Mockingbird Summer: A Novel
by Lynda Rutledge
Great book (2/9/2024)
I loved this book. It is a great story about a baseball-playing brother and his sister, and their discovery of a gifted runner in their midsts. A potential great addition to their team but for the fact that she goes to a different church, lives in a different part of town, and is of a different race . . . . all this in the Deep South, during the early 60's. The author develops the story through her teenage characters. She makes it easy for the reader to remember their own teenage years, and how we slowly discovered truths that seemed to us to be totally wrong.
I loved this book, and didn't want to put it down. At 286 pages, it is a fast read, and ends well. I recommend it for personal reading as well as book club discussions.
King of the Armadillos
by Wendy Chin-Tanner
Great story (5/16/2023)
King of the Armadillos, by Wendy Chin-Tanner is an excellent story, well told, about a 15 year old boy, an immigrant from China, who develops lesions that are diagnosed as Leprosy in the 1950s. The story is based loosely on the author's father's experience with the same diagnosis.
The writing is excellent; the story is interesting and believable. I appreciated learning more about the diagnosis and treatment of Hansens' Disease in the US. Additional complexity is added by the fact that the protagonist is Chinese and the Leprosarium is located in the Deep South. In that region, racial attitudes towards someone with deeper coloring than pale white is a problem during the '50s ... . one that can result in injury or death to those who are unaware, and/or not cautious.
The author exhibits insight into teenagers' lives through descriptions of typical teenage hijinks and descriptions of agonizing, self conscious behavior. I loved this book, and recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction or coming of age stories.
Last House Before the Mountain
by Monika Helfer
Dark and Disappointing (2/20/2023)
Last House Before the Mountain, a Novel by Monika Helfer was thankfully brief: 175 pages of of trying to figure out who fathered a child while the mother's husband was away at war. It was, at times, difficult to tell who was being discussed. Most characters came to a sorry end: death from appendicitis, death from AIDS, death from blood poisoning. If you like dark books that are difficult to follow and filled with less than honorable, admirable characters, then this is the book for you.
Wade in the Water: A Novel
by Nyani Nkrumah
A Unique story (11/9/2022)
Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah is not an easy book to read, despite excellent writing, unique characters and a well known piece of US history. It was a painful discussion of racism. It was a peek into a family that treated their children to violence and attempts at incest. I wanted to put it down, unread, but I did like the main character and hoped all would somehow turn out well for her. Unfortunately, it is not a book I can recommend to my book clubs or friends.
In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari
What it's like to go from Iran ... to the U.S. (9/11/2022)
What did I know about Iran, it's people and culture? Very little.
"In the Time of Our History" by Susanne Pari immerses the reader in the language, food, temperament styles, and recent history of Iran by telling the story of three generations of the Jahani family. Two brothers immigrate to the U.S. and the story takes off.
The author gives us a 1-2 page "introduction" to each chapter by telling a brief story that does not name names, then proceeds into the heart of the story. (I liked that new-to-me style).
I thoroughly enjoyed the book because of the characters who deal with their family's successes and failures in their new country via their unique personalities, shaped by the cultural values of Iran. I read the last third of the book in one sitting; I could not put it down. At that point the reader finds out WHY things happened the way they did, and how they were influenced not only by family history, but also by theocracy that Iran had become. This would be a great book for book clubs.
The Last Grand Duchess: A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution
by Bryn Turnbull
Russian History, well written (12/7/2021)
This was an excellent story of Olga Nikolaevna, daughter of Tsar Nicholas ll and his wife Tsarina Alexandra Federovna. The author did a good job bringing these historical figures to life, moving slowly towards their inevitable deaths; explaining how and why those assassinations occurred. What a mess their ruling was! I particularly appreciated the author's note at the end, providing further explanation. The last few chapters, with dates going back and forth between 1918 and 1916 were confusing. I think it was done to further the suspense, but I would have preferred that the book follow chronological order, as already established.
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
A time of fabulous wealth ... and racism (2/13/2021)
This is the story of Belle da Costa Greene, the young librarian who helped build J.P. Morgan's excellent collection of close-to-priceless books and great art during the early 1900's. It reflects the times of the Gilded Age, the Great Depression and WW l. One of the major themes in the book is that Belle is a light complected black woman, whose mother has decided that the family will change their last name, the story of their origin and pass for white. This is a weighty burden for them. Though a little slow paced in the middle, I learned much reading this book, and recommend it as enjoyable and informative historical fiction.
The Widow Queen: The Bold #1
by Elzbieta Cherezinska
A Challenge (12/1/2020)
This was a challenging book to read. Character names were new to me; long and complex. I had no idea how to pronounce them, even mentally. There was much violence, death and destruction, as the characters plotted for more land and more power. I looked for a story within the book that would cause me to keep reading to find out what happens; but there wasn't enough of that to hold my interest. This is not a book I would recommend.
The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir
by Sara Seager
Smallest Lights in the Universe (7/21/2020)
This a is a great story, autobiographical, about Sara Seager. Rarely do we get to read what goes into the making of an astrophysicist. The author describes her fascination with stars when she was a young girl, struggling with the break-up of her parents, and the challenges of frequent moves, and multiple schools. She describes her "ah hah" moment when she learned that if she studied harder, she could easily excel in school. ... leading to Harvard and MIT.
It is fascinating to read her thought process dealing with trying to fit in at college – not easy. Fitting in at MIT, where no idea was considered too outlandish to try – that worked for her. Her writing is excellent, and transparent as she describes her life as a single parent of two boys after losing her husband to cancer. I saw it as a model, and a road map of making a very crummy set of circumstances work out well, using unusual ideas. Taking a working vacation? Take along your friends and helpers so you can attend conferences, AND see the sights with your sons.
The author is a very intelligent, well-educated woman who is successful in an unusual career. Her life is not gilded; it's hard. She comes across as a very real person, who suffers great loss and great success. I loved her story, and read it in just a few days
Remembrance
by Rita Woods
Absolutely outstanding (2/7/2020)
Just finished reading this debut book by Dr. Rita Woods. It is unlike any other I've read. It is historical fiction, from a different perspective - that of former slaves, some with powers beyond understanding. The writing is excellent, and the story is even better.
Lady Clementine
by Marie Benedict
For History Buffs (11/15/2019)
Lady Clementine, by Marie Benedict is an unusual look at WW l and WW ll history from the perspective of Winston Churchill's wife, Clementine. The book is written in her voice. She is a smart, ambitious woman who appears, at times, discontent to ride on his coat tails. I found her voice off putting at times; she sounded self-important, and that became tedious. It took longer than expected to work my way through this book. I recommend Lady Clementine to those who want to learn more about WW ll from an unusual perspective.
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
by Keith O'Brien
For everyone who has ever flown commercially (3/16/2019)
This is a well-written account of the many women who pioneered the aviation industry in the 20's and 30's. These women include Ruth Nichols and Ruth Elder, Louise Thaden and Amelia Earhart. They flew planes that sometimes fell apart under the strain of increasing speed. Air shows were popular, and female pilots desperately wanted to compete, despite the dangers and numerous crashes. Many times, the women survived the crashes, but not always. I was surprised at their risk tolerance. The author well describes their love of flying. This is a well-researched account of women who wanted to do more than marry, raise children, and work at jobs less thrilling than flying. I wish this book was recommended reading for college students studying aeronautical engineering. It is a useful and detailed history, written in a story-like manner, reflecting women's forgotten contributions to an industry we all rely on. It is a good and satisfying read.
The Last Romantics
by Tara Conklin
Review of The Last Romantics (12/10/2018)
I enjoyed reading about the Skinner family in Tara Conklin’s latest book. The characters are very well developed, and the techniques used to introduce you to the family members and their activities are well done. The siblings are familiar in some ways, due to the timeline, and unfamiliar in others – odd, crummy and tragic things happen to this family. The author deftly illustrates the impact of those events. Because of these underlying tragic events, the book struck me as a bit of a downer. Basically, every single family member had sad things happen to them, and it seemed like upbeat events did not counteract the feeling of sadness. I wondered: why did the author write this way? Why are we having to read about weird and crummy things such as Fiona’s blog that was 10 months old, and described the first 78 men she slept with. Huh?
As well-written as this book is, I don’t recommend it. It wasn’t until the very last page that I discovered the answer to my question: why did she write this? That last page was absolutely excellent.
The Last Year of the War
by Susan Meissner
The Last Year of the War (10/30/2018)
This was a truly outstanding book about a little known series of events during WWll. I couldn't put it down, and read it in 3 days. I had no idea that American citizens of German heritage were interned at the same time as those of Japanese heritage. Nor did I know that some of these American citizens were "traded" for American citizens caught behind enemy lines. This excellent novel of historical fictions explains how and why that came to pass, and what happened to two families who were repatriated to their parents' country of origin. The war's relentless bombing resulted in cities that not only lacked sufficient food and services, they were reduced to rubble, and were unrecognizable. Kudos to the author for a great story following in depth research.
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