The Woman Who Would Be King

Author: Kara Cooney
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Crown/Archetype, 2015
Pages: 320 pages, 9 discs
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Hatshepsut - the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt's throne - was expected to bear sons who would legitimize the reign of her father's family. Her failure to produce a male heir, however, paved the way for her improbable rule as a cross-dressing king. 

At just over twenty, Hatshepsut out-maneuvered the mother of Thutmose III, the infant king, for a seat on the throne, and ascended to the rank of pharaoh.

Shrewdly operating the levers of power to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh, Hatshepsut was a master strategiest, clocking her political power plays in the veil of piety and sexual reinvention. She successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt's most prolific building periods.

Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Coney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power - and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reaction to women in power.

Review: I went outside my comfort zone with this one. My 12 year old is studying Egypt in school, and I was reviewing her study guide before a test, I realized that I didn't remember much from my Ancient Civilizations course in college (with Dr. Settlemire). Pieces were coming back to me, but I wanted more.

Once I started listening to this, I realized what annoys me so much with Ancient Egypt - what we know about it almost all conjecture and hypothesis. Hatshepsut may have done this, or she likely felt this way about XYZ. I want more concrete, factual information.

While I enjoyed the author reading this audio book, I found Cooney's writing to be repetitive. Removing the repeating words, phrases, and explanations would have shortened the book significantly. The last few chapters discussed her legacy, or the lack thereof, but by this time, I just wanted the book to end.

Before I swear off Egypt entirely, I might try another book in the near future. 

The Life We Bury

Author: Allen Eskens

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Seventh Street Books, 2014

Pages: 303

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. 

Carl is a dying Vietnam War veteran - and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for crimes of rape and murder. As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict.

Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throw himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl's conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it's too late to escape the fallout.  

Review: We planned a last minute trip to the upper Midwest, and I like to read novels set in the places I'm visiting. I'd seen this book recommended various places for awhile now, and since it takes place in Minnesota, now seemed like the time to read it.

This was so good. The ending becomes a little far-fetched, but it's a great novel, imaginative, well-written, and fast-paced.

The Peacock Emporium

Author: JoJo Moyes
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2019
Pages: 416
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: In the sixties, Anthene Forster was the most glamorous girl of her generation. Nicknamed the Last Deb, she was also beautiful, spoiled, and out of control. When she agreed to marry the gorgeous young heir, Douglas Fairley-Hulme, her parents breathed a sigh of relief. But within two years, rumors had begun to circulate about Athene's affair with a young salesman.

Thirty-five years alter, Suzanna Peacock is struggling with her notorious mother's legacy. The only place Suzanna finds comfort is in The Peacock Emporium, the beautiful coffee bar and shop she opens that soon enchants her little town. There she makes perhaps the first real friends of her life, including Alejandro, male midwife, escaping his own ghosts in Argentina.

The specter of her mother still haunts Suzanna. But only by confronting both her family and her innermost self will she finally reckon with the past - and discover that the key to her history, and her happiness, may have been in front of her all along. 

Review: From a layout or technical standpoint, this was a confusing novel. There are multiple instances when the character changes mid chapter. A chapter is humming along in one person's voice and then all of a sudden it changes to someone, but who is now the subject is unknown. The intentional vagueness is frustrating, not a "fresh" way to tell a novel. I was yanked out of the flow of the story every time it happened, which was a lot.

From a storytelling standpoint, this moved slowly. My husband asked why I didn't just set it aside, and I guess I just wanted to see where everyone ended up. I should have quit it though.

Everything came full circle by the end of the novel, but I had more questions. How? Why? There was no satisfying resolution.

I posted my frustrations in an online reading forum, and someone suggested reading One Plus One. I may give it a try, and if I don't like it, I'm done with this author.

I loved Me Before You, but similar to The Peacock Emporium, I just couldn't get into the sequels.

Heartburn

Author: Nora Ephron
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1996
Pages: 5 discs
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in a between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron's irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect souffle.

Review: The audio version is read by Meryl Streep, and while it starts out funny, eventually it felt too long (and it's only 5 hours). Chick Lit isn't one of my primary genres, but I gave it a whirl.

New York

Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Genre: Historical Fiction / Family Saga
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, 2009
Pages: 8 discs*
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Rutherfurd celebrates America's greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga that showcases his extraordinary ability to combine impeccable historical research and storytelling flair. As in his earlier, bestselling novels, he illuminates cultural, social, and political upheavals through the lives of a remarkably diverse set of families.

As he recounts the intertwining fates of characters rich and poor, black and white, native born and immigrant, Rutherfurd brings to life the momentous events that shaped New York and America; the Revolutionary War, the emergence of the city as a great trading and financial center, the excesses of the Gilded Age, the explosion of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trials of World War II, the near demise of New York in the 1970s, and its roaring rebirth in the '90s, and the attacks on the World Trade Center. Sprinkled throughout are captivating cameos appearances by historical figures ranging from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Babe Ruth.

New York is the book that millions of Rutherfurd's American fans have been waiting for. A brilliant mix of romance, war, family drama, and personal triumphs, it gloriously captures the search for freedom and prosperity at the heart of our nation's history.

Review: This book was recommended to me because I like family sagas and historical fiction. This is both of those, but when I had a hard time getting into the print version, I switched to the audio. It's a slow start, but Rutherfurd keeps the story moving. He hits all the highlights in New York City's history through the eyes of the Master family.

I should point out that I listened to the abridged version. I didn't realize this until after the fact, and I do feel slightly cheated, but not enough to go back and read the print version.

Killer in the Pool

Author: Tim Zimmermann
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: New World City, Inc., 2016
Pages: 52
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: On February 24, 2010, Tilikum, the largest killer whale at SeaWorld, suddenly dragged Dawn Brancheau, his trainer, into the pool and killed her. Journalist Tim Zimmermann set out to find out why. His riveting account of Tilikum's life and the history of killer whale entertainment at marine parks dives into the world of the ocean's top predator. It chronicles Tilikum's capture and separation from his family and the physical and psychological stress he experienced in marine park pools over some thirty years. It explores Tilikum's involvement in two previous deaths. And it details the inherent risks of using captive killer whales for human entertainment. Ultimately, Zimmermann explains how the life of Tilikum came to mean the death of Dawn Brancheau. 

Review: I read Beneath the Surface about a year ago, and when I saw this was a short e-book available online for free, I decided to give it a try. I visited SeaWorld several times as a child, and it always left such an impression. At one point, I wanted to study marine biology. Not because I wanted to be a trainer, but I just found the animals fascinating. I would go back and forth between the same shows all day long. Fascinating.

There's a sadness now in what I had found so fascinating and enthralling as a child. This book highlights all the negatives to putting these animals in captivity.