The Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
A Biography by Jill LePore
This delightful and surprising book about Ben Franklin’s little sister Jane
throws a light on life in colonial America. Benny and Jenny exchanged
frequent letters for over 63 years despite rarely seeing each other in
person. Jane Mecom was the mother of 12 children and faced years of
poverty. She shared domestic news and also kept Franklin informed about
public opinion when he was abroad. This book is a rare opportunity to hear
what life was like for a colonial woman and to wonder what her life could
have been if there had there been as many opportunities for Jane as there
were for Ben.
Reviewed by Mary Davies
A Biography by Jill LePore
This delightful and surprising book about Ben Franklin’s little sister Jane
throws a light on life in colonial America. Benny and Jenny exchanged
frequent letters for over 63 years despite rarely seeing each other in
person. Jane Mecom was the mother of 12 children and faced years of
poverty. She shared domestic news and also kept Franklin informed about
public opinion when he was abroad. This book is a rare opportunity to hear
what life was like for a colonial woman and to wonder what her life could
have been if there had there been as many opportunities for Jane as there
were for Ben.
Reviewed by Mary Davies
What a book! What a voice! I have some idea of how Kingsolver found Demon’s voice
and recorded it for us to hear, but in so many ways this is beyond any of her previous
voices and characters. I am absolutely astounded at how real, immediate, believable,
and engaging Demon and his world are.
That last part is important, because Demon’s world is our world. I found myself
wondering as I read it how it would come across to anyone who doesn’t live and work in
Appalachia, and even how it might come across to folks who do live and work in
Appalachia but who don’t regularly have contact with people who have lived lives like
Demon’s. Working in a library, we see Demon and his friends, family, and neighbors all
the time. Somehow though, Kingsolver was able to capture all the different types we
see without it devolving into stereotype. These are the people who come into my library
every day, and while I hope that I fit into the type represented by Mr. Armstrong, I’m
sure that you can find me in others here as well. Demon is the kids who I saw in my
library, and while I know what they’re going through and how they will likely end up, I
really do hope they end up where Demon does. The sad reality is that all too many of
them won’t make it, the same way so many of Demon’s friends end up.
I really can’t emphasize enough: this story is not overblown or exaggerated. I think it
may be tempting for anyone who doesn’t live in these areas or spend time here to think
that it surely can’t show more be like this. But it is. Kingsolver’s genius is to represent all of that
realistically but not luridly. You never feel like a poverty tourist or a junkie voyeur. You
are witnessing what has happened and what continues to happen to Appalachia. I hope
that many people who think that the people of Appalachia are helpless, drug-addicted,
work-averse fools read this book and realize how wrong they were. I hope that people
who thought Hillbilly Elegy was an insightful glimpse into the problems in Appalachia
read this book and revise that view.
Here are the people of Appalachia, and here is how they will survive. by Nick Tepe, son of Jerry and Holly Tepe show less
and recorded it for us to hear, but in so many ways this is beyond any of her previous
voices and characters. I am absolutely astounded at how real, immediate, believable,
and engaging Demon and his world are.
That last part is important, because Demon’s world is our world. I found myself
wondering as I read it how it would come across to anyone who doesn’t live and work in
Appalachia, and even how it might come across to folks who do live and work in
Appalachia but who don’t regularly have contact with people who have lived lives like
Demon’s. Working in a library, we see Demon and his friends, family, and neighbors all
the time. Somehow though, Kingsolver was able to capture all the different types we
see without it devolving into stereotype. These are the people who come into my library
every day, and while I hope that I fit into the type represented by Mr. Armstrong, I’m
sure that you can find me in others here as well. Demon is the kids who I saw in my
library, and while I know what they’re going through and how they will likely end up, I
really do hope they end up where Demon does. The sad reality is that all too many of
them won’t make it, the same way so many of Demon’s friends end up.
I really can’t emphasize enough: this story is not overblown or exaggerated. I think it
may be tempting for anyone who doesn’t live in these areas or spend time here to think
that it surely can’t show more be like this. But it is. Kingsolver’s genius is to represent all of that
realistically but not luridly. You never feel like a poverty tourist or a junkie voyeur. You
are witnessing what has happened and what continues to happen to Appalachia. I hope
that many people who think that the people of Appalachia are helpless, drug-addicted,
work-averse fools read this book and realize how wrong they were. I hope that people
who thought Hillbilly Elegy was an insightful glimpse into the problems in Appalachia
read this book and revise that view.
Here are the people of Appalachia, and here is how they will survive. by Nick Tepe, son of Jerry and Holly Tepe show less
Book Review by Nance Ruhm
THE DEMON OF UNREST by Erik Larson is certainly one of
the most interesting, fascinating and well researched books I
have ever read. Larson’s books have been written about events
which many of us may have studied in high school history
courses but have long forgotten. I read several reviews from
readers which varied tremendously. Some found the book
“boring”, a “slow pace”, or “disappointed”, while others “couldn’t
put it down”, saw it as “spellbinding” and found it “very
readable”.
To summarize the book from Goodreads: “THE DEMON OF
UNREST is a non-fiction thriller about the five months between
Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War”. The enormous
number of quotes from both famous and obscure citizens from
the North and the South bring all the characters to life as the
leaders of both attempts to escape a civil war. The defense of
Fort Sumter, located on an island in Charleston Harbor and
defended by the Unionists, is surrounded by secessionist
Southerners of Charleston and is foremost in the book. The
battles between the two forces are unremitting and intense. I
found myself cheering Fort Sumter’s leader, Major Robert
Anderson and was quite disappointed when he ultimately
surrendered the Fort to the South.
If you are a history buff, a lover of the books about Lincoln and
his presidency or just want to renew your knowledge of or
interest in our country’s Civil War era, I highly recommend this
book.
Erik Larson is a great show more writer! show less
THE DEMON OF UNREST by Erik Larson is certainly one of
the most interesting, fascinating and well researched books I
have ever read. Larson’s books have been written about events
which many of us may have studied in high school history
courses but have long forgotten. I read several reviews from
readers which varied tremendously. Some found the book
“boring”, a “slow pace”, or “disappointed”, while others “couldn’t
put it down”, saw it as “spellbinding” and found it “very
readable”.
To summarize the book from Goodreads: “THE DEMON OF
UNREST is a non-fiction thriller about the five months between
Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War”. The enormous
number of quotes from both famous and obscure citizens from
the North and the South bring all the characters to life as the
leaders of both attempts to escape a civil war. The defense of
Fort Sumter, located on an island in Charleston Harbor and
defended by the Unionists, is surrounded by secessionist
Southerners of Charleston and is foremost in the book. The
battles between the two forces are unremitting and intense. I
found myself cheering Fort Sumter’s leader, Major Robert
Anderson and was quite disappointed when he ultimately
surrendered the Fort to the South.
If you are a history buff, a lover of the books about Lincoln and
his presidency or just want to renew your knowledge of or
interest in our country’s Civil War era, I highly recommend this
book.
Erik Larson is a great show more writer! show less
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies by Jason Fagone
Filed in Biographies under "Smith" Elizabeth Smith Friedman
Red Famine has been named by many sources (The Guardian, New York Times), as the #1 book to understand the relationship between Ukraine and Russia. Highly recommended.
"Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked..." To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home.
Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.
Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn't ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn't ask questions, either.
Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the "Waldorf of Harlem"—and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.
Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for show more all your quality home furniture needs?
Harlem Shuffle's ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.
But mostly, it's a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead. show less
Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.
Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn't ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn't ask questions, either.
Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the "Waldorf of Harlem"—and volunteers Ray's services as the fence. The heist doesn't go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.
Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for show more all your quality home furniture needs?
Harlem Shuffle's ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.
But mostly, it's a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead. show less