the bits of letters and other original documents that were quoted throughout this book. It isn't a happy book, per se, but it is interesting.