Mini Review: John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy

Author: Evan Thomas
Narrator: Dan Cashman
Format: audio = 13.5 hrs  400 page equivalent
Subject: John Paul Jones
Genre: Biography
Source: public library audio download

A well researched, surprisingly easy to read biography of the man credited with being the "Father of the American Navy".  Now acknowledged to be rather a legend in his own mind, Thomas carefully debunks some of the sayings and myths that have attached themselves to this colorful and talented sailor, while still showing the genius of his strategic thinking.

His attitudes, accomplishments, judgments and temper tantrums are spelled out to put  this flamboyant hero in the proper niche of history.  We are treated to his thoughts on everything from planting crops to sailing, from proper uniforms to correct food, and along the way we get to glimpse the American Revolution from an often overlooked perspective.  It's interesting enough for those with a compelling fascination with the Navy and its beginnings. For others, it is well written enough to be worth at least a look see.

I read this in print and listened to this on audio.  For this one I'd recommend the written word.  I found the narrator's Scottish accent (used whenever he was quoting Jones) very off-putting.

Review : Churchill

Author: Paul Johnson
Format: audio - 4 discs ( 4 hrs, 40 min) 192 pgs equivalent
Subject: Winston Churchill
Genre: biography
Source: audio book, public library
Challenge: Audio Books, Support your local library

Paul Johnson is one of my favorite writer/historians. He has the ability to present his material in a manner that is both intelligent and readable. This was a refreshing and short biography of Churchill focusing on his political career.

It is obvious from the beginning that Johnson is a devotee, and he mentions several times that he actually met and spoke with him, but still in all the book is fairly objective. I found the chapter where he discusses Churchill's immense power held during WWII quite thought provoking. He poses the question "Did Churchill save Britain?" and the presents 10 reasons why he would answer in the affirmative. The book is worth reading for that chapter alone.

I was fascinated to read that Churchill stood for Parliament under six different 'labels': Conservative, Liberal, Coalition, Constitutionalist, Unionist, and National Conservative. I knew about his service as a journalist, 1st Sea Lord, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, but some other achievements were new to me.  I heartily approve of Churchill's answer to the question: "To what do you attribute your success in life?"

Without pause or hesitation he replied: "Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down. Never sit down when you can lie down."

This is a well-written and well-researched biography touching on the high points of the life of a great statesman. It can stand alone or serve as the jumping off point for more in-depth studies. It certainly made me want to pull out a few of Churchill's books sitting on our shelves and read them.  He is credited with writing between 8 and 10 million words in his lifetime.  I think I'll look for a few thousand to start with.

Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Author: Rebecca Skloot
Format:  hard cover, 384 pages

Subject: medical ethics, cell research
Setting: Baltimore, MD, Clover VA
Genre: non-fiction science reporting
Source: public library
Challenge: Support Your Public Library


I didn't think I'd get this read  so soon.  I put it on reserve at the library and was told I was 48 in line for 37 copies.  Then three days later, it came in.  I thought I was  just going to leaf through the pages but found myself engaged right away.  It's set mostly in my hometown of Baltimore, and is so well written and such a compelling story, that I had to read it straight through.  It's the story of a poor black woman, Henrietta Lacks,  whose cervical cancer tumor was so unusual that doctors at Johns Hopkins took samples before they began treating her with radiation back in 1951.  She died within the year, but her cells from the tumor turned out to be some absolutely fantastic ones that are almost impossible to kill and are incredibly easy to reproduce and use in medical research.  Her cells are known to scientists as HeLa (the first two letters of her first and last name).

Her family never knew about the procedure or about these incredible cells growing and being used all over the world.  HeLa cells are reportedly responsible for Dr. Salk's success in developing the polio vaccine for instance.  Today, her descendants are so poor they can't even afford to go to the doctor.  It's an incredible story of a reporter wanting to find out about the cells, the family, and the research.  It's well written, fairly easy to understand, and a must read.

The reporter has established an educational trust for the benefit of Henrietta's descendants.

Review: True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy

I have always been a fan of the entire Kennedy clan, so it is hard for me to be objective when 'reviewing' this book. It is well written with typical Kennedy lyric prose; it is well-organized into sections that are somewhat different from a typical lineal time-line autobiography; it contains dozens of photographs that are not the standards we're used to seeing; and most important, it gives us an insight into a man who may be the least known of the famous family. 

When I say least known, I don't mean unfamous or not well-known, but more private in terms of sharing his thoughts and inner motivations.  The influence of his parents, and his older brothers is beautifully explained, as well as his love of sailing,the sea (hence the title) and his home state Massachussetts.

We are treated to stories about his relations with his parents, all his siblings and their spouses, his children and grandchildren, both his wives, his dozens of nieces and nephews, and his close friends.  In these, his introspection shines, as he opens the door to his feelings and emotions which have often been tucked away from public view.

His respect for the Senate, and his pride in having served there for so long and so well, are quite evident, providing us with some of the most eloquent prose in the book, although here the book could have done with a bit of editing down...there was lots of detailed information about meetings, and phone calls and bargains struck that probably could have been pared a bit.  At times I had to force myself not to flip to the next page or paragraph.

His love for his family is especially evident in the chapter where he speaks of the period 1994-1999, of being buffeted by the deaths of his mother at age 104, his nephew Michael in a skiing accident, Jackie Onnasis, and his nephew John Kennedy Jr in a plane crash -- all within five years.  As the surviving patriarch, he is called upon to eulogize all of them, a feat that requires him to keep his own grief somewhat tucked in. 

In the end of this he quotes his father in a letter Joe Kennedy Sr wrote to a grieving friend on the loss of his son:

"There are no words to dispel your feelings at this time, and there is no time that will ever dispel them...I cannot share your grief, because no one could share mine.  When one of your children goes out of your life, you think of what he might have done with a few more years, and you wonder what you are going to do with the rest of yours.  Then one day, because there is a world to be lived in, you find yourself a part of it again, trying to accomplish something--something that he did not have time enough to do.  And, perhaps, that is the reason for it all.  I hope so."

Ted Kennedy continues:  "I wish that life were simpler.  I wish that loved ones didn't have to die too young.  I wish that tragedy never haunted a single soul.  But to wish all that is to ask for an end to our humanity.  God, family, and country sustain us all."

His indomitable spirit, inherited from parents, and nourished by his experiences in this incredible family, has left us all enriched.  His memoir provides us with the inspiration to continue his work.

Thanks to Hachete Books for making this review copy available and for letting me host the giveaway we completed last week.

Friday Favorites: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Last week, I was reminded of this wonderful chunkster of an historical biography when we were in Rome, and had to make the agonizing decision to skip seeing the Sistine Chapel again (we had both seen it before-and after the restoration), so we could use our limited time there to take in other sights we hadn't seen. We wanted to see more of Michaelangelo's works --particularly the sculpture, and came away with a renewed sense of awe at the talent, the soul, and the fortitude needed to produce these wonderful works of art. Irving Stone wrote numerous BIG ficitional biographies, and I've read many of them. Historical fiction of any era is one of my favorite genres. Stone's books were a staple of the BOMC that we first joined early in our marriage. I must re-read this one. Now having seen the real stuff again, I can't wait to sink back into Stone's wonderful insights into Michaelangelo's psyche, revisit the on again-off again relations with all of his patrons, and simply watch as he struggles to bring to birth some of the most glorious art man has ever produced. It won't ever be able to replace the glory of actually being here and seeing it, but it will help cement the memories.

They're Everywhere!!

As you can see , my TBR shelf is full--in fact it's grown to four shelves.

Since I confess to being someone who likes to seem like I'm in control, I decided to take today to prioritize things so I could leave town next week with a clear conscience:

• I have my sister Cheli lined up to do a guest review of one of the books she 'borrowed' from my TBR pile
• I'm taking my last 999 book (Saudade by Katherine Vaz) with me to finish while cruising (or flying over the Atlantic)
• I've been trying to straighten up the office and blog space because my daughter is going to house-sit/vacation/work here, and I'd like her to have a place to put a coffee mug at least.

So what happens when I return on Labor Day?

Although I'm participating in several personal reading challenges, I'm going to give priority to ARCs and Early Review copies I've agreed to read and review.

First priority: I have four books that I personally received from the authors:

• Susan Vaughan, a local author who has written several suspense romances, gave us a copy of her latest book Primal Obsession. Knowing how difficult it can be for Indie presses to get wide coverage, I offered to review for the blog. It's first up when I get back.
  
• Sam Moffie offered me a copy of No Mad. I confess it wouldn't be something that I would normally go out and buy, but I have been trying to expand into new genres and this looks like it will be interesting.
  
• Circle of Souls was sent by Preetham Grandhi -- another story with a young psychiatric patient with visions, her pyschiatrist, a murder, art therapy; the book cover calls it a "Stunning pyschological thriller". After reading The Rapture I think I can handle this and am looking forward to it.
  
• The Saint and the Fasting Girl was sent by the author Anna Richenda. It arrived just as I finished Sacred Hearts and I wanted to put some space between the two. It will be an excellent read for my 2nd 999 challenge's Historical Fiction category.
  

Then there are two Early Reviews I received from LT-- they will be the next up. Both are books I really wanted because the suspense thriller is a genre I am coming to enjoy more and more.

• Rizzo's War by Lou Manfredo
  
• Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini
  

Shortly after those, I have to get to ARCs I've received from publishers, and I'm going to try to behave myself and not request any more (unless they are to die for!) until I get this pile under control. In no particular order they are...

• The Maze Runner, by James Dasher - due out in October. I'm trying to expand and read more YA, and fantasy: genres I don't normally read. This one really caught my attention.
• The Weight of Silence, a book about children lost in the woods by Heather Guedenkauf. After I survived reading Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,I guess I can do this one without fainting.
• Half-Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World by Douglas Hunter. I love biography, and this book is a topic that really interests me.
• The Boy who Harnessed the Wind LP: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba. Set in Malawi, this is a true story of courage and inventiveness. I have enjoyed the previous books I've read this year set in various countries of Africa, and this will be another to help expand my knowledge. I'm hoping this will also be suitable for the YA group in our library.
  
• An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkerson by Andro Linklater. I requested this one because it's set in a period I love to read about- the American Revolution- and it's about someone I'd never heard of. Curiosity is a great reason for picking books...
• Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron. I love the Deborah Knott series, so when Hachette Books offered me the chance to review and run a contest to share this one with others, I could not resist.
  
• The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman. I am a Christmas cookie nut...I go absolutely crazy baking for weeks before the holidays, and if I'm not going to be with people, I actually mail giant boxes of them. I'm always looking for new recipes and new mysteries, so in spite of the plain red cardboard wrapper on the galley proof, this one looks great. I'm hoping to be able to try some of the recipes as I read it, so I can share the results in my review.
• The Evolution of God, by Robert Wright. I honestly don't remember requesting this one, but it is an area in which I read a lot. I've tried three times to read Karen Armstrong's History of God but just couldn't get into it. Maybe this one will be better.
• South of Broad by Pat Conroy. Another of my favorite writers, and settings.
• The Brutal Telling (An Armand Gamache Novel) by Louise Penny. Another of my favorite authors. I was thrilled to be able to be among the first to get this one. My sister also wants it, so I may try to eek out a spot in the luggage to take it along for the cruise. The Armand Gamache books are some of the best in the genre today. I hope this one doesn't disappoint.

And finally, there are three others that I received as prizes from other people's contests that I am itching to get to:

• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
• The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander.
• The Woman Who Named God: Abraham's Dilemma and the Birth of Three Faiths by Charlotte Gordon.

So if you are OCD and counted the books in the pictures, there are 75 there. The ones that are left after the ARCs, and ERs are books that were on my original list to be read for various challenges during 2009. I'm not sure I can finish all 75 of them before New Years but I'm going to have a wonderful time trying.

Review: Dear Fatty

A poignant tell-all written as a series of letters to people who played large roles in her life: her husband Len, her daughter, Jennifer Saunders (Fatty) who was a life long sidekick, her mother, her grandmothers, her brother, a variety of lovers (? - the answer is cagily phrased so one is never sure), and above all her father, who committed suicide when she was in her early teens, everyone who played an important role in helping her define herself. French leaves little to the imagination, treating us to an inside look at a vulnerable, loving, talented woman. I don't normally read celebrity memoirs, but I'm a huge fan of DF, and when I had the chance to pick this up, I grabbed it. It could have done with some editing to tighten things up: the lack of any kind of time line made it difficult to follow at times, but OTOH, it made it easy to read in short, individual 'episodes' as each letter was self-contained. Her letter to her dad in which she lays out the pain and disbelief at his death, is very touching. The letter describing the Queen Mother's visit to their Air Force quarters when she was only 3, is quintessential French. Her teen-age angst, the joys and throes of raising a teenager, and her obvious love for her husband all come through. There are pages and pages of candid photos, most in color, making it quite a vibrant story. I'd recommend it for anyone who is a fan.

Review: American Lion, Andrew Jackson in the White House

Before I read this book, I knew that Andrew Jackson was the 7th president, he led the army in victory at the Battle of New Orleans, and there was a great deal of scandal/ dispute over his marriage to Rachel Donelson. After I read this Pulitzer Prize winning discussion of his years as President, I now know all I ever wanted to know (and a WHOLE lot I could have done without) about the ladies dispute over 'receiving' Mrs. Margaret Eaton, wife of his secretary of war. It seems Margaret was regarded as a rather loose woman by many of the grand dames of Washington, and the author chose to spend literally 100's of pages discussing the reactions to her and Jackson's insistence that the Eatons be treated with respect. Meacham's theory seems to be that Jackson was sympathetic to the couple since he had undergone the same kind of shunning when he married Rachel. Consequently, we are given short shrift on some of the more vital aspects of Jackson's life and presidency. For instance, Jackson's views on slavery are fairly glossed over. There are exactly 5 pages devoted to his ownership of slaves (he owned 150), and the fact that he did not ever free any of them. We hear nothing of his actual views of this abominable practice. We are treated to his denunciations of the US Bank and pages upon pages of everything he did to try to disband it, but for those of us with a lack of indepth knowledge of the issue, we are never given a good reason WHY he wanted to disband the bank. Again we are treated to many many pages of personality conflicts of all the players in this debacle, but scant delineation about the issue itself. We hear of Jackson's views on nullification and secession, and very his often conflicting views about the Native American population---I definitely would have liked to have had a much more indepth discussion of this vice the ladies tea party debates. Jackson's policies led directly to the Trail of Tears -- the forced expulsion of the Cherokees to western lands, but nowhere do we see how he reacted to it. We are given speeches in which he identified himself as the Great White father, and some indication that he felt justified in breaking treaties, but the subject deserves much more if this book were to truly explain Jackson's achievements. Meacham posits that because Jackson was orphaned so young, he deeply missed having the opportunity of belonging to family. He saw the American people as his family, and used his popularity to enforce his views. He believed in a powerful executive. He was the first American president to have used the veto simply because he disagreed with a bill Congress had passed. Prior to Jackson, presidents had only vetoed bills they thought were unconstitutional. If you were white, you were entitled to the full protection of the government. If you were black or Native american, (or Mexican--we mustn't forget the few pages devoted to the Mexican wars), you didn't deserve the liberties spelled out in the Constitution. Meacham sums it:

(Jackson) also proved the principle that the character of the president matters enormously. Politics is about more than personality; the affairs of a great people are shaped by complex and messy forces that transcend the purely biographical. Those affairs, however, are also fundamentally affected by the complex and messy individuals who marshal and wield power in a given era. Jackson was a transformative president in part because he had a trancendent personality.....he gave his most imaginative successors the means to do things they thought right. The great often teach by their failures and derelictions. The tragedy of Jackson's life is that a man dedicated to freedom failed to see liberty as a universal, not a particular, gift. The triumph of his life is that he held together a country whose experiment in liberty ultimately extended its protections and promises to all--belatedly it is true, but by saving the Union, Jackson kept the possibility of progress alive, a possibility that would have died had secussion and separation carried the day.

Jackson certainly changed the role of the Presidency. Whether those changes were good or not so good is impossible to determine from reading only this book.

ARC received: American Lion

As you can see on the Waiting to Be Reviewed list in the sidebar, I received an Early Review copy of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, by John Meacham. (Thank you LibraryThing!). I'm really anxious to get into this one because I'm participating in the LibraryThing "US Presidents" challenge to read at least one good biography of every American president before the next election. I wasn't really planning to start this challenge in earnest until I'd finished my other current 999 challenges, and I'd hoped to read them in order of their serving, but this has been so highly praised by everyone who's read it--and it won the Pulitzer Prize--that I'm jumping the queue and going to read this within the month. When I get an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) or ER book I try to read and review as soon as I can. I'm rarely disappointed, so look for this review to post sometime soon. Thanks also to Random House for making these copies available to LT. We really do enjoy being able to spread the word.

Review: Rule Number Two

Subtitled Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital, the lessons and rules are from an episode of M.A.S.H: There are two rules of war. Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one.

This is the well written story of a young female Navy clinical psychologist who is sent to a field Marine surgical unit (think MASH) in Fallugah Iraq in Feb 2004 during some of the fiercest fighting of the war. She left behind her 15 mo old twins in the care of her parents and her husband (a Marine pilot). It's an incredibly honest, compassionate, compelling, and heartwrenching story of her tour of duty and the heroes she counts herself privileged to serve. I count her as one of the heroes. Stories of her days in Iraq are interwoven with 'email' from home, making it as gut-wrenching for the reader as it must have been her to serve. The book is not long, not technical and 'easy' to read on the one hand--the prose is sharp and clear. However, it is difficult to read about a young parent separated from her family, enduring incredible hardships, who is still able to help those Marines both younger and older than herself not only to endure and function, but survive the carnage with some humanity. With people like Heidi Kraft taking care of us, we will remain a strong country. It's one of my best of the year.

Review: Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay

Nancy Mitford presents such thorough, insightful, compelling, and penetrating look at one of America's premier poets, that I often felt at times like shouting "Too much information!" Millay, her husband, her sisters, her mother, and most of her lovers/friends (they were often the same) of both sexes seemed to be inveterent letter writers. Not only did they write letters, they often left numerous drafts of those letters giving us an intimate portrait of emotions, intentions, and life in the first half of the twentieth century. Their drinking, carousing (is that a nice enough way to say "lots of sex of all varieties?"), international traveling, neglect of family and friends, and late life drug addiction is well detailed. Our herione led a less than stellar life depending on one's perspective. At times I tired of her pouting promiscuity, her incessant mooching on the generosity of others, the constant indebtedness, and the incredible selfishness which most who knew her seemed to regard as part of her genius. Her husband's acceptance of and participation in their "open marriage" was difficult for me to understand. And swimming au naturel in Maine's island waters at any time of the year was not something I was impressed with....I thought it proved she was a bit "off." I guess we can accept that anyone who downed the copious amounts of alcohol she and hubby did was probably pickled to the point that they didn't feel the water temp! In addition to many photographs, there are numerous samples of her poetry, used to illustrate the various passions and favorites in her life. Taking the time to read and absorb the poems meant this book of over 500 pages took me almost 5 weeks to finish! In spite of the subject's tragic life and its ending, the author presents us with her life in an objective yet sympathetic way without passing judgment. That made it easy to read and recommend the book to others.

Review: NIGHT by Elie Wiesel

Earlier this year, I read a book Great Souls by David Aiken in which the author presented biographical tributes to six people he thought had made significant contributions to humanity in the 20th century. Each story was so well done, and made such an impression on me, that I set out to read something more about each of the honorees. In the case of Elie Wiesel, I decided to read his first book, NIGHT, a short, dramatic, painful and powerful description of his life in German concentration camps during World War II. He was only 14 when taken prisoner. Able to stay all of his time with his father (and encourage the older man while receiving his father's support), he takes us with him on rides on the crowded cattle cars, through a life of living on one cup of coffee, a small piece of bread, and sometimes a bowl of very thin soup daily, while doing hard labor, or forced marches, trying to avoid being identified as one chosen to go to the crematorium. The story of how he goes from being a star Talmudic student in the pre-war Jewish ghetto, to an almost total rejection of a God who could allow all this horror to occur, is written in a stark, simple, and heartbreaking prose. It was not an enjoyable book to read, but an essential one. The audio book version I listened to ended with the acceptance speech he delivered when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. The speech was as inspiring as the book , and greatly affirming. This is a must read for any human who wants to understand what it means to be human. The closing sentences (after he had been emancipated from the camps) say it all:

"One day when I was able to get up, I was able to look at myself in a mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."

Reviews: Ego Trips in Annual Doses

Lately, I've read (or endured) several books written that had as a theme a year's worth of something...cooking thru Julia's cookbook, (Julie and Julia:365 days, 564 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen) finding oneself in a bowl of pasta or an ashram or a hut in Indonesia, (Eat, Pray, Love) living in a foreign country without knowing the language or customs and complaining because things weren't like they were in the US, (A Year in Provence, Sixpence House, A year of No Money in Tokyo,) and deciding to read the Bible and live it literally --to hell with what his wife wanted--(A Year of Living Biblically). The latest (although not necessarily published later than the others) to drive me over the edge is supposedly about reading passionately (italics are mine) for a year from a pre-determined list. (So Many Books, So Little Time) The author of this self-flagulating piece wants us to believe how arduous it was to figure out what to read, and how this almost paralyzed her in her attempts, how at the end of the year, she still hadn't read all of the books on her list (she only wanted to read one book a week), but had substituted others along the way. Frankly, I'm getting really tired of all of this year of this, year of that, blah, blah, blah. I wanted to yell at all of them...get a grip, get a life. And for goodness sake...if you're that obsessive, seek help. The only one in the bunch that was worth anything.....and it was so good I almost hesitate to mention it here in the same breath (it deserves its own review)....was Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking, winner of the National Book Award. Ms. Didion didn't set out to spend a year mourning her husband after his sudden death, nor did she set out to have an adventure to write about so she could write a book, or collect a big advance from her publisher. This one is about real life and what happened during that year. It wasn't a phony, ponied up premise to sell a book...it was real life, with real feelings portrayed in an exquisite openess. If you missed it when it came out, be sure to reach for it, particularly if you're tempted to try some of these other 'look at my wonderful/questing/awful/fun/lousy year' books on the shelves. Save your year for the real thing.

Review: Great Souls - Six Who Changed the Century

Another nominee for Best of the Year. I picked this book as an audio and almost returned it because I didn't think I'd have time to listen to it. I decided to listen to the first track and was hooked. David Aiken, a reporter for Time, draws on interviews and 23 years of world wide reporting to bring us a deeply personal, thoroughly inspiring group of biographies of the six people he considers to be among the most influential of the 20th century. His nominees are Billy Graham (salvation), Nelson Mandela (forgiveness), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (truth), Mother Terasa (compassion), Pope John Paul ll (human dignity), and Elie Wiesel (remembrance). He shows both the warts and the halos, and explains why he finds these "souls" not only a personal inspiration, but important historical figures. It is a book that certainly will have me looking for more about every one of the six personages. I was absolutely thrilled with this book. If I could give it 6 stars, I would. I will be haunting the book vendors to get my own copy to read and re-read.