The Revolutionary Paul Revere

~August's theme is books from other people's bookshelves~

Author: Joel J. Miller
Genre: Historical Biography
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc., 2010
Pages: 304
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis:  “Quick in the saddle and fast out of town.” Watch one of America’s most remarkable heroes come alive through fast-paced prose and gripping storytelling.

He’s Famous for his Ride. He’s Essential for So Much More.

The story of Paul Revere is the story of the American Revolution.

Always smack dab in the thick of things, he was an ordinary citizen living in extraordinarily turbulent times. Revere played key roles in colonial tax fights and riots, the infamous Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and even the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In this fast-paced, dramatic account, Paul Revere’s life pulses with energy as author Joel J. Miller explores his family and church life along with his revolutionary contribution as a spy, entrepreneur, express rider, freemason, and commercial visionary.

Review: I love history, and found this book fascinating. It was also a quick read.

Last summer I had the chance to see some of the historical sites in Massachusetts, and took full advantage. We visited Lexington/Concord, Walden Pond, Boston, and also the spot where Paul Revere and the two other riders (Dawes and Prescott) were or were nearly captured by the British on that fateful night.

Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles

~ July's theme is biographies ~

Author: Raymond Arroyo
Genre: Biography
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group, 2007
Pages: 416
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: In 1981, a simple nun, using merely her entrepreneurial instincts and $200, launched what would become the world’s largest religious media empire in the garage of a Birmingham, Alabama, monastery. Under her guidance, the Eternal Word Television Network grew at a staggering pace, both in viewership and in influence, to where it now reaches over a hundred million viewers in hundreds of countries around the globe.

Raymond Arroyo combines his journalist’s objectivity and eye for detail with more than five years of exclusive interviews with Mother Angelica. He traces Mother Angelica’s tortured rise to success and exposes for the first time the fierce opposition she faced, both outside and inside of her church.

Review: My children and I are temporarily staying with my parents this month because our home sold, but my fiance and I didn't find another quickly enough.

One evening after the kids were in bed I was perusing my mom's bookshelf and came across this book. I really enjoy reading memoirs so I decided to give this biography a chance.

I've only heard of Mother Angelica in passing, and based on the book jacket and the first few pages she sounded interesting enough to me.

The beginning and the end of this book was good. The middle part was highly detailed and dry reading. I hung in there though.

Mother Angelica's story would have been been better told in memoir format.



Here is Where

~ June's theme is books currently on the Barnes and Noble Best Sellers List.~

Author: Andrew Carroll
Genre:
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, 2013
Pages: 512
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Here Is Where chronicles Andrew Carroll’s eye-opening – and at times hilarious — journey across America to find and explore unmarked historic sites where extraordinary moments occurred and remarkable individuals once lived. Sparking the idea for this book was Carroll’s visit to the spot where Abraham Lincoln’s son was saved by the brother of Lincoln’s assassin. Carroll wondered, How many other unmarked places are there where intriguing events have unfolded and that we walk past every day, not realizing their significance? To answer that question, Carroll ultimately trekked to every region of the country — by car, train, plane, helicopter, bus, bike, and kayak and on foot. Among the things he learned:

*Where in North America the oldest sample of human DNA was discovered

* Where America’s deadliest maritime disaster took place, a calamity worse than the fate of the Titanic

*Which virtually unknown American scientist saved hundreds of millions of lives

*Which famous Prohibition agent was the brother of a notorious gangster

*How a 14-year-old farm boy’s brainstorm led to the creation of television

Featured prominently in Here Is Where are an abundance of firsts (from the first use of modern anesthesia to the first cremation to the first murder conviction based on forensic evidence); outrages (from riots to massacres to forced sterilizations); and breakthroughs (from the invention, inside a prison, of a revolutionary weapon; to the recovery, deep in the Alaskan tundra, of a super-virus; to the building of the rocket that made possible space travel). Here Is Where is thoroughly entertaining, but it’s also a profound reminder that the places we pass by often harbor amazing secrets and that there are countless other astonishing stories still out there, waiting to be found. 

Review: The premise of this book was right up my history-loving alley, and the writing is solid. At times I felt like he tried to cover too much information in a single chapter, but the subject matter was interesting so it can be forgiven. I don't think I'm feeling inspired to find unmarked places of historical significance, but I certainly enjoyed Carroll's adventures.

On Secret Service

~ May's theme is historical fiction.~
Author: John Jakes
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Group, 2001
Pages: 480
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: John Jakes, the acclaimed author of the #1 New York Times bestselling North and South Trilogy, returns to the Civil War with On Secret Service—the story of two couples, divided by war and allegiance, who discover that love doesn’t take sides. A Rebel sympathizer’s affection for a former Pinkerton detective turned Union agent cannot save him from the horrors of a Richmond prison. A Confederate officer sacrifices his rank to save an actress taken captive while posing as a Union soldier. Overshadowing them all is an actor’s outspoken hatred of Abraham Lincoln—and a date with destiny that would shock a nation and change the course of history…

Review: The storyline is predictable, and in some ways trite, but the weaving of the story and tying events together is what makes this a great read; oh, and John Jakes supreme knowledge of the Civil War. He's a go-to writer when it comes to fantastic Civil War fiction.

Dinner with a Perfect Stranger

~ April's theme is books that others have recommended I read ~

Author: David Gregory
Genre: Fiction, Christian Lit
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Pages: 128
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth.

The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.

The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.

Review: This is a mixed bag for me. In some ways I was uncomfortable reading it because of the negative light it sheds on religions and beliefs other than Christianity. 

I'm of the belief that as long as you're not hurting anyone, I don't really care what you believe. Your soul and where you spend eternity are none of my concern. It also doesn't seem worth the argument because there's no point. Once we die we all get to find out what happens next, and no one escapes death.

That said, it's a quick, easy read.

Savannah from Savannah

Author: Denise Hildreth 
Genre: Fiction / Christian Lit
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004
Pages: 336
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: I'm coming home to prove something. . .to my city, to my mother, and myself.
It is a plaace known to most as Savannah. It is a place known to me as home. I wish I could you it aws my love for this city that precipitated my return. But I did not return out of mere longing for home. I returned because I have something to prove to home. I am Savannah from Savannah.

Review: This book took me a pathetically long time to read - almost 2 weeks, I believe. That is completely unheard of. I lost interest after a chapter or two and had a hard time resuming reading. However, at the end of the day, I can say I did enjoy it.

I have no plans to finish the series though.

The Johnstown Flood

Author: David McCullough
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1987
Pages: 304
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 people. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal.

Graced by David McCullough's remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in nineteenth-century America, of overweening confidence, of energy, and of tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.

The bestselling author of The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback makes available again his classic chronicle of the tragic Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood of 1889.

Review: What a tragedy, and McCullough is the best author to tell the story. Having both read this book, my fiancé and I plan to visit Johnstown in the very near future. I visited the flood museum once with an old college friend who grew up in Johnstown. However, I had no real points of reference, nor did I know much about the flood itself. It is sure to be a different experience this time.

David McCullough Books
The Pioneers
Truman