The History Book Club discussion

Ragan,, 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

Ragan, 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.

JANUARY

1. by Tana French

Finish date: January 11, 2020
Genre: Mystery
Rating: B
Review: In the Woods is an interesting mystery novel in which the protagonist, who survived something tragic in his childhood, gets pulled into a murder investigation in his hometown. Though he has no memory of the tragic events of his childhood at the start, the investigation brings up feelings of fear and anxiety related to his trauma. His life begins to fall apart as he struggles to deal with his emotions surrounding these events.

French's novel is a unique mystery in many ways. I enjoyed the story and her writing style and look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

2. by Garth Nix
Finish date: January 19, 2020
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: B+
Review: This novel tells the story of a young girl named Sabriel and her fight to save her father's life. Sabriel and her father are necromancers who live in a world divided into two planes: the "normal" spaces and the old kingdom. When Sabriel gets word that her father is missing she must travel to the old kingdom to try to find him.

This book was really fun. The plot was fast paced and entertaining. My only complaint was that there wasn't a lot of character development. I would have liked to learn more about Sabriel's father and I wish that Sabriel's character arc showed more development. Despite that I really enjoyed this and would revisit it in the future.

3. by
Finish date: January 24, 2020
Genre: YA
Rating: C+
Review: This novel follows the life of a young man named Sam. He is a nerd who doesn't really fit in at school. One day a girl named Camilla enrolls in his school and she and Sam become friends. Camilla ends up having a significant impact on his life.

I am currently studying for a Masters in Library Science and one of my courses this semester is Collection Development for Teens. As part of this course, I was required to read a variety of YA novels. YA novels are not a typical part of my reading interests, but this was a cute story.

4. by Nicola Yoon
Finish date: January 28, 2020
Genre: YA
Rating: D+
Review: This novel tells the story of a young girl who is confined to her home due to an illness which makes her more vulnerable to germs than the average person. She essentially has no immune system. One day a new boy moves in across the street and they begin chatting online. This new relationship brings about a surprising chain of events.

I wasn't a fan of this one. I saw the "twist" coming very early on in the book. When it did come, it wasn't handled very well. The science here seemed tenuous at best.

FEBRUARY

5. by Gail Carson Levine
Finish date: February 16, 2020
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: B
Review: This novel is a retelling of the well-known Snow White fairy-tale. In this version the protagonists name is Aza. This novel, while being a fun fairy-tale retelling, also teaches an important lesson about unrealistic societal beauty standards and dealing with body image issues. I think this subject matter is handled well throughout the novel and does it in a subtle way that doesn't feel preachy. I think a lot of young readers can relate to these issues. I would recommend this book to young readers who enjoy fairy-tale retellings.

6. by Kass Morgan
Finish date: February 22, 2020
Genre: Science Fiction, YA
Rating: C-
Review: This novel takes place in a future in which the human race is living aboard a series of space stations because the Earth had been rendered uninhabitable by nuclear explosions. Unfortunately, the space stations are failing and the population wont survive there much longer. Because of this, a group of 100 teenage prisoners are sent to Earth to determine whether it has become possible for humans to live on the planet's surface.

I watched the tv show based on this series and enjoyed it. Because of that, I decided to pick up this book. This was one of the rare cases where the book was less enjoyable. The story moved pretty slowly and nothing much happened until the final pages.

7. by Lois Lowry
Finish date: February 25, 2020
Genre: Science Fiction, YA
Rating: C-
Review: This novel tells the story of a young girl named Kira. When her mother dies, she is left alone and unsure of how to move forward. The government learns of her ability with weaving and moves her into government buildings to help with a great weaving project. Here many secrets are revealed.

This was another situation in which it felt like very little happened until the end of the book. It felt like the ending was very abrupt and there were a lot of loose ends and unresolved issues. I was pretty disappointed in this one.

MARCH

8. by Elizabeth Wein
Finish date: March 3, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction, YA
Rating: A-
Review: Historical fiction novels set during WWI and WWII seem to be really popular right now. This novel is set during WWII and tells the story of two young women from England. Both are in the women's branch of the British military. One is a pilot and one is a spy. Eventually, one of them is captured by the Nazi's and does everything she can to try to survive.

This novel was wonderful. It was really well written and there were so many surprises. The relationship between the two protagonists felt really genuine. I couldn't put the book down.

APRIL

9. by Elizabeth Acevedo
Finish date: April 11, 2020
Genre: Novel in Verse, YA
Rating: C
Review: This is the story of a teenage girl named Xiomara. She has a difficult home life and is also going through typical teenage angst and confusion. She writes poetry in her journal as a way of coping with and making sense of her surroundings.

I knew very little about novels in verse prior to reading this. I think this format worked well for telling this story. There are a lot of things here that teen readers will find relatable. I think my enjoyment of this may have been limited simply because I am 30 and past the age of finding these characters relatable. I think that if I had read this when I was in highschool I would have gotten a lot more out of it.

10. by Michelle Cooper
Finish date: April 24, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction, YA
Rating: C
Review: Taking place on an island called Montmaray, this novel tells the story of the FitzOsborne family. They are the royal family of this small island and have fallen into poverty over the years. Their castle is practically in ruins and they live a much different life than royalty typically do. They are pretty separated from the rest of the world and therefore spend most of the novel untouched by WWII. However, when a Nazi ship lands on their shore this all changes.

I think my expectations for this may have been too high. It had been on my to-read list for awhile and I finally picked up to read for my Collection Development for Teens course. While I didn't dislike it, I also did not find it as compelling as I had hoped to. It took my longer to get through than it should have based on the length.

Good progress Ragan

MAY

11. by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Finish date: May 3, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A+
Review: My first 5 star rating of the year! I had high hopes for this novel and it did not disappoint. Set in Norway in the 1600s, this novel begins in a small village immediately after most of the local men drown in a fishing boat during a terrible storm. The women must take control of the village as a result. That is, until a new man, Absalom, and his wife, Ursa, move to the village. Absalom is from Scotland, he is a devoutly religious man, and he has experience with persecuting witches. What unfolds after his arrival will be familiar to those familiar with the Salem Witch Trials and other historic witch hunts.

This novel is based on actual historical events. The author includes a short afterward discussing these and how they inspired her novel. Though at times brutal and heartbreaking, this book is beautifully written. I would highly recommend it!

Good job Ragan and you must have loved the book. Sounds interesting.

Bentley wrote: "Good job Ragan and you must have loved the book. Sounds interesting."

I did. It was a great read.

12. by Julian Fellowes
Finish date: May 12, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B-
Review: This book has gotten a lot of negative reviews and I think a lot of that has to do with the length. The story is much longer than it needed to be and you could cut out 100 pages and really not miss anything overly important. The main problem the characters face could have been solved much more quickly than it was. But despite all of that, I still found it to be an enjoyable read. Probably not something I will revisit, but a fun way to spend some time.

13. by Anne Brontë
Finish date: May 25, 2020
Genre: Classics
Rating: B
Review: This novel, set in the mid-1800s, tells the story of a woman named Helen and her disastrous marriage to a man named Arthur Huntingdon. Eventually, fed up with her husbands alcoholism, cheating, and abuse, Helen takes their child and runs away to live in a small village in a house owned by her brother. There she is the subject of much gossip and scandal until the local residents learn the truth about her past.

This novel was definitely ahead of its time and caused a lot of stir when it was published. It is, by far, my favorite of the Bronte novels I have read. It was nice to read a classic novel in which the female protagonist goes against societal expectations. Specifically, it is nice to see a female character do so in ways that better her life.

JUNE

14. by N.K. Jemisin
Finish date: June 6, 2020
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: C?
Review: I am struggling to rate this book. There are things about it I really loved. For example, as in other Jemisin works, there are a lot of really great LGBTQ characters and I always appreciate it when this community is well-represented in literature. There is also a lot of discussion regarding social issues that are very relevant to our society (racial equality, feminism, etc.) and Jemisin always handles these subjects well in her stories. While I appreciated all of this, the plot of this novel was just...really strange. I like fantasy novels, but normally do not gravitate toward urban fantasy so this may be why I didn't like this as well as her other works. Despite my confusion surrounding this novel, Jemisin is one of my favorite fantasy authors and I still plan to read more of her work in the future.

Well you made progress Ragan and you got through the book - some books just are like that.

15. by Eleanor Herman
Finish date: June 13, 2020
Genre: History
Rating: B-
Review: I had surgery on the 11th and wanted something light that didn't require a lot of energy to read and that could be put down and picked back up without losing the flow of a story. Having read some of Herman's other books, I thought this might fit the bill. It did. Herman's books tend to focus on the more gossipy side of history with short sections about different people or events. The format of this was reminiscent of some of those other works. The first half of the book was really fun (which I realize sounds weird when discussing a book about poison), but the second half started to feel redundant after awhile.

Hope you are on the mend Ragan.

Bentley wrote: "Hope you are on the mend Ragan."

I am. Thanks!

16. by Agatha Christie
Finish date: June 18, 2020
Genre: Mystery
Rating: D
Review: I usually enjoy Christie mysteries, but I was not a fan of this one. There were a lot of characters in this story that had mental illnesses and the way they were spoken about by most of the characters was very judgemental and condescending. The plot of the mystery would have worked just fine without that.

17. by Hannah Kent
Finish date: June 27, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: This novel takes place in Iceland in the 1800s. It tells the story of a woman, named Agnes, accused of murder and sentenced to death (based on the true story of the last woman executed in Iceland). While awaiting execution, she is sent to live with a family on a small farm. While in their custody, she shares her life story and the family comes to realize that her case is not exactly what it appears to be on the surface.

Kent did an excellent job on this novel. The story shifts between a third-person point of view and a first-person point of view from the perspective of Agnes. Agnes could be described as an unreliable narrator, but even so, the reader becomes sympathetic to her plight. The tone of the novel is appropriately gloomy. This would be a great winter time read.

Glad that the second was better than the first.

JULY

18. by Octavia E. Butler
Finish date: 7/13/2020
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B-
Review: Kindred tells the story of a young woman named Dana who, though she lives in 1970s California, suddenly finds herself in Maryland in the 1800s. Eventually she learns that due to family connections, she is being drawn into the past to save the life of a child named Rufus. The situation is even trickier than one might imagine because Dana is black and has been transported to a time when slavery is still the norm. She must figure out a way to survive, to help others, and eventually, to get home.

This book is difficult to rate. It is well written and undeniably an important book in many ways. However, I can't really say that it was a fun read. It was, as you would expect given the subject matter, really heavy and difficult to stomach at times. The premise was really interesting and I can definitely see why this has become such a famous novel.

Ragan, Thank you for your review. I had been thinking of adding this to my TBR List; you tipped the balance!
Regards,
Andrea

Andrea wrote: "Ragan, Thank you for your review. I had been thinking of adding this to my TBR List; you tipped the balance!
Regards,
Andrea"

I'm glad it was helpful!

Ragan, that’s what I love about this Club — the members are so helpful!
Regards,
Andrea

19. by Lindsay C. Gibson (no photo)
Finish date: July 16, 2020
Genre: Self-help, Psychology
Rating: A
Review: This was recommended to me by my therapist and I have never felt so seen. I found this to be very helpful. Highly recommend to anyone who experienced/is experiencing this.

Ragan, thank Goodness for therapists! I can recommend another good one that I’ve just started, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.”
Regards,
Andrea

by Lori Gottlieb

Andrea wrote: "Ragan, thank Goodness for therapists! I can recommend another good one that I’ve just started, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.”
Regards,
Andrea

[bookcover:Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Th..."

Thanks! Added to my TBR.

Ragan, you’re more than welcome! My TBR List has grown exponentially since I joined the History Club!
Regards,
Andrea

20. by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Finish date: July 27, 2020
Genre: Fantasy (Historical)
Rating: C
Review: This is a coming of age novel with fantastical elements inspired by Mayan folklore. It tells the story of a young woman who assists the dethroned lord of the underworld retake his crown from his brother. Along the way they meet a lot of interesting characters.

This year I tasked myself with reading a more diverse array of books and this was one that I picked up to help to fulfill that goal. I knew very little about Mayan folklore going in to this and I do feel like I learned something in that regard. Unfortunately, I felt that the romance story in the book felt forced and I didn't love that aspect of the book. However, Garcia seemed to have a good grasp on the subject matter and was able to create many interesting characters.

AUGUST

21. by Jane Austen
Finish date: August 9, 2020
Genre: Classics
Rating: A++
Review: This was probably the 5th time I have read this one. I have been dealing with some health issues for the past couple of months and even though my to-read shelf is overflowing, I felt that I needed a comfort read. This novel is delightful and every time I revisit it I enjoy it a little more.

22. by Yaa Gyasi
Finish date: August 18, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B+
Review: This novel tells the story of the family lineages of two African women. One of these women is sold into slavery, the other is married to a white Englishman. The novel explores how these events affect the lives of these women and their families through many generations.

The format of this book was interesting. Each chapter is about a different person in one of the two lineages. I was skeptical of this format in the beginning because I enjoy character development in the stories that I read, but somehow Gyasi managed to make her characters interesting and complicated despite only devoting a chapter to each. My main complaint was that, in some chapters, it was difficult to determine how the character was related to the initial characters and which lineage they were a part of. Luckily there is a family tree graphic in the book that readers can refer to.

23. by Jane Goodall
Finish date: August 30, 2020
Genre: Natural History
Rating: C+
Review: Jane Goodall is best known for her work with chimpanzees, but she has done a lot of other conservation work. She also takes an active interest in conservation projects worked on by others in her field. This book is a compilation of short chapters about many different conservation projects and the scientists who lead them. In many ways it is a delightful read which made me feel hopeful for our planet and its wildlife. However, I wish that Goodall had focused more on the actual issues and why some of these species are in the predicament they are in. She talks about the recovery efforts, which are impressive, but she doesn't spend much time on what went wrong/is going wrong. I think this is important information that shouldn't have been glossed over.

SEPTEMBER

24. by Tana French
Finish date: September 13, 2020
Genre: Mystery
Rating: B
Review: This is the second novel in a well known series by French. This story revolves around detective Cassie Maddox and an undercover operation that she becomes involved in. I enjoyed this novel more than the first in the series.

Good job

25. by Pat Barker
Finish date: September 24, 2020
Genre: Mythological retelling
Rating: B-
Review: This novel retells the story of the fall of Troy from the perspective of Briseis, one of the women taken captive by the Greeks. In many ways this story is difficult to read. There are discussions of difficult subjects and detailed descriptions of battles and battle wounds. But that is kind of the point. For so long this story has been romanticized and Barker's version was clearly intended to tell a more gruesome and dark version. While I thought this was an interesting take on the original story, I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other versions I have read in the past.

Good progress

OCTOBER

26. by Robin McKinley (no photo)
Finish date: October 9, 2020
Genre: YA
Rating: C+
Review: This novel retells the well known story of Robin Hood and his band. True to other McKinley novels I have read, this was a fun retelling and was a quick and easy read. I was excited that at the beginning of this version of the story, it seemed as though Marian would be in the spotlight and end up being the hero. Unfortunately, McKinley didn't end up focusing on her much in the end. However, many of the other members of the band did get a lot more attention and were more developed as characters than they usually are in these retellings, so I appreciated that.

27. by Thor Hanson
Finish date: October 22, 2020
Genre: Science, Natural History
Rating: A-
Review: Hanson's book explores the science of seeds from how they germinate to how they have evolved to ward off pests in more effective ways. Hanson discusses not only the science and mechanics of seeds, but also how they have become such an important part of human history and the life cycles of animals. I learned a lot of really interesting information from this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more of Hanson's work in the future.

NOVEMBER

28. by Tracy Borman (no photo)
Finish date: November 5, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C
Review: The title of this novel is a little misleading. While the main character, Frances, is accused of witch craft, this happens halfway through the book and plays a relatively small role in the rest of the story. The novel is really the story of the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder plot told from the perspective of a lesser known historical figure. Because of the title and the book jacket description I didn't know that that was the story I was reading when I initially started the book. But, with that being said, it was a relatively enjoyable read regardless.

Ragan, good progress.

Ragan you are cruising right along

Bentley wrote: "Ragan you are cruising right along"

I was. Kind of at a stand still at the moment though. My partner and I are moving in 9 days so things have been chaotic. Haven't had much time to pick up a book lately.

But you will - and we are always here (smile)

29. by Samantha Weinberg (no photo)
Finish date: November 23, 2020
Genre: Science, Natural History
Rating: C-
Review: In the early 1900s, a fish, previously believed to have been extinct for millions of years, was discovered if the coast of South Africa. This book discusses that discovery and the people involved with it. It also discusses research surrounding the origin and evolution of the fish. All of this information while not uninteresting, could have been much more engaging in a shorter book. I felt that this dragged on a bit.