Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams

My husband has changed my life.  Before I met him, there is no way I would have picked up this book, let alone requested it from the library the way I did.  He has an unsatiable appetite for political and historical biographies.  He talked me into getting the HBO miniseries of John Adams on netflix a few years ago.  I was surprised to find it very interesting.  Since then, reading a biography on Abigail Adams has been on my list.

I finally picked one up and I wasn't disappointed.  Abigail Adams is a remarkable woman.  She raised their four children, managed their farm and finances and was John's closest advisor during their long separations.  At one point, they did not see each other for five years and the five years before that they had only had intermittent and short visits.  John was not there when she gave birth to a stillborn daughter.  She would go months (even up to ten!) without receiving even one letter from him.  Not only did she do all of this with strength and grace, they were truly in love which made the separations much more difficult. 

This book highlighed each phase of her life, giving insights into her character and providing details on the chronicles of their lives.  I was fascinated throughout but found a few parts were a little bit dry and difficult to get through.  If you are interested in learning more about her, this is a great book to read.  If you aren't, I don't think this book will change your mind. 

Bottom line:  Enjoyable and interesting for the person wanting to know a little bit about the only woman ever to be both wife and mother to an American President

Book Club Review: The Map of Love

I was so excited to read this book...but I think I'll have to give it a mixed review. 
I enjoyed the imagery in this book and the overall storyline...two love stories that entwined with a shared history.  In light of all that is happening in the Middle East currently, I found it fascinating to read of Egypt's history.  And I always enjoy reading books about other cultures and those set in times and places that I haven't read much about.  I also really liked the parts showing the roots and connections of the Arabic words - something I know nothing about but find interesting.  I also liked how the book was divided into sections:  A Beginning, An End of a Beginning, A Beginning of an End, An End - very clever.

However, I got really bogged down in the middle of this book.  I considered not finishing it, but I have such a hard time doing that and I am glad I stuck it out.  I would have enjoyed it a lot more if there had been a bit less political and historical information and more development of the characters.  The back of the book makes it sound like it is about the characters' love stories while it seemed to be more about the political situations.  And I suppose given the nature of the tale, the characters' stories were incomplete without a description of the times they lived in.  The other thing that frustrated me - I didn't discover until I finished it that there was a glossary of terms in the back that would have really helped me. 

Overall, it was an interesting book, but not one I'll ever feel the need to read again.

The Known World

Our library is great.  It is well-stocked, new, cool to be in, and has its own children's room with toys and activities and a pet fish named Blueberry.  There are many programs if you want to be involved from reading with your dog to books & babies to traditional storytime. There is even a great coffee shop where we often stop to get a treat.  They have lots of healthy kid-friendly snacks too.  And Big Train chai.  And, you can take your drink into the library. 

On one of my stops into the coffee shop, I inquired about the books on the shelves around the shop.  I found out they were used books that had been donated and were for sale; all profit from their sale goes to the library.  I pulled this one off the shelf, excited to read it because of its content and the fact that it won a Pulitzer.

This book was so hard to get into.  I bet I started to read it a half dozen times before I really got into it.  Mostly because I had a few brain candy books I was reading and whenever I picked this one up it took so long to remember the context, I could only read a few pages before drifting off.  But once I finally got into it, I enjoyed it.

The book's timeline is fluid as are the characters.  The central event is the death of Henry Townsend, a black slave owner (I learned there were African Americans who owned other African Americans).  The story shuttles back and forth among the slaves on his plantation, his early days as a slave himself, the story of his parents, his owners, the local sheriff, and numerous other characters.  That was part of what it made it difficult to get into.  I think if I read it again, I will see how beautifully woven the story truly is.  It is a remarkable story of human character and the things that we both need to see and shudder at.  If you've got some time to sit down and read it, do it...but this is anything but brain candy...consider yourself warned.

Israel, My Beloved

I just finished this spectacular book, and lost some sleep in the process.  Written with attention to detail yet able to span thousands of years of history, it captured my attention and tied many tidbits of history into a comprehensive whole. 

The main character Sarah, exists separate of time and represents the Jewish people.  We pick up her story in the days of the first destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Assyrians and follow her all over the earth throughout the history of the last 2500 years.  She experiences the rebuilding of the temple and the destruction yet again by the Babylonians.  Again the temple is rebuilt only to be destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, never to be rebuilt.

She experiences the Crusades of the Middle Ages and the horror of Auschwitz.  She has friends that walk with her through these difficult times, and loses some dear to her as well.  Many of the things I have learned in history classes or sermons or Bible studies were finally brought together in a cohesive way by the story of Sarah.  An excellent read.

Very Charleston: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Lowcountry Charm

While in Charleston, South Carolina last week, I picked up this little gem of a book.

I love its bite sized bits of history and information, the little recipes, and the fun artwork.

I never read a guide book before a vacation, I always read them post vacation.  When I read them prior, nothing really makes sense and I have no idea what they are talking about.  But, after the trip, it all sinks in and I can look back on the trip.

This book has just the right amount of information that I can retain during a trip!  Plus, it is beautiful and fun to flip through making it a great addition to my coffee table stack.