Category: NonFiction

Flower and the Nettle

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. The Flower and the Nettle: Diaries and Letters 1936 – 1939. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976.

The Flower and the Nettle is Anne’s return to the living. It covers 1936 to 1939. After the death of her first born son she and Charles take their second son, Jon, to England for an “indefinite” stay. They are literally driven out of their own country by the media’s insatiable need to photograph and question the family. First, it was Charles Lindbergh’s fame, then it was the kidnapping and murder of their first child. It is at a rambling rented cottage in England called Long Barn that Anne and Charles can finally relax and be themselves again. Jon is allowed to play freely on the lawn without massive hyper-vigilant supervision. Anne is able to concentrate on her writing. It is here that humor returns to her diaries and letters. She says things like, “It is so delicious” (p 30), and “living passionately in the present” (p 31). Later, after her third son Land is born, Anne and her family move to Illiec off the coast of France. This is the “flower” part of her life. The “nettle” is the approach of World War II and the ensnaring politics. Following Charles to Russia for business Anne vocalizes her discontent with the country. She uses words like dirty, hideous, mediocrity, drab, shoddy, third-rate and glum to describe such things as the poor middle class. She is quick to comment negatively on their fashions and complexions. This took me by surprise. What I needed to keep in mind is the intense scrutiny Anne and her family felt. The longer they stay away from America, the more “pro-Nazi” they are “villainized” as being.

One drawback of skipping a book in a series is the potential to not understand references made to that book in the next one. Because I didn’t read Locked Doors I didn’t grasp Lindbergh’s reference to a previous trip to Russia in 1933.

Favorite lines, “One gets so cramped in ordinary living” (p 76). A good excuse to get out there and do something extraordinary!

As an aside, looking at pictures of Long Barn I can’t help but think what a wonderful place! Don’t tell my husband, but it looks like my dream home! It would have been nice if Lindbergh had included maps of not only her travel destinations, but of the places she and her family lived in Europe.

Reason read: to continue the series started in January, in honor of Journal Month.

Book trivia: Maybe because The Flower and the Nettle is a longer book, there are more photographs. For the first time, Anne includes detailed pictures of the interiors of their residence. Long Barn looks like a place where I would like to live!

Author fact: At this point in Lindbergh’s life she considers herself a serious writer despite already publishing earlier.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Journals and Letters: We Are All Voyeurs at Heart” (p 131).

Run or Die

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Jornet, Kilian. Run or Die. Translated by Peter Bush. Boulder, Colorado: Velo, 2013

There is no denying Kilian Jornet is tough…and maybe just a little crazy. At 18, as a burgeoning athlete, he had an injury so severe he had to have a metal plate surgically implanted around his kneecap, and still he was determined to train. In the third chapter he describes running the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail. In the very next chapter…well, I’ll let him tell you”…It was the idea I could run across the Pyrenees in seven days” (p 75). See? Told you. Nuts. Just so you know, he ran just under 87 miles that first day. But, what is really cool of Jornet’s character (besides the crazy ambition) is his appreciation for the world around him as he runs. He is constantly taking note of the snow-capped mountains, the way sunlight dances on water. He really drinks it in as he runs.

Quotes to inspire, “A day comes in life when you have to decide which train to take, and once you are aboard, there is no point in thinking what might have happened if you had caught a different one” (p 14). Amen to that! Here’s another, “A race is a life that is born when you get up in the morning and dies when you cross the finish line” (p 30). I like the finality of that. You do it. You finish it. You’re done. Last one, “Everyone can be king of his own castle, but outside he is vulnerable and can lose his way” (p 124). Too true.

Reason read: training to run. Yes, I went off the plan…just a little.

Book trivia: I am super excited Kilian included a photograph of his 165-mile run along the Tahoe Rim Trail. I needed to see just one of the spectacular views he described.

Author fact: In addition to being an ultrarunner, Kilian is a ski mountaineer.  In other words, he hurls himself down mountains on skis.

Racing Weight

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Fitzgerald, Matt. Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance. Boulder, Colorado: Velo, 2009.

So. I may get a ration of crap from some people for reading this book. I will lay it all out there: I am 5’2″ (barely), weigh anywhere from 117 – 121lbs and have had a steady BMI of 22.1 since December 30th, 2013. I am average in every sense of the word. I am not a competitive runner so why the hell do I want to research racing weight? I can hear my loved ones right now, “you are fine the way you are!” I picked up this book because I was curious. Bottom line: curious. Then I was hooked on an idea. Hooked, as in Hook. Line. Sinker. What would happen if I tried to lose a few pounds of fat? What would happen if I became a little leaner? I am, after all, training for a 10k next month…

But. But! But, my little 10k is not what Fitzgerald had in mind, I’m sure. He was writing to endurance athletes with something a little bigger than a measly 10k on their minds. I get that. I was only curious about the types of foods these super people ate. People like Ryan Hall… Bottom line, this is a great book for those a little more serious minded than myself. I picked up a couple of great tips, but it didn’t become my bible.

Reason read: training.

Author fact: Matt has his own (very interesting) website here.

Book trivia: Fitzgerald covers more sports than just running.

Marching Orders List

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I am looking forward to March for many reasons. March is the St. Patrick’s Day road race. I don’t talk about it as much here as I do over there, but I am excited all the same. March is my mental month of turning a corner. Winter is making a subtle exit out the back door and spring is just about to come knocking. This is the time of year when I look to flowers and gardens and growth. And speaking of growth, here are the books:

  1. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin* (April)
  2. Andorra by Peter Cameron (November)
  3. Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen (November)
  4. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (July)
  5. Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser (May)
  6. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman (September)
  7. Beaufort by Ron Leshem* (November)
  8. Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh (August)
  9. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks* (June)
  10. Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West (July)
  11. Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall (September)
  12. Call It Sleep by Henry Roth (May)
  13. Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice (October)
  14. Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams (August)
  15. Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney (November)
  16. Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter (October)
  17. Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall (June)
  18. Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes (July)
  19. Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler (June)
  20. Eye of the World by Robert Jordan* (October)
  21. Faith Fox by Jane Gardam* (July)
  22. First Man by Albert Camus (June)
  23. Fordlandia by Greg Gandin (August)
  24. Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley (April)
  25. Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (August)
  26. Grass Dancer by Susan Power (November)
  27. Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (July)
  28. History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (September)
  29. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (April)
  30. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman (October)
  31. Inside Passage by Michael Modselewski (June)
  32. Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating (May)
  33. Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott* (May)
  34. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (August)
  35. Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch (August)
  36. Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan (May)
  37. Raw Silk by Janet Burroway (September)
  38. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro* (August)
  39. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell (April)
  40. Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart (June)
  41. Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron (September)
  42. Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley (April)
  43. You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart (November)

*Planned as audio books

Here are the many, many books that are on the list for this March:

  1. Angels Weep by Wilbur Smith
  2. Careless Love by Peter Gurlink
  3. Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan*
  4. Flower and the Nettle by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  5. Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman (March)
  6. ADDED: Life in the Air Ocean by Sylvia Foley
  7. ADDED: Running for Mortals by John Bingham
  8. ADDED: Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald
  9. ADDED: Run or Die by Kilian Jornet

FINISHED:

  1. After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
  2. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow*
  3. Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
  4. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
  5. Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  6. Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley
  7. Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
  8. Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
  9. Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith*
  10. Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
  11. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  12. It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
  13. Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
  14. Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
  15. Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
  16. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
  17. Palladian Days by Sally Gable*
  18. Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
  19. Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff

I found my second “impossible to find” book. Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy. Several libraries across the country own it but are unwilling to share it. It was wildly popular in Australia in the 1950s, but not so anymore…to the point that no one will lend it without changing a fee. Bummer.

Running for Mortals

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Bingham, John and Jenny Hadfield. Running for Mortals: a Commonsense Plan for Changing Your Life Through Running. New York: MJF Books, 2007.

If I could, I would read everything John Bingham has ever written on the subject of running. He is, without a doubt, my kind of runner. He writes with authority and humor, something that’s hard to do in this puffed up, I-Run-12-Marathons-A-Year world. He comes across as knowing his stuff but, but. But! decidedly humble about it all the while. We can connect and commiserate with his experiences. It is important to note that both John and Jenny assure the reader runner that it doesn’t matter how tall you are, how thin you are, or your previous experiences with exercise. Anyone can do it. That bears repeating: Anyone. Can Do. It. I am proof of that. To be called a runner, there is no membership. No secret password or secret handshake to get in. If you run then you are a runner. Plain and Simple. John and Jenny just help you become a better version of the runner you already are.

Reason read: the St. Patrick’s Day road race is looming and while I “trained” last year for it, I wanted to do more this year.

Author fact: John Bingham is lovingly referred to as “the penguin” because of his shape and the way he runs. He has embraced this nickname and makes the best of it.

Book trivia: there are no pictures of either John or Jenny in Running for Mortals (that I know of), but there are pictures of exercises (probably more important to the serious-minded reader).

Careless Love

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Guralnick, Peter. Careless Love: the Unmaking of Elvis Presley. New York: Back Bay Books, 1999.

If in Last Train to Memphis Elvis Aron Presley was a shy, quiet kid with diamond-in-the-rough talent, for all appearances he is now a cocky, self-assured music and movie star in Careless Love. All of the makings of a good rock and roll star are there: sex, drugs and money. At this stage of the game Elvis is dating more women than he can keep track of, taking upppers and diet pills to keep up with the party-til-3am lifestyle, and spending boatloads of money all the while. By the time he is in his early 30s he has bought his entourage push carts, motorcycles and horses. “In all he managed to pay out well over $1000,000 in approximately two weeks, an orgy of spending that seemed to momentarily pacify Elvis…” (p 252). His sincerity gets lost in the mayhem and only resurfaces when he remembers his deceased mother. His mother brings out the best in him. Without her, his struggle to know himself is heartbreaking. Yet, what he really does knows is how to work the public, especially the ladies. Guralnick doesn’t shy from this fact. He is unflinching in his quest for the truth of the legacy. He captures Presley’s demise as the epic tragedy that it was.

Quote that shocked me, “Elvis had told her before they were married that he had never been able to make love to any woman he knew to have had a child…” (p 291).

Reason read: January was Elvis Presley’s birth month. Careless Love is the second volume of Last Train to Memphis.

Author fact: Guralnick has his own website here.

Book trivia: Careless Love was a New York Times Best Seller.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called, “Elvis On My Mind” (p 78). Simple enough.

Alexander Hamilton

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Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. Read by Grover Gardiner. New York: Penguin Audio, 2004.

Ron Chernow is the master architect when building biographies. His reconstruction of Alexander Hamilton’s life is as detailed as it is complete. Chernow had plenty to work with as Hamilton’s early years were as rich with intrigue as his later political years. But, Chernow doesn’t stop there. Besides given a thorough snapshot of the political and historical times, he dips into the biographies of the influential people around Hamilton as well: John Adams, George Clinton, Elizabeth Schuyler, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and of course, Aaron Burr, to name a few. As an aside, I was surprised to learn that Hamilton enjoyed settling disputes with duels. He was quick to suggest them, enough so that his encounter with Burr was not the first, but definitely his last.

Reason read: Typically, we celebrate Presidents’ Day in February and even though Hamilton was not a president (his candidacy was denied), he was a founding father and an instrumental adviser to George Washington.

Author fact: Chernow also wrote Titan and The House of Morgan bot of which are on my list.

Book trivia: Alexander Hamilton is dedicated to, “Valerie, best of wives and best of women.” So sweet.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Founding Fathers” (p 92).

Locked Rooms and Open Doors

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Locked Rooms and Open Doors: Diaries and Letters 1933 – 1935.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.

Reason read: While I didn’t read this word for word, I wanted to peruse it to “keep up” with Anne. This should have been the next book in the series, after Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, but for some reason Pearl doesn’t list it. At this point in Lindbergh’s life (1933-1935) she and her husband Charles are recovering from the kidnapping and murder of their first born son, Charles, Jr. They have a second son, Jon, who is now a toddler. Their big expedition is by seaplane crossing the Atlantic and exploring such places as Greenland and Africa. They are gone for nearly six months, but when they return they are faced with more tragedy. Sister Elizabeth passes away from pneumonia complicated by a heart condition and the kidnapping trial forces the Lindberghs to relive every moment of the tragedy of losing their son. It is at the end of Locked Rooms and Open Doors that Charles and Anne, in an effort to escape the public eye, leave the United States for England, a move that will prove controversial and have grave consequences.

Book trivia: Locked Rooms and Open Doors is the third book in Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s series of diaries and letters.

Author fact: At this point in Anne’s life she has become navigator, copilot, photographer, and log keeper for her husband. Her confidence and courage allows her to describe these expeditions with more color and detail.

BookLust Twist: none. This one was left out for some reason.

Prepared for a Purpose

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Tuff, Antoinette. Prepared for a Purpose: the Inspiring True Story of How One Woman Saved an Atlanta School Under Siege. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2014.

I have to say right off the bat that I could not put this book down. Once I started, I stayed glued to it for the entire day and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Antoinette Tuff’s story, even before the events of August 20, 2013, is gripping. Thanks to her faith in God and the Bible she has always had an abundance of gumption and spunk. No matter what hardship was throw in her way (and there were a lot of them), she handled every single one the best way she knew how – through prayer and strength. The fact that Ms. Tuff is a now motivational speaker is an example of a divine calling.
Just a note about how the book was written. I enjoyed the back and forth between “present” day (August 20, 2013) and Tuff’s past. I like the cliff hangers. For example, right before Tuff covered the receptionist’s lunch on that fateful day she got a devastating phone call. The reader doesn’t know what the phone call was about until much later in the story.

Reason read: As part of the Early Review program for LibraryThing I was chosen to review this book (February 2014).

Author fact: Antoinette Yuff was honored at the CNN All-Star Tribute. When she walked on stage, I didn’t recognize her. She looked amazing.

Book trivia: My early review copy came complete with color photographs. How cool is that?

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead: Diaries and Letters 1929 – 1932.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973.

If, in the letters and journals of Bring Me a Unicorn Anne Morrow Lindbergh was a fresh-faced college girl, she is now a daring pilot and adventurer in Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead. The year 1929 begins with Anne and Charles’ engagement. At this stage in her life she is quickly learning about the down side of being a celebrity (thanks to Charles and his airplane adventures). The couple can’t go anywhere without a throng of reporters following their every move. Anne has to be careful of what she writes to friends and family for fear of it getting out to the press and misconstrued. Charles and Anne even wear disguises to the opera. But, Anne still carries her enthusiasm with her. She continues to miss her siblings and mother madly (she never addresses her letters to her father) while she travels about the world. All this enthusiasm comes crashing to the ground at the end of 1931 when she loses her father and then again, in early 1932, when her son, Charles Jr., is kidnapped and found months later murdered. It is heartbreaking the way she refers to her son as, “the stolen child” as if she cannot bear to call him by name or even claim to be his mother. Throughout the rest of the book, Anne’s grief is heartbreaking. She tried to end on a happy note with the birth of her second son, Jon and the wedding of her sister, Elisabeth.

Quotes to take away: “I leaned on another’s strength until I discovered my own” (p 2). Speaking of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, “It took me by the teeth and shook me as a dog a rabbit, and I could not get over it” (p 56).  A line I can relate to, “I am wild, wild, wild to get home” (p 100). A line I cannot relate to, “After ten weeks of negotiation and contact with the kidnapper and the handing over of the demanded ransom, the dead body of the child was found in the woods a few miles from our home” (p 209).

Reason read: I read Bring Me A Unicorn in honor of January being Journal month. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead continues the series.

Author fact: There is one degree of separation between Anne Morrow Lindbergh and myself! I had a small thrill on my second day of reading Hour of Gold when surprise, surprise! Anne mentions Monhegan Island! She is recounting all of the stops on her honeymoon with Charles and says, “Monhegan Island in here somewhere” (p 45). Judging by the dates of letters, she was there sometime between June 1 and June 7th, 1929.

Book trivia: Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead picks up where Bring Me a Unicorn left off. The next book in the sequence is Locked Rooms and Open Doors which I will not be reading. This period, from 1933 – 1935 will be skipped. Sad.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Journals and Letters: We Are All Voyeurs At Heart” (p 131).

PS ~ Even though Locked Rooms and Open Doors is not on my list I have decided to borrow it, just so I can look at the pictures and feel “caught up” for when I read Flower and the Nettle.

Palladian Days

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Gable, Sally and Carl I. Gable. Palladian Days: Finding a New Life in a Venetian Country House. Read by Kathe Mazur. Westminster, MD: Books On Tape, 2005.

How does a person thinking about buying a vacation home in New Hampshire wind up intent on home ownership in Italy? Better yet, how does a Hot-lanta couple decide they need to live in a 16th century villa in the Vento region? We’re talking about a house built in 1552! Sally and Carl Gable’s story of buying Villa Cornaro is fascinating and, by the way Sally tells it, very funny. Palladian Days is a great combination of historical facts about the region, the architect, the owners of the house as well as modern day Italian ways. Everything from fixing the villa to opening it for tours, recitals and concerts is covered. Gable includes Italian recipes, hilarious stories of the many, many visitors, the 15 minutes of fame when Villa Cornaro was featured on a Bob Vila show.
As an aside, I borrowed both the audio version and the print version. I recommend doing both because you will miss out on something if you do only one. Kathe Mazur’s reading of Palladian Days is brilliant. I loved her accent. But, the book version includes great photographs that really bring the entire villa into perspective (it really is massive!). And don’t forget about those recipes!

Reason read: So. There is this food fight festival called the Battle of Oranges that takes place in Italy every February. Something I would love to see one of these days.

Author fact: Both Sally and her husband, Carl, have musical backgrounds.

Book trivia: Even though this was delightful as an audio book, it is better read in print. Gable includes a bunch of recipes in the appendix that are not to be missed!

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the odd chapter called “So We/I Bought (Or Built) a House In…” (p 211).

February Love List

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Love is in the air. Technically, this February I celebrate my fifteenth Valentine’s Day with Kisa. (15 being in the pre-wife role and I believe, even pre-girlfriend role.) He won’t agree. He thinks we were dating by this time but I call it the anniversary of MY acceptance. I truly gave in to the idea of a decent guy being in my life. For real. February also marks the anniversary of me, myself & moi being on this planet for forty some odd years. But, enough of all that. Here’s the list for month three of a different anniversary, one with a lot of books. New this time around is the addition of the month in which each book should be read:

  1. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin* (April)
  2. Andorra by Peter Cameron (November)
  3. Any Four Women Can Rob the Bank of Italy by Ann Cornelisen (November)
  4. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (July)
  5. Art Student’s War by Brad Leithauser (May)
  6. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman (September)
  7. Beaufort by Ron Leshem* (November)
  8. Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh (August)
  9. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks* (June)
  10. Black Lamb and Gray Falcon by Rebecca West (July)
  11. Bluebird Canyon by Dan McCall (September)
  12. Cabin Fever by Elizabeth Jolley (March)
  13. Call It Sleep by Henry Roth (May)
  14. Captain Sir Richard Burton by Edward Rice (October)
  15. Caroline’s Daughters by Alice Adams (August)
  16. Cradle of Gold by Christopher Heaney (November)
  17. Culture of Disbelief by Stephen Carter (October)
  18. Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall (June)
  19. Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes (July)
  20. Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan* (March)
  21. Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler (June)
  22. Eye of the World by Robert Jordan* (October)
  23. Faith Fox by Jane Gardam* (July)
  24. First Man by Albert Camus (June)
  25. Fordlandia by Greg Gandin (August)
  26. Georges’ Wife by Elizabeth Jolley (April)
  27. Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee (August)
  28. Grass Dancer by Susan Power (November)
  29. Hall of a Thousand Columns by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (July)
  30. History Man by Malcolm Bradbury (September)
  31. House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (April)
  32. Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman (March)
  33. In a Strange City by Laura Lippman (October)
  34. Inside Passage by Michael Modselewski (June)
  35. Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg by H.R.F. Keating (May)
  36. Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott* (May)
  37. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (August)
  38. Long Way From Home by Frederick Busch (August)
  39. Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan (May)
  40. Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy (March)
  41. Raw Silk by Janet Burroway (September)
  42. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro* (August)
  43. Rose Cafe by John Hanson Mitchell (April)
  44. Rose of Martinique by Andrea Stuart (June)
  45. Thousand Ways to Please a Husband by Weaver/LeCron (September)
  46. Winners and Losers by Martin Quigley (April)
  47. You Get What You Pay For by Larry Beinhart (November)

*Planned as audio books

Here are the six books that are on the list for this February:

  1. ADDED: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow*
  2. Careless Love by Peter Gurlink
  3. Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  4. Men of Men by Wilbur Smith
  5. Ocean of Words by Ha Jin
  6. Palladian Days by Sally Gable*

FINISHED:

  1. After the Dance by Edwidge Danticat
  2. ADDED: Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
  3. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
  4. Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  5. Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
  6. Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
  7. Falcon Flies by Wilbur Smith*
  8. Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
  9. It Looked Like Forever by Mark Harris
  10. Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralink
  11. Now Read This II by Nancy Pearl
  12. Professor and the Housekeeper by Yoko Ogawa
  13. Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff

Benjamin Franklin

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Isaacson, Walter. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.

“Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winked at us” (p 2). What a great way to start a biography about a man whose life is such common knowledge you don’t feel like you could read yet another one and get anything new out of it. It is Isaacson’s writing style that sets him apart from all the other biographies. From the very beginning, Isaacson draws you into Franklin’s world with such ease and humor. His style of writing is charming and winsome in a myriad of ways, but I liked that he used such words as “sassy” and “spunky” to describe people. A lot of Isaacson’s information is drawn from Franklin’s own words, either from his autobiography (even correcting Mr. Franklin from time to time) or from Franklin’s personal letters. I particularly enjoyed Franklin’s tongue in cheek research about the smell of farts correlating to the type of food one eats. But, Isaacson’s playful account doesn’t mean he refrains from personal critical opinion about our founding father’s actions, especially concerning Franklin’s treatment of his immediate family. He defends Franklin as much as he can concerning the relationships Franklin has with women other than his wife, claiming they were mostly nonsexual. However, Isaacson has sympathy for Franklin’s family who spend nearly two decades without him. In addition to Franklin’s personal life, Isaacson also is extremely thorough in detailing Franklin’s civic contributions, political dealings and public life.

As an aside, Benjamin Franklin has always been one of my favorite historical figures. Why? Because in his early years he was a vegetarian in order to save money for books. Sounds like something I would do. He was also thought to be an insomniac.

Reason read: Benjamin Franklin was born in the month of January. Plain and simple.

Book trivia: Benjamin Franklin: an American Life includes a smattering of illustrations, including an unfinished painting by Benjamin West.

Author fact: Isaacson is also the co-author of The Wise Men. Another book on my list I can’t wait to read.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Founding Fathers” (p 91). Duh.

Last Train to Memphis

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Guralnick, Peter. Last Train to Memphis: the Rise of Elvis Presley. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1994.

When Guralnick calls Elvis a “myth” is he referring to the unfolding of events that created rock and roll, or is he implying Elvis had an unverifiable existence? Was Elvis a false notion? I’m not really sure. What I am sure about is Guralnick’s ability to tease apart the smaller pieces of Elvis Aron Presley’s early life; the moments that led up to his stardom. There is certainly enough emphasis on Elvis’s shy and polite and humble beginnings as a sheltered country & western wannabe who couldn’t play the guitar worth beans. There is also emphasis on the key people surrounding Elvis during his rise to fame. It is obvious as Elvis’ stardom rose, the less he was able to discern who was trustworthy. He needed an entourage and he struggled with identity, but a growing confidence led him to expect adoration and special treatment, especially when it came to cars and women. I appreciated the historical context of the songs Elvis made famous, especially since someone else wrote them and almost always sang them first. Everyone knows Elvis made ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ famous, but few recognize the true origins of the song. I also appreciated the emphasis placed on Elvis’ connection to family. Elvis may have had a taste of reality when he had to enter the military, but he had to swallow it whole when his mother died. The event changed his life. This is where Last Train to Memphis ends. The sequel, Careless Love picks up the biography.
Last Train to Memphis includes photographs (as it should), but that’s not the cool part. The cool part is that the photos are not clumped together in the middle of the book like most biographies, but rather they begin each chapter like a little surprise.

As an aside, I found it interesting that in the author’s note, Guralnick mentions more than once that he felt he needed to “rescue” Elvis.

Reason read: Elvis was born in January. Need I say more?

Author fact: This is silly. I have been misspelling Peter’s last name for the longest time. I have been leaving out the N. It’s GuralNick.

Book trivia: Last Train to Memphis covers the years of 1935 – 1958. Careless Love continues where Last Train leaves off.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Elvis On My Mind” (p 76).

Bring Me a Unicorn

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Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922 – 1928. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.

Bring Me a Unicorn is the first in a series of autobiographies by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It covers her life from 1922 to 1928. I have to say Anne’s writing is delightful. I admire how brutally honest she is with herself. Her letters home are typical of any college kid, “sorry this is so rushed…I have been frightfully busy!” She is also typical in her growing interest in Colonel Lindbergh. She feels she is not in his league but mentions him more and more in her diary entries. You could see her attraction grow until she finally admits that she loves him. The photographs are great. They represent (visually) what was happening in Anne’s world at that present time.

Quotes from Anne I liked (letters): “You’re popular, clever, pretty, attractive, capable, and will be a big bug!” (p 5) Sent to her sister. I have no idea what “big bug” means. Here’s one from her diary: “A heavenly day: no deck tennis, no unnecessary people, no bores” (p 31).
The quote I could relate to the most: “Why is it that you can sometimes feel the reality of people more keenly through a letter than face to face?” Exactly. I feel that way, too.

Reason read: January is Journal month. Maybe it’s the New Year’s Resolution thing, but people start more journals in January than any other month.

Author fact: Anne was fearless. Although it wasn’t very ladylike she had an interest in aviation even before marrying Lindbergh.

Book trivia: Bring Me a Unicorn is the first part of Lindbergh’s autobiography. Hour of Gold, hour of Lead is the second.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Journals and Letters: We Are All Voyeurs At Heart” (p 131).