Friday Finds (Sept. 12)

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Big list this week. I feel kind of embarrassed. Have you ever been at a potluck party or buffet and everyone goes through the line and fills their plate, and you sit down to realize that your plate is significantly fuller than others' plates? That's how I sometimes feel about my Friday Finds. I seldom have a nice tidy pile. I've always got an overflowing one with a little of this and a little of that. I don't know why this embarrasses me so much. I guess I fear taking up too much space, being seen as greedy. But some day I'll grow out of being self conscious and just accept who I am, right?

Anywho...

Lots to share this week, so hold onto your hats.

First off, a bevy of Civil War-related finds.

 

 

Lincoln's Gamble was released this week. It's about the six months leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation.

 

Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly is about Mary Todd Lincoln's friendship with her dressmaker, a former slave.

 

I scored a copy of Team of Rivals at a thrift shop last weekend. It looks unread. (It likely is unread judging by its heft. A book that big is a commitment.) I've read so many good things about it, and now I have no excuse not to read it.

 

Fierce Patriot is a biography of William Tecumseh Sherman.

 

I read a book review of On Hallowed Ground this week, and it immediately went onto the list. It tells the story of Arlington National Cemetery. I learned in my reading this year that the great cemetery was built on Robert E. Lee's (confiscated?) plantation, and I've been intrigued about that history ever since.

 

 

1920 (about the 1920 political race) and 1948 (about Truman coming to power) were written by David Pietrusza, whom I've never read. Both sound excellent.

 

The President and the Assassin is the story of President McKinley's assassination.

 

The Kitchen Magpie is set to be released Oct. 14. Its subtitle is: "A Delicious Melange of Culinary Curiosities, Fascinating Facts, Amazing Anecdotes and Expert Tips for the Food-lover."

Intriguing, no?

 

Hope is a biography of Bob Hope set to release Nov. 4. (Love that cover.) I'm stoked.

 

Good Grief! is the follow-up to Mud Season, which I didn't love, but liked enough to be interested in how the story continues. In short, Stimson and her family make an ill-fated attempt to take over a country store in Vermont. Her writing is similar to Jen Lancaster's.

 

After posting my Friday Finds last week, I decided that I wanted to read We Are Not Ourselves, and I ordered a copy. Hopefully this doesn't end up with all the other fiction I've been buying but not reading. Its focus on character rather than plot makes it a more likely read than some others I've picked up lately.

 

I'm thoroughly enjoying In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides. Hellhound on His Trail is another of his historical books. It tells about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and the ensuing world-wide manhunt.

 

There. I've once again gorged at the great book buffet of life.

 

What's on your plate?

 

 

 

 

Nothing to Envy, Barbara Demick

Category: Nonfiction: World Cultures (North Korea); Investigative Reporting

Synopsis: An in-depth look at contemporary North Korean life as told by its defectors.

Date finished: 27 July 2014

Rating: ****

Comments:

As unbelievable as this book is, there is little doubt it’s the truth. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know very much about North Korea other than that it seems to be dumping all of its monetary and human resources into creating a nuclear weapon. Which, frankly, seems like enough to know. But in walks Barbara Demick and her (somewhat dated: 2009) book about the lives of North Koreans as told by its defectors (now safely in South Korea, that booming democratic state).

The book is full of details—mostly horrific—of daily life during the energy crisis and famine of the 1990s. Granted, I was somewhat politically and geographically unaware during that decade, but I knew nothing of the hardships faced in North Korea at the time. But then, did anyone in America but the government? We couldn’t send monetary aid to a government who deemed us “those imperialist bastards.” What food aid that was sent was sold on the black market, not handed out the starving citizens. So there wasn’t much use reporting much of anything from the great void that was Kim Il-sung’s North Korea.

This book will make you sad and angry. It will make you wonder what people believe in when they have nothing left. It will make you wonder how a whole people can be brainwashed into thinking their country was working though they were starving. That their government was better than any on earth. How do things like this happen?

Although it’s slightly dated—a third generation Il has taken over since its publication—I doubt that the situation have changed much. It’s worth a read if you’re looking for information about North Korea—and by comparison, South Korea—or communism/totalitarian regimes in general.

Or if you just want a shot of “proud to be an American.”

Would you recommend this to a friend?

Yes.

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Category: Fiction & Classics

Synopsis: Pulitzer Prize-winning coming-of-age novel about Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and attorney father Atticus, set in 1935, racially-charged Alabama.

Date finished: 17 July 2014

Rating: *****

Comments:

Beware of superlatives....

I read this book in AP English in high school, and I remember loving it then. But oh my goodness, I couldn’t have possibly gotten as much out of it at 17 as I did on this re-read. I read it in preparation for the new biography of Harper Lee, The Mockingbird Next Door. In an interview, the author was asked why Harper Lee never wrote a second novel, and she said she suspected (What, she never ASKED her that?! Isn’t that the ONE question you’d ask Ms. Lee?!) that she felt she could never live up to To Kill a Mockingbird. I can understand that crippling fear, but how I wish she had overcome it!

I’m just going to say it: this book is one of the finest novels ever written in the English language. (My apologies to Jane Austen.) The subtlety, the detail, the personalities are so well-crafted, I honestly wouldn’t have changed a thing.

And be still my heart, Scout. Scout is one of the most original, complex (for her age or any age), and humorous characters ever presented to the American public. All the naughty-girls-who-can’t-help-it-and-are-doing-the-best-they-can in literature since this book owe themselves to Scout Finch. Without Scout there would be no Olivia, no Clementine. (Eloise came before Scout. Stinker.)

Although the book deals with weighty subjects—racial prejudice, poverty, rape, abuse, and murder—it is not a depressing book. I owe that to Harper Lee’s ability to capture everyday life down to the last tittle. And then to reign it in. Her characters have flaws and preconceptions and limitations. They suffer for each other and at each other’s hands. Scout and Jem struggle with growing pains and understanding adult issues. But the book never gets maudlin or sentimental. Likewise, it never gets so ugly you can’t go on. Written as the Civil Rights Movement picked up steam, this book challenged people—dared people—to, as Gandhi said, “be the change they wished to see.”

If you haven’t read this heartbreakingly, breathtakingly, beautiful book, please do.

(See, I told you there’d be a lot of superlatives.)

Would you recommend this to a friend?

Are you kidding?

Fun fact:

I read this in three ways: my father’s 1962 paperback (price: 60¢), electronically (for free) on archive.org, and on audio CD narrated by Sissy Spacek. I recommend all three options, though good luck finding the paperback.

Friday Finds (Sept. 5)

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I took last week off from Friday Finds. I was home, working on church stuff, reading, enjoying a nice five-day weekend. I came back refreshed and ready to face 11,000 students.

 

Lots of history and presidents this week. And a couple other oddballs.

 

 

I'm not sure what appeals to me about James Madison or John Quincy Adams (other than the portraits on the front). I guess I just had so much fun with The Destiny of the Republic last month that I'm on an unofficial mission to read a biography about each president.

 

The River of Doubt (about Teddy Roosevelt) was written by the author of The Destiny of the Republic, so I've added that to my list as well.

 

 

The Forgotten Founding Father is about Noah Webster, his service to the United States, and his obsession with creating a dictionary (I think). I've wanted to read about Noah Webster for awhile now, and this book looks fascinating.

 

Victoria: A Life is due out Oct. 23. It's a chunkster biography, but in the right hands, I think Victoria would be a great subject.

 

The George W. Bush biography of his father George H. W. Bush now has a name: 41: A Portrait of My Father. It's set to release Nov. 11.

 

Just found out there's a Bill Cosby biography set to release Sept. 16. I love me some Cosby, so I'm adding this to my list.

 

And I just found out Oprah has a book out now. Did you know? What I Know for Sure is a collection of her columns for O magazine. Now, I'm not a huge Oprah fan, but I can imagine the woman has some insights on life, so I anticipate a nice, quick, uplifting read.

What have you added to your TBR list this week?

 

August 2014 Recap

August was a good month for reading. Not sure I got a whole lot else done. I finished eight books. Genres included memoir, children's fiction, YA nonfiction, and history.

 

I'm dreadfully behind on not just posting reviews but on writing them, too. I might have to write some mini-reviews for some of these. I hate being this far behind.

 

Best book read in August? It's a tough call. I rated three books with five stars: Open, Bomb, and Destiny of the Republic. As always, I leave you with a one-word review until the full review goes up.

 

Introspective

 

Imaginative

Phenomenal

 

Average

Dishy

 

Friendly

Wonderful

Inviting

I finished two books on September first, and I'll be finishing this one today:

 

 

There are a lot of great books that came out in August and even more coming out in September. Hopefully I can get to some of them this month:

 

 

So, tell me, what was your favorite August read?

What are you looking forward to reading in September?



Relish, Lucy Knisley

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen

Lucy Knisley

Category: Graphic Memoir

Synopsis: Knisley presents her favorite food memories in graphic memoir form.

Date finished: 12 July 2014

Rating: ***

Comments:

Yes, this is my first foray into graphic books. Yes, this review will likely sound like it.

While I don’t anticipate developing much interest in graphic novels, it was interesting to read a graphic memoir. I tend to have a strong connection to visual memories, and if I could draw, I might be tempted to create one of my own.

The graphics in this book, though, were quite simple and one-dimensional. It often came off more as a filled-in coloring book than a book for adults. (Did my ignorance show just then? I thought so.) So, the pictures kind of bored me. Although, I did appreciate not having to “read” the pictures for anything not in the text. I might have hit a little brain overload if I had.

So, the pictures felt kind of meh to me, and the food memories, too, seemed bland. Well, bland in a progressive liberal yuppy way. I’m just not into the counterculture scene when it comes to food. I don’t need an array of cheeses from Dean and Deluca at a get-together; I don’t need my cupcakes slathered with bacon and maple syrup, I just don’t. So, much of the food just made me roll my eyes. (Did my prejudice show just then?) I guess I’m just not edgy and hip enough for this sort of thing.

So, there wasn’t much left for me but concept, and I enjoyed the concept very much. A life in pictures makes sense to me, but much of the rest of this book didn’t appeal.

Would you recommend this to a friend?

I know many folks adore this book, so it depends on who the friend is.

You might also enjoy:

Ilene Beckerman’s books, especially Love, Loss, and What I Wore. She explores her past in relation to the outfits she wore.

Cooking Comically

Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard

Category: Nonfiction: Biography; Politics & Washington, D.C.; Death & grief

Synopsis: A recount of President John F. Kennedy’s last months of life, the events of his presidency, and his assassination.

Date finished: 12 July 2014

Rating: ****

Comments:

I have no idea why it took me so long to get around to this book. I’m a long-time viewer of “The O’Reilly Factor” and respect O’Reilly as an investigative journalist. There were two things holding me back, though. First, he hawks his books mercilessly. And I have just enough stubborn German in me to not want to read what someone tells me to. Second, it always bothered me that O’Reilly had a co-author. Did Martin Dugard do the research while O’Reilly wrote the book? Did Dugard write the book using O’Reilly’s research? Was Dugard a ghostwriter making O’Reilly millions?

But alas, I took the plunge and read it. After all, I am somewhat of a Kennedyphile. Also, I got nerdily interested in the team’s forthcoming Killing Patton, and I wanted at least one other “Killing…” book under my belt before its release.

I have to say, I was rather impressed. The pace is quick, yet not surface. I learned a great deal about Kennedy (though not a whole lot I hadn’t read in other Kennedy books) and a lot about his presidency. It was a tumultuous time in American history, and I remember my American Government teacher in high school saying that had he not been assassinated, his presidency would have gone down as a dismal failure. I didn’t realize what an unmitigated disaster the Bay of Pigs was. And the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although he supported the Civil Rights Movement, his support may have been more tied to his (and Attorney General Bobby Kennedy’s) concerns for their political future than we’d always been led to believe. If I’m making this sound like a right-wing hatchet piece on Kennedy’s name and character, I have to assure you that it was not. The book is fair. (No one can deny, for instance, that his dithering and fear in dealing with Cuba made us a laughing stock and cost lives. And no one can deny that the Kennedy glamour went a long way in bringing America together.)

The thing that keeps this book from being a 5-star for me is that it’s a bit sensational. Now, the Kennedys were a sensational bunch, but there was too much here that seemed shocking and grandly rehashed. I mean Kennedy did get involved in some scandalous behavior, no denying, but sometimes the book went far enough that I wished they’d just let the man rest. He was a president, after all. But it wasn’t just Kennedy treated this way, many others were too: Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr. (I’ll never look at him the same way again), Bobby Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, etc.

But in general, I’d highly recommend this book to those interested in history. I learned a great deal about the presidency, J. Edgar Hoover, LBJ, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, and many other people and events.

It isn’t until the nice little cast of characters wrap-up at the back of the book that I learned that much of the research was done by Bill O’Reilly when he was a young reporter. He’s been spending the better part of his journalism career putting the pieces of the Kennedy administration and assassination together. I wish he would have said that up front.

Would you recommend this to a friend?

Yes, highly.

You might also enjoy:

Rose Kennedy
Mrs. Kennedy and Me (written by Jackie Kennedy’s Secret Service agent, Clint Hill; it was obvious in Killing Kennedy where pieces of information came from this book)