VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 discussion
Stormness Head (60 books)
>
Lynn's level 60 2020 climb!
Today's nonfiction characters are Fighting Words: The bold American Journalists Who Brought The World Home Between The Wars by Nancy F. Cott. It is 402 pages long and is published by basic books. The cover is blue with an old style spiral notebook in the center. The intended readers is someone who's interested in It has to be, journalistic history, and the lives of four journalists over the course of the 1920s and 30s. There is mild foul language sexuality and discussion of violence in this piece. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- At a time when print media reign supreme and newspapers were legion, a crop of young Americans impulsively left their homes to reinvent themselves as foreign correspondents. Dorothy Thompson, John Gunther, Vincent Sheehan, Rayna Raphaelson adopted the power of the press as their own as they travel the globe. In the tumultuous decades following the first world war, they confronted political challenges that still reverberate today- democracy vs authoritarianism, global responsibility versus isolationism, press objectivity versus propaganda. By the early 1930s that they were in anti-fascist Vanguard, keenly aware of Hitler's impending Menace, alerting Americans to political urgencies far away. They were recalibrating their intimate lives with lovers and spouses at the same time, navigating sexual passions and frictions. Their experiences trace the development of not only International journalism but also the making of the modern self.
A riveting group portrait of four extraordinary Americans abroad the Golden Age of foreign correspondents, Fighting Words shows how these youthful cosmopolitan's reshaped America's sense of its role in the world.
Review- an interesting well-written in-depth look at the lines of four people I knew absolutely nothing about. Cott gives the reader excellent insight into her four subjects by following them from their childhood to their deaths but the main focus of the book is on their reporting work during the 1920s and 30s. All four traveled the globe, some of them more than once, and they wrote about their experiences and the world that they encountered. With first-hand documents be that their personal journals or articles that they wrote we see the world that they saw and experienced it with them. At times the book can be slow going as there are many details, but in the end I found it very worth my time and I learned quite a bit about American journalism and four of the people who innovated with it. I do wonder why she decided to write one book about these four people instead of concentrating on one as any one of them would make a fascinating biography but that was my only complaint. The writing is engaging and interesting, the people themselves are fascinating, and this is a good non-fiction book.
I give this book a 4 out of 5 Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan. It is 355 pages long and is published by Avon books. it is V in the Rogue files series but they can all be read as standalone. The cover has the two main characters in a passionate embrace. The intended reader is someone who enjoys historical romance over the top plots. There is mild foul language sex and sexuality and Mild violence in this novel. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- An urgent dilemma…
To save her impoverished family, Marian Langley will become a mistress. But she will not just be any mistress. Marian intends to become so skilled, so coveted, that she can set her own terms, retaining control over her body and her fate. Only one problem remains: finding a tutor.
A scandalous solution…
Other men deprive themselves of pleasure for propriety’s sake. Nathaniel, Duke of Warrington, would much rather be depraved. He slakes his desires with professionals who asked nothing of him but his coin. Marion's proposal- but he trained her without taking her virtue- is an intriguing diversion, until their lessons in seduction spin out of control.
Make an unlikely duchess…
When Marian is blackmailed into an engagement by a man she despises, Nate impulsively steals her away. Although he never intended to take a wife, he can't tolerate the idea of Marian forfeiting her freedom to another. But can he bear to give her what she demands- a real marriage?
Review- A fun, if light, historical romance. The premise of course is silly, a well-born young lady deciding to become a mistress instead of finding family or friends to help her and her family after the unexpected death of her father but once you let go of the absurdity of it it's a fun little romance. The Duke is reluctant to take a second wife as his first one died terribly in childbirth and that's given him concern about unprotected sexuality. But of course our heroine convinces him and we have our plot. The sex scenes are everything from fairly mild to very explicit but with the premise of a woman because learning to become a mistress that should be expected. But the scenes are nothing too shocking, if you're looking for historical Fifty Shades of Grey, you're not going to find it here.The villain is a bit one note but he serves his purpose just fine. So if you're looking for a light, if a bit ridiculous love story, I would recommend this one.
I give this novel a Three out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local library.
Book review is on Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ko Hyung-Ju, Ryan Estrada. Is 198 pages long and is published by Iron circus comics. The governor has the main character Hyon Sook on it blushing holding a book with her classmates behind her in celebration. The reader is someone who is interested in a fictionalized account of South Korea's protest in the 1980s. There is mild foul language talk of sexuality and rape and violence in this graphic novel. The story is told from third person close of the main character Hyun Sook. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- 1983 during South Korea's V Republic, a military regime that has entrenched its power through censorship, torture, and the murder of protesters. In this charged political climate, a freshman named Kim Hyun Sook takes refuge in the comfort of books. With a handsome young editor of the school newspaper invites her to his reading club, she expects to talk about Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Scarlet Letter. Instead, she finds herself hiding in a basement as the youngest member of an underground Banned Book Club. As Kim Hyun Sook soon discovers, in a totalitarian regime, the delights of discovering great works of illicit literature are quickly overshadowed by fear and violence.
In Banned Book Club,Kim Hyun Sook shares her dramatic true story of political strife, fear mongering, the death of democratic institutions, and the Relentless rebellion of reading.
Review- A moving and chilling account of protesting in South Korea told from someone who survived them. We follow our main character, Hyun Sook, starting College against her mother's wishes all the way to almost the present day where she is still active in protesting corruption in her government. The black and white images help convey the horror and at the same time lesson it making it easier for the reader. The police brutality would be harder to take in I think if it was in full color. Hyun Sook never wanted to get involved in the protesting, she just wanted to go to college but she learned that in order to truly go to college, to truly learn about the world she was going to have to get involved. I highly recommend this graphic novel for its honest depiction of a totalitarian regime, the people who are just trying to survive it, and the people who were trying to do something about it. I feel that something we need to be thinking about in our modern-day, it is not something that has been left in the past.
I give this graphic novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Non-fiction book review is on A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II by Simon Parkin. It is 309 pages long, including index, notes, and bibliography. Lucas and published by Little, Brown and Company. The cover is a picture taken from the game room where Captain Roberts and his wrens played the war-games. There is mild foul language, no sexuality and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- the triumphant story of a group of young women who helped devise a winning strategy to defeat the Nazi U-boats and deliver a decisive victory in the battle of the Atlantic.
By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II.
Combining vibrant novelistic storytelling with extensive research, interviews, and previously unpublished accounts, Simon Parkin describes for the first time the role that women played in developing the Allied strategy that, in the words of one admiral, "contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany." Rich with unforgettable cinematic detail and larger-than-life characters, A Game of Birds and Wolves is a heart-wrenching tale of ingenuity, dedication, perseverance, and love, bringing to life the imagination and sacrifice required to defeat the Nazis at sea.
Review- A fascinating, narratively told story filled with interesting characters in the drama of World War II. The book begins at the end with Captain Roberts going to Germany to learn if he was right about how the Germans were using their U-boats and then backs up to take us back to the beginning, to Captain Roberts being discharged from the Royal Navy for health reasons. The start of the war no one believed that Germany had the ability to truly stop Britain from getting supplies but they quickly learned that the Germans did have enough U-boats and they were being led by a brilliant commander who believed in U-boats and their crews. So Captain Roberts is brought back as he had been an instructor and knew more about U-boats than anyone else. Captain Roberts comes up with an ingenious plan of basically playing battleship. Roberts trained the young women who worked for them, they were called wrens, in basic tactical warfare and they learned. They learned so well they began teaching Royal Navy ship captains and commanders on how to defeat and evade U-boats. This is a fascinating piece of almost forgotten World War II history, with so many women at the center of it. I'm glad that the story has been found and being told to new readers. If you were looking for a different kind of World War II non-fiction book, less about the battles or the concentration camps, then I highly recommend this book.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library
Today’s book review is on Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire. It is 206 pages long and is published by Tor books. Cover is a moor with a door in the center and lightning coming down striking the door. As this is the fifth book in the Wayward Children series you do need to have read at least the first two books in order to understand the story. There is mild foul language, no sexuality, and mild violence in this novel. The story is told from third-person close of the different characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister--whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice--back to their home on the Moors.
But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.
Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.
Again.
Review- Another excellent addition in McGuire's Wayward Children series. We pick up sometime after the end of the third novel with everyone back home but still missing the people they lost over the course of the third novel. In Jack's old room a lightning strike happens and a door appears and then Jack and Alexis come through the door seeking help. And off we go into our adventure in the Moors, Jack and Jill's true home. I really enjoyed traveling the Moors in this novel, there is so much that we didn't really get to explore but I enjoyed having the world fleshed out a bit more than it was in Down Among the Sticks and Bones. The only question I still have is why Jill is the way she is. Jack is convinced that Jill believes her to be the villain of Jill's story. But we really have no reason to think that, and Jack never says why she believes that about Jill or herself. It is still an excellent addition to the series and probably my second favorite. I recommend this book and I recommend the entire Wayward Children series.
I give this book a 5 out of 5 stores and I get nothing for my review. I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s Nonfiction book review is on Murder in McComb: The Tina Andrews Case by Trent Brown. It is 305 pages long and is published by LSU press. The cover is a green sepia picture of where Tina Andrews was found with her fourth grade school picture in it. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime, race and societal politics in the Deep South, and in-depth investigative journalism. There is mild foul language, no sex, and description of violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- What remained of the badly decomposed body of 12 year old Tina Marie Andrews was discovered underneath a discarded sofa in the woods outside of McComb, Mississippi, on August 23rd, 1969. Ten Day earlier, Andrews and a friend had accepted a ride home after leaving the Tiger’s Den, a local teenage hangout, but they were driven instead to the remote area where Andrews’ was eventually murdered. Although eyewitness testimony pointed to local police officers, no one was ever convicted of this brutal crime, and to this day the case remains officially unsolved. Contemporary local newspaper coverage notwithstanding, the story of Andrews murder have not been told. Indeed, many people in the Macomb Community, more than 50 years later, hesitate to speak of the tragedy.
Trent Brown’s Murder in McComb is the first comprehensive examination of this case, the extended trials that followed. Brown also explores the public shaming of the state's main witness, a fifteen-year-old unwed mother, and the subsequent desecration of Andrews' grave. Set against the uneasy backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, Brown’s study deftly reconstructs various accounts with the murder, explains why the jury's reached the verdict that they did, and explores the broader forces that shape the community Andrews live and died.
Review- This is an in-depth journalistic investigation into not only the officially unsolved murder of Tina Andrews, but also the society that she was born into that made her murder unsolved. Tina Andrews was 12 years old when she was out late and accepted a ride with her friend, by two men one of food was believed to be a police officer. Instead of taking the two girls home the two men took them to the oilfield a bear patch in the woods, in order to have sex with them. What's the two girls were not interested in that and tried to get away, the only witness surviving the best friend and the two men who killed her. Brown is coming some fifty years after the murder and the trials to try and reconstruct what exactly happened that night in August 1969. Of course local gossips thinks that the two men, one of whom was tried twice and found innocent once, we're the ones who did it. But because Tina Andrews came from a very poor family, her friend identified them was also seen is not a very good person, and they were both out upstanding police officers, they got away with murder; at least everyone in the city of Maycomb thanks that. Brown doesn't try to say who did what but instead tries chance to reconstruct what happened. What made the community turn against two young girls in such a way. this was at times a difficult books to read, not because of the writing style but because we're talking about two children one of them was murdered and the other was slandered in her community because she didn't live up to some standards. If you're looking for a true crime book that examines more than just the crime scene but the community that enabled crime and the murderer to get away with it I highly recommend this book.
I get this book a Four out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local library.
Today's book review is on The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas. it is 306 pages long and is published by amulet books. The cover is an illustration of a tree with a paper Cardinal cut in pieces in between the title. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality and mild violence in this novel. The intended reader is someone who is interested in an unusual demonic possession. The story is told from the first-person close of the main character Clare. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- “She was my only.”
It wasn't technically an exorcism, what they did to Clare. When the reverend and his son ripped her demon from her, they called it a ‘deliverance’. They didn't understand that Claire and her demon- simply known as Her- were like sisters. She comforted Clare, made her feel brave, helped to ease her loneliness. They were each other's only.
Now, Clare’s only comfort are the three clues that she left behind:
Be nice to him
June 20th
Remember the stories
Clare will do anything to get her back, even if it means teaming up with the Reverend sun and scouring every inch of her small, southern town for answers. But what if she sacrifices everything to bring her demon back, what will be left of Clare?
Review- This is an excellent ya, intro horror novel. The Novel starts after the exorcism happened, we pick up with Claire some weeks afterwards. She is deeply depressed, feels betrayed by her stepfather, who's the one who called the reverend, and is just trying to find a reason to keep on living. When she goes to the local junk shop and finds one of her books there, that she knows she didn't take to be sold there, she realizes that her demon has left her a message. Clare goes on a deep exploration in her small town and realizes that there's more going on there than she ever imagined and she's not the first child to have a demon for a best friend. A wonderful coming-of-age it's a bit darker than normal, about a young woman trying to figure out her place in the world after she loses the only thing that she felt she always would have. Relationships are fairly complex and well-thought-out, demons are suitably both creepy and charismatic at the same time, and Clare is an interesting and engaging protagonist. If you're a fan of demonic possession novels or just looking for an interesting horror ya novel I would recommend you give this one a try.
I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on The Good News Club: The Religious Right Stealth Assault on American Children by Katherine Stewart. It is 287 pages long including notes and an index. Cover is a picture of a playground with a cross done in a hopscotch style. The reader is someone who is interested in nonfiction, the religious right, and the continued separation of church and state. There is no foul language, no sexuality and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of book- 2009, The Good News Club came to the public elementary school where journalist Katherine Stewart sent her children. The Club bills itself as an after-school Bible study, but Stewart soon discovered its real mission is to convert children to fundamentalist Christianity. Astonished to discover that the Supreme Court had deemed this religious activity legal in public schools, Stuart began an investigative journey to dozens of cities across the nation to document the impact.
As Stewart makes chillingly clear, the rapidly expanding network of the Good News Clubs represents just one of the range of initiatives intended to insert religious values into public schools. Although they appear to be spontaneous, local events, they are in fact organized and funded at a national level. Taken together, they represent a new strategy of the Religious Right in its long-running aim to ”take back America,” undermining our public education system and secular democracy itself.
Review- An eye opening and disturbing expose of the religious rights newest way to take away our freedoms. Stewart was sending her children to our local public school when a new club started in the area interested in this after school Bible club and what it was really she came to discover that it was teaching exactly what you would expect. Disturbed by the discovery of fundamentalist Christianity in her secular Public School Stuart began to investigate the Good News Club, and the people who were running it. In the book that follows it is an expansive book but terrifying to see how far the religious right will go to get their way. across the country, interviews different people both involved with the club and there's two or not, and comes to a not surprising conclusion. The conclusion is that the Good News Club is a serious threat to public education and the separation of church and state. I personally did not find that shocking at all but seeing it in black-and-white laid out so clearly and where all the money being funded into the Good News Club is coming from was quite disturbing. If you are at all interested in the continued separation of church and state I highly recommend that you read this book.
I give this book 5 out of 5 Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my library.
Today's book review is on Ten by Gretchen McNeil. It is 294 pages long and is published by Balzer + Bray. The cover is a picture of an isolated island in the Pacific Northwest. The intended reader is someone who likes young adult mysteries, thrillers, and retelling of classic mystery novels. There is mild foul language, discussions of sex and sexuality, and violence in this novel. The story is told in the first person of the main character Meg. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives- three days on Henry Island at an exclusive house party. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their own reasons for wanting to be there, which involved are schools most eligible bachelor, TJ Fletcher, and look forward to three glorious days of boys, bonding, and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get. Suddenly, people are dying, and with a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the rest of the world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn't scheduled to return the days. Aa the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? or is the killer closer to her than she ever imagined?
Review- A masterful retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None updated for modern tastes. Meg is trying to handle just the last few months before she can get away and go to college at UCLA but her best friend Minnie is not handling their soon-to-be separation very well. So this was supposed to be a last big hurrah for the two of them to spend time together and have a little fun. but soon accidents start to happen, and then a suicide or at least it looks like one and Meg knows something has gone terribly wrong. The story kept me guessing, I wasn't sure exactly who was the one behind it but when the reveal happened I wasn't surprised necessarily by who the person was but who they were pretending to be. Of course if you have read the Agatha Christie classic novel you will enjoy this novel more but if you're just looking for a teen thriller, who done it, I would recommend that It is well written, the characters are interesting and complex, and it's just in general a good teen slasher novel.
I give this novel and a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on The Book: A Cover-To-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston. It is 428 pages long including index and notes. This book was published by w w Norton and Company. The intended reader is someone who is interested in the history of the book. The cover is a plain gray brown with a red spine and notes about the different parts of a cover such as header, fore-edge, foot-binding, Etc. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages―of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today. Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-color illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity’s most important―and universal―information technology.
Review- A fascinating, enlightening, and most of all an engaging study into the book. We start with as far back as we can, which is papyrus, how the Egyptians figured out that papyrus was a good medium for paper and then we move forward stopping with clay tablets with spreading westward, woodcuts, Chinese inventions and all the way to the modern-day electronic book. I had a wonderful time reading this book. I have read Houston's first book Shady Characters, which is about punctuation, and had a wonderful time so when I had an opportunity to read this one I had to. The writing is engaging, if you are interested in the subject you will be fascinated and enthralled by it, and the notes at the back add to the understanding of some of the more vague and esoteric parts of the history of the book. Houston does in-depth, solid research that is not overwhelming to the reader but you are not losing any important details as we follow the formation of the most powerful object that humanity has ever created. I absolutely adored this non-fiction book and I would highly recommend it.
I give the non-fiction book a Five out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed the book from my local library.
Today’s review is on The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa. It is a 356 pages and is published by Avon. The cover is a teal green with a wedding cake on it with a bride shoving the best man off of it and the groom looking confused. The intended reader is someone who is interested in romance, strong female leads, and a humorous premise. There is mild foul language, sex and sexuality, and no violence in this novel. The story is told from first-person close of the two main characters Lina and Max. There Be Spoilers Ahead. From the back of the book- You are cordially invited to witness the worst best man get what he deserves.
A wedding planner left at the altar? Yeah, the irony isn't lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blood from her past, Lina’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There's just one hitch... she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.
Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his Mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. But then he learns he'll be working with his brother's whip-smart, stunning -absolutely off-limits- ex-fiance. And she loathes him.
If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they'll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina's ready to dish out a little payback of her own.
Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn't interested in falling in love, and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again …
Review- Any cute rom-coms about fun characters who are not looking for anything but find it anyway. The novel starts three years in the past with the wedding jilting of our heroine Lina and how she handles being left at the altar, which is surprisingly well. We pick up in the future where Lina impresses an important woman who has been given an important job at her hotel, which is to branch out into offering wedding services. Seeing an opportunity to move up in her career LIna takes the chance but she has to work with a marketing manager who happens to be her former fiance's brother. From there we get very normal rom-com, one-upping each other and playing pranks that kind of thing but they eventually work past that to really speaking to each other and moving into a friendly professional relationship and then into more. At the climax we find out that Max was not as involved in his brother jilting Lina at the altar and that is my one dissatisfaction with this novel. We never discover why LIna’s former fiance left her. But it is a nice popcorn romance and if that's what you're looking for to read I do recommend this.
I give this novel a four out of five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today's nonfiction review is on Gone at Midnight: The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam by Jake Anderson. it is 352 pages long and is published by Citadel press. Cover is an illustrative drawing a water cistern like the one on top of the Cecil Hotel. The intended reader is someone who was interested in True Crime and the disappearance of Elisa Lam,. There is mild foul language, discussions of sex and sexuality, and discussion of violence. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- A Los Angeles hotel with a haunting history. A missing young woman. A disturbing video followed by a shocking discovery. A cold-case mystery that has become an internet phenomenon--and for one determined journalist, a life-changing quest toward uncomfortable truths.
Twenty-one-year-old Vancouver student Elisa Lam was last heard from on January 31, 2013, after she checked into downtown L.A.'s Cecil Hotel--a 600-room building with a nine-decade history of scandal and tragedy. The next day, Elisa vanished. A search of the hotel yielded nothing. More than a week later, complaints by guests of foul-smelling tap water led to a grim discovery: Elisa's nude body floating in a rooftop water tank, in an area extremely difficult to access without setting off alarms. The only apparent clue was a disturbing surveillance video of Elisa, uploaded to YouTube in hopes of public assistance.
As the eerie elevator video went viral, so did the questions of its tens of millions of viewers. Was Elisa's death caused by murder, suicide, or paranormal activity? Was it connected to the Cecil's sinister reputation? And in that video, what accounted for Elisa's strange behavior? With the help of web sleuths and investigators from around the world, journalist Jake Anderson set out to uncover the facts behind a death that had become a macabre internet meme, as well as a magnet for conspiracy theorists.
In poring through Elisa's revealing online journals and social media posts, Anderson realized he shared more in common with the young woman than he imagined. His search for justice and truth became a personal journey, a dangerous descent into one of America's quiet epidemics. Along the way, he exposed a botched investigation and previously unreported disclosures from inside sources who suggest there may have been a corporate conspiracy and a police cover-up. In Gone at Midnight, Anderson chronicles eye-opening discoveries about who Elisa Lam really was and what--or whom--she was running from, and presents shocking new evidence that may re-open one of the most chilling and obsessively followed true crime cases of the century.
Review- And at times meandering, indecisive, and confusing narrative of one-man search into the death of Elisa Lam. Anderson became obsessed with the disappearance of Elisa Lam at the same time as everyone else when the hotel footage of her in the elevator was released to the public. The footage is disconcerting, possibly even disturbing, and has created a frenzy about this case that otherwise would have been forgotten in days. In this book Anderson chronicles not only Elisa Lam’s life but his own struggles with mental illness, and well that is good that he is open about where he is coming from, but at times it distracts from the very important story of what happened to Elisa Lam. Anderson does travel down many rabbit holes but all of the rabbit holes he goes down were provided to him by other people, he is only showing what was already there. In the end of course we don't know what happened to Elisa Lam. We don't know if it was an accident, if it was murder, or if it was something else entirely like suicide. I don't feel that Anderson does any favors to the case but neither do I feel that he harms it in any way. I feel that this is purely a book about one man's obsessive search for answers in a case that there are no answers to.
I give this non-fiction book a 3 out of 5 Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. It is 370 pages long and is published by Little, Brown, and Company. The cover is white with a golden branch with a crown and a green beetle on it. The intended reader is someone who likes dark YA novels, faerie stories, and great writing. There in mild foul language, implied sex and sexuality, and voilence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of the main character Jude. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
Review- Holly Black is a master of dark fairy tales and she returns to the form and looks so Prince. We start with Jude’s earliest memory which is her mother and father being murdered by her older sister's father, who happens to be a fairy known as a redcap. We then fast forward to about 10 years later and Jude is wholly devoted to stepfather and wants to become a knight in one of the fairy courts. But then a very surprising betrayal happens in Jude is forced to reconsider what she is willing to do to make a place for herself in her adopted home. The writing as always the strong point with Black, she is a master of craft, and understands traditional Fearie tales better than most modern writers. None of the plot twists with the exception of the big one were surprising to me, but don't let that put you off, the overall story itself is absolutely fantastic. I will say that Jude is as dense as a bag of rocks, but that's because she is taking things at face value, because most of the time when dealing with a Fae she can. I'm curious about where she is going to go now that she has made the cruel Prince the King, even though he certainly did not bargain for that. If you were looking for a more traditional style of Faerie tale I highly recommend this and everything else written by Holly Black.
I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.
Today’s Nonfiction review is on Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World by Tara Isabella Burton. It is 320 pages long and is published by Public Affairs. The cover is an illustrated stained glass window. The intended reader is someone who is interested in modern culture and society. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and no voilence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- Fifty-Five years have passed since the cover of Time magazine proclaimed the death of God, yet while participation in mainstream religion has indeed plummeted, Americans have never been more spiritually busy.
While rejecting traditional worship in unprecedented numbers, today's Americans are embracing a kaleidoscopic panoply of spiritual traditions, rituals, and subcultures- from astrology and witchcraft to SoulCycle and the alt-right. As the internet makes it ever easier to find these new tribes and consumer capitalism forever threatens to turn spirituality into a lifestyle brand, remarkably modern American religious culture is undergoing a revival comparable with the Great Awakenings of centuries past. Faith is experiencing a renaissance. Disillusioned with organized religion and political establishments alike, more and more Americans are seeking out spiritual paths driven by intuition, and not institutions.
In Strange Rights, Tara Isabella Burton visits the techno-utopias of Silicon Valley, Satanist and polyamorous communities, witches from Bushwick, wellness junkies and social justice Advocates and devotees of Jordan Peterson, proving Americans are not abandoning religion but remixing mixing it. In search of the deep and the real, they are finding meaning, purpose, ritual, and communities and ever-newer, ever-stranger ways.
Review- A fascinating treatise on modern culture and society viewed through the lens of how Americans are expressing their spirituality if it's not their religion. Burton does excellent research interviewing many people from all walks of life, other peer-reviewed sources on sociology and other topics about current culture, and she comes to some interesting conclusions. The main conclusion is that Americans are not less religious than ever but they are more spiritual than ever. Unfortunately what is spiritual and spirituality is really hard to define and Burton does spend some time discussing that. She talks about how people are saying they are spiritual not religious and in the way that they reflect that be that in self care and wellness or in general advocacy for those who are downtrodden in our society. Burton’s conclusions are easy to follow, and are backed up in my personal experiences with people out in the world. But I'm not sure what the point is. I don't know if Burton is wanting to examine this from a religious perspective, a sociological perspective, or just more of a treatise on modern society. If you were curious about the spiritual not religious rise here in America or just more interested in the way modern society appears to be living in a religious sense I would recommend this book.
I give this non-fiction book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacreby Max Brooks. It is 286 pages long and is published by Del Rey Books. The cover is white with a red giant footprint and a human footprint inside it. The intended reader is someone who likes horror novels, monster novels, and Bigfoot. There is mild foul language, no sex, and voilence in this novel. The story is from first person close of Kate, the main character, and other first hand interviews about the Rainier massacre. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier's eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now.
But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town's bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing--and too earth-shattering in its implications--to be forgotten.
In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate's extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the legendary beasts behind it.
Kate's is a tale of unexpected strength and resilience, of humanity's defiance in the face of a terrible predator's gaze, and inevitably, of savagery and death.
Yet it is also far more than that.
Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature known as Bigfoot walks among us--and that it is a beast of terrible strength and ferocity.
Part survival narrative, part bloody horror tale, part scientific journey into the boundaries between truth and fiction, this is a Bigfoot story as only Max Brooks could chronicle it--and like none you've ever read before.
Review- A wonderful horror novel by Brooks, that brings Sasquatch and classic monster Killer movies into the modern-day. Brooks frames this novel as an investigation that he gets involved in when he's contacted by the main character's older brother as he continues to search for her. The story is told in first-person narrative of the journals left behind by Kate and of the interviews done by Brooks. The writing style is absolutely fantastic, The Narrative is compelling, and at times the plot had me very anxious about how everything was going to turn out. Brooks managed to get around the main problem with monster attack stories, which is caring about the characters when you know they're all going to die. He does this very successfully and you care about the people who die, some more than others of course, and in the end you're left with questions and wanting to know what exactly happened up there. There is no doubt that the Bigfoot killed everyone but did they kill everyone or where enough left behind to start killing the Bigfoot? It's not clear but it is a good ending to a surprisingly well-written horror novel.
I give this novel of Five out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on Hunting the Unabomber: The FBI, Ted Kaczynski, and the Capture of America’s Most Notorious Domestic Terrorist by Lis Wiehl. It is 315 pages long and is published by Nelson Books. The cover is red with Kaczynski’s mugshot in the center. The intended reader is someone who is interested in the Unabomber, true crime, and the FBI. There is foul language, no sex, and discussion of voilence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- On April 3, 1996, a team of FBI agents closed in on an isolated cabin in remote Montana, marking the end of the longest and most expensive investigation in FBI history. The cabin's lone inhabitant was a former mathematics prodigy and wunderkind professor who had abandoned society decades earlier. Few people knew his name, Theodore Kaczynski, but everyone knew the mayhem and death associated with his nickname: the Unabomber.
For two decades, Kaczynski had masterminded a campaign of random terror, killing and maiming innocent people through bombs sent in untraceable packages. The FBI task force charged with finding the perpetrator of these horrifying crimes grew to 150 people, yet his identity remained a maddening mystery. Then, in 1995, a "manifesto" from the Unabomber was published in the New York Times and Washington Post, resulting in a cascade of tips--including the one that cracked the case.
With access to new primary sources and exclusive interviews with key law enforcement officials, New York Times bestselling author and former federal prosecutor Lis Wiehl meticulously reconstructs the white-knuckle, tension-filled hunt to identify and capture the mysterious killer. A revelatory, historical thriller of the years-long battle of wits between the FBI and the brilliant-but-criminally insane Kaczynski, Hunting the Unabomber is the spellbinding account of the most complex and captivating manhunt in American history.
Review- A fascinating account of the hunt for America's most notorious serial bomber told by someone who has access to the original documents, the FBI and other agents who worked the case, and even to Kaczynski's brother himself. Wiehl was a federal prosecutor but now she has decided to write about the hunt for the Unabomber across some 14 years from the time they realized that they had a serial bomber on their hands to the time that he was arrested and in court. Because she was a prosecutor, people were willing to speak to her that otherwise might not be willing to speak to another true crime author because they understand that she knows what they went through to catch this man. The writing style is engaging narrative without being pedantic, and the notes are fantastic in the back. Being able to hear first-hand from the agents who worked the case gives this book an edge over other pieces that may have been written about the Unabomber and the hunt for him. Wiehl gives the reader insight into Kaczynski's mind, his past, and what potentially drove him to send the bombs. All of the sympathy is given to his victims and to the agents that worked his case tirelessly and at times against politics to catch this man; Kaczynski is seen as a very mentally sick man but one who understood what he was doing to others every time he sent out a package. If you were interested in the Unabomber or the hunt for him in general I highly recommend this book.
I give this book of Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s review is on The Caretakers by Eliza Maxwell. It is 307 pages long and is published by Lake Union Publishing. The cover is a picture of a woman in a long coat in front of an old house that is falling apart. The intended reader is someone who likes mystery stories. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and some violence in this book. The story is told from third person close of the main characters, Tessa and Kitty. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended.
She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed. Worse, Tessa’s mother has unexpectedly passed away, and her sister, Margot, turns on her after tensions from their past escalate. Hounded by a bullying press, Tessa needs an escape. That’s when she learns of a strange inheritance bequeathed by her mother: a derelict and isolated estate known as Fallbrook. It seems like the perfect refuge.
A crumbling monument to a gruesome history, the mansion has been abandoned by all but two elderly sisters retained as caretakers. They are also guardians of all its mysteries. As the house starts revealing its dark secrets, Tessa must face her fears and right the wrongs of her past to save herself and her relationship with Margot. But nothing and no one at Fallbrook are what they seem.
Review- This was an interesting mystery but not at all what I was expecting from the blurb on the back. There are two main characters in this story Tessa and Kitty and the chapters switch from one to the other as the story progresses. There are two stories going on in this novel: Tessa’s story of dealing with being accused of releasing a murderer and the story of what happened in the past surrounding the death of their mother's birth family. The mystery is engaging but very unexpected. It is very straightforward, with the story itself, not with who the real killers are in both the past and the present. I quite like the narrative style, the characters were interesting and believably complicated, and the family relations were as difficult to manage as they would be in reality but easy for the reader to follow. If you like fairly straightforward Mysteries without too much violence or gore I highly recommend The Caretakers.
I give this book of four out of five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s post is on Wild, Wild Rake by Janna MacGregor. It is 350 and is published by St. Martin’s. The cover is purple with the main couple wrapped in an embrace. The intended reader is someone who likes historical romances. There in very mild foul language, sex and sexuality, and mild violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of the two main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the back of the book- Her first marriage was an epic failure.
Lady Avalon Warwyck never did love her husband. Arrogant, selfish, and cruel, it’s a blessing when she’s widowed and left to raise her son all by herself. Finally, Avalon can live freely and do the work she loves: helping fallen women become businesswomen. She’s lived these past ten years with no desire to remarry―that is, until Mr. Devan Farris comes to town.
Can he convince her to take another chance at happily ever after?
Devan Farris―charming vicar, reputed rake, and the brother of Avalon’s son’s guardian―is reluctantly sent to town to keep tabs on Avalon and her son. Devan wishes he didn’t have to meddle in her affairs; he’s not one to trod on a woman’s independent nature and keen sense of convictions. But she’ll have nothing to do with vicar with a wild reputation―even though he’s never given his heart and body to another. If only he could find a way to show Avalon who he really is on the inside―a good, true soul looking for its other half. But how can he prove that he wants to love and care for her. . .until death do they part?
Review- Charming historical romance with two independent and engaging main leads. Avalon's first marriage was absolutely terrible, she was terribly mistreated by her husband, and now devotes her life to women who have been forced into prostitution and now are trying to work their way back into respectable society. Devan is a man who is looking for his other half but because of his family he has been on guard for fortune hunters or the like. So he has carefully crafted a reputation as a rake to turn away those who would only look at him as a potential for a title or money. The two start out on rocky ground as Avalon was married to one of his friends and Devan did not understand why they were married until later and their relationship. But as the characters learn to see past their own personal prejudice and to really get to know each other they fall in love. It was a very sweet love story about two characters that deserve to be happy and they are willing to grow and change to embrace a better future than what they have now. If you enjoy the historical romance novels, I would give this one a try, I had a really good time reading it.
I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow a book from my local library.
Today’s post is on How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. It is 350 pages long and is published by Ember. The cover is blue with a young girl looking at the reader through a window with the title written on it. There is mild foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this novel. The intended reader is someone who likes young adult horror. The story is told from third person close of the main character Samantha. There Be Spoilers AheadFrom the back of the book- Being the new girl is tough. Being the new girl in Salem could be deadly.
Samantha Mather has just moved to Salem, Massachusetts- the site of the infamous Witch Trials. It will be tough for anyone to start over in the middle of high school, but when your great-great-great (and add a few more greats to that) grandfather was the one putting the accused witches on trial, your family reputation has a way of proceeding you. So Sam isn't entirely surprised when she's targeted by a group of girls known as The Descendants. You can probably guess who their ancestors were, right? yep, the witches.
As if dealing with a checkered family past wasn't enough, Sam finds herself confronted by a handsome but seriously stubborn ghost, and she's discovered she is at the center of a centuries-old curse. Stopping the cycle of evil will mean working with the Descendants and proving her own innocence. But does anyone actually care if Sam is innocent? Or Salem's deadly history destined to repeat itself ?
Review- A good YA horror romance novel with a pretty interesting world. As the blurb said Samantha Mather is the descendant of Cotton Mather who is in history the one who actually did start the Salem witch trials. Samantha is forced to move to Salem for her because her father's medical bills will be less expensive; she does come in contact with the descendants of the witches who still live in Salem. The plot does not have as many twists as I was expecting. The good people of Salem turn against Samantha very quickly against all evidence that she is innocent but the reveal of the ultimate villain was excellently done and quite surprising. If you're looking for a nice YA horror novel with a little side of paranormal romance you should give this one a try.
I get nothing for my review. I give this book a Four out of Five stars and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today’s Nonfiction post is on If You Tell: A True Story if Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisiterhood by Gregg Olsen. It is 405 pages long and is published by Thomas and Mercer. The cover is a picture of a valley covered in mist with a lone house. There is foul language, discussion of sex, and violence in this book. The story is told from third person close of the family. There Be Spoilers Ahead. From the dust jacket- After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.
For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.
Review- One of the most horrendous, heartbreaking, and disturbing True Crime Story I have ever read. Olson interviews as many of the first-hand participants in this story as he can, and the stories they have to tell is one that is truly horrifying. The three daughters tell the story from their memories and what journals they were allowed to keep to try and get all of the facts as clear as possible. Olsen follows all the history he can on Shelly Knotek. He interviews her stepmother who has known her from the time she was about five years old, all the way until the end with her daughters giving him access to the letter she has written them from prison. She was a truly Disturbed person who should never be allowed out in public again because she would only find someone else to torture to death as she did to at least two people, or someone else to murder for their money. Knotek was cruel to everyone she met. There was not a person who knew her Beyond a casual, extremely casual, acquaintances who could say anything positive about her. the fact that her daughter's managed to survive and a household where beatings, bathing with bleach, being forced to go out in the Washington winters without clothing on and being sprayed down outside, survived and have become loving giving members of the society says so much about their character. If you like true crime stories and are prepared for Astoria that is of this intensity level I do recommend this but with caution.
I give this book a four out of five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
Today's Nonfiction post is on The Watergate Girl by Jill Wine-Banks. It is 258 pages long and is published by Henry Holt and Company. The cover is a picture of Wine-Banks from the Watergate Trail. The intended reader is someone who is interested in American history and true crime. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and secuality, and disussion of voilence in this book. The story is told from first person close of Wine-Banks. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- Obstruction of justice, the specter of impeachment, sexism at work, shocking revelations: Jill Wine-Banks takes us inside her trial by fire as a Watergate prosecutor.
It was a time, much like today, when Americans feared for the future of their democracy, and women stood up for equal treatment. At the crossroads of the Watergate scandal and the women’s movement was a young lawyer named Jill Wine Volner (as she was then known), barely thirty years old and the only woman on the team that prosecuted the highest-ranking White House officials. Called “the mini-skirted lawyer” by the press, she fought to receive the respect accorded her male counterparts—and prevailed.
In The Watergate Girl, Jill Wine-Banks opens a window on this troubled time in American history. It is impossible to read about the crimes of Richard Nixon and the people around him without drawing parallels to today’s headlines. The book is also the story of a young woman who sought to make her professional mark while trapped in a failing marriage, buffeted by sexist preconceptions, and harboring secrets of her own. Her house was burgled, her phones were tapped, and even her office garbage was rifled through.
At once a cautionary tale and an inspiration for those who believe in the power of justice and the rule of law, The Watergate Girl is a revelation about our country, our politics, and who we are as a society..
Review- How to make a memoir from a woman who went through fire but came out to the other end a better lawyer and a strong role model. Jill Wine-Banks had been a trial lawyer for a few years when she was tapped to become a prosecutor on the special Watergate prosecution team; which was designed to determine what had been done, what had been covered up, and who was at fault. Wine-Banks takes us from the beginning of being tapped for the prosecution all the way through to the end and we see what she did with her career after. There are lots of notes so if you want to go and follow up to learn more about the Watergate trial and all the people around it, it will be easy to do. Wine-Banks is an excellent writer, she has an engaging narrative style, and can convey not only what she was thinking and feeling but helps the reader understand the others around her were thinking too by the fact that she can still interview them and ask them what they were going through at the same time. A benefit to this book as opposed to other Watergate books is that Wine-Banks was one of the prosecutors, she sat at the prosecution table and cross questioned and interviewed witnesses throughout the entirety of the trial. So if you would like to have special insight into the Watergate trial I would highly recommend this memoir.
I give this memoir a Five out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local Library.
Lynn wrote: "Today’s post is on How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. It is 350 pages long and is published by Ember. The cover is blue with a young girl looking at the reader through a window with the title w..."I have this one on my TBR for a while, you actually made me interested in it again!
Natália wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Today’s post is on How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. It is 350 pages long and is published by Ember. The cover is blue with a young girl looking at the reader through a window wit..."I'm glad!
Today’s post is on If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane. It is 409 pages long and is published by William Morrow. The cover is lavender blue with a drawing of the two main characters on it. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this novel. The is told from third person close of the main character Laurie. There Be Spoilers Ahead. From the back of the book- If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it’s real?
When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.
Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend…
Review- Wonderful, charming, very clean contemporary romance. After Laurie's long-term boyfriend left her for another woman she has to figure out what to do with her life now, as for the past 18 years her life has been wrapped around this relationship. So when another member of her law firm offers to be in a fake relationship with her, to make her ex jealous and for him to look good for the bosses she decides to go with it. What follows is a moving story of two people learning to be friends, to be honest with each other and ultimately falling in love. Laurie did not expect Jamie Carter to be the very nice person he actually is, because of course he, just like her, that's a lot of baggage. But over the course of the book which takes place over some months they learn to unpack the baggage and move on with their lives with it. This is a clean romance, sex is implied it does not happen on page, so if that is something that you find distasteful in your romances then this one is definitely something you might enjoy. I had a nice time reading this book and I found it very sweet, moving, and I look forward to reading more from McFarland. She has done a wonderful job with this novel.
I give this book a Five out of Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrow this book from my local library.
Today’s post is on The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World- and Globalization Began by Valerie Hansen. It is 308 pages long and is published by Scribner. The cover is picture of a map and a Viking ship in the center. The intended reader is someone who is interested in world history. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.From the dust jacket- In history, myth often abides. It was long assumed that the centuries immediately prior to AD 1000 were lacking in any major cultural developments or geopolitical encounters, that the Europeans hadn’t yet discovered North America, that the farthest anyone had traveled over sea was the Vikings’ invasion of Britain. But how, then, to explain the presence of blonde-haired people in Mayan temple murals in Chichen Itza, Mexico? Could it be possible that the Vikings had found their way to the Americas during the height of the Mayan empire?
Valerie Hansen, a much-honored historian, argues that the year 1000 was the world’s first point of major cultural exchange and exploration. Drawing on nearly thirty years of research on medieval China and global history, she presents a compelling account of first encounters between disparate societies. As people on at least five continents ventured outward, they spread technology, new crops, and religion. These encounters, she shows, made it possible for Christopher Columbus to reach the Americas in 1492, and set the stage for the process of globalization that so dominates the modern era.
For readers of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, The Year 1000 is an intellectually daring, provocative account that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about how the modern world came to be. It will also hold up a mirror to the hopes and fears we experience today.
Review- Fascinating piece about the world at the Millennium of 1000, by an expert in the field. Hansen does a fantastic job of showing how the world has been a global market for a very long time. She starts us in the New World with the Vikings traveling from Greenland to Northern Canada and how far south they actually went and ends the book in China showing that China has always been a global place. The writing is engaging, informative without being overwhelming, and very well done. Hanson does a good job of breaking very complicated political situations down and distilling them to the important people, places and facts. She helps the reader see the world from a very close place of the people who lived in it. As she has access to firsthand documentation this is very easy for her to do. I had a very nice time reading this book, I enjoy history and I know very little about the world at that particular time, so I was quite excited to read this and I was not disappointed. If you enjoy reading about history, want to understand how the world has always been a global market of some kind, or are just interested in reading something more positive than what's going on in the world lately I would give this book a look.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
From the back of the book- England, 1833. On the run with the grieving Sebastian Braddock, Evelyn wants two things: to be reunited with her friends, and to get revenge on the evil Captain Goode. Not only has he misused his and Sebastian's powers to rack up a terrible death toll, but he's also completely destroyed any hope of Evelyn or her friends regaining the lives they once knew.
Evelyn is determined to make Captain good pay for what he's done, but is her revenge worth risking the lives of Sebastian and her friends? Or is it better to flee the city and focus on staying alive? And with the Captain spreading lies about Sebastian in an attempt to flush them out of hiding and turn the populace against them, does she even have a choice at all?
Review- Good but slightly unsatisfying ending to a fun trilogy. We pick up exactly where the last volume left off with Evelyn and Sebastian hiding in a church trying to find their friends. Captain Goode has taken complete control of the society either by force or by promises. In addition he has used his influence to turn London against Evelyn and her friends’, Sebastian in particular. so there's lots of problems to solve in this volume and not a lot of time to solve them in. In the end the bad guys are dealt with oh, the good guys win oh, and all's right with the world. But I felt unsatisfied with the ending. I think part of that is because we don't get to see Evelyn and Sebastian really do anything . The epilogue is a letter that Sebastian has written for the next person who will inherit his poison powers. and that's the end. I don't think the authors are intending to write any more following these characters, but I would like them too. I would like to see when Evelyn and Sebastian do, they talked of going to India to help fight against the colonial powers but that's all. So I would have to say that this volume is the weakest of the trilogy but if you've read the other two you should read this one just to follow them all the way to the end and to see Evelyn finish her character development.
I give this final volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing from my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.