February Books

This was an interesting lead up to the revolution. Nathaniel Philbrick is not my favorite historian but he writes well enough. I just don't find the emotional texture I find with Brands and McCullough.  

I wanted to like this junior fiction more than I did but at the end it was just okay. A couple deaths, broken people healing, oh and sharks. That's about it. Some of the characters could have been written out and not missed much. I felt it was overly long and there were a few moments where I thought, "really....?" So, not on my long list of recommendable. 

Story about a girl who has cerebral palsy, her journey through life and how she found her voice. Also about her "inclusion" in school and her interaction with other kids. It's pretty good. Not my favorite but teaches a good lesson in empathy. 

I read John Ferling's Adams VS Jefferson, thought good things, decided he was worth reading again, so I chose this one. It was good. I compare it to McCullough, which is not as bad as it sounds; different authors write differently, each bringing out separate events and conclusions. What I liked about Ferling's account: the sheer difference of it, and the lack of political or personal attachment he had for the subject. In Ferling's view at times Adams was good, at times he wasn't. McCullough's account was much more exciting and even emotional to read. Adams seemed to almost come alive on his pages where as Ferling's was more sterile.  Both good but if you are going to read just one aim for McCullough. 

This was a fabulous read. Turns out I really like Doris Kearns Goodwin's books. She points out how both Eleanor and FD needed each other and yet couldn't seem to truly get a long. I liked that it wasn't just about the presidency, the war, or whatever else was going on in the background but was more about them and their relationship. Highly recommendable. 

The author states in the back of the book that after going to a museum exhibit about Amistad and learning there were children on Amistad, she decided to write the story, however there was little information available; only a few various letters written by one of the female children so the author chose to write a fictional account instead of a historical account. That makes sense and it's basically how it reads. I was hoping for more considering the high marks it was given. I think someone could do better. 

A thought provoking Black Lives Matter introduction for young kids. There are things that I really liked and there are some things I question but it is pretty worthwhile overall. It does contain discussion about African Americans getting shot, police officers getting off, etc and so on so consider your audience. 

Same subject as the above but this goes about it differently. It's a mystery and yet tells the story of an African American family in the 50's. Again, very good but consider if your audience is ready.  

Middle grade fiction concerning depression. The main character's mom has depression and she tries to figure out how to help her. Very insightful and even touching at times. 

It's an interesting piece of history from the Civil War but I don't think the incident merited such a big book. Could have been a lot shorter. Although it is the Civil War time period, I felt it was unnecessarily harsh, violent, and dark. It was also very long and drawn out. Unfortunate. 

I was somewhat concerned when I started this book but the story about kids who have fallen through the cracks and their burnt out teacher was hilarious and heart warming. Highly recommendable. 

There's so many books out about Abraham Lincoln I figured this was just one more, however there are many aspects to this book that make it stand out. Through his speeches, letters, and interactions the author created a plausible portrait of Lincoln's personality. There were aspects of his personality that were brought forth that I didn't care for but Lincoln is a flawed human like the rest of us. Knowing that makes what he accomplished even more fascinating. Highly recommendable. 

I enjoyed this realistic (time period 1899) book however I was disappointed with where it left off. Upon further inspection it turns out the story didn't end for there is at least one more book in the series and it looks like this series spawned another. Recommendable, but I'm pretty sure I'm not invested enough to finish the series. 

Mainly a mini biography of these 5 authors who happened to have had contact with a certain square in London. Although I know a little more about them now, unfortunately I don't feel I learned enough to tell anyone about them except that many had alternative lifestyles which is really not what I was wanting to learn. And the attachment to the square was pretty insignificant in many cases. To sum up, I found this less effective.

I read her Homegoing and found it well worth while so I was watching for another book from this author. This was entirely different from Homegoing but was also highly interesting and all consuming, although hard to describe. It has strong religious aspects as well as insights to race, depression and addiction. All in a fictional account. 

A pre-teen boy learning how to manage a life with an autistic brother and (SPOILER ALERT) the loss of a mother. It's middle grade fiction but I wouldn't put this in Rebekah's hands just yet. But it's very good and highly recommendable. 

Another middle grade fiction about a 12 year old and her building a relationship with a wrongfully incarcerated father. It's pretty good as well but again not something I'll hand Rebekah any time soon. Side note: the main character is interesting in baking (just like Rebekah) and watches a kid's cooking show that's on food network. So, tonight (February 26th) we're watching the first episode of that show for "Ice Cream Friday" instead of some Disney Junior show. So yeah for semi productive TV that both kid and parents can watch! 

Middle grade fiction in poetry form about the efforts to get children out of England and into Canada during WWII. Focuses (again - SPOILER ALERT) on the teen, his feelings about his step mother, his travels, the sinking of the ship, time on the raft, and eventual rescue and reuniting with family. Pretty good but kind of intense for the younger middle grade kids. However, it is possible it's only Rebekah that's overly sensitive so what do I know.

I keep saying I am done with WWII historical fiction and yet here I am again. But seriously I've got to be done. I got half way through this extremely well reviewed book and decided I needed to up the reading pace so I could get to the end faster. It's one thing to learn about what happened but it's another to bury yourself in the literature over and over again. This one is slightly different: although the first part is the camp and people dying, the last is the main character and how she keeps 13 Jews in her house so it focuses on that rather than the camps but it's still starvation, depravation, and so forth. 

I wasn't able to finish this one. I started way back in October 2020; it was so heavy I wasn't able to finish it before it was due. The thesis is you physical body is highly effected when someone goes through trauma. The section I stopped at had to do with trauma that happened in the persons life when they were children, going through all the different types of abuse adults inflict on children and all the disorders that happen in their adult lives because of the abuse. Maybe it was the pandemic or maybe I was appalled by the state of the world (the statistics the author quotes are horrifying) but I couldn't get through it. I waited a few months and tried again with basically the same results. Today I went back on my audio account determined to finish the book only to find out the library no longer offers that book. So, I'm officially calling it quits.