The History Book Club discussion

Lorna, this is your thread for 2020. I have included the link to the required format thread and an example. If you had a 2019 thread - it will be archived so when you get the opportunity move over your completed books and formats to the 2020 thread - but we will allow time for you to do that.

Please follow the standard required format below - I hope you enjoy your reading in 2020. Here is also a link for assistance with the required guidelines:

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2020
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.

IMPORTANT - THE REVIEW SHOULD BE SHORT AND SWEET - THERE ARE NO LINKS OF ANY KIND IN THE BODY OF THE REVIEW ALLOWED. NONE. DO NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER BOOK IN YOUR BRIEF REVIEW. THE ONLY BOOK CITED IN YOUR REVIEW IS THE ONE YOU ARE REVIEWING - NO OTHERS. ALL LINKS TO OTHER THREADS OR REVIEWS ARE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - THERE WILL BE NO WARNING. WE CONSIDER THIS SELF PROMOTION AND IT IS NOT ALLOWED AND IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES AND GUIDELINES.

Lorna, you are ready to go for 2020. We now have a special perk where we can list the books we want to read for the 50 Books Read in 2020. You also now have a Personal Reading List thread where you can keep track of what you want to read; and/or what you have completed etc for the challenge. These of course can be carried over to the next year's personal reading list if you do not complete your 2020 To Be Read list. You would simply do an edit, copy and paste.

Have fun with your two threads. Sample formats are included; but there is room for some personal preferences on the Personal Reading Lists. Have fun.

Thank you, Bentley. I appreciate it.

You are most welcome. I look forward to reading your reviews. Remember you now have two threads for 2020 - one for your own personal tracker of books queued up for the 50 Books Read in 2020 challenge in addition to this fun. This should be fun.

JANUARY

1. by H.W. Brands
Finish date: January 18, 2020
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: Dreams of El Dorado: A History of The American West was a panoramic and overarching view of the settling of the American West by author H. W. Brands, that left one in awe of the history unfolding in such dramatic fashion. From President Thomas Jefferson recognizing the importance of expansion into the western part of the country and buoyed by Napoleon's offer to sell Louisiana to the United States, this young country began its exploration westward. Beginning with the expedition of Lewis and Clark followed by the migration west by courageous Americans and the sacrifice that entailed, to the discovery of gold in California and the implementation of the railroad connecting the eastern part of America to the west. Brands also touches on the different native American tribes and how they were impacted by this migration west as the concept of "Manifest Destiny" was implemented. Having grown up in the American West, much of this has been imprinted on me in bits and pieces but I must say that having such a complete chronology of this most interesting time in American history was invaluable.

"But beyond doubt they were many more settlers than had ever ventured to the American West at once. Descriptions of the westering army caught the American imagination: a mighty people was on the march. They were the American dream in motion. Even many Americans who were content to stay in the East thrilled about what this great migration said about the energy of their country and its bright future."

"No image in American history has been so powerful--so evocative not simply of romance and adventure but of what it means to be an American--as that of the cowboy. Astride his horse, etched against a lonely horizon, the cowboy epitomizes individualism, integrity, strength. The cowboy guards his herd; he guards his nation's identity."

"Roosevelt wouldn't have been much of a politician if he hadn't hitched his White House agenda to the nostalgia for the West. Roosevelt was the first Western president in the sense of being the first to have spent significant time in the West and to take a serious interest in issues peculiar to the West."

"Roosevelt died in 1919. The most famous image that marked his passing was a sketch called 'The Long, Long Trail,' which showed him in cowboy gear riding a spectral horse into a Western sky. Other figures from the earlier West had gone before."

Excellent review and great beginning.

2. by Les Standiford
Finish date: January 24, 2020
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of a Railroad that Crossed an Ocean was a captivating book by Les Standiford of robber baron Henry Flagler, partner with John D Rockefeller in the founding of Standard Oil. Later when he discovered Florida, the historic and lovely St. Augustine and the beautiful St. John's River, he was captivated and built his first hotel. That hotel was followed by others, including The Breakers in Palm Beach. Through his business investments and the time that he and his family spent in Florida, he became interested in developing a railroad throughout the state, first primarily to his hotel resorts and home but then later became very interested in the Florida Keys. Against all obstacles Flagler relentlessly pursued his dream of building a railway system to land's end, the southernmost tip of the United States in Key West, Florida. Because of the recent election of Theodore Roosevelt and his determination to complete the Panama Canal, Flagler was determined to build his Florida Overseas Railroad from Miami over the chain of islands known as the Florida Keys. Although, he did prevail amidst a lot of setbacks and adversity, ultimately his railroad succumbed to a fatal blow of nature when Category 5 hurricane winds wiped out large portions of the railroad and never to be restored. Having spent a lot of time in southeast Florida, I can say that the Florida Keys are one of our favorite destinations, as you travel by car on the Overseas Highway, mesmerized by the sparkling sunlit waters on either side of the highway and find yourself happily immersed in this magical paradise. But there are many reminders, particularly the spectacular overseas bridges with railroad tracks to remind one what was before, now enticing bicycle and hiking paths. Flagler was a true visionary.

"Dreaming up a railroad to Key West is the stuff of another era, and its undertaking is the work of another kind of man. In the impossibleness of what was once called "Flagler's Folly" is also its magnificence. In its final undoing is the significance of tragedy."

"This much is certain: Most contemporary travelers who travel the 128.4 miles of U.S. 1 that now stitch the Florida Keys, from Homestead at the tip of the U.S. mainland to Key West at the very end of the line, find it one of the most remarkable stretches of highway in the country. . . . This piece of highway also offers a certain definitiveness, a very inescapable destination: Key West sits literally at the end of the American road, and for most of the twentieth century the "Southernmost City" has sung a siren's song to tourists and travelers, literati and glitterati, grifters and drifters and modern-day pirates alike."

"In a sense, the highway is what remains of one of the last great gasps of the era of Manifest Destiny and an undertaking that marked the true closing of an American Frontier."

Excellent

3. by Edmund Morris
Finish date: January 26, 2020
Genre: Biography
Rating: B+
Review: Edison by Edmund Morris was a comprehensive and meticulously researched biography of Thomas Alva Edison. While Morris is one of our most esteemed biographers, this was a book that he chose to write in reverse chronological order, why I'm not sure, and due to his sudden death last year I'm not sure anyone can answer that question, but it was disconcerting. While I must admit that as a child I would leap to the end of the book once I had a good idea of who the characters were and what the plot was, I managed to overcome that temptation. Well, Edison was my childhood fantasy restored; I started at the end of Thomas Edison's life and made my way backward, a decade at a time. While some people chose to start at the end of the book and read each decade forward, I read it as written hoping to understand how this enhanced the biography of this most amazing man. Perhaps it was to have his two greatest inventions, the phonograph and the electric light bulb highlighted and explored toward the end of the book for a greater impact, but I'm not sure. I just know that Edmund Morris will be missed.

"Everything on earth depends on will. I never had an idea in my life. I've got no imagination. I never dream. My so-called inventions already existed in the environment--I took them out. I've created nothing. Nobody does There's no such thing as an idea being brain-born; everything comes from the outside." -- Thomas Alva Edison

"It's the way the world goes--the young push ahead and do things, and the old stand back. I hope I'll always be with the young." -- Thomas Alva Edison, 1912

"You do not know what the Edison electric light in a house is until you have seen the pendant globes, spreading uninterrupted radiance on all beneath and around. There was a merry company, full of life and triumph. An Italian gentleman sang a Neapolitan impromptu to his own accompaniment. Young ladies whirled in the waltz. . . .We went down to the depot, and as the train came thundering by to bring us to the city, the jingle of sleigh bells rang over the snow from near the Professor's house, for there is no pleasure at Menlo Park like sleighing by electric lights when the public has gone away." -- The New York Herald, 1881

Wow - great progress. You have been very busy.

Bentley wrote: "Wow - great progress. You have been very busy."

Thank you, Bentley.

FEBRUARY

4. by Ann Patchett
Finish date: February 1, 2020
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: The Dutch House is the latest novel by one of my favorite authors Ann Patchett. This character driven family saga centers around the powerful relationship between siblings Maeve and Danny Conroy as well as their strong connection, and almost pathological ties, to The Dutch House. This beautiful mansion was built by the VanHoebeeks in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1922 making their fortune in cigarettes; their life-sized portrait so much a part of the Conroy family in many ways. I must interject that the cover of the book that is a portrait of Maeve is priceless. There is a message here. Their father, Cyril Conroy, a real estate mogul able to capitalize on a lot of real estate deals in New York City enabling him to purchase this iconic house where Danny and Maeve spent their childhood. Without any spoilers, what transpires over the years is the exploration of the bonds between Maeve and Danny as they grow into adulthood and how The Dutch House impacts their lives over a lifetime. Told in the point of view of Danny over the years, it is subject to memory and is very non-linear in its unfolding as we jump to different periods in their life. All in all, it is a very heartwarming book that I enjoyed.

"The stunning success of the house could be attributed to the architect. . ."

"It could be that one or both of those dour VanHoebeeks had been sort of aesthetic visionary, or that the property inspired a marvel beyond what any of them had imagined, or that America after the First World War was teeming with craftsmen who worked to standards long since abandoned. Whatever the explanation, the house wound up with--the house we later wound up with--was a singular confluence of talent and luck."

"But we overlay the present onto the past, we look back through the lens of what we know now, so we're not seeing it as the people we were, we're seeing it as the people we are, and that means the past has been radically altered."

"There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you'd been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you're suspended, knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself."

"'For the record, I'm sick of misery,' she said, then she turned and went back inside, leaving me to stand in the swirl of leaves and think about what I owed her. By any calculation, it was everything."

5. by Charles A. Cerami (no photo)
Finish date: February 1, 2020
Genre: History
Rating: C+
Review: Dinner at Mr. Jefferson's: Three Men, Five Great Wines, and the Evening that Changed America by Charles A. Cerami is concentrated in 1790 when Thomas Jefferson has returned from five years as Ambassador to France after agreeing to be Secretary of State to President George Washington. At that time the nation's temporary capital was New York City. John Adams was Vice-President, and also working with the president was James Madison, floor leader in the new House of Representatives following his success during the opening session of the first Continental Congress. Alexander Hamilton was leading the new Treasury Department and had become a very close adviser to the president. Jefferson realized that there were issues that threatened to tear the new and struggling democracy apart unless a compromise was reached regarding the passage of the "Assumption Bill" as proposed by Hamilton ensuring that the national debt would be paid with the states proportionately sharing the burden. It was at that point that Jefferson invited Hamilton and Madison to dinner in an attempt to persuade Hamilton to the compromise proposed by both Madison and Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson had been known as a most gracious host in his beloved Monticello and tried to do the same in his temporary residence in New York City. The many courses and the fine wines from both France and Italy are detailed much later in the book, as well as the three men agreeing on the best course of action for the country, each vowing to bring their different factions along to the proposed compromise. There is some controversy whether this dinner ever took place, but it was interesting reading and a good overview of that pivotal time in our history. In addition, there are some recipes from Monticello, a must for all foodies.

". . . . Jefferson vigorously pursued the gallant attempt to be an elegant short-term host in his temporary quarters in New York City. Even in that limited time, there was more than one dinner at Mr. Jefferson's that would affect the nation--and that would reverberate in the history of the United States."

6. by Dave Barry
Finish date: February 2, 2020
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: C+
Review: Best. State. Ever. by Dave Barry is a very humorous and delightful look at the state of Florida. One of the advantages of retirement has been the ability to travel. We have been able to spend a lot of time in Florida for the last few years, and what can I say? I love our time there. The dedication by Dave Barry may say it all:

To my fellow Floridians:
Don't ever sober up.

Barry begins with a brief history of Florida, which still continues to fascinate me. He discusses when the Spanish explorers discovered Florida in the sixteenth century and the impact on the native Americans. He then starts near Miami and explores very strange myths and areas such as The Skunk Ape and the campground where this phenomenon, and others, can be explored. Barry's trek through Florida continues with such areas as Weeki Wachee Springs and Spongeorama complete with mermaids and Florida tourism. As bizarre as these attractions, we were then informed about his trip to Cassadaga described literally as a ghost town with many mediums and psychics. But a trip to Florida would not be complete without a visit to The Villages, the world's largest retirement community. No, we do not live there. . . and that is a good thing! Then Barry takes us on to Gatorland and, a shooting range in Miami boasting the nation's greatest variety of fully automatic machine guns available. Not a place I would endorse or ever be. But while in Miami, Dave Barry and his wife tried to score admission to LIV, the hottest nightclub in Miami Beach in the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel.

"Walk past the Bugattis parked out front, through the
glass sliding doors and veer right across the marble-
floored lobby of Miami's Fontainebleau hotel, and
--voila!--you're there. Welcome to chic, celebrity-
infested LIV."

Best. State. Ever. concludes with a visit to Key West, one of my favorite places in this beautiful state.

"Key West is Florida's Florida--the place way down at the bottom where the weirdest of the weird end up; the place where the abnormal is normal."

While this was a humorous look at the weirdness of Florida, it is clear that Dave Barry loves this state that he has called home for some time. He brings out a lot of the unflattering coverage of the state culminating in the debacle of the "hanging chads" in Broward County in the presidential election of 2000, finally leading to the United States Supreme Court ruling in favor of Bush.

"And the nation did not forget. The nation had formed a negative, stereotyped image of Florida as being a subtropical festival of stupid."

You are very much on a roll. Great posts and reviews.

7. by Tony Horwitz
Finish date: February 15, 2020
Genre: History; Travel
Rating: B+
Review: This beautiful book, Spying on the South: Travel with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land by Tony Horowitz was a treasure to savor as the author followed the travels of Frederick Law Olmstead and his explorations in the deep South in the years prior to the Civil War. Sent as a correspondent for The New York Times, Olmsted sent dispatches back regarding the deep divisions in the country with the issue of slavery at its core. This experience would propel Olmsted later to become the nation's first landscape architect as he designed public spaces and parks throughout the country, often inspired by the beautiful landscape and architecture in the South. Most notable is New York City's Central Park, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the famous Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. Horowitz, in exploring the divisions in our nation today, set out to retrace the epic journey of Olmsted following his route as closely as possible. Horowitz travelled through Appalachia, down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and through the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and across Texas to the Rio Grande, exploring all of the hidden places off the beaten path and meeting some memorable characters. In the skillful hands of Tony Horowitz, many of the deep differences in the political landscape were quite apparent. It ends, however, on a bittersweet note, as Tony Horowitz died shortly after its publication while on tour in Washington, D.C. promoting the book. He will be missed.

"Frederick Law Olmsted is celebrated today as a visionary architect of New York's Central Park, among many other spaces: the US Capitol grounds, college campuses, residential neighborhoods, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Olmsted helped create much of the urban and suburban landscape that Americans still inhabit.."

"But there were inescapable echoes of the 1850's: extreme polarization, racial strife, demonization of the other side, embrace of enflamed opinion over reasoned dialogue and debate."

"When the magnolia bloomed, its fragrance mixed with thee olive and banana 'to make a sweet, spicy scent that is so strong that you can barely stand it."

" Creole is the soul food of New Orleans."

"Olmsted may have turned away from the South and its inequities after the Civil War. But the central quest of his travels and writings endured in his landscape design."

MARCH

8. by Jaquira Díaz
Finish date: March 4, 2020
Genre: Essays; Short Stories
Rating: C+
Review: 15 Views of Miami edited by Jaquira Diaz is an anthology of fictional stories set in Miami, Florida. It is interesting that this concept was inspired by Jeanne Leiby. Sadly, she passed away in 2011, but her novel idea has resulted in this sprawling literary portrait of Miami. Each author in this collection must set his fictional account in a new location but there must be a link with the previous story either by a character, a phrase, a concept or even a metaphor that has resulted in an engaging portrait of this beautiful, vibrant city that is made up of many diverse and interesting neighborhoods, and one of my favorite cities ever.

The introduction by the editor Jaquira Diaz, as she describes her Miami and what it has meant to her over the years and the many ways it has changed and in other ways remains the same, is quite good and sets the tone for the book. Diaz talks about how she strived to assemble different voices, many natives of Miami, others transplants to the city. There are stories from the many diverse areas and neighborhoods of Miami, including the Wynwood Arts District, Homestead, Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Little Haiti to name a few. As with any anthology, some stories I found more gripping than others, but if you like Miami it's worth a look.

I've left Miami half a dozen times, but I keep coming back. It's a strange city--never the same place for long. It's always changing, evolving, reinventing itself."

"Yes, the narrative of my Miami is sometimes sad, but there is also growth, progress, and, of course, a plethora of stories."

9. by Rick Bragg
Finish date: March 8, 2020
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A
Review: What a beautiful book. The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma's Table was a loving tribute, not only to his mother Margaret, but to his grandmother Ava, and related in the warm, all-embracing and endearing way that only Rick Bragg can accomplish in describing all of the rich and colorful heritage of his family passed on for generations; perhaps the first farm to table harvest in the heart of Appalachia, some even predating the Civil War. You just have to understand a dab, a pinch. This tugged at my heart as I remember being so enamored as I spent summers with my grandparents, helping my grandfather in his beautiful and bountiful garden each day. Another highlight of my day was helping my grandmother prepare amazing meals and special old family recipes from the "old country." There are many delicious recipes that may warrant a try.

"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." -- COLOSSIANS 4:6

"But since that day in her cold kitchen, I knew I had to convince her to let me write it all down, to capture not just the legend but the soul of her cooking for the generations to come, and translate into the twenty-first century the recipes that exit only in her mind, before we all blow away like the dust in that red field."

"These recipes and stories come, one by one, from the beautiful, haunted landscape itself, from inside the lunchboxes of men who worked deep in the earth and out in the searing sun, from homemade houseboats in the middle channels of slow rivers, or in the dark high places as we chased the beautiful sound of our dogs through the hills and pines."

"They ate tomato sandwiches on white bread, with mayonnaise, salt, and pepper (this, with a cold glass of milk and a few potato chips, remains my favorite simple summer lunch). They sliced platters of them to eat with everything."

10. by Richard Blanco
Finish date: March 11, 2020
Genre: Memoir
Rating: B+
Review: The Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood was a beautiful and endearing coming-of-age memoir by Richard Blanco. Blanco was born in Madrid, Spain and emigrated as an infant with his family, exiled from Cuba, to New York City and subsequently to Miami where he spent his childhood. The theme running through the book was the nostalgia and yearning for their former life in Cuba as expressed by his family in this Cuban-American neighborhood in Miami. However, classmates introduced him to the American culture which he yearned for as well, independent of the immigrant experience. This delightful book examines all of his conflicting feelings as he is growing up and searching for his place in the world, grappling with who he is and what his neighborhood and village consists of. His relationship to the neighborhood bodega, 'El Cocuyito' meaning the firefly, is symbolic throughout the book.

It should also be noted that Richard Blanco had the distinction of being the nation's fifth inaugural poet, first reciting his poem "One Today" at the second inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2013.

"I've bent time and space in the way that the art of memory demands. My poet's soul believes the emotional truth of these pages trumps everything. Read as you would read my poems, trusting that what here is real, beyond what is real--that truer truth which we come to call a life."

"Like Cuba, like New York City, Miami Beach--Yetta's Miami Beach--suddenly became a place I have never been either."

"El Cocuyito was a magical part of my childhood, and despite the reason for employment, I looked forward to working there."

"I remembered Don Gustavo's story of the fireflies that lit up his village in Cuba. El Cocuyito wasn't just a grocery store anymore, it felt like that village to me, a pueblo where everybody knew each other and where, for a few minutes every day, they could pretend they were still in Cuba, surrounded by their own fruits and vegetables, their own sweets and cuts of meat, their own language and fireflies, as if nothing had ever disrupted their lives."

Wow! You have been a busy reader.

11. by Sara Roahen (no photo)
Finish date: March 14, 2020
Genre: Memoir
Rating: B+
Review: Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table was a delightful memoir by Sara Roahan talking about her move to New Orleans being her introduction to the South. Landing a job as a restaurant critic for the Gambit Weekly newspaper with her first assignment being that of gumbo followed by her realization that she needed crash course in understanding all of the history and nuances of that particular food. Thus began her love affair with New Orleans, not only the beautiful Crescent City and its rich culinary and religious traditions, but the people themselves. It was a delightful journey through various foods, drinks and traditions, including varied and delicious gumbos as well as Sazeracs, red gravy, stuffed and smothered Z'herbes (vegetables), Po-boys, Terducken, crawfish, pho, King cake, Le Boeuf Gras, oysters and my all-time favorite red beans and rice. Roahan talks about the immediate years before Hurricane Katrina and the impact upon New Orleans, as well as the efforts to restore normality to this iconic city. I loved my time spent in her New Orleans and hope to return soon for some coffee and chicory with beignets at Café du Monde in the French Quarter.

"Gumbo is the most important dish in the Louisiana lexicon for its prevalence and dependability alone. . . There are at least as many definitive gumbos in Louisiana as there are accents, and like accents, definitive gumbos are established at home. It's an intensely esoteric topic. . . "

"When I asked Mrs. Chase for her thoughts about the easy relationship between New Orleanians and their vegetables, she cited the state's continuous growing season and the fact that so many people in south Louisiana grew up like she did, eating only what their parents raised. Vegetables were main courses not by design but by necessity."

"I tried to explain. . . that New Orleans food is all about fusion and the merging of ethnicities. The French settled the city, the Spanish ruled it, Native Americans predated both, African descendants command restaurant kitchens, Paul Prudhomme brought Acadiana within city limits, and new influences continue to shape what we eat."

"Of course one of the bands played 'When the Saints Go Marching In,' the most cliched and meaningful song in New Orleans' modern history. Traditionally a funeral march, the song now adapts to whatever situation it's played in. Louis Armstrong turned it into a pop tune in the 1930s. They blast it at Saints football games as a rabble-rouser. It's a church song and a tavern song: few jazz bands in either place would get away with skipping it--not that they would want to. . . . Whatever the context, the song always makes me feel fatalistic and weepy about living in this city. People love New Orleans like they love a person."

12. by Stephen Birmingham (no photo)
Finish date: March 15, 2020
Genre: History; Architecture
Rating: C+
Review: Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address was a very interesting book of the history, not only of the historic and iconic Dakota, but a most interesting account of the history of New York City. This luxury apartment was built in the late 1800's by Edward Clark, owner of Singer sewing machines. If you love architecture and history, this is a wonderful book as it describes how this beautiful apartment house was built. It is also replete with gossip regarding its most famous residents, notably Lauren Bacall, John and Yoko Lennon, Leonard Bernstein and Roberta Flack as well as the setting of the chilling movie, 'Rosemary's Baby'. But the predominant theme of this book was the evolution of this historic hotel as it adapted to a changing city and apartment house in the heart of Manhattan with New York's historic Central Park as its front yard.

"By 1960 the Dakota had become a survivor in itself--New York's oldest standing luxury apartment dwelling, a city showplace for nearly eighty years. Its very appearance--that block-long crenelated façade of weather-stained yellow brick, and chocolate-covered stone, surrounded by a dry moat--was no longer technically beautiful but was imposing, not to say daunting. If New York had become a city of expanded egos, the Dakota had become a building designed to swell the ego even more."

"The building had come to represent everything that was pleasant and rewarding about life in New York, but it also reflected everything about New York life that was threatening, frightening and uncertain. Every battle or crusade that the city had undergone had also been confronted, on a smaller scale, at the Dakota."

"When the city commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to design the park, it displayed a rare genius and sensitivity. Hardly ever before in the history of the United States had the principles of art been applied to the embellishment of nature or the landscape in a public park. Olmsted laid out walks, fountains, lakes, formal gardens, five miles of bridle paths, vistas, great grassy areas and a wide quarter-mile-long Mall leading into the park from its main entrance at Fifty-Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. Other sections were left wild and wooded with a ground cover of wildflowers."

13. by Lauren Groff
Finish date: March 24, 2020
Genre: Essays; Short Stories
Rating: A
Review: Florida by Lauren Groff caught my eye with the stalking panther on the black cover and in block letters, FLORIDA, as we were spending a few months in the southeast part of that magnificent and diverse state. When we travel, I try to read a lot of books pertaining to the region. Therefore, I have been immersed in a lot of wonderful literature of the American South as well as Florida. When I began reading this book of eleven short stories, I was totally enthralled, sometimes frightened and other times appalled, but always intrigued. Lauren Groff pits the immensity of the huge state of Florida and all of its hidden and explosive dangers within the lives of the people she focuses on, and the common theme is one not only of danger but also survival. There are always the threats of hurricanes, alligators, panthers, snakes and all such predators. Don't let me scare you. I love the state of Florida, and I loved this book. Many of the stories had the strains of autobiographical experiences, all taking place in Florida, and culminating in the last story where a young mother took her two young sons to France and they immersed themselves in the culture of Paris and west to the Alabaster coast where she was researching Guy Maupassant. Ultimately she realized that she belongs in Florida; that is her home. This was a beautiful book and the predominant theme throughout was one of women and children, even when in peril, being able to meet the inherent challenges with strength, endurance, and grace.

Lauren Groff has been called the Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Gainesville, Florida, and I totally agree with that comparison, as he has been a favorite author of mine for many years and there is a parallel with the magical realism and lyrical and beautiful prose. The story goes that when her husband moved the family to Florida, she made him sign a contract that they would leave after ten years; she has now lived in Gainesville for twelve years and has adopted the state of Florida as her home. Her stories are lyrical and haunting. I am looking forward to reading her other books.

"Of all the places in the world, she belongs in Florida. How dispiriting, to learn this of herself."

14. by Gareth Russell
Finish date: March 26, 2020
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era was a comprehensive and well-researched account of the doomed maiden voyage of the Titanic, the jewel of the White Star Line, along with its sister ship, the Olympic. Gareth Russell's account is told from the historical perspective of the end of the Edwardian era and focusing on several key people and the roles played by each, including Thomas Andrews, managing director of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, from Belfast, Ireland. I found it to be a riveting account of the history at that time, as well as detailed descriptions of the Titanic and its passengers on that fateful voyage.

And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.

Alien they seemed to be;
No moral eye could see
The intimate welding of their later history,

Or sign that they were bent
By paths coincident
On being anon two halves of one august event,

Till the Spinner of the Years
Said "Now!" And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.

Thomas Hardy, "The Convergence of the Twain
(Lines on the loss of the Titanic)" (1912)

Bentley wrote: "Wow! You have been a busy reader."

The upside of the "stay-at-home orders!" :)

APRIL

15. by Debra Dean
Finish date: April 1, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: The Madonnas of Leningrad is the debut novel by Debra Dean that I have wanted to read for quite some time. This was not at all what I expected and I must say that I was enthralled with this beautiful book and all of its stunning and poetic imagery. It may be one of my all-time favorites on many different levels. The descriptive passages, particularly that of the beautiful paintings and sculptures throughout the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, as well as the palpable fear, suffering and heartbreaking beauty and sacrifice of the Russian people as Hitler's forces marched toward Leningrad. And like so many, the effects of Alzheimer's disease and dementia has impacted our lives, striking members of our family as well as friends. Debra Dean treats this devastating disease and all of its ravages in a very sensitive and realistic manner throughout this beautiful and gripping novel. Marina, an elderly Russian woman living in America, recalls very little of her husband and children but she is living with her vivid memories forged in 1941 as she prepared for all of the paintings and sculptures in the Hermitage Museum to be packed into crates and moved away for safekeeping during World War II. Anya taught Marina how to create a memory palace of the Hermitage Museum and it is here that such richness is derived throughout this lovely book in many unexpected ways.

"When I was a girl, we made memory palaces to help us memorize for our examinations. You chose an actual place, a palace worked best, but any building with lots of room would do, and then you furnished it with whatever you wished to remember."

"Anya is helping Marina build a memory palace in the museum. . . So each morning, they get up early and the two women make their way slowly though the halls. They add a few more rooms each day, mentally restocking the Hermitage, painting by painting, statue by statue."

"More distressing than the loss of words is the way that time contracts and fractures and drops her in unexpected places."

"She is leaving him, not all at once, which would be painful enough, but in a wrenching succession of separations. One moment she is here, and then she is gone again, and each journey takes her a little farther from his reach. He cannot follow her, and he wonders where she goes when she leaves."

Wonderful reviews, Lorna. The Madonnas of Leningrad was one of my favorites too!

by Debra Dean

My Goodness, Lorna, that sounds like an incredible book! My TBR list just got extended to an incredible length ...
Regards,
Andrea

Lorna, that sounds like great Historical Fiction - I might add it to my list. Very nice review.

Connie, thank you so much. I am happy to hear that The Madonnas of Leningrad was one of your favorites as well. It is so nice to hear from you.

by Debra Dean

Andrea wrote: "My Goodness, Lorna, that sounds like an incredible book! My TBR list just got extended to an incredible length ...
Regards,
Andrea"

Thank you, Andrea.

by Debra Dean

Bentley wrote: "Lorna, that sounds like great Historical Fiction - I might add it to my list. Very nice review."

Thank you, Bentley. It was a very engaging historical fiction account of the siege of Leningrad during World War II.

by Debra Dean

16. by Tracy Chevalier
Finish date: April 3, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier was a beautifully written and quiet historical fiction novel set in England after The Great War. Violet Speedwell is a young woman who has lost her fiancé and her beloved brother in the war as so many young women at that time; their future as "spinsters" predicted because of the large numbers of mass casualties of so many young men during the Great War. Violet, resisting the norm, chose to leave her mother's home and go to the city and work as a typist for an insurance company, living in a boarding house. While on an errand, she stopped in the beautiful and magnificent Winchester Cathedral. Violet became entranced with the intricate needlework being presented in a ceremony of broderers that day, later learning that the broderers were a guild of embroiderers established in medieval times. She was thrilled and honored to become a part of that group learning the art of needlepoint and carrying on the centuries-long tradition of embroidering cushions and kneelers for the cathedral. This lovely story was heartwarming as one sees how Violet is able to bring her life meaning over the years through the choices she made as well as her friendships. I loved Violet's story in finding her own path in her own unique and individual way. Chevalier has given us a beautiful tale of friendship, love, and loyalty.

"Violet found stitching similar to but more satisfying than typing. You had to concentrate, but once you were skilled enough, you could settle into it and empty your minds of all but the work in front of you. Life then boiled down to a row of blue stitches that became a long braid across the canvas, or a sunburst of red that became a flower."

"'I suppose I am looking to start again, here.' She glanced around at the high stone walls and the vast space above them. 'But a cathedral is overwhelming. Spiritually as well as physically. I thought if there was one small part of me here, that might help. A contribution that would make me feel connected. And something I could actually use, or that others could use. A border of a cushion is not quite the same as a kneeler.'"

17. by Ann Patchett
Finish date: April 5, 2020
Genre: Essays; Short Stories
Rating: A
Review: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an anthology of short stories and essays by one my favorite authors, Ann Patchett. There are articles that were published in Vogue, Seventeen, Harper's Bazaar, Gourmet, the Times, and the New York Times. These delightful short stories, basically vignettes from the life of Ann Patchett were so engaging. All of these were delightful essays that link many of her books to her life experiences but I have to say that the essay that was closest to my heart was the endearing summer that she spent in California with her dad, a retired captain from Los Angeles Police Department. As research for a story, Ann Patchett, applied for the Los Angeles Police Department, spending an entire summer immersing herself in the life and career of her father as she was researching a story. Her takeaway was a new found respect and awe of her father and the ability to scale a six-foot wall, an ability she still retains. Ann Patchett, just keep writing. I am looking forward to reading it all, and one day I look forward to coming and indulging myself in your lovely bookshop Parnassus Books in Nashville.

"Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means to get to the art you must master the craft. If you want to write, practice writing."

"There are in life a few miraculous moments when the right person is there to tell you what you need to hear and you are still open enough, impressionable enough, to take it in."

"The quality of a life is defined not by its length, but by its depth, its actions and achievements. It is defined by our ability to love."

"If what a bookstore offers matters to you, then shop at a bookstore. If you feel that the experience of reading a book is valuable, then read the book. This is how we change the world: we grab hold of it. We change ourselves."

"Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It's everything in between that we live for."

18. by John le Carré
Finish date: April 8, 2020
Genre: Fiction, Espionage
Rating: B+
Review: Agent Running in the Field is the latest book from one of my favorite British authors, John le Carre. It was as sharp as all of his previous espionage novels, and one just needs to hang on for a lot of thrilling twists and turns, but I promise that it will make sense as we see all of these disparate threads come together in such a satisfying ending. You must just trust that John le Carre is a master storyteller and he will bring us all along in a most dramatic way. It is a very contemporary plot in that the struggles over Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump with all of the ramifications of his leadership are forefront, as well as the growing power of Putin. John le Carre at age eighty-eight years old is still sounding the alarm at the fragile place that the world finds itself. Perhaps we should pay attention.

"The natural-born agent-runner is his own man. He may take his orders from London, but in the field he is the master of his fate and the fate of his agents. And when his active years are done, there aren't going to be many berths waiting for a journeyman spy in his late forties who detests deskwork and has the curriculum vitae of a middle-aged ranking diplomat who never made the grade."

19. by María Amparo Escandón (no photo)
Finish date: April 11, 2020
Genre: Novel
Rating: B
Review: Esperanza's Box of Saints is a delightful book that has been sitting in my library since 1999 when I had the honor of meeting the author Maria Amparo Escandon. Although intending to read it much sooner, I am so happy that I finally picked it up. The author states that in this book she attempted to keep it outside the margins of magical realism because she feels that magic abounds in real life. It is within this premise that we go on the journey with Esperanza and her box of saints, having recently been told that her twelve-year old daughter has died from a virus, she has a vision of one of her favorite saints, San Judas Tadeo, on her oven's greasy door telling her that Bianca is with not dead but with her. At that point, Esperanza packs up her box of saints, holy cards, candles and goes in search of her daughter. That journey takes her from her small Mexican village in Veracruz to Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles. Having been raised in northern New Mexico, I have grown up with saints, roadside shrines, rustic chapels, and all of the beauty in the face of such fierce faith; in fact I have my own supply of holy cards, statues and candles. I loved this book and I loved Esperanza, one of the highlights being her telephone calls to her parish priest for confession during her travels. This was a sweet book that I am happy to have read while in quarantine during this Easter weekend.

Esperanza began to set up a tiny altar on the night table with Blanca's picture, her late husband's, the picture of the wrestling angel torn from Paloma's magazine, the Virgen de Guadalupe, San Judas Tadeo, and a couple of candles that she carefully took from her box."

"Statuettes of San Judas Tadeo, San Ramon Nonato, San Pasqual Bailon, San Pafnucio, and San Martin de Porres were lit by novena candles featuring decals of the same saints, and around them three glass vases with red carnations, all carefully arranged on the chaise lounge, the larger saints in the back, the smaller ones in front. A beautiful glow-in-the-dark San Miguel Arcangel. A Virgen de Guadalupe surrounded by dusty silk roses and illuminated by a pink lightbulb. A Sacred Heart with a receptacle for holy water. A crucifix mobile hanging over the entire altar. Pictures of more saints pinned to the wallpaper."

20. by Susan Rice (no photo)
Finish date: April 15, 2020
Genre: Memoir
Rating: A
Review: Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For was an interesting and well-written memoir by Susan Rice. As the title suggests, Susan Rice is not afraid of kicking up a little dust; a trait she often attributes to her mother's Jamaican roots. Although she worked for the Clinton administration rising rapidly and becoming one of the youngest assistant secretaries of state, it was as Barack Obama's National Security Advisor and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations, that she was thrust onto the international stage of American diplomacy and foreign policy, most notably in the controversy surrounding Benghazi. This was an unflinching and honest tale of her family struggles and difficulties while growing up in Washington, D.C. A woman of color with her lineage reaching back to the time of slavery as well as her predecessors who immigrated from the Caribbean, this is a powerful story. In her own words, Ms. Rice hoped that in the telling of her story, others would find inspiration and empowerment. Throughout this book, she stresses "the importance of always doing your best; picking yourself up and dusting yourself off; and driving down the court to the bucket-all while maintaining grace under fire." Although I have long been an ardent admirer of Susan Rice, I came away from this book with a profound respect for her deeply held values and ideals, not only in her personal life but in her professional life and her hopes for this country. Ms. Rice is most certainly a beautiful example "maintaining grace under fire." Brava!

"We each have agency and responsibility. We can't be passive bystanders, victims, or vigilantes. We must each commit to unify and to heal. We must fear none, especially our fellow Americans."

"I still believe that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, but nobody is going to do the hard bending, if not you and me. It's our choice, and I have always believed we must choose each other."

"Arguing with a firm command of the facts, combined with dead certainty, whether feigned or real, I would discover, was an effective means of besting your opponent."

"Trump's election felt like a stinging rebuke of all we believed in--unity, equality, dignity, honesty, hope, and progress. It presaged the wholesale unraveling of the accomplishments we had worked hardest to achieve and that would have the most lasting, positive impact on America and the world."

"The key questions that remain are whether our democratic institutions can withstand the sustained assault, and whether the American people will hold leaders accountable at the ballot box for placing party over country. I believe the answers to both questions is yes, but only if Americans fully understand what's at stake."

21. by Junot Díaz
Finish date: April 20, 2020
Genre: Novel
Rating: A
Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2008; an amazing and riveting work of fiction. This book takes place during the regime and era of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina known as El Jefe, one of the most ruthless and brutal dictators of the Dominican Republic in power from 1930 to 1961. It is against this backdrop that we are introduced to three generations of the de Leon family; each impacted by Trujillo and his henchman, all believing to one degree or another that they suffered the curse, the fuku. This book was narrated by Yunior, in an intelligent and sharp way as he introduces us to Oscar, a hopeless overweight self-described nerd into all of Marvel comics and characters rivaled only by Stan Lee. We also are introduced to his beautiful sister, Lola, who adored Oscar, even with all of his flaws, her "Mister." Lola and Oscar, the third generation of the de Leon family emigrated to Patterson, New Jersey along with their mother, fleeing the Trujillo dictatorship. As the narrative goes back to Santo Domingo, we learn about the lives of Oscar and Lola's grandparents, as well as the life of their mother, Belicia de Leon. I loved this book in how it brought the lives of these three generations to life in such an engaging and original way. This book was truly a masterpiece authored by a powerful voice, Junot Diaz.

"Fuku americanus, or more colloquially, fuku--generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World."

"You might roll your eyes at the comparison, but, friends: it would be hard to exaggerate the power Trujillo exerted over the Dominican people and the shadow of fear he cast throughout the region."

"What can I tell you? In Santo Domingo a story is not a story unless it casts a supernatural shadow."

22. by Julia Alvarez
Finish date: April 23, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez is a beautiful book written with lyrical and descriptive prose. This fictional novel of four sisters is said to be a very autobiographical account of Alvarez's early childhood in the Dominican Republic and later emigrating to New York when they are forced to flee the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina. This is a delightful and gripping tale of the four Garcia sisters - Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia - told in alternating chapters by each sister and in reverse chronological order. The book is divided into three parts, the first part focusing on the adult lives of the sisters between 1989 and 1972. The second section of the book from 1970 and 1960 tells the struggles of their immigration experience in the United States, while the last section between 1960 and 1956 in the Dominican Republic where their father becomes involved in a plot to remove Trujillo from power and its attendant consequences. This is a study in the immigrant experience for young children and their parents in coming to such a different culture and country and the struggles to assimilate into that new culture. I am working my way through the works of Julia Alvarez and enjoying the experience since I am drawn to books portraying the Latin American culture.

"The late sun sifts through the bougainvillea trained to climb the walls of the patio, to thread across the trellis roof, to pour down magenta and purple blossoms."

"All around her are the foothills, a dark enormous green, the sky more a brightness than a color. A breeze blows through the palms below, rustling their branches, so they whisper like voices. Here and there a braid of smoke rises up from a hillside--a campesino and his family living out their solitary life. This is what she has been missing all of these years without really knowing she has been missing it. Standing here in the quiet, she believes she has never felt at home in the States, never."

"I would never find someone who would understand the peculiar mix of Catholicism and agnosticism, Hispanic and American styles."

"I grew up, a curious woman, a woman of story ghosts and story devils, a woman prone to bad dreams and bad insomnia. There are still times I wake up three o'clock in the morning and peer into the darkness. At that hour and in that loneliness, I hear her, a black furred thing lurking in the corners of my life, her magenta mouth opening, wailing over some violation that lies at the center of my art."

23. by Cormac McCarthy
Finish date: April 26, 2020
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy has just captured my heart and soul. While my heart will always be a part of the American West, this amazing book not only had such beautiful prose, but it put you there in the moment as you experienced all that is beautiful but threatening in the rugged west, particularly on the Texas-Mexico border. What is so lovely about this book is the underlying theme of the horses, all the beautiful horses, that is pulsing throughout this narrative as we come to love and admire John Grady Cole and his partner, Lacey Rawlins, as they make their way from their homes in Texas and travel on horseback to Mexico in 1949. The book opens with one of the most stunning passages as John Grady Cole is present after the death of his grandfather in the ranch home that he and his family have run for generations. And this first book of the trilogy ends with the death of John Cole's dear abuela, a woman who cared for his mother as well when she was a child. These two significant deaths for John Grady Cole are the bookends of this wonderful novel; the first book of The Border Trilogy. What transpires in the interim is a journey that you need to embark on yourself. It is a story of friendship, love, strength, courage and endurance with a lot of humanity all described in beautiful and descriptive prose as only Cormac McCarthy can do.

"The candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door. He took off his hat and came slowly forward. The floorboards creaked under his boots. In his black suit he stood in the dark glass where the lilies leaned so palely from their waisted cutglass vase. Along the cold hallway behind him hung the portraits of forebears only dimly known to him all framed in glass and dimly lit above the narrow wainscoting. He looked down at the guttered candlestub. He pressed his thumbprint in the warm wax pooled on the oak veneer. Lastly he looked at the face so caved and drawn among the folds of funeral cloth, the yellowed moustache, the eyelids paper thin. That was not sleeping. That was not sleeping."

"What he loved in horses was what he loved in men, the blood and the heat of the blood that ran them. All his reverence and all his fondness and all the leanings of his life were for the ardenthearted and they would always be so and never be otherwise."

Love, love Cormac McCarthy.

Cormac McCarthy

Oh I know, thank you Bentley.

24. by 211268]
Finish date: April 30, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: March by Geraldine Brooks was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 written from the perspective of Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women during the beginning of the Civil War, focusing on the absent father of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy and his wife Marmee when he leaves to serve as a chaplain to aid the Union cause. Brooks draws heavily on the relationship between A. Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott's father, with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. A. Bronson Alcott was a transcendentalist philosopher, educator and abolitionist. The fictional March family were integral parts of the Underground Railroad as they participated in facilitating the safe passage of many slaves to freedom as were the Alcott family in Concord, Massachusetts. This was a beautiful book that brought forward so many moral questions and the application of those ideals and beliefs in the time of war.

"No wonder simple men have always had their gods dwell in high places. For as soon as a man lets his eye drop from the heavens to the horizon, he risks setting in on some scene of desolation."

"I gazed at the girls' locks for a long minute, imagining the four beloved heads, sleeping peacefully on their pillows in Concord. I placed them back in the envelope then and blew out the candle. The last lock I kept out. I held it against my cheek as I waited for sleep."

Lorna, aren’t the Alcotts a fascinating family? Especially Louisa May, and her Little Women! Have you seen the Opera based on that work?
Regards,
Andrea

by Louisa May Alcott

Hi Andrea, no I have not seen that opera. I agree that the Alcotts are a fascinating family. If you haven't read it, the Pulitzer prize-winning dual biography of both Louisa May Alcott and her father Amos Bronson Alcott, was a great book.

by John Matteson

MAY

25. by Paul Theroux
Finish date: May 10, 2020
Genre: Travel, Non-Fiction
Rating: A
Review: On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey was an intriguing and captivating journey weaving back and forth along the Mexican and United States border and the border towns, and then extensively throughout Mexico's back roads deep into the country, by renowned world travel writer for well over forty years, Paul Theroux. Theroux begins by recounting Jack Kerouac's experience in giving an elderly man a lift in the state of Oaxaca. When he dropped him off, he asked the name of the pueblo and was told it was San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca. Questioning the meaning of Coixtlahuaca, Kerouac was told, "El llano de los serpientes," "the plain of snakes." And so begins Theroux's epic journey relying on vast literary references throughout history to enhance the experience of this unique culture and its many contrasts. Theroux, now in his late-seventies and feeling stalled in his writing, was inspired by the plight of the migrants and the risks they took to embark on his own journey throughout Mexico. Theroux is unflinching in his writing about the blatant racism running rampant in the current administration regarding Mexico and its people. It was a beautiful and diverse book where I delighted in all of his experiences as well as the Mexican people we came to know on this journey as Mexico has long been one of our favorite destinations.

"But I have not found a traveler or commentator, foreign or Mexican, who has been able to sum up Mexico, and maybe such an ambition is futile and dated enterprise. The country eludes the generalizer and the summarizer; it is too big, too complex, too diverse in its geography and culture, too messy and multilinqual--the Mexican government recognizes 68 different languages and 350 dialects."

Bentley wrote: "Lorna, not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me - but only one skipped line under the month of May - it looks like two but I could be wrong."

Bentley, I think it may be your eyes. :)

My poor humble eyes.

It looks like 1 line to me, like the first April post in message 26.

Bentley it is from all your extensive and amazing research and posts for The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777.

by Rick Atkinson