I enjoy Bill Bryson. Maybe a little too much. His humor literally makes me laugh out loud. I find his narratives as he relates history of the area he is traveling through fascinating and usually listen while looking at a map zooming in and out on his different locations. I also enjoy his philosophical insights. I learned much about the Appalachian Trail that I hadn't known before and was able to create a visual of states I've never been through stories about the state's past and descriptions of their woods. Although I do recommend his works but aware he can be crass at times.
There's not a lot of high rated books written about this subject so when I saw this book I decided to give it a try. The books in this series are historical "eye witness" accounts written for pre-teens. I've read only a few; the ones I've read generally are slightly better than okay but I tend to read a lot of straight history so it is slightly underwhelming for me. The author had an informative question answer section at the end that answered a lot of general questions. So while not great literature it serves as a good first experience with the subject for youth.
My cousin introduced me to Mr. Lawrence Anthony telling me, "Lawrence Anthony is my latest crush. He'll soon be yours." She's not far from the truth. He has raised the bar, lifted the flag, called for arms, and I want to join his camp. Half way through the book I looked up his Earth Organization only to find out he had a heart attack and died some years ago. I was heartbroken! I truly believed he and his organization could go far to save the world. His thesis was to get the information to the individual so the individual would change. It works: he has reached me and therefore his work goes on.
As far as the book, it's a great read (as are all of his books). His books can be crass at time: there is harsh language in all of his books, however it's understandable considering the people and situations he is in and I'm more than willing to wade through it to get to the experiences he relates. This one is about his quest to save the Baghdad Zoo during the end of the war. Heart wrenching. It makes you want to be a better person.
Lawrence Anthony's last book, this was no less worthy of praise. It's pretty incredible all he went through in his quest to save a species from extinction. Very worthwhile. I may have shed a few tears or two during Graham Spence's afterwards when he relates the account of Mr. Anthony's death.
I admire Fred Rogers, especially his early childhood education philosophy and therefore I had high hopes for this one. Although it had some good information this book was poorly written being redundantly repetitive (see what I did there...?) and needlessly long. So long.
This was an audio book for me and LeVar Burton read the work. At first I was excited, who doesn't like LeVar? However I soon realized that he reads somewhat in Captain Kirk style and (continue in your best Kirk impression)... it distracted ... from ... the overall ... content.
Overall, not recommendable. Very unfortunate indeed.
Another WWII historical fiction. Less about the Jews and labor camps and more with the results of being occupied by an invading force. A new perspective into WWII. Good but not outstanding.
It's amazing what trouble we Americans get ourselves into. The entire first part was about how people did studies and ran experiments and so forth on how to best tame the Mississippi river so Americans could expand into that area gifted by the river with fertile land. The second part was about congress disregarding all of that and acting on its own. It was all downhill from there. I'm still trying to get over the fact that New Orleans decided to dynamite the levee therefore destroying two other towns so their city would be safe. Yikes. The author then points out that with the other flooding upstream their actions were unnecessary and if they would have waited one more day they would have seen that. Just wow. A good historical read.
My second book on John Marshall (the first being John Marshall by H.G. Unger, Without Precedent) read much better and held more information. Marshall's contribution to the birth of the nation as we know it is extremely understated. He did so much to define how the government should act and the constitution in general. Highly recommendable. However, Jefferson fans be warned: there is intense dislike of Thomas Jefferson included in said book. Just as one is either Adams or Jefferson, it looks like its either Marshall or Jefferson. Apparently they were related, albeit distantly, but did not have much in common besides that. The author spent a good portion of the last part of the book comparing the two, and of course Marshall comes out looking much better.
I finished the Marshall book and noticed I had another book downloaded that has been on hold for me for months, now due in 5 days. WHAT? I did not want to go back on the waiting list (right now it's over 6 months for the audio book) so I began thinking that if I didn't finish it I could at least make a good dent and perhaps pick up the actual book at the library to finish. Although my head is somewhat spinning, I did it with 2 days to spare. About a spy network during WWI and WWII, the plot was interesting and kept you wanting more. I liked that it spanned two wars with same characters. There's some language and several bedroom (and one backseat) scenes though but they are as tastefully done as those kind of things can be. Very recommendable.
I find I know much more about history over 100 years ago than I know about what happened during my life time. Hence my desire to read this book. The book itself is rated on the lower side (3.7 out of 5) but I didn't know whether that was because people didn't like him / his politics or if the book itself was written poorly. I read the book he wrote on his father (41, basically a loving son writing about his hero dad) and thought his writing skills were pretty good, so I attempted this.
Decision Points read like a defense of his time in office. Don suggested that was exactly what it was - that he was criticized greatly after he left office and didn't vocally say much, and perhaps the book was his answer to the amount of criticism.
I learned he did many things during his time in office of which I was not aware. Considering I was an adult when he was in office I should have been paying more attention. On a side note it was interesting to hear him comment on books that I have recently read (Rising Tide, for example). Not sure if that makes me look good or him look bad... Ha!
This was immensely and hauntingly absorbing novel written on the true events a young lady learned about during a family reunion. As yet another WWII novel, at first I wasn't sold. Initially I found the writing style abrupt and not to my liking but as it progressed I had a mighty change of heart. If I understand correctly Georgia Hunter is not an author by trait and was not planning on writing a novel but rather wanted to collect the stories from her family's history. I think she did brilliantly. I loved the historical news clip information interspersed through the book that gives the reader a real timeline. Do not skip the author's note at the end. Highly recommendable.
I have this problem: I have so many books on hold (some are months out) and I've read my way through most of my online library so I tend to look on the "what's available" section and choose the best option. This one was was available and rated high. The summery suggested it was post Civil War era historical fiction so I jumped in. Two chapters in and the "Undead" came. Yes, you read correctly. We're talking full on Zombie attack. How did I completely misinterpret the book?! I then go back to the summery and turns out what I interpreted as figurative battling the spirits of the dead was in fact literally battling the dead. Apparently after Gettysburg the dead rose and thus the Civil War didn't really end with a Union or Confederate victory and history changes (eg - it wasn't the Indian's that got Custer, etc and so on). But I have to admit I liked the main character's attitude, so I kept reading to find ironically it's a lot lighter than much of what I have read lately. Maybe it was the utter fantasy that kept me going. Either way, it's pretty good if you don't mind the undead thing.
I was looking for something shorter and perhaps inspiring when I stumbled on to this graduation message by George Saunders, the author of Lincoln in the Bardo. I thought the Lincoln book was rather poetic at times so I had high hopes for this message. I'll save you 5 minutes and tell you his point: be kind and be kind now. That's it. Good message to remember but Fred Rogers said the same thing more memorably.
I've heard much about Watergate but did not understand it the way I desired. Don suggested this book. He also suggested the movie of the same name with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman which was a poor adaptation at best but it came out very early on after the scandal, probably before they were really ready to make a production.
The events of the scandal are horrifying. Don helped me do some further research including an interview between Frost and Nixon where I actually saw Nixon state that a thing is not illegal when the president does it - that the president doing it makes it legal. How frightening is that? Because of my naive nature and my desire to think the best of people I have spent some time pondering that statement trying to decide how it could possibly not be as bad as I think but I'm coming up empty. However, I do understand the need to see things from both sides. Perhaps when I'm not feeling as sick about the subject I will read another account.
This was historical fiction about France in the 1890's concerning the imprisonment of a Jew falsely accused of being a spy. The military refused to admit there was a mistake made. I read this as I was reading the Watergate book. Enough with people covering things up! It's going to come out eventually so just face the music and be done. But no. But back to the book: I almost didn't finish until I looked up Alfred Dreyfus and found out he was a real person and it was in fact a true account. Then it seemed more worthwhile. So while I wouldn't highly recommend it, it was okay especially if you like the whole spy conspiracy plot.
Rebekah:
Not bad series containing stories of a little girl who, with the magic of a sea shell necklace her grandma gives her, turns into a mermaid and helps them save their kingdom. Right up Rebekah's alley.
I have to admit I'm liking these better. This time the main character learns something from her trips to fairy land and Cinderella had to "rescue herself" before the fairy godmother would work her magic. Extra bonus! It still reads juvenile but that's the audience it's going for.
