Judy

An accomplished ethnographer and historian gathered the oral histories, anecdotes and journals of her Greek immigrant parents, combined them with archival research and interviews, and wrote this evocative dual biography of a typical immigrant family journey from Greece to America during the late 1800s through the 1930s.

The author has written a vibrant picture of the poverty and social upheavals in Greece at the time that made immigration and family breakup the only choice for survival. Often, the industrial coal mining and railroad interests exploding in the United States, especially in the Intermountain West, orchestrated this immigration boom. A complicated “padrone” system of Greek labor agents recruiting their fellow Greeks (for a fee/commission) to work in mines and on railroads, often as strikebreakers, became the accepted way of entry into American life. But rarely did it offer a way towards good relations with non-Greek neighbors or assimilation of American culture.

While this book is written by one of the daughters of this Greek immigrant couple, she doesn't minimize or gloss over the poverty or conflicts she witnessed, nor does she seem to insert her own subjective analysis of the events in her parents' lives. She has made a coherent whole of a variety of facts and history, but also describing in rich detail the Orthodox Church and the immigrant folk culture that was dying out as she came of age.

The last few chapters of the book take a more personal turn as the author describes how she tries to care for her aging parents, their needs and wants often in conflict with the author's different season of life. She is very honest about the reality and frustrations of caregiving. Concluding the book in this way left me somewhat dissatisfied, but I don't think it could end in any other way.

Fascinating memoir/ethnography of an American journalist who takes on the task of becoming managing editor for the Yemen Observer, an English language newspaper headquartered in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.

Because the author is already a talented journalist, the writing is clear, engaging, and pulls the reader in with just the right amount of description and observation. Not only is this book a great example of honest travel/culture writing, but also it's a great read for anyone interested in how to write as a journalist no matter where you are. In explaining, editing and teaching the basics of reporting, fact-gathering, interviewing and ethics to her Yemeni reporters, Jennifer Steil (the author) treats the reader to a “mini-workshop” in journalism.

The cultural aspect of the book was also enlightening. Since Yemen is a Muslim country, the second-class status of women created many obstacles and trials for Jennifer as she struggled to teach and train the few female reporters on her staff. However, male attitudes of entitlement and their dependence on qat was often even more frustrating. Most distressing to me was the “learned aversion to education and absence of a culture of reading” the author found among the Yemeni people. As the author observes, this puts the Yemeni people at a huge disadvantage in understanding the world and other people's experiences.

I marked the following quote because I think it is true for any reader and a clear statement of the path to empathy and understanding towards anyone not like ourselves:
“How does one develop compassion for someone with a completely different set of values without reading something from their point of view? Books are one of the few ways in which we can truly get into the heads of people we would never meet in our ordinary lives and travel to countries we would otherwise never visit.”

This book isn't a non-stop rant against Yemen or the Muslim culture or the Middle East, though. The author clearly loves the scenery, and is fascinated by the architecture and history of Yemen. She is curious and engaged in her surroundings and experiences and I finished the book with more than a passing interest in learning more about Yemen.

I need historical fiction to weave facts and fiction together in a believable, interesting and compelling way. This book failed to do that for me. Historical places and events were shoehorned in randomly–e.g. a visit to King Ludwig's castle at Neuschwanstein by a German peasant family so the son can read a school report to the gathered visitors on the history of the castle? Too contrived for my tastes.

The author's notes at the end of various chapters also left me feeling like this was a second-rate project. He cites Wikipedia as the source for most of his historical sources. Fine to use that as a jumping-off place for further research, but not your main source.

The author did a little better using primary sources of LDS missionary letters and writings for the pre-WW1 events, but this part of the story involved minor characters. Not enough to bring the whole story to a believable, reasonable level of good historical fiction writing.

I know this author has written a lot of popular historical fiction around LDS themes, but I don't think this book or the series is up to that level.

Three reasons I picked up this book: 1) heard the author read the Ranney letters aloud on his Vimeo/YouTube channel, 2) the Hotchkiss name is part of my genealogy, so I needed to follow up my curiosity, and 3) the author's other book on Charles Knowlton was such a fascinating read and I wanted to know more. (The author has also read aloud the Knowlton book–check it out on his video channel!)

This book is an excellent example of using the history of a single concept (peppermint essence) to explore a variety of social and economic issues. Tracing connections and narrating the real-life workings of family and community seemed to uncover all kinds of unappreciated and/or unknown aspects of history that warrant even more reading and study. The sections on Albert M. Todd were especially fruitful in expanding my awareness of this time period and economic/social history in general.

Because this started as a dissertation, there are sections that can be somewhat dry. Yet I still found myself surprised at how much the unconventional interpretations of many of the topics made me want to know more, (i.e. would love to read a more focused study on the Mentha farm that A.M. Todd set up). Hopefully, the author will keep writing and sharing on these topics.

Reminds me of Anne Rice's “Vampire Lestat” series, but even more character depth and fantastic use of language. Found myself rereading phrases and sentences for their sheer insight, pithiness, and audacity. looking forward to more...

Picked this up because it was read by the main character in the novel “Solenoid” by Mircea Cărtărescu and the character considered it a foundational book in his life. It probably never would have crossed my radar otherwise.

It's quite the romantic/historical story typical of early 1900s, with impassioned speeches and intense loves and relationships. Quite critical of religious and political institutions, with the Italian uprisings of the 1840s as the background for a general comment on the need for revolution and revolts to fight injustice all over the world.

I'm glad I read it simply for the look at a historical time/setting I was very unfamiliar with, and looking into the author's background and family led me down all kinds of neat trails. But, the novel itself wasn't exactly as riveting or transformational as I expected, based on the “Solenoid” character's reaction.

An all around good, satisfying read that didn't turn sappy when a bit of a love story came into the plot. I found the myself pretty interested in the details of how rice is grown and harvested, or how Australian outback stations are run, or how a town can be grown out of pretty uninspiring beginnings. I wasn't surprised to read that the author was an engineer. :-)

I wasn't aware of the WWII battles in Malaysia, and the roles Britain played there. This book's historical detail opened my eyes.

The book is definitely dated with some pretty crude attitudes toward aborigines, women and other cultures. But, I really came to like the main character and initiator of all progress in the book, a strong woman named Jean Paget.

At first I was pretty enthusiastic about this book with the focus on a female researcher and all the digging about she does, but as the book wore on, the plot became a monotonous progression of romance/sex scenes and the main character (a witch) becoming an annoyingly submissive partner to her main love interest (a vampire). Guess I'm just beyond that type of paranormal romance plot.

I thoroughly enjoyed the poetic description of Turkey during the last days of the Ottoman Empire (1877), and I found myself entranced by the character of Eleonora, the girl prodigy who has such an affinity for literature. But, by the last third of the book, I was disappointed that the author just frittered away these strengths with a plot that kept meandering and fizzling out, until the book just ended with really no purpose.

Since this was a debut novel, I'm going to keep an eye out for his next book. He obviously has a talent for writing about a place and for creating interesting characters, he just needs to focus on a path and stay with it.

Nice introduction to the art nouveau movement in the early 1900s as well as the art glass design pioneer Louis Tiffany. Clara was an unacknowledged key player in the design of Tiffany lamps and other art glass crafts. A side plot describes the plight of immigrants and women workers during a time when neither group had a voice or power over their working and living conditions. The highlights of the book for me were Clara Driscoll's thoughts about how nature informed her design process and how necessary the freedom of creativity was to her sense of well-being.

The extensive historical research the author completed to write such a convincing portrayal is evident, from descriptions of the various Tiffany lamps and stained-glass panels, to the setting and mood of a Lower East Side immigrant slum. If you're interested in early 1900s New York City history or the art nouveau movement, you'll find this book well worth your time.

I felt like I was seeing and experiencing the world through Jeanne Baret's eyes in this completely engaging narrative of the first woman to travel around the world at a time when women were not even supposed to be allowed on ships. This peasant herb woman, Jeanne, passed herself off as the male assistant to a French botanist tasked with identifying and collecting flora & fauna on a planned voyage of discovery and exploration around the world. This deception was necessary because naval rules and social/class etiquette forbade women on ships–not only because they were deemed unable to survive sea voyages, but also because they were bad luck.

I was fascinated by this book and finished it with a greater appreciation and awareness of what the history of sea exploration involved and the history of women in science as well as their exclusion. For me, a book is especially noteworthy if it makes me want to read more on the subject and follow more trails of curiosity that spring up. This story has created that need for me and I would suggest it to anyone with even the slightest interest in reading “history that reads like a novel”.

Note: The book was suggested through the excellent botanical art & education blog, ArtPlantae Today. ArtPlantae Today Blog

Written in my favorite style of travel writing, with personal anecdotes and unforgettable descriptions of people and places, so I enjoyed the time I spent with this book. Sometimes I found it hard to follow his train of thought and a lot of the historical references were unfamiliar to me, but I just kept reading because he writes so well.

The book has sparked my interest in the area and the history, so I count it as well worth the read.

Enjoyed this story of a woman who had to fight against the social norms and expectations of the day (early 17th century) to satisfy her need to research and know. She was fascinated by the concept of metamorphosis at a time when many scientists and philosophers simply assumed the principle of spontaneous generation explained the appearance of flies on rotting meat, or roaches and mice from soiled clothes.

She used natural observation and meticulous scientific illustration to document the process of metamorphosis in insects, especially butterflies. Eventually, she traveled to Surinam to research and document the unknown South American insect and plant life because she had exhausted the subjects available to study in the region around Amsterdam. She struggled with being taken seriously by the scientific community and her reputation as an illustrator/naturalist went through a metamorphosis as her work was ridiculed, then plagiarized, then commended well after her death.

This book has a fascinating story line and narrative voice. It's reads like a novel and made me look at nature study and appreciation as a practice of life, not just a single act you do. The author shows how our current understanding of ecology and the study of a whole ecosystem began with Maria's work.

Well-crafted mystery that relies on deep, multi-layered characters and their thoughts and actions to drive the plot, rather than a roller coaster of violent crime or chase scenes.

I felt like I was living in rural Mississippi and seeing firsthand a cycle of poverty and despair that was beyond my own experience. Depressing reminder of flawed choices and their effects, no matter what the circumstances might be.

I found myself easily caught up in the narrative voice and language of the author's Arab-American heritage. Using the actual recipes of ethnic foods to add meaning (and flavor) to family anecdotes works for the most part, but sometimes it felt like an unnecessary stylistic distraction.

If you're a foodie and like to read lists of spices and exotic preparation techniques, you'll enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed the author's first book, “The Alienist”, and had great expectations for this sequel, but I was quite disappointed. I know it can sound picky, but I wanted to go through the book with “search and replace” on my computer to change every instance of “what” coming from Stevie's narration into “that”. The attempt to stay true to an early New York City slum dialect read as very contrived and even patronizing to me, as the reader, and it just didn't work with the characterization of Stevie as narrator (a secondary, though interesting character in the first book) in general.

The plot and psychological elements were interesting and unusual enough to keep me reading through to the end, but the climax involving the chase for Libby Hatch (the psycho mom/villain) was written like a half-hearted attempt to get the book finished and wrapped up, and tie in a little historical ambiance. Huge disappointment.

If you read the first book and liked it and were intrigued by the characters and the developing science of forensics and psychology during the era, I would still suggest this book. But this book just doesn't ring true in the narration or in the character development, so don't expect it to give you even half of the connection the first one did.

Azar Nafisi has put together an unusual narrative weaving personal memoir, literary criticism and social history into a strong commentary about living during the Iranian Revolution. Although a familiarity with the novels she examines would help readers connect with the book more, I came away wanting to add them all to my reading list. She has a flair for uncovering the similarities and themes in each novel that speak to the real problems and issue these women are facing in their everyday lives—lives being torn apart and destroyed by Islamic fundamentalist uprisings.

I was often amazed at her creative use of the novels to teach or explore life issues, and appreciated her ability to explain her inner thoughts as she discussed the book with the women. I would love to be able to read literature as close as she does and this book is like a case study of the way that kind of fluency might develop.

Pretty engaging historical fiction about the French Revolution, and sparked my interest in checking out the sources listed for classical guitar music history, Louis XVII and the Paris catacombs. Characters and plot are targeted to appeal to young adults (the intended audience), but from reviews and promotions, I was expecting more of a “crossover” novel that adults would enjoy as well. So, I was disappointed that the pacing of story was so rapid and superficial – short chapters, shallow dialogue, implausible events–that just strike me as catering to attention-challenged teens looking for a quick read. I was hoping for more development of the issues the main character was tackling.

I would suggest this to teens (15-17) already interested in historical fiction, but it's not a book I would suggest to adults looking for fiction on these particular eras or topics.

A sad, haunting little novel tracing the relationship of a young Japanese man with his reluctant mentor, Sensei, as they both deal with the cultural changes in Japan as the Meiji Restoration comes to a close.

The interior worlds of these characters are the most compelling feature of this book. Spare and realistic inner conversation drives the self-delusion and conflict avoidance that leaves these two men full of guilt and despair. There is no “happy” resolution at the end of this story. We are left to consider whether the same stories we tell ourselves about other people and their intentions might not be just the same kind of delusions these characters lived under.

Quick to read, but a lot to learn from this book. This “shame researcher” outlines ten guideposts and ways to dig deep, allowing vulnerability to become an emotion and attitude you embrace because it brings you courage, compassion, and connection with yourself and with others.

Search for the author's TED talks on “The Power of Vulnerability” and “Listening to Shame” for deep insights on two topics most people struggle with. They make a great addition to reading the book.

Magical realism isn't really my reading “thing”, so this wasn't a story I found all that compelling. The main “villain” of the story, Mama Elena, was the most interesting character to me: “Unquestionably, when it came to dividing, dismantling, dismembering, desolating, detaching, dispossessing, destroying, or dominating, Mama Elena was a pro.” Love that quote.
Even though the book was just okay for me, I'm still interested in seeing the movie, just to see how Mama Elena is portrayed.

I did enjoy the recipes and instructions for cooking various Mexican dishes intriguing. I wished there had been more focus on the historical context of area and time period, but that's because I'm a nerd. :-)

“What treatment is offered by ear in an emergency?.... Words of comfort.”

This quote epitomizes the ideal of practicing the art of healing and the science of medicine with the person/patient at the center. It is the question posed by Dr. Thomas Stone to a group of interns on grand rounds, a question meant to stump the entire troop. Yet, it is also the question Dr. Marion Stone is able to answer because Dr. Thomas Stone is his father. However, the answered question is the first contact father and son have ever had.

This novel tells the story of an Indian nun and a British surgeon connecting when they land together in an Ethiopian mission hospital, working tirelessly in deplorable conditions to provide medical care to the poor and neglected of Addis Ababa during a time of civil unrest. A set of conjoined twins results from their union, but the mother dies in childbirth while the young surgeon and father, Thomas Stone, flees from the fear, stigma and responsibility the twins represent.

The twins, joined at the head, survive and are separated, yet remain joined in the special way twins seem to share. In their adopted family at the mission hospital, the brothers are guided towards medical healing paths, each one demonstrating special gifts for knowledge, empathy and compassion. Events in Ethiopia bring about separation, betrayal and grief, but the Stone family ties reach beyond and only strengthen as time and events pass.

This novel is one of the few books that I've finished and immediately wanted to turn right back to the first page and start reading again. So many layers of insight and meaning are woven into the characters and the narrative of their lives that one reading doesn't seem to be sufficient. I have a special fondness for detailed medical descriptions of illness, disease and treatments in the form of a well-written narrative and this story more than meets my curiosity and need to know .

I would suggest this book to readers who are comfortable with making the commitment to a long novel, who are fascinated by medicine in literature, and those who love family sagas that make you appreciate your own relatively uncomplicated life, but also want to read about individuals you want to admire and even emulate.

P.S. Don't skip the author's acknowledgments at the end. Abraham Verghese gives credit to the sources of many of his ideas, and I think this act demonstrates a level of character and integrity that just adds more weight to the praise of this beautiful novel. It also is a fascinating look at the way an author finds and works with ideas.

I just did not “get” this book. This is the second book by Ian McEwan that I've read, (or attempted to read) and I was flummoxed. :-) A married couple, Colin and Mary, is vacationing in an area/island/country (??) unfamiliar to them where they don't speak the language. The two of them are kind of losing their attraction/love for each other and tension is high. They get lost and a threatening man basically stalks them, then attaches himself to them by offering to help and as a resource for getting around. The man (Robert) gradually acts more and more aggressive towards Colin and flirtatious with Mary.

For reasons beyond me, Colin & Mary go to Robert's place, meet his friendly yet odd wife, Caroline, and then are not “allowed” to leave. As the couple plots ways to escape, they seem to rekindle their relationship. The whole situation with Colin and Mary in Robert's building reminds me of a horrific nightmare–not because of graphic images, but just the aura of impending violence and FEAR that shrouds the whole setting. I suppose that was the author's intent–“normal” masking the reality of fear/violence.

Colin & Mary fall in love again after escaping, but their newfound attraction plays out in graphic fantasies of sexual violence, bondage, helplessness, etc. Disturbing to say the least. The couple eventually returns to Robert & Caroline's “house of horror”, on the pretext of rescuing Caroline and solving a mystery, and it doesn't end well. I'm still kind of befuddled by what actually happened.

I will say that Ian McEwan is skilled at writing description and dialogue that seems to just flow right out of his characters' thoughts and experiences. At one minute you are amazed at how exact he is with the flow of thoughts in people's heads, then you're shocked by some utterly surprising or repulsive idea that follows.

I guess I will say that I didn't “like” this book, but it's a book that won't leave my thoughts any time soon.

I thought this book would be mainly literary analysis of Russian authors, but it is actually more of a memoir/travelogue of the author's graduate study. And it was quite entertaining! She writes with such a deadpan sense of humor about her travels and how they relate to her studies that I found myself carried along through the book and learning something about the authors and books along the way.

It's a hard book to categorize because it isn't strictly a travel memoir, nor is it a scholarly analysis of Russian literature. However, I would say that I'm more likely to read some of these Russian authors simply because I was intrigued by the little-known facts and history surrounding their writing, all developed by this author in this book.

I happen to be one of those people who gravitate towards checklists in any shape or form, and love to create them myself. So, this book was preaching to the choir. :-)

The usefulness and applicability of checklists, even by people who think they don't need or would use checklists, is well represented through the author's experience and research. Everyone can find exceptions to the idea, but in general, I would love to see his research taken into other fields, especially education.

Read this book if you're interested in how the aviation and construction industries have capitalized on the use of checklists, the history of checklist adoption, and the idea of discipline as a professional trait.