I am whiskey drinker. I usually choose Jameson or Bushmills on the rocks, although I’m also a fan of the Four Roses Bourbon out of Lawrenceburg. Until my trip to Edinburgh last year I thought I loathed Scotch whisky; I couldn’t take the peaty, smoky smell. Upon being introduced to the Speyside single malt Scotch whiskies, however, I found another brown liquor to add to the rotation. Given my love of whiskies, and knowing my feminist views, my husband found the perfect book […]
America, F!@#k Yeah!
As I’ve mentioned in several of my previous posts, I’m trying to read more works that are written by or feature Native Americans. The latest book I read is a brief history of the Cherokee nation. Even though it’s brief it’s packed with facts that I never knew. And once again I’m disappointed that my education never told me such facts as the Cherokees actually had a capital city, were the first to have a written alphabet, and developed a political system based on the […]
Wolf Hall, or the redemption of Thomas Cromwell
The tour de Mantel continues with Wolf Hall, about the rise of Thomas Cromwell (no spoilers here, but the fall of Thomas Cromwell comes in another book). We learn a bit about Cromwell through flashbacks – the abuse at the hands of his father, running off to France to become a mercenary, learning about culture and banking in Antwerp, and generally becoming a Renaissance man. He returns to England, becomes a merchant, and eventually ended up working for Cardinal Wolsey, advisor to Henry VIII. Cromwell […]
The More Things Change …
Winner of a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 1994, this history of the Roosevelts and the home front from 1939 until FDR’s death in 1945 is a meticulously researched and engaging look at both the inner workings of the White House and the changing landscape of the US economy and society during World War II. Both the Roosevelts and the American public showed themselves to be extraordinarily brilliant and sometimes terribly flawed at a critical moment in world history. Goodwin did extensive research on her […]
Girl Pilots! WWII!
There are certain things a writer can focus on in their novel to ensure that I will at least give it a shot (if I know about the book), and in all likelihood, I will really dig it. One of them is using World War II as a backdrop. I find a lot of wars interesting but this one in particular fascinates me. The atrocities committed against humanity during this time period, and the willingness of so many people to just go along with them […]
One death is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic
Like most people, I find history and politics more palatable when they focus on specific people rather than the sweeping ideas and dates of textbooks. Obviously, you need a balance, but if you look only at the big picture, you miss the innumerable tragedies and triumphs that are more relatable. This is one of the strengths of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (2010) by Barbara Demick. Demick gives us a look into North Korea during the famine of the 1990’s through the […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 676
- 677
- 678
- 679
- 680
- …
- 708
- Next Page »