This man. My friend Courtney suggested I listen to a podcast about each of the presidents of the US. It was the best! While I learned a lot about many who I was unfamiliar with, President Garfield stood out. I had to learn more. This book was so good and yet so heart breaking! To say I'm a Garfield fan doesn't quite put my feelings into words. Reading about his death was agonizing to say the least. And this author! I am excited to read her next book: Hero of the Empire.
Interesting story but I'm not a fan of the author's tactics. The book spent a lot of time writing about the pre-voyage information. Some of which was good other was tedious - even for me who usually loves minutia. And then, for what can only be seen as dramatic and emotional purposes, the author inserts heartfelt letters from the wife and daughter of the captain. It's almost too much. The author's attempt to tug at your heart strings when the story itself is tragic is overdone. Unnecessary and it makes it almost trite.
Interesting book about an American civil war in the year 2070-ish. Nutshell: it's about how one girl became a terrorist, therefore, interesting but also dark and heavy. The book has merit but not sure if I would recommend, but it is thought provoking. Two main points come to mind. 1) The author brings to light what can happen when people are focused on revenge and the result is a scary world. 2) One character is a man from the Middle East who has been supplying the rebellious southern people (and at the end it looks like the northern people too) with guns. At the end of the book the character says his government doesn't care who wins, just as long as the Americans keep fighting among themselves and therefore allow his government to secure themselves as a world power. Ponder on that for a while.
After reading In the Kingdom of Ice and In the Heart of the Sea, I expected more from this. It was good and at times even interesting. But comparatively uneventful. Yet Lewis and Clark are very important to our history so I pushed onward. Perhaps it was the author. The characters lacked personality and did not seem real. I've read his Band of Brothers and that was better, but it was written a few years before this book. Hmmm... one would think he would get better? Probably just bad timing on my account. When I finished I thought, "...that's it...?"
This started out great. I even stayed up way late the first night and had to force myself to put it down. Then it got old, stale, and even trite. It seems that a lot of books come out these days where the main characters are selfish, immature, and (wait for it) - shockingly beautiful. Enough already! And I'm not sure if it's just me but there seems to be a lot of WWII historical fiction books these days. If you're going to write one then it's got to be better than this.
In attempt to find something lighter I stumbled onto this one. I'm still laughing at the total change in direction for me. But seriously, Dolly Parton seems to be one of the most happy and optimistic celebrities I know. She almost radiates. I admit the book was a bit much: I actually listened to this one which was read - and sung (she would be talking one minute and all the sudden singing the next) - by Dolly herself. It was crazy and almost too much but I have to say I think that's just her. There were some good insights and she is truly an incredible person. Eg: she says she wakes up in the morning knowing it's going to be a good day, and if something goes wrong it's up to her to make it right.
Another find while I was trying to read something less dramatic, although it turned out to be somewhat heavy with a lot of drugs, violence, and crazy home lives. The story held me although it was pretty stereotypical (rich white lady helps out poor homeless black kid), but it was more than just that. One of the major thoughts the author leads to is that people have a hard time shaking their upbringing. Some simply cannot. But some can and reach for better. She is not just talking about the kid she helped but herself as well. I'm still deciding whether I thought this was highly worthwhile but just the fact that I haven't decided yet probably means that it is.
Worth reading but it took me a while. I knew very little about Spanish history. Ask me what's going on in England in the last part of the 1400's and I can tell you. Spain? Not so much. Uniting Spain, Spanish inquisition, expulsion of the Jews (man, that seems to happen a lot - think the last book I read about ancient England it happened in the late 1200's) and then Columbus, etc. All under her. Who was not even suppose to be a Queen. Impressive. However, even with all that, her unified Spain did not last much beyond her life. Also, the book states that one of her greatest achievements was the spread of Christianity to the New World. Spreading Christianity is good but the 15th century way of spreading it.... So many tortured and killed in the name of Christ.
Since I was already reading about Columbus in Isabella I figured I'd grab this one. I honestly had not idea what I was getting into. The author writes about the Columbian Exchange: basically how Columbus opened the world through transport - people as well as plants, insects, animals and organisms - and how that changed the world in which we live. See picture:
Reminds me of the whole Guns, Germs, and Steel thesis. Much of the book was cause and effect (i.e.: how the accidental introduction of the earth worm in one area changed this which changed that which lead to - etc and so on, or how sweet potatoes destroyed China ecosystem... etc and so on.) I admit, there were sections that I understood better than others and some that my eyes glossed over. It seemed like a history of the world, much of which I knew nothing about - almost overwhelming at times. The book introduced many ideas and historical facts I need to learn much more about. The introduction was incredible and I almost feel like I need to read that part again.
Rebekah:
Doing the right thing your own way. Love it.
Kids help mom and trouble ensues. I live this.
This was awesome. Make sure you read the top - got to be read as though you have a stuffed up nose for it to make sense.
Loved the rhymes, loved the plot, loved the end. Books conquer all.
