The History Book Club discussion

Here is your new thread for 2014. Happy reading!

Thanks Jill, I hope to post something soon :-)

JANUARY

1. by Peter Baker (no image)
Finish Date: January 10
Genre: Presidential History
Rating: B+
Review: I'd say this is one of the best histories on the Bush presidency to date. Baker gives a good overview of the major issues and a fascinating discussion on the relationship between Cheney and Bush.

FEBRUARY

2. by Brandon Sanderson
Finish Date: February 3
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: This is my first Sanderson book and I really liked it. It has an interesting story line and the action is good. I look forward to the rest of the series.

I think your reading pattern looks similar to mine: substantial history followed by lighter fiction.

Kressel wrote: "I think your reading pattern looks similar to mine: substantial history followed by lighter fiction."

Exactly, I enjoy sci-fi and horror fiction to give me a break :-)

3. by Jeff Guinn
Finish Date: February 21
Genre: Biography/True Crime
Rating: A
Review: This will be the standard biography on Charlie Manson. If you love true crime or interested in how killers think, then you won't be disappointed. I learned a lot from this book. Highly recommend it.

Ooooh, Bryan, that book would give me the creeps but looks like one for the TBR list. I remember from Helter Skelter, Vincent Bugliosi said that he and Manson had a staring contest and Bugiolsi's watch stopped. Yikes!!!! Evil personified.

by Vincent Bugliosi

Indeed, Jill. Guinn writes he has a certain magnetism, and learned how to win people over. Manson's big influence came from

by Dale Carnegie

by Jeff Guinn

I'm very curious about Manson, but I have yet to get myself to read about him. Scary stuff.

The Guinn book should be your first stop in that crazy journey.

Manson grew up around West Virginia, just over the Ohio River where my dad grew up, so I can image the places he talked about.

by Jeff Guinn

Even before ?

Yes, I think so. I read Helter Skelter, and Guinn offers more background on Manson. After Guinn, then I would read Helter Skelter to get more in-depth on the actual case.

by Vincent Bugliosi

by Jeff Guinn

MARCH

14. by Drew Karpyshyn
Finish Date: March 26
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: A
Review: This is Karpyshyn's best book in the series. There is a cliff hanger, so I don't know if he or someone else will take up where the book left off, but I hope so. I really enjoyed this series and it is fun to look into the Sith world.

15. by Garrett M. Graff (no photo)
Finish Date: March 26
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: This is a great companion book to Weiner's Enemies. It goes deeper into the years after 9/11 and the author interviewed a number of the major players for this book. You leave with a balanced approach to the crazy times of the post-9/11 counter-terrorism world.

Cited:
by Tim Weiner

Thanks for all of the help you have given and are giving folks with their citations. Great job.

This is the actual format:

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.

Thanks much.

APRIL

16. by Rick Perlstein
Finish Date: April 4
Genre: American history
Rating: A
Review: This is a re-read for me, because I will be reading his next book. Perlstein presents a interesting argument here that the events of the 1960s created polarization that Nixon exploited. Highly recommend.

17. by Jimmy Carter
Finish Date: April 4
Genre: Social Science
Rating: A-
Review: This is a great primer for what is happening in the world of women's rights. As you can expect from the title, it is not good. There is so much more work to be done, and Carter and the Carter Center are major players in this worthy fight.

Great progress Bryan.

18. by Fredrik Logevall (no photo)
Finish Date: April 21
Genre: Asian History
Rating: A+
Review: This is a dense book, but it deserved the Pulitzer Prize. To me, this is required reading for anyone who wants to learn about the Vietnam War. Great writing and well-researched.

19. by James L. Swanson
Finish Date: April 28
Genre: American History
Rating: A
Review: This is a great read about the assassination and the capture of Booth. I knew very little about the days after Lincoln's assassination, so it was very interesting. Highly recommend.

Still great progress

20. by Greg F. Gifune
Finish Date: April 28
Genre: Horror
Rating A
Review: I wish to thank a fellow Goodreads friend for leading me to this book. It was excellent, a great page-turner. It is not for the faint of heart, but if you are looking for a gory, occult-like story, then you found it.

May

21. by Keith Raffel
Finish Date: May 16
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B
Review: This was a fun book. If you are looking for a little more on JFK at Stanford...I know, he went for a semester in 1940...this is good. It covers that period and the main character is in the White House for the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wish the author covered a bit more during the crisis, but overall, it was a fun piece of historical fiction.

I'm glad, Mike. I liked it; he even through in a little James Bond-ish action sequences, which makes sense to me since JFK loved Bond.

Bryan wrote: "19. by James L. Swanson
Rating: A"

Now that makes me proud since you heard about the book from me.

Indeed, Kressel, and thank you :-)

22. by James L. Swanson
Finish Date: May 28
Genre: American History
Rating: A-
Review: I learned a lot from this book, mainly about what happened with Lincoln's body after he died and the capture of Jefferson Davis. Well written and highly recommended.

Really? If found it dull compared to Manhunt

by James L. Swanson.

I knocked it down half a grade, because I did like Manhunt a bit better. However, in Bloody Crimes I really enjoyed the parts with Lincoln's autopsy and funeral train the best. It went through my town and I knew little about the whole process.

Now, he wrote a book on Kennedy's assassination, but I am unsure if I will read that one, though.

by James L. Swanson

I liked that one almost as much as Manhunt.

by James L. Swanson

Good to know, thanks Kressel.

Exactly, Mike, I have read a lot on the topic, and when I thumbed through it at the local library, I didn't think I would learn a whole lot.

by James L. Swanson

Ahh, I see. I was a relative beginner to the JFK assassination. At least that made me open to the lone gunman theory. My husband leans more toward conspiracy theories.

I wonder if we will ever learn exactly what happened?

JUNE

23. by Angela Scott
Date Finished: June 4
Genre: Horror
Rating: B
Review: A little romance, sprinkle in some action, and a bunch of zombies. This is a good, less gory than many others out there. It is not wow factor, but good enough to get me hooked to more in the series.

JULY

24. by Michael Bray
Date Finished: July 3
Genre: Horror
Rating: B
Review: A good, solid ghost story, and the setting is a little different, using the deep woods as a backdrop. I would continue the series.

25. by Thomas Harding
Date Finished: July 8
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: This is a hard topic, but worth the read. It traces the life of the Auschwitz commandant and the man who caught him in a dual narrative. Harding's writing is very good and it is a emotional, but brisk read. I think this will make a good primer for people who are first learning about the Holocaust and for folks who have quite knowledgeable. An excellent book.

I received this book free through the History Book Club on Goodreads.

26. by Larry Berman (no photo)
Date Finished: July 30
Genre: American History
Rating: B+
Review: This is a fascinating book as it covers Johnson's 1965 decision to send in American troops. Johnson set himself up for failure by avoiding a debate on the war, not bringing in the Reserves, not telling the American public how many troops might be needed, nor ask for a tax increase to help pay for it. He wanted guns and butter and because of it, he wrecked his political life and started war that would split the country. Good use of released documents.

AUGUST

27. by Larry Berman (no photo)
Date Finished: August 5
Genre: American History
Rating: B
Review: This covers the 1967-1968 years of LBJ and his failed Vietnam policy. Berman uses recently released documents (crca 1989) to give a good summary of how things fell apart.

28. by Larry Berman (no photo)
Date Finished: August 13
Genre: American History
Rating: B
Review: Another solid book from Berman. This is a great summary of the Nixon-Kissinger actions to end the war in Vietnam, and he also has access to some of the North Vietnam/Chinese records that helps round out the picture.

29. by Glynn James
Date Finished: August 28
Genre: Horror
Rating: B+
Review: This was a really interesting story, and the atmosphere that James creates is well written. There are zombies here, but not much gore, which is a good change of pace. The story really had an old "throwback" feel of the older post-apocalyptic science fiction.

SEPTEMBER

30. by J.A. Konrath
Date Finished: Sept. 16
Genre: Horror
Rating: B
Review: I like this book and it had some humor thrown in. However, I have to say the demon could be scarier. The way the author described him throughout the book just did not frighten me. His minions were scarier. I was interested in what he was doing, no doubt, and it kept me turning the page, but it wasn't quite right. Yet, I would read more from this author.

31. by Jean Edward Smith
Date Finished: September 30
Genre: Presidential history
Rating: A
Review: I have to say Jean Edward Smith has become one of my favorites. He did such a great job on Grant, so I read this one. He synthesizes so much information in such a great way. It is the best one-volume biography I have found on FDR. I would rate this 4.5. It would be a 5 if he did more with FDR and WWII, but a wonderful book.

Book Cited:
Jean Edward Smith

OCTOBER

32. by Jeffrey Frank (no photo)
Date Finished: October 15
Genre: Presidential history
Rating: B+
Review: This is a fascinating book where the author focuses on the relationship between Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon. The friendship ebbs and flows and you get the impression Nixon wanted more from Ike that the general was capable of giving (due to his personality). They were very different people. I wished for more analysis than just the narrative of their relationship. Thus, it prevents me from giving it an A.

33. by Lawrence Wright
Date Finished: October 24
Genre: Middle East history/American politics
Rating: B+
Review: Wright presently a strong narrative about what happened to create the Camp David Accords. He gives you interesting background on Sadat, Begin, Dayan, and Kamel, so you understand their motivations.

However, he ignores most of the American delegation, and we know Vance and Brzezinksi were important to the process. Also, you feel that Wright is out-of balance, leaning towards Egypt than Israel.

Wright addresses the fact that the accords did little to help Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election and the Palestinians got very little out of this deal.

A good companion to this book is:

by William B. Quandt

Good progress Bryan.

DECEMBER

34. by Tom Holland
Date Finished: December 4
Genre: Roman History
Rating: B
Review: It is a pretty good overview popular history. However, I felt he left out key people and events. It felt a bit rushed.

35. by Daniel Okrent
Date Finished: December 14
Genre: American history
Rating: B+
Review: This is a good book on the Prohibition. I did not know much about it, so it was really interested.