Blind Man's Bluff: A Memoir
by James Tate Hill
Not Bluffing (9/3/2021)
Blind Man's Bluff is a memoir of an ordinary man, not a celebrity, who gradually goes blind during the years that young adults grow into independence. The reader travels the maturation process with Hill as he stumbles along, with anger and disappointment, with humor and denial, as he tries to "pass" as a sighted person.
This book was engaging, funny, sad and a great read.
I'd recommend it to my book club; however we don't read books about living people, but I will recommend it to my friends!
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
Feels like a biography (3/20/2021)
Is it historical fiction? Is it a biography? I'm not quite sure, but I enjoyed this book very much. The authors were careful in their research and created lively and interesting characters, well-described settings and wardrobes and some very intense plot twists. The complexities of "passing" and the risks of doing this in the early 1900s are very apparent in the book and, sadly, remain relevant today.
I will be recommending this to my Fact & Fiction book club because I enjoyed reading it, it is a well-written book, and because it blurs the lines between fact and fiction.
The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir
by Sara Seager
The Biggest Lights in the Universe (7/1/2020)
This book, The Smallest Lights in the Universe, grabbed my attention from the middle of the second page. The author writes beautifully, not something I expected from an academic, but her writing holds the wonder of her first view of the stars. I enjoyed Seager's descriptions of the joys and challenges of her work and her personal life and hope she will write more non-academic work in the future.
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to my in-person book club, but we don't read biographies or memoirs of living people, so I will recommend it to them as individuals and to everyone else in my reading universe.
I built a small telescope with my father (a NASA engineer) in 5th grade, and we endured the suburban sky together in our backyard looking at the moon and stars and took the telescope on vacations to state parks an national parks during my teenage years. I later gave it to my son.
I Want You to Know We're Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir
by Esther Safran Foer
Slow to Start but Worth the Effort (12/27/2019)
I requested this book because my friend's father was one of the hidden children during WWII, and she was able to locate and visit the children who remember playing with her father.
I was excited to read this book, but the first 5 or 6 chapters took a long time to read. After that the reading was much easier and more interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was worth the time and effort invested in reading it. I would recommend this book to people interested in the Holocaust and in WWII. It provides an interesting perspective that is not often presented in the literature or narrative on the subject.
Travelers: A Novel
by Helon Habila
Grabbed me but... (7/6/2019)
Travelers grabbed be at the start. I enjoyed the early character development and the relationship between Gina and her scholarly husband. Once Gina painted the child who asked for chocolate the story lost its cohesion. I found it difficult to relate to the other characters, to engage with their stories, to keep track of who was who and where they were and where they were from. I felt like a lost traveler, adrift, without a destination, and the conclusion of the book did not take me anywhere that I could tell.
The Story of Arthur Truluv: A Novel
by Elizabeth Berg
Truluv is True Love (7/2/2017)
I had no pre-formed ideas about this book, having not previously read anything by Elizabeth Berg, but I will seek out her other books because this one was excellent. I loved this bittersweet coming of age story about loneliness, intergenerational relationships and the power of love. The author developed her main characters well, created a thoughtful and interesting story and made me FEEL sadness, happiness, loss, joy and contentment.
I will be suggesting this to my book club in 2018. We're scheduled through the end of this year.
Maud's Line
by Margaret Verble
Great Historical Fiction (7/31/2015)
Historical fiction is my favorite read, and this (perhaps somewhat biographical?) book did not disappoint. Margaret Verble's descriptions of landscapes and events are rich, allowing the reader to easily form a mental image of the environment and plot, almost like watching a movie in one's mind. I don't know much about the lives of Native American's, but this book gave me an idea of what it was like in the 1930's. I imagine there was a great deal of research involved with the writing.
My great-great grandfather was a peddler with a horse-drawn cart in around the turn of the previous century. I don't believe he traveled as Booker did, but it gave me some ideas about a family member that none of my living relatives remember.
Make Your Home Among Strangers
by Jennine Capó Crucet
Home Among Strangers--A Search to Belong (6/7/2015)
It took me a while to read this book, but it was worth my time. Crucet's writing style is pleasant, but I found myself wanting more dialogue and less narrative. I think the book would be a great read for high school seniors and college freshmen, part of the curriculum of a Literature or Sociology class.
I am considering recommending it to my book club after it's published.
The Same Sky
by Amanda Eyre Ward
The Same Sky is a Different Story (11/30/2014)
The Same Sky is a wonderful but at times sad book telling the story of a woman and a girl whose lives intersect, but not in the way I expected. I enjoyed the way the author alternated chapters among the characters building the story by changing the setting and the speaker. As such, it requires a more mature reader to maintain the multiple story lines. Book clubs would enjoy this novel for its comparison of cultures, and high school literature classes for the cultural comparison and for the adventure, as well. I highly recommend this book.
The Hollow Ground: A Novel
by Natalie S. Harnett
The Hollow Ground will leave a hole in your heart (4/9/2014)
I wanted to read this book because it begins when I am a baby and takes place not far from where I live. The book focuses almost completely on the local area and local events, with little reference to national historical events, which is perfect, as it only adds to the isolated feeling the characters experience throughout the book.
The Hollow Ground is a haunting story, that I completely enjoyed, despite the meanness of some of the characters and the sadness they caused each other.
If you enjoy historical fiction and learning about some of the less known occurrences in US history, I highly recommend this book.
Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets: A Memoir
by Jessica A. Fox
Rockets is a Roller Coaster Ride of Emotions (6/22/2013)
I was intrigued by the description of this book. My father worked for NASA for over 30 years so I just had to read it. I was expecting something with a little more technical meat, but Fox won me over almost immediately with her beautiful prose and an engaging story, which was sometimes so whimsical, so comical and so close to experiences of my family and friends that I alternated between having trouble believing it was a memoir and finding it almost an echo of the lives of friends or family.
So I just let myself read and enjoy the experience of Jessica's memories. Her writing is beautiful. She describes her locations so well one could nearly paint them. The story is engaging from the beginning. It was easy to get caught up in Fox's life with its interesting job, fun friends and sorry romances. The new romance tugs at the reader, too and pulled me up and down as it grew and struggled and grew again.
I love reading and books, and reading a book that is even loosely about books is always fun. The Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets is a winner! I thought I would pass it on to my NASA father, but I think I will share it with my romantic mom instead.
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
by Sahar Delijani
Read it in 4 Days! (2/15/2013)
I am always intrigued by books about the Middle-East and have enjoyed reading biographies and memoirs since my childhood. Children of the Jacaranda Tree was no exception. This book grabbed my interest on the first page, and I read 60 pages before putting it down that first time.
Delijani's writing is often lyrical, almost poetic, and although she is describing sometimes horrible events, the story is beautifully written. Delijani's descriptions of the settings are among the best I've ever read.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy books about the Middle-East and biographies/memoirs, and I would read other books that Delijani writes.
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World
by Matthew Goodman
Eighty Days and more (1/20/2013)
Eighty Days is an enjoyable book, especially for history buffs and lovers of historical fiction. At times the book is written as if telling a grand adventure, and the reader may need to remember that he or she is reading a work of non-fiction. These are the best parts of the book, when one gets caught up in the travels and travails of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland.
At other times the book is a more tedious read, as when the author continues with the ladies' lives well beyond the Eighty Days in the book's title, beciming less interesting as the interval increases.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book for it's telling of a forgotten historical event, or at least one that I do not recall learning about in my history classes in school. I will be suggesting it to my book club the next time we decide to read a non-fiction book.
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