The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
by Bart Yates
I am genuinely mourning the end of this book (6/17/2024)
"The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl" by Bart Yates is unlike any book I have read before, and I can't remember the last time I loved a book this much. It chronicles the life of Isaac Dahl from age 8 to 96, with each chapter depicting a different day or part of his life. The 12 chapters leap eight years ahead each time, making for an engaging and unique narrative. Yates excels at bridging the gaps between these time jumps, creating a seamless and compelling story. The characters are so well-developed that I feel as if I know them personally, and I am genuinely mourning the end of the book, as I will miss them greatly.
I love this book so much that I would read it again, which is rare for me. I typically only reread books I encountered in high school to understand why I liked them, especially as my memory in my 60s can be unreliable. The fact that I would read this book multiple times makes it a 5-star read. In full disclosure, my personal connection to the story might influence my opinion. Half of my ancestors hail from Sweden, and my Dad was in the 34th Infantry - Red Bull, sharing experiences with Bo in places like Ireland, Africa, and Italy. Having lived two-thirds of my life in Des Moines, IA, and having significant ties to Iowa City, the book resonates deeply with me. It has enough memory hooks to feel personal. I have spent a lot of time speculating about the lives of my ancestors. There are several people in my family tree for whom I would love to have a book like this written.
And then there is this: "Each day is a story, whether or not that story makes any damn sense, or is worth telling to anyone else." "What matters is that we're fine right now." and "I want to see how this story ends."
Thank you to BookBrowse, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.
The Mitford Affair: A Novel
by Marie Benedict
WW2 Historical Fiction (1/30/2023)
“The Mitford Affair” tells the story of a British aristocratic family in the years leading up to WWII.
I had not heard of the Mitford family. They are an intriguing, while disturbing, group. I was attracted to the book because of the author. Marie Benedict does an excellent job of researching history and capturing the essence of the culture and time surrounding her subjects.
The Mitfords were related to Winston Churchill’s wife. They were an upper crust, Kardashian type, British family. There were six sisters and one brother. Their home life as children seems dysfunctional by today’s standards. The girls were not allowed formal education and were left on their own to educate themselves. The resulting personalities were unique to say the least. Benedict focuses her storytelling primarily on three of the sisters. Diana was the one most noted for her beauty who had married young to the heir to the Guinness fortune, and shortly thereafter became involved with the leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), and pursued having influence over Hitler. Unity was the odd duck of the family who become overly infatuated with Hitler. Nancy was the most principled of the three, who wrote novels that thinly veiled the nefarious activity of her sisters, and had to ultimately choose between protecting her family and protecting her country.
I would recommend this work to anyone who loves Historical Fiction, anyone intrigued by WWII history, and to book clubs who enjoy discussing human nature.
Cradles of the Reich: A Novel
by Jennifer Coburn
Another Part of History We Should Be Aware Of (12/22/2022)
I am grateful to have received an advance copy of "Cradles of the Reich" in order to participate in a BookBrowse discussion. Jennifer Coburn has done a wonderful job of researching a part of German/Jewish and WWII history. I was not previously aware of most of what I learned from this book, and found myself going down bunny trail after bunny trail looking up the history behind the story. I would encourage everyone to read this and to read the author's notes at the end as well.
The primary story follows three women in Germany prior to and during WWII who came from three very different points of view. The parents, friends and lovers of these three women all play an important part in peeling away layers of history as well. While the main three characters are fictional, the organizations that they were a part of are not. And many of the people portrayed within the Nazi machine were real as well. This is great historical fiction - it creates a window through which to look into the minds of people that went through this traumatic period of time.
The primary Nazi focus was Heim Hochland, a Lebensborn home for unwed mothers and also essentially a brothel. Lebensborn was a Nazi program with the stated goal of increasing the number of children born who met the Nazi standards of "racially pure," according to Nazi eugenics. Forced procreation, kidnapping and execution of babies were all carried out with the purpose of creating a pure race.
As they say, "those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." (various sources) "Cradles of the Reich" reveals a history that we need to be aware of. You can't make this stuff up, and this is definitely not history that we wish to repeat.
Moonrise Over New Jessup
by Jamila Minnicks
"Moonrise Over New Jessup" | A Novel by Jamila Minnicks With Well Deserved Awards (12/21/2022)
I loved this story. "Moonrise Over New Jessup" is a thought provoking fictional story about life in rural Alabama in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Through the pen of Alice Young, Jamila Minnicks masterfully addresses the issue of segregation vs desegregation by creating characters who champion the differing philosophies of the like of MLK Jr, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. She explores how these competing ideas affect community attitudes and politics and the strongly held views of individuals. Through Alice's life we get a glimpse into the nuances of the civil rights movement and the atrocities suffered by those who were then called Negro.
The town of New Jessup, in general, ascribes to the teachings of Booker T. Washington and is resistant to anyone with opposing views, but a new generation is coming that wants to adapt the philosophy a bit. Change proves difficult. As far as I've been able to tell the organization that New Jessup young people get involved with has a fictional name. Once I realized this it actually helped me stay with the story and stop trying to look at Google for more details on every issue. Most of the characters, both main and incidental are fictional, but the name of Sam Cooke singing his blues in Washington DC brings the story into real life. I quickly grew to love the main characters, Alice and Raymond, but perhaps my favorite character was Ms. Vivian of Taylor Made who seems to have done a stellar job of mentoring Alice into adulthood.....helping her to become a strong woman. Both Vivian and Alice set an example of how the current generation can work for the well being of future generations.
While the story is fictional it has great value as socially responsible literature. I recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction, likes pondering why people believe as they do and book clubs who love discussing such.
Thank you to BookBrowse and Algonquin Books for the opportunity of reviewing a prepublication edition.
The Guest Book
by Sarah Blake
Thoroughly Enjoyed (10/3/2022)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It follows three generations of a family dealing with loss, trauma, being trapped by social expectations, family expectations, assumptions of expectations, saving face and prejudice. A heart breaking story, but somehow cathartic.
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