Fictional account of a plantation house circa 1790 featuring a master / family, slavery, and an Irish indentured servant. I read the sequel "Glory Over Everything" a while ago but didn't remember much. It's a hard read and seems overly dark at time. It's good but there are better novels.
I'm amazed at how poignant this was. It addressed the immune system, medicine, and etc and so on but it also related the bigger pictures. Richtel addressed anti-bacterial soaps and antibodies that we have created; in a sense they are weakening our immune system. He also addressed things we can do to be healthy that make us not need medicines that can hurt our body with side effects. Then he takes it one step further and shows how we as a society so interested in living longer have made choices that make us unhealthy, for example we have trucks and technology to package food to deliver food safely to the population but by the processing of said food we are introducing man made chemicals into our body that are not good for us therefore creating obesity thus trading hunger for obesity - one problem for another. He also states the importance of differences; in our body and in society in general. Hard to explain but definitely well worth the read. However, there's some language issues (several F words) so be wary.
Although not as good as I remembered, I enjoyed reading this account of his hiking the Appalachian trail for a second time. Bill Bryson if fun.
I'm working on taking a few tests to renew my teaching license and so although I've already read this I wanted to give it one more go. It reads very well. I find myself stopping the audio book and going to the internet and looking up the composer / music he discusses so I may have a better understanding. Wish it all came with the book but I'm extremely glad we have the technology to simply pull things up. Incredible.
A good novel in three voices: a poor white mom with an abusive husband, an African American who runs the home of a rich white family (post slavery - her mom was a slave to the family), and the rich white lady / head of the rich white family home. The subject matter is somewhat dark but the author kept it interesting. It held my interest from beginning to end. Very good.
A quick read about a Syrian war dating 2011 - 2019. Not an easy read. The journalist author describes events, including images of mangled children, screaming mom's, children being kidnaped, and so forth. Much about their lives as refugees and how hard it is to be a refugee with or without finances. A hard read.
This was a frightening realistic account of a young woman pulled into a hard life through one poor choice in a moment of weakness. It is terrifying to think of the possibilities, the lack thereof, and to be thrown at the mercy of charity and desperation. It's a hard and dark book but worth reading.
Usually these are wonderfully informative but this was less so. I feel like I must have missed something when I was listening to it - like there was more information I needed to understand what he was talking about which is most likely true; I know hardly anything about this period of time, however I feel it could have been better presented.
Realistic historical fiction with fantasy elements. I found the way the author presented the story (through diary entries, letters, articles, etc) held my interest extremely well. I loved the haunting nature of Alaska and the love story between Allen and Sophie. Highly recommendable.
Another Bill Bryson? Why not! He seems to know so much and writes rather well (at least his current works, some of his older are somewhat crass and less humorous / more abrasive). I find his opinions amusing and even laugh out loud sometimes. This was a fun look at science. Highly recommendable.
Middle grade fiction that touches on death, bullying, judgmental gossiping and so forth. Highly recommendable.
Some of these animals mentioned in this book withstood so many things for so many years only to become endangered from the manifest destiny philosophy. Many were killed just for the badge of honor. The author points out the differences between when they were killed by native Americans vs the "civilized man." It's an interesting read. Kind of went hand in hand with Bill Bryson's (A Short History) last chapter. What are we doing with the world we live in?
The "true story" title of this book is apparently not supported by many critics. Some say the plot happened and so therefore it is true. Some say although the main character was indeed a prisoner, he was set free by the Russians rather than escaped and walked back as written in the book. Some say there were people who escaped and this may be like their story. The book reads like unbelievable fiction but that doesn't mean it didn't happen and I don't really want to debate. Whether it's true or not it's a hard story to read. Not sure I'd recommend it. There's a movie apparently but I read that it doesn't follow the book.
I usually like middle grade fiction but this one I didn't embrace. Maybe it was the plot (grandma is Amelia Earhart's sister) or maybe it was the morals (they lie, deceive, steal, stow away on a train) but I just didn't enjoy it. The end redeemed it a little but not enough.
Wendell Berry reads nice and slow and is extremely poetic. He creates that feeling of early 20th century back woods / small town life. I enjoy reading him; it's like a breath of fresh air. Two of these stories I really liked, one I even identified with. The others were good.
It's been a while since I read this so I jumped in. I was hoping to get the Bee to read it with me but apparently whatever mama wants is no good. It pains me that I'm recommending books to her friends and they are loving them but I can't get my own daughter on board. But I digress. This is wonderful. As always.
Another Bill Bryson? Well why not. Ironically I put these on hold a while ago and they all came in the same time. So not entirely my fault. But less Bryson next month, I promise. I think this is the last I had on hold. It's Bill Bryson at his best, explaining info adding insights, bit one-line humor here and there. Right up my alley: informative, enjoyable and highly recommendable.
I went back and forth about reading this one. Time travelers go back and save Jane Austen. It sounded like it could be interesting but it also had the possibility of being utterly cliche. I needed something that didn't require my whole brain so I tried it. Turns out it was pretty bad. Lesson learned - follow your initial feelings.
It's pretty awful what some children go through. Poverish childhood, war refugee turn war participant until rehabilitated. But does one really get rehabilitated from all that? Then he goes to America and discusses his experiences at a UN meeting for the children of the world. He goes back and war happens again. He tries to escape rather than become a soldier again. He's early teens at this point. An important read for young teens who think their lives is hard.
This follow up to the book Before We Were Yours goes into more of the history of Georgia Tann. It also follows the stories of some of the children that were part of the Tennessee children's home society. The best part of this book was that Lisa Wingate was able to do much good from the subject matter of her original book. Because of Before We Were Yours many children were able to come together, tell their stories, and find some healing through associations with each other - many finding siblings they never knew about. It wasn't as well written nor was the style very engaging but it's true stories though and therefore has merit.
This was along the lines of Backman's A Man Called Ove, but it didn't matter it felt somewhat like a repeat because it was just as enjoyable. It did my heart good to read it. Highly recommendable story of an elderly woman and a 10 year old neighbor and... there is so much. Just trust me and give it a read.
I was enjoying this fiction about coping with loss until the surprise end, which although I kind of had a hint it was coming, still didn't like. The ending felt too much, which lead to more heart ache and healing, and so forth and so on. Many would probably enjoy it but I was just hoping for light and feel good. So, really good but be prepared. Also, she uses the F word repeatedly.
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