DONNA R'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2014

[Kressel]

I'm glad I read the book first. The movie might have confused me otherwise. But my husband saw the movie first, and he said he was glad because if he'd read the book first, the movie would have disappointed him.

[Donna]

Well, I spent a lot of time in the movie confused - but it was a wild ride!

[Donna]

16. by Joseph J. Ellis

Finish Date: March 13, 1014
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Rating: B

Review: This is a very readable analysis of the summer of 1776 that focuses on the interplay of England's imperial policies, pro-independence colonial politics, and the military realities of the Continental Army. Ellis does a fine job of providing lots of relevant detail in an engaging manner and with an "in real time" feel but he doesn't break any new ground in doing so.

[Donna]

17. by Dave R. Palmer (no photo)

Finish Date: March 17
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Rating: B+

Review: I became fascinated with Benedict Arnold after finishing Arundel. Perhaps not surprisingly, not a lot of historians have chosen to spend time with him so, except for a plethora of children's books, there isn't much written about Arnold. Palmer has taken an interesting tack in this book in which he shows how the lives of Washington and Arnold parallel one another, then converge during the revolutionary war years, and finally diverge dramatically. I enjoyed the author's straightforward storytelling style and inclusion of interesting details in this book which is part dual biography and part military history. There is a lack of analysis except for the final chapter in which the author concludes that it is character that determined the acts of these two men - one, a great leader and the other, the greatest traitor in American history.

by Kenneth Roberts (no photo)

[Donna]

18. by Joseph J. Ellis

Finish Date: March 22
Genre: Nonfiction/Biography
Rating: B

Review: In writing this book, Ellis attempts to see behind Washington, the monument, and reveal a glimpse of Washington, the man. This isn't easy to do given that Washington left precious little of his personal thoughts and feelings for posterity. But Ellis is able to provide some credible insights in this highly analytical biography, even though at times he is less than generous in his conclusions. For example, he explains Washington's accumulation of unsettled western land as an indication of his avarice, where others might view it as smart investing. Nevertheless, seeing Washington more fully fleshed out doesn't detract from his remarkable life and totally unique place in history.

[Donna]

19. by Bruce Holsinger

Finish Date: March 30
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Rating: B

Review: This book is a literary mystery set 1385 in London involving a stolen book of prophesy foretelling the murder of King Richard II. Geoffrey Chaucer calls upon his friend and fellow poet, John Gower, to find the book, a quest that takes Gower from the highest reaches of the English court to the lowest levels of London's slums.

I finished the book with mixed feelings. It was well written, suspenseful, well plotted, and impeccably researched by the author, who is a medieval scholar and professor of medieval literature at the University of Virginia. But the complexity of the plot, the huge cast of characters, the alternating points of view, and the frequency of obscure language and references made it a bit of a slog from time to time. It was a little too bawdy for my taste as well.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: March 2008
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

-------------

[Donna]

Thanks Bentley.

[Donna]

Bentley wrote: "Donna one other nit - on the months - (cap and bold) - they stand out more for you and the reader. Then you are standard proof as one might say (smile) - I am only talking about the month at the ..."

I think I have made all corrections. I typed my own dissertation some years ago so I can appreciate the attention to detail in citations, etc.

[Donna]

APRIL

20. by David Ebershoff

Finish Date: April 7
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B

Review: This is an interesting novel that combines historical and contemporary fiction and examines faith and beliefs in Mormonism, especially as they relate to polygamy. The historical story is told from a variety of viewpoints and perspectives that reflect the author's belief that history is inevitably a subjective art (see his comments on page 521). Although the stories alternate throughout the book, they contain several interesting parallels.

The historical story line is about Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young, who leaves him and gains national notoriety for publicly denouncing Young and the practice of polygamy. In the fictional story line, Sister Kimberly, another 19th wife and member of a modern day polygamist religious community, is accused of murdering her husband. Her estranged son, Jordan, believes in her innocence and seeks out the real murderer.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

You are looking good and thank you for your cooperation as ever.

[Donna]

21. by Kathleen Kent
Finish Date: April 29
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C
Review: Martha Carrier was an Andover wife and mother who was hanged for being a witch in 1692. Actually, she died because she refused to confess to being a witch. She was the 9th great-grandmother of author Kathleen Kent. Growing up with the Carrier stories, Kent was inspired to create this fictional narrative. It's well-written but the world she creates is joyless in every aspect. The few acts of kindness scattered throughout weren't enough to overcome the overall feeling of gloom. Perhaps it's an authentic world, but I didn't enjoy being there.

22. by Nathaniel Philbrick
Finish Date: April 29
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Rating: A-
Review: I enjoyed this book because it filled in so many gaps in my knowledge about the period in colonial history between the establishment of the Plymouth colony and the infamous Salem witch hysteria. Philbrick brings the people and events to life in this very readable narrative history, especially those events leading up to and including the bloody English/Indian struggle known as King Phillip's War.

An understanding of this time period - fraught as it was with land disputes, shifting alliances, religious intolerance, dread of attacks by native tribes, isolation and superstition - provides a backdrop for the Salem witch trials that erupted in the early 1690s.

[Donna]

MAY

23. by Wendy Wallace

Finish Date: May 1
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Young and newly married, Anna is devastated when she is placed by her husband, against her knowledge and will, in a private women's asylum. While facing ineptitude and even cruelty in the asylum, Anna forms alliances and eventually comes to terms with a traumatic event from her own past.

The book has a well developed and fast paced plot with lots of interesting characters. It accurately portrays some of the horrors inherent in mid 19th century psychiatric beliefs and practices as reflected by many real life women in "Women of the Asylum: Voices From Behind the Walls, 1840-1945."

by Jeffrey L. Geller& Maxine Harris PhD (no photos)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Great progress Donna

[Donna]

Bentley wrote: "Great progress Donna"

Thank you for the feedback.

[Donna]

24. by Marian Fowler (no photo)
Finish Date: May 4
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Rating: A
Review: A scholarly but very readable book that follows the lives of four "first ladies" of the Raj, told over the span of most of the 19th century. Each woman was either sister or wife of the appointed Governor-General (later Viceroy) of India and her story is told often in her own words through copious letters, journals,and diaries. What I found most interesting was that the author interpreted the women's experiences in terms of the prevailing social constrictions and expectations and the changing nature of the Raj itself through the years. A gem of a book!

Exotic India Challenge Book #3

[Donna]

25. by Stephen King
Finish Date: May 12
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Time Travel
Rating: A
Review: Wow! For suspense, drama, and sheer readability, this book tops my list so far for the year. Although fantasy is not my usual genre, I picked this up because of it's historical setting. The main character travels back in time charged with the task of saving Kennedy from assassination. There's lots of detail of the kind I remember, being a teenager in the 60s. It was my first time reading a book by King and it felt effortlessly written. The intricate plot and the concepts around the potential consequences of time travel were masterfully done. 849 pages that flew by.

[Donna]

Mike wrote: "Donna wrote: "25. by Stephen King
Finish Date: May 12
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Time Travel
Rating: A
Review: Wow! For..."

I figured you would have read this one, Mike. Have you read "Under the Dome" and, if so, what did you think?

by Stephen King

[Donna]

Thanks, Mike.

[Jill H.]

Donna wrote: "25. by Stephen King
Finish Date: May 12
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Time Travel
Rating: A
Review: Wow! For suspense, dra..."

I have been flirting with the idea of reading this book. I think you all have convinced me that I should.

[Donna]

26. by Kristin Hannah
Finish Date: May 15
Genre: Fiction/Historical
Rating: C
Review: This was a selection for my book club this month. It has a parallel story structure, combining a contemporary family drama with historical fiction. Following the death of their father, two middle age women struggle to get to know each other and their emotionally cold mother. Gradually, through a series of fairy tale-like stories, they learn their mother's past history, which involves suffering through the Siege of Leningrad during WW2. The historical fiction part is compelling but I think the contemporary story often strains believability and is melodramatic in a way that felt emotionally manipulative.

[Kressel]

Your first Stephen King? I also recommend:

by Stephen King- written when his own kids were little

AND

by Stephen King- a collection of excellent novellas

[Donna]

Thanks, Kressel.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Kressel, please add the proper citations.

both by Stephen King

[Kressel]

@Bentley - Changes made

@Donna - One of the novellas in Different Seasons is "The Apt Pupil," which is about an American teenager who meets a Nazi in hiding. It's relevant to our current group read, though fictional.

by Stephen King

[Donna]

Kressel wrote: "@Bentley - Changes made

@Donna - One of the novellas in Different Seasons is "The Apt Pupil," which is about an American teenager who meets a Nazi in hiding. It's relevant to our curr..."

Thanks, I'll keep it in mind. Right now I'm reading a very long novel about the French Revolution:

by Hilary Mantel

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Thank you all.

[Donna]

June

27. by Hilary Mantel

Finish Date: June 13
Genre: Fictional/Historical
Rating: A
Review: A humongous book about the French Revolution told through the lives of three men - Georges-Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins and Maximilien Robespierre. As with Wolf Hall Mantel doesn't coddle her readers by providing historical background but rather tells the story with an "in-real-time" feel, as though we are witnesses to the events as they happen. The book, therefore, for me, required a close reading with lots of pauses to look up names and events. This was Mantel's first novel and she experiments in it with a variety of points of view and narrative styles, but it's nevertheless exquisitely written and compulsively readable. It has left me wanting to read more about this period in time, a hallmark of successful historical fiction, in my opinion.

by Hilary Mantel

Maximilien Robespierre

[Ann D]

Excellent review, Donna. Mantel is brilliant, but I too was constantly checking the internet for other sources to figure out what was going on.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Good progress thus far Donna - you have 83 views of your thread (that means that 83 folks have read your reviews so far here on the History Book Club)

[Donna]

28. by Katherine Boo

Finish Date: June 19
Genre: Nonfiction/India
Rating: A

Review: This book deals with the brutal realities of life in a large slum adjacent to the international airport in Mumbai. The author followed several real families from 2007 to 2011 and recorded their struggles to make a better life and sometimes just to make it day to day amidst filth, disease, crime, violence, discrimination, jealousies, and institutional corruption. A very difficult book to read but so compelling and truly unforgettable.

Exotic India Challenge Book #4

[Donna]

29. by Thomas Harding

Finish Date: June 19
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Rating: B+

Review: This book tells the story of two ostensibly ordinary and very human men who live through a particularly horrific time in world history. We learn about their family backgrounds, the choices they make, and the way in which their lives ultimately converge. It was especially chilling to read about Rudolf Hoess and the completely callous way in which he carried out the atrocities at Auschwitz. The book caused me to ponder lots of things such as how single events or decisions in one's life can have a huge impact on the path one takes and all of the variations and extremes of behavior of which humans are capable.

I think history as told through individual life stories is very important and makes for compelling reading. Harding did a good job of remaining neutral in telling the story of his great uncle Hanns Alexander's search and capture of Hoess, allowing his readers to speculate and ultimately form opinions about both men's motivations for doing what they did. This was a great strength of the book and prompted lots of discussion during the group read. As for the Nuremberg trial of Hoess - fair or unfair? - revenge or justice?. Perhaps some of both and perhaps it's impossible to exact either justice or revenge in the looming shadow of the slaughter of millions of innocent humans beings.


I received this book free through the History Book Club on Goodreads. Thank you, Simon and Schuster.

[Donna]

30. by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Finish Date: June 22
Genre: Fiction/India
Rating: B+

Review: This novel alternates between two women. Kavita is a young rural Indian woman who chooses to secret her newborn away to an orphanage rather than face the surety that her husband would murder the infant rather than raise a girl child. The second woman, Somer, upon finding that she can not bear a child, travels to India with her native born husband and adopts Kavita's child. Years later, the child returns to India on a journey of self discovery.

This was a book club pick and one that I didn't have very high hopes for at the beginning. But as the characters developed, I found it to be a moving story about marriages, families and motherhood. Even though the storyline felt a little contrived sometimes, there was sufficient depth and complexity to carry it off. Cultural aspects of contemporary life in India were a welcome added dimension, especially the impact of gender and socioeconomic status in determining one's lot in life.

Exotic India Challenge Book #5

[Kressel]

Donna wrote: "17. by Dave R. Palmer (no photo)

I just added this. My son did a report on Benedict Arnold in eighth grade, so I would definitely like to learn more about him.

[Donna]

Kressel wrote: "Donna wrote: "17. by Dave R. Palmer (no photo)

I just added this. My son did a report on Benedict Arno..."

Not many books about Arnold out there. I have been looking for one that tells about his life in England after he flees America, but so far have come up empty.

[Kressel]

Did you see the TV movie on the History channel, "A Question of Honor," with Kelsey Grammer as Washington?

[Donna]

Kressel wrote: "Did you see the TV movie on the History channel, "A Question of Honor," with Kelsey Grammer as Washington?"

No, missed that one.

[Kressel]

http://www.artistdirect.com/video/ben...

[Donna]

Thanks for the link. Looks good!

[Kressel]

Also, does that book go into the accounting both men kept of their army expenses? If I remember correctly, Arnold got into trouble with that, and that's what turned him against the colonial army. Meanwhile, George Washington was reimbursed for his ample expenses, at least according to the book I just finished, The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations by Jacob Soll.

by Jacob Soll (no photo).

[Donna]

Kressel wrote: "Also, does that book go into the accounting both men kept of their army expenses? If I remember correctly, Arnold got into trouble with that, and that's what turned him against the colonial army. M..."

As I recall, yes, it mentions that difficulty (or it might have been in Rabble in Arms). Apparently, Arnold spent quite a bit of his own money and that was one of several sources of bitterness for him.

by Kenneth Roberts

[Donna]

31. by Sandra Gulland

Finish Date: June 28
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A-
Review: This is a fictionalized account of the life of Josephine Bonaparte from her youth in Martinique, through her first marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais during the tumultuous years of the French Revolution, and culminating in her wedding to Napoleon Bonaparte. It's told through Josephine's journal entries, seems to be well researched, and is very entertaining in spite of it's clunky title. The first in a trilogy about Josephine.

[Donna]

July

32. by Sandra Gulland

Finish Date: July 2
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A-
Review: Another awkward title but really well done second installment in a trilogy based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte. This one follows the first three years of her marriage to Napoleon, including the coups that made him First Counsel of France and established the third Republican government since the Revolution.


33. by Sandra Gulland

Finish Date: July 4
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A-
Review: As Napoleon wages war against England, Josephine struggles to manage the intrigues of court life and the increasingly malignant machinations of the Bonaparte clan. Ultimately, her inability to conceive an heir results in their divorce. The author provides lots of great detail, well-placed notations, and a helpful chronology to bring the historical period and events into focus. A page-turner.

[Donna]

34. by Elizabeth Chadwick

Finish Date: July 8
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: In the time of the high Middle Ages, when much of Europe was up for grabs and political alliances were forged through marriages, young Eleanor of Aquitaine is forced into marriage with Louis VII of France. This excellent historical novel covers the 15-year time period of their troubled marriage, including Louis' failed crusade to Jerusalem. A little more romancy than I prefer but the believable rendering of time and place and wonderful storytelling more than make up for it. The first in a forthcoming trilogy to span Eleanor's life.

[Donna]

35. by Sebastian Barry

Finish Date: July 13
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: After my home, my favorite place in the world is Ireland. As a country of story tellers, it's the source of some wonderful literary writers and I would put Sebastian Barry in that group.

The Secret Scripture is a suspenseful human drama related through the diary entries of Rosanne, a 100- year-old mental patient, and Dr. Grene, her psychiatrist. The setting of Rosanne's youth is rural Ireland in the early 20th century, a period of the volatile Irish struggles and the pervasive patriarchy of the Catholic church. In striving to understand his patient, Dr. Grene finds evidence that seems to discredit some of Rosanne's memories and seeks to find some answers of his own. A moving story of love, tragic loss and resilience that examines the truth and reliability of human memory. A book that is almost impossible to put down once you start it.

[Ann D]

I also enjoyed THE SECRET SCRIPTURE, Donna,

by Sebastian Barry

[Donna]

Ann wrote: "I also enjoyed THE SECRET SCRIPTURE, Donna,

by Sebastian Barry"

Yea, I think he does such a credible job of writing from the point of view of a woman in various stages of life both in this book and in On Canaan's Side.

by Sebastian Barry

[Donna]

36. by C.J. Sansom

Finish Date: July 21
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery
Rating: B+
Review: Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and king's commissioner, finds murder and mayhem in a country monastery when he is sent at the bidding of Thomas Cromwell to investigate a colleague's death and persuade the abbot to surrender the monastery to King Henry.

This is a smart, suspenseful mystery that is, at least plot-wise, reminiscent of The Name of the Rose. Shardlake is a physically and emotionally flawed main character who must deal with many personal demons as well as question his here-to-for unwavering loyalty to Cromwell. First in a series of five, I believe.

by Umberto Eco

[Donna]

37. by Diana Gabaldon

Finish Date: July 22
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B

Review: The books in this popular, genre-bending series mesh history with time travel, adventure, and a goodly dose of romance. In this volume, Claire returns to Scotland after twenty years to reunite with Jamie. Their adventures take them on a long journey to the Carribean in search of Jamie's kidnapped nephew, Ian.

These books are a guilty pleasure that I balance a bit by listening to the audio versions while I exercise!

[Donna]

38. by Craig Nelson(no photo)

Finish Date: July 26
Genre: Nonfiction/History/Science
Rating: A+

Review: I admit that whenever I hear words like "enriched uranium" or "thermonuclear fusion" my eyes glaze over, so a book about atomic energy is probably the last thing I would have thought to find on my reading list. But "The Age of Radiance" is an excellent book that offers a fascinating overview of the history of the atomic age, written so that it's comprehensible even to a non-science person like myself.

In it we find the key players in the foundation of atomic energy, from the beautiful Marie Curie (who knew she was a bit of a red hot mama?) and the brilliant and affable Enrico Fermi to the enigmatic Oppenheimer. As a generation of scientists gradually unlock the power of the atom, the world is at war, and the race is on to use this power to create the first atomic weapon. From Los Alamos and Nagasaki, to the Cold War years and, finally, the reactor disasters of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, Nelson brings the era to life with clarity and the suspense of a thriller. Highly recommended!