Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age
by Greg King, Penny Wilson
Can You Survive the Very Boring First Half of the Book? (6/24/2015)
The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania has just passed. As a result of this anniversary, there are several new books on the topic. I chose to read this one by Greg King and Penny Wilson. Well, I think I made the wrong choice. This book was so tedious; it was a chore to read. I had to read through just over half of the book before the torpedo hit. So what was in that first half? There were a couple of interesting facts. First, there were warnings from the German embassy in Washington, DC. Travelers were reminded that a state of war existed between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies. They were informed that the waters adjacent to the British Isles were part of the zone of war. The embassy stated that vessels flying with the flag of Great Britain or any of her allies were susceptible to destruction in those waters. However, the warning was ignored and treated as just propaganda. The second interesting fact was that unlike the Titanic that took two hours and 40 minutes to sink, the Lusitania went down in only 18 minutes!
The rest of the first twelve chapters was filled with the minutiae of the biographies of the First Class passengers. It went into detail of what they brought on board with them and the downright foolishness of the rich. For example, Alice Vanderbilt was so arrogant that “she once spent hours being endlessly driven around New York City because she felt it beneath her dignity to give her chauffeur directions.” Perhaps a better title would have been “Lusitania: Lifestyles of the Rich and Arrogant”. I was so bored with their stories that none of them really stuck in my mind. Therefore, I felt no connection once the ship was hit and started sinking.
There were a few people who were nervous about the voyage. Some wills were changed prior to embarkation due to the nervousness. One lady carried her jewel box with her when dining “should disaster strike”. There was definitely tension on board the nearer they came to the British Isles. Some of the passengers thought that an escort would be sent to safely guide them through the danger zone. In fact, the ship’s captain had pretty much said that. But there was no escort. The captain was strict about evacuation drills, but only with the crew. The passengers themselves were never included in a drill, and this was a serious error. The lifebelts were difficult to access, and the passengers were not assigned to lifeboats. This contributed to the chaos that ensued when the ship was indeed torpedoed.
Amongst all the panic, it seemed the crew was more interested in saving their own lives than those of the passengers. Also the crew did not know how to lower the lifeboats. Many of the collapsible lifeboats were unusable as they lacked plugs, oars missing, oarlocks rusted, etc. As the ship slid into the sea, Captain Turner continued to tell people that the boat could not sink.
If you can get through the first half of the book, the last half does pick up. Reading what the survivors endured was interesting. If you know almost nothing about the Lusitania, you may find this book interesting.
Thank you to GoodReads and St, Martin’s Press for an Advance Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Jam on the Vine: A Novel
by LaShonda Barnett
Portrait of Life in Jim Crow America (6/20/2015)
This is a very honest look at life for a black woman trying to be a journalist in the US in the early 20th century.
Even in her childhood Ivoe is fascinated with newspapers. She steals every one she can from her mother’s white employer. The written word is her escape from the poverty she lives in. She becomes determined to fulfill her obsession with journalism. Her excellent writing and grades gain her a scholarship. She excels in journalism at the school. But when she applies for jobs she finds herself “overqualified. Her potential employers cannot see beyond her skin color.
The writing in most of the book sets the scene so perfectly. Some of the sayings are delightful. When a woman asks Lemon, Ivoe’s mother, if she knows Annie Faye, Lemon replies with “We’ve howdyed but we ain’t never shook.” And then there is “Every time I stand up, my mind sits down.” And when Roena, Lemon’s daughter-in-law, says she regrets marrying Timbo, Lemon tells “Can’t put the rain back in the sky.” I love that!
The characters are down to earth and seem so real. Life is hard for them but they keep on battling the poverty and discrimination they encounter every day of their lives. They do whatever it takes to support their families. Lemon makes jam and prepares vegetables for the community; her husband, Ennis goes off with the plan to make money and have his join him later.
The author describes the minor transgressions that get mostly the black men (but some women too) thrown into jail. The conditions of those jails are deplorable. It nauseated me to even read about them.
When Ivoe continues to find herself unable to break into journalism, her lover and the community encourage her to start her own black newspaper. It was interesting to read how they went about doing it, and the resistance they encountered.
The last chapter was a real disappointment to me. It seemed as though Ms. Barnett had a vast amount of research she had not gotten into the book. So in the last chapter it is all thrown in there. The chapter is rushed, disconnected, and preachy. It was a truly disappointing end to an otherwise wonderfully written novel
Sisters of Heart and Snow
by Margaret Dilloway
Learning Love from a Samurai (5/3/2015)
This is an absolutely beautifully written book. Sometimes the words just took my breath away. The Snow sisters, Rachel and Drew, are very different from each other and have fought a lot throughout their lives. But now they are drawn together as their mother, Haruki, falls deeper and deeper into the depths of dementia. The sisters are united in ensuring their mother continues to get the best care possible, while their father Killian is only concerned about the expense.
During one of Rachel’s visit with her mother, Hakuri asks for a book that is in her sewing room. Then she sinks back into her dementia. Rachel and Drew find the book; however, it is written in Japanese. Thus they find a translator who feeds them portions of the book as he completes the translation.
The story in the book is from twelfth-century Japan, and tells of two “sisters of the heart”. Tomoe, a female warrior, loves Yoshinaka but can bear him no children. Thus, he brings a bride, Yamabuki, to his home. At first Tomoe sees Yamabuki as a threat but eventually she learns to love her as a sister. Tomoe is torn between always being at the side of her samurai lover Yoshinaka or staying to protect delicate Yamabuki. However, the women find strength from each other to deal with formerly foreign ways of life.
“Sisters of the Heart and Snow” alternates between the stories of the Snow sisters and the story they read of the “sisters of the heart”. Both Rachel and Drew draw strength from the story of Tomoe and all her trials and tribulations. They even learn about sisterly love from the story of real-life female samurai Tomoe Gozen. Rachel and Drew use the book to better understand their relationship with their mother and with each other.
The Last Flight of Poxl West
by Daniel Torday
Not a Hero to me (1/19/2015)
Torday tells the story of a young boy's admiration for Poxl West, a former RAF bomber pilot, and Poxl West himself. The story is told the now almost mandatory alternating views. For a while the story held my interest. But then I found it became a struggle to continue reading. I found myself either skimming or just skipping large portions of the book.
The portion of the story from Poxl's perspective was written as a book within a book. Poxl has written a book of memoirs of some of his sorties. This was the portion of the book I struggled with. The writing style did not work for me. I felt no emotions toward the characters in this "book within a book". I was too far removed from the action. Beginning with the discovery of his mother's infidelities, Poxl becomes quite good at running from unpleasant things in life. Eventually he does join the military as a bomber pilot and becomes a "Jewish war hero".
The young boy, Eli Goldstein, focuses on the release of Poxl's book. Eli sees Poxl as his hero. However, Poxl's human frailties soon dampen Eli's hero-worship. He finds it harder and harder to defend Poxl's actions. Family loyalties come in question as Poxl again runs from unpleasantness.
A Fireproof Home for the Bride
by Amy Scheibe
All is Not as It Appears (1/8/2015)
This book started fairly slow for me, and I wasn't quite sure of where it was going. But after it "set the stage" giving some background on the people and families involved, it really took off then. It went down a road I never would have suspected.
Set in the mid-west in the 50s, the story revolves around young Emmeline Nelson, raised in a strict religious (Lutheran) home. It has been concluded that she will marry young Ambrose whom she has known all her life. But then she meets Bobby, a handsome Catholic boy. Now her world will never be the same again. Did she want it to be the same? She feels drawn to the local newspaper and wants to be a journalist. Her family and Ambrose are totally against it. Emmeline starts to research a couple of fires that took place in her small town. She thinks there is a common thread between them. She starts digging and uncovers some shocking truths about her family and people she thought she knew.
Having grown up in the South in a poor family, many of the scenes in the book took me back to my childhood. The writing is very descriptive. I found myself totally immersed into the story.
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
Loved it!! (11/26/2014)
There are so many books written about the Holocaust that I am somewhat burned out on them. But every now and then a new one comes out that just is not like all the rest. This holds true to "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah. Ms. Hannah has the gift of articulating the complexities of families and relationships. The reader can feel the struggles the characters are encountering – the pain of emotions felt and beatings taken, the fear of being found out and of losing the ones you love most in the world, the agonizing hunger felt each day. You are right there standing next to the characters; you are pulled into and become a part of the story. I thought she couldn't get any better than her book "Home Front", but this one is just as good, if not better
In "The Nightingale" the sisters Viann and Isabelle live in the "Free Zone" in France. But this Free Zone soon becomes Nazi-occupied. It is difficult to read of the burdens the French people had to deal with each day for several years. People did what they had to do to survive. Some people were brave enough and humane enough to make attempts to save the Jews. Others, in self-survival mode, looked the other way. Others sadly joined the Nazis in their atrocities. The story here is very real. It reminded me of the book "A Woman in Berlin" about what the women had to do to survive, and they guilt and self-loathing they felt afterwards. One statement in "The Nightingale' really hit me – "Men tell stories…Women get on with it…We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over."
The characters are very human with their strengths and their weaknesses. I loved them, I hated them, I feared for them, I rejoiced with them. Now the book is over but the characters live on in my mind.
Vanessa and Her Sister
by Priya Parmar
Spoiled Rich Kids (10/21/2014)
I have to say that I just absolutely could not get into this book. It is written from the viewpoint of Virginia Woolf's sister Vanessa. Vanessa is writing in her journal. There are also a smattering of telegrams and notes from friends. But I never felt that I got to know the characters. Most of them I really had no desire to get to know, but there were a couple I would have liked more on.
Vanessa is portrayed as the saintly sister that tolerates Virginia's behavior. I found Virginia to be a totally unlikeable person. She is portrayed as very self-centered and vindictive. Sophie, the cook, used the last of a precious spice in the preparation of potatoes fro Virginia. Then Virginia refused the dish. At that point I truly disliked her. Virginia was in love with her sister and thus extremely jealous of her. She deliberately inserted herself into Vanessa's marriage. She made rude comments about Vanessa's size when she was pregnant. Then she made offensive comments about the babies once they were born. Their friends were portrayed as predominantly snobbish self-absorbed spoiled rich kids. These friends were mostly known as the Bloomsbury Group, a group of artists and writers. They hung out at Vanessa's home and gossiped, griped, and dreamed. It was a struggle for me to get through it.
There was a lot of name dropping that did not impress me. At times I was overwhelmed by the number of characters. While these was a list of characters at the front of the book, I had an electronic copy so could not print or copy it. I laboriously copied those pages by hand so I did not have to try to flip back and forth (which is extremely difficult in a digital copy).
My favorite character was Lytton Strachey, one of several homosexuals in the tale. But even with Lytton I did not get to know him. There were also "Sapphic" affairs.
The language used in the book was probably the only positive aspect for me. The story was not good but the writing was beautiful. (However, some parts of the book were just plain crass.) There was one quote that I did love -- "Is there anything so irritating as traveling without a book?" Now that I can relate to that!
The Traitor's Wife
by Allison Pataki
Loved the suspense, the intrigue, the romance! (9/4/2014)
I really knew nothing about Benedict Arnold, other than that he was a traitor. I even thought he had been hanged as a traitor. I knew nothing about the plot he was involved in. There has been quite a few books out lately about the women behind the famous men. I have really enjoyed each one I have read. That is why I was so interested in this particular book. Well, it did NOT disappoint. It has history, suspense, intrigue, and romance. The amount of research Allison Pataki put into this book is amazing. She did a lot of "filling in the blanks". There is a section in the back of the book that explains what portions of the story are fact, and which she made up to enhance to the story.
Accidents of Marriage
by Randy Susan Meyers
Realistic Except for One Critical Element (6/25/2014)
This is the first book I have read by this author. The topic intrigued me as I have some experience with people with anger management issues. I liked the style of writing—easy to read, nice flow. The main characters were well-developed. Some of the supporting characters were less developed but still fairly well written. The alternating perspectives of Maddy, Ben, and Emma were easy to follow. You could easily get the sense of what each of these characters were having to deal with in the aftermath of the accident. Maddy was fighting for survival. Her frustration at not being able to function as she had was readily apparent. Ben had to deal with his guilt of causing the accident in the first place. Then his loyalties to his family were tested. Emma was a young teen girl forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her younger siblings. Her resentment was appropriate. The younger siblings Gracie and Caleb were well-portrayed, in my opinion. Then, of course, there were the meddling in-laws. I am not sure the interfaith marriage angle added much to the story. The part I had difficulty accepting was how Ben had such an anger management problem but then seemed to be "cured" by his guilt over the accident. Someone who can get as violent as him does not just suddenly start controlling his/her temper without help. Overall though, it was a good read.
Brutal Youth
by Anthony Breznican
Thank God I'm Not in High School Now! (6/6/2014)
At first I did not care for this book. It took a while for it to hook me. The author took his time developing the characters and it paid off. As I read I started caring about these kids. The title is definitely appropriate. Some of these kids were brutal and some had to become brutal to survive. The administrators of the school were appalling. I can't imagine how it would be to attend a school like this - and this was a private school! For some of the kids their life at home wasn't any better than their school life. The administrators and teachers looked the other way and sometimes were just as brutal as the kids. Father Mercedes had his own agenda for the school which was required to cover his embezzlement of funds.
I don't quite understand why the author referred to the males always by their last names (Davidek, Stein, Green, LeRose, Zimmer) yet the females were always first name (Lorelei, Hannah, Audra) except for Ms. Bromine.
The writing was very good. As I already mentioned, the character development was very good. Even though there are a lot of characters I was able to keep them all straight.
The author took his time in revealing the depravities of the various characters so you are not slapped in the face with it all at once. The book is not light reading but it is eye opening. I don't know if I would survive in a school like St. Mike's.
City of the Sun
by Juliana Maio
Glamour & Espionage in Cairo (3/8/2014)
I requested this book from NetGalley because it is based on my two favorite reading topis -- the Middle East and Judaism. It is wartime Cairo, 1941. There is a mix of refugees, British soldiers, and spies in Cairo at this time. The Nazis are moving toward northern Africa. Hitler is becoming a bedfellow with the Muslim Brotherhood. Mickey Connolly is in Cairo to report on the current status of the war. However, he is secretly trying to get information on a refugee nuclear scientist (Eric Blumenthal). America wants to build the "big bomb" and Blumenthal could be the key to making that happen. The Nazis are also looking for him. There's romance when Connolly becomes involved with Maya, who unknown to him is Blumenthal's sister. Maio writes the story in such a way that I could easily visualize like in Cairo at that time. Most people are not aware of the intricacies of life in places like Cairo and Istanbul during this time period. There's the elaborate parties, the espionage, the sense of constant danger. Maio captured the atmosphere and made it real for me.