1princessgarnet
Flip of the calendar! Share your reads this month.
Current read: The Mirror of Great Britain: The Life of King James VI & I by Clare Jackson.
Current read: The Mirror of Great Britain: The Life of King James VI & I by Clare Jackson.
2stevesbookstuff
Current Read: The Feather Wars
On the list for this month: Open Space: From Earth to Eternity and True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color and if I can fit it in American Scoundrel
On the list for this month: Open Space: From Earth to Eternity and True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color and if I can fit it in American Scoundrel
3PocheFamily
Two audiobooks:
1. Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons - so far a really detailed history of the people, places, and activities of the Australian coast watchers in the early days of the Pacific World War II. I've always wondered about these people, having been exposed early in life to both the pop culture movies and musicals involving them, but remembering the headlines of the two Japanese counterparts discovered still at it in the early 1970s (Google identifies them as "Shoichi Yokoi on Guam in 1972 and Hiroo Onoda in the Philippines in 1974").
2. Here, Right Matters: An American Story - again, something I want to know more about as the headlines of the time were overwhelming. I'm only a couple chapters into the book but find these early chapters to be a compelling memoir so far.
1. Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons - so far a really detailed history of the people, places, and activities of the Australian coast watchers in the early days of the Pacific World War II. I've always wondered about these people, having been exposed early in life to both the pop culture movies and musicals involving them, but remembering the headlines of the two Japanese counterparts discovered still at it in the early 1970s (Google identifies them as "Shoichi Yokoi on Guam in 1972 and Hiroo Onoda in the Philippines in 1974").
2. Here, Right Matters: An American Story - again, something I want to know more about as the headlines of the time were overwhelming. I'm only a couple chapters into the book but find these early chapters to be a compelling memoir so far.
4Shrike58
Knocked off Against the World, which seeks to compare the anti-globalism of the 1919-1939 period as a foil to our current period of international economic turbulence. It had its moments, but I suspect that I'm not part of the intended readership; a little too basic for me.
5PatrickMurtha
Back after a long hiatus - I was attending to personal matters (you know how it is) and had so little time. Now I hope I have a bit more.
Something that has been keeping me busy is that my animal family has grown to the proportion of a small sanctuary, with currently nine dogs and nine indoor cats. Thank goodness costs are lower here in Mexico.
I may repeat this message (more or less) in some other groups, so if you read it more than once, my apologies! I am going to try to participate in fewer groups this time, here and at Goodreads, because going too big is always my temptation.
Something that has been keeping me busy is that my animal family has grown to the proportion of a small sanctuary, with currently nine dogs and nine indoor cats. Thank goodness costs are lower here in Mexico.
I may repeat this message (more or less) in some other groups, so if you read it more than once, my apologies! I am going to try to participate in fewer groups this time, here and at Goodreads, because going too big is always my temptation.
6Rome753
Recently finished Understanding Thomas Jefferson by E.M. Halliday. It focuses primarily on the beliefs, personal relationships, and influences of Thomas Jefferson. Generally found the book to be very interesting.
I'm currently reading through Vienna 1814 by David King. It covers the Congress of Vienna, and explores many of the events and dynamics of the international meeting. It's very informative, and I'm learning a fair amount.
I'm currently reading through Vienna 1814 by David King. It covers the Congress of Vienna, and explores many of the events and dynamics of the international meeting. It's very informative, and I'm learning a fair amount.
7jztemple
>6 Rome753: I read that a while ago and found it pretty good. I also read Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna by Adam Zamoyski which covers more events and views the Congress of Vienna in a broader scope.
8Rome753
>7 jztemple: That sounds very interesting.
9Blythewood
>7 jztemple: how do these books compare to Kissinger's "A World Restored"? I understand this book is from the '50's, but I recall it as a very thorough book on the Peace Conference and the ramifications of the decisions made in Vienna.
10jztemple
>9 Blythewood: I haven't read the Kissinger book so I can't compare them. But I'll put it on my wishlist.
12Shrike58
Wrapped up Inventing the Renaissance, or at least as much as I'm going to at the current moment. On one hand, Palmer has an actual novelist's eye for character. On the other, she doesn't get lost in the weeds so much as lovingly attends to them! A book you nibble at rather than chomp down at one go, and which actually presumes a lot of prior knowledge. It might also be noted that if she has a particular paradigmatic figure who tells you what the Renaissance was really about, it's Machiavelli.
14cindydavid4
really enjoying eleanor 200 mile walkI was concerned about reviews that said the author was too much ij the story but i think she does fine. I knew alot about Edward who brutally put down the scotts and welsh. but didnt know not much about his queen. when she died he commissioned 12 crosses to be placed where she rested on the way to her tomb .tne kings grief leads her to talk about the subject during those day. I saw the king in a more sympathetic light and I learned how much she did for thw people in england in those days. willl finish soon
15princessgarnet
>14 cindydavid4: I have a copy of this book! It was really interesting.
The biography Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen by Sara Cockerill (2016 paperback edition) looks worthwhile.
The biography Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen by Sara Cockerill (2016 paperback edition) looks worthwhile.
16cindydavid4
>15 princessgarnet: oh excellent im eager to read it!
17PatrickMurtha
Andrea Sutcliffe, Steam: The Untold Story of America’s First Great Invention – I like deep-dive popular historíes on tightly defined subjects, and this is a splendid example, recounting the adventures of John Fitch, James Rumsey, Robert Fulton, and others in pursuit of a workable steamboat around the turn of the 19th Century.
As with Tom Lewis’s book about early radio, Empire of the Air, one of the lessons here is, don’t get involved with patents, or litigation, or especially patent litigation, because you will fritter your life away, and 50/50 you will still lose. I know this not only from books, but because as a young man I worked both as a litigation paralegal and a patent paralegal, and my goodness, you do not want to go there. Business people who spend much of their time shuttling in and out of court, all I can say is, they can have their money, I wouldn’t want that life.
As with Tom Lewis’s book about early radio, Empire of the Air, one of the lessons here is, don’t get involved with patents, or litigation, or especially patent litigation, because you will fritter your life away, and 50/50 you will still lose. I know this not only from books, but because as a young man I worked both as a litigation paralegal and a patent paralegal, and my goodness, you do not want to go there. Business people who spend much of their time shuttling in and out of court, all I can say is, they can have their money, I wouldn’t want that life.
18Shrike58
Finished up Engineering America over the weekend, the story of how John Roebling went from just another German immigrant, to something of an exemplary public figure; though not to his son Washington!
19princessgarnet
From the library: The Last Emperor of Mexico by Edward Shawcross
20AndreasJ
Finished my review copy of Birth of the Byzantine Army volume 2.
22cindydavid4
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen
by Sara Cockerill
incredible biography of a queen from the 1300 . when she died her husband King Edward I commissioned a cross memorial to be built in 12 places in London. this is one of the best biographies I have read.
Why did you choose to read this book
I have always been interested in English history esp medieval history and especially about royalty of England I have read much about the kings and queens and remember reading a bit about Queen Eleanor the wife Edward the First that she had died and had comissioned 12 crosses to be placed along the path where she journeyed from her home to her grave'
Synopsis without spoilers
Eleanor of Castile, the remarkable woman behind England's greatest medieval king, Edward I, has been effectively airbrushed from history; yet she had one of the most fascinating lives of any of England's queens. Her childhood was spent in the centre of the Spanish reconquest and was dominated by her military hero of a father (St Ferdinand) and her prodigiously clever brother (King Alfonso X the Learned). Married at the age of twelve and a mother at thirteen, she gave birth to at least sixteen children, most of whom died young. She was a prisoner for a year amid a civil war in which her husband's life was in acute danger. Devoted to Edward, she accompanied him everywhere. All in all, she was to live for extended periods in five different countries.Eleanor was a highly dynamic, forceful personality who acted as part of Edward's innermost circle of advisers, and successfully accumulated a vast property empire for the English Crown. In cultural terms her influence in architecture and design - and even gardening - can be discerned to this day, while her idealised image still speaks to us from Edward's beautiful memorials to her, the Eleanor crosses. This book reveals her untold story.
Just realized I had not finished this review I highly recommend this to anyone that is interested in English royalty and the queens and amazing women I rated a 5 and maybe even put a plus to that too
by Sara Cockerill
incredible biography of a queen from the 1300 . when she died her husband King Edward I commissioned a cross memorial to be built in 12 places in London. this is one of the best biographies I have read.
Why did you choose to read this book
I have always been interested in English history esp medieval history and especially about royalty of England I have read much about the kings and queens and remember reading a bit about Queen Eleanor the wife Edward the First that she had died and had comissioned 12 crosses to be placed along the path where she journeyed from her home to her grave'
Synopsis without spoilers
Eleanor of Castile, the remarkable woman behind England's greatest medieval king, Edward I, has been effectively airbrushed from history; yet she had one of the most fascinating lives of any of England's queens. Her childhood was spent in the centre of the Spanish reconquest and was dominated by her military hero of a father (St Ferdinand) and her prodigiously clever brother (King Alfonso X the Learned). Married at the age of twelve and a mother at thirteen, she gave birth to at least sixteen children, most of whom died young. She was a prisoner for a year amid a civil war in which her husband's life was in acute danger. Devoted to Edward, she accompanied him everywhere. All in all, she was to live for extended periods in five different countries.Eleanor was a highly dynamic, forceful personality who acted as part of Edward's innermost circle of advisers, and successfully accumulated a vast property empire for the English Crown. In cultural terms her influence in architecture and design - and even gardening - can be discerned to this day, while her idealised image still speaks to us from Edward's beautiful memorials to her, the Eleanor crosses. This book reveals her untold story.
Just realized I had not finished this review I highly recommend this to anyone that is interested in English royalty and the queens and amazing women I rated a 5 and maybe even put a plus to that too
25princessgarnet
Henry VIII's True Daughter: Catherine Carey, A Tudor Life by Wendy J. Dunn
Biography of Catherine Boleyn Carey, who was likely Henry VIII's daughter.
Biography of Catherine Boleyn Carey, who was likely Henry VIII's daughter.
26Shrike58
Wrapped up the month with Appeasement, which certainly lived up to the hype for me, and which makes me want to hunt down Tim Bouverie's new book on Allied relations during WWII sooner than later.
27jztemple
For the end of the month I finished The General's General: The Life And Times Of Arthur Macarthur by Kenneth Ray Young
29Blythewood
>26 Shrike58: I found this book quite illuminating when I read it. Here is my review from when I read it.
I found this book to be a solid, modern contribution to understanding the policy of Appeasement. I am not as well versed on the interwar years as I might like to be, so my reading into the issues of the era is not as deep as many others people. Having said that, this book, as a piece of narrative history (as opposed to analytical history), helped to give me a firm sense of why and how the policy of Chamberlain came about. Bouverie makes to point repeatedly that many politicians of the 1930s were determined to avoid another war at all costs. One point I would like to have seen made more firmly was the West's willingness to tolerate the excesses of Naziism because of the feeling that the Soviet Union and Communism were far greater threats.
I found this book to be a solid, modern contribution to understanding the policy of Appeasement. I am not as well versed on the interwar years as I might like to be, so my reading into the issues of the era is not as deep as many others people. Having said that, this book, as a piece of narrative history (as opposed to analytical history), helped to give me a firm sense of why and how the policy of Chamberlain came about. Bouverie makes to point repeatedly that many politicians of the 1930s were determined to avoid another war at all costs. One point I would like to have seen made more firmly was the West's willingness to tolerate the excesses of Naziism because of the feeling that the Soviet Union and Communism were far greater threats.
30ulmannc
I finished up Rio Grande Glory Days, the second book I read by Gilbert A. Lathrop. More Colorado Railroading. He jumped up to the standard gauge equipment and it was lots of fun. It's right in there with Little Engines and Big Men. Thank you again Librarything Railroad (The LTR) group.
