Biographies of Louise Little, Alberta King, and Berdis Baldwin and how their experiences shaped the lives of their famous sons.
I was fascinated to reaBiographies of Louise Little, Alberta King, and Berdis Baldwin and how their experiences shaped the lives of their famous sons.
I was fascinated to read the effect these three women’s lives, interests, and values had on Malcolm X, MLK Jr, and James Baldwin. How Louise’s activism with Marcus Garvey gave Malcolm the confidence he needed to stand up and be heard. How Alberta’s faith and commitment to community drove MLK Jr to improve the lives of all African Americans. How Berdis’s love of words remained a priority in James’s life.
The author does a great job of navigating the three women’s individual lives and then backing out to address how their lives affected their son’s, their families, and their communities. She also brings these themes to the modern day and makes a case for uncovering and uplifting the lives of Black women is needed today....more
**spoiler alert** The subtitle basically summarizes the story, but Nora Titone writes this with such description and emotion that it was easy to imagi**spoiler alert** The subtitle basically summarizes the story, but Nora Titone writes this with such description and emotion that it was easy to imagine this family in this time.
Okay. Biggest things I learned. Spoilers: 1. Basically, imagine if Emilio Estevez [John Wilkes Booth] killed the president because he was jealous of the career his more respected actor brother Charlie Sheen [Edwin Booth] built after their renown actor father Martin Sheen [Junius Booth] dies. 2. Ulysses S. Grant's right-hand man during the Civil War was openly gay, had built Edwin Booth's career, and died penniless. 3. The New York draft riots were scary AF and forced Wilkes to take care of a wounded union soldier and his servant despite his secessionist and racist beliefs. 4. People really hated the Irish before the Civil War.
Easily one of the most engaging history books I've read....more
**spoiler alert** Historian Sarah Vowell digs into the Marquis de LaFayette and his role (and his country’s role) in the establishment of the United S**spoiler alert** Historian Sarah Vowell digs into the Marquis de LaFayette and his role (and his country’s role) in the establishment of the United States. Turns out we owe a lot to the French. SPOILERS: I mean, it’s actual history so you know how it all turned out.
Filling the gaps of my knowledge of this time period with this author’s knowledge, wit, and pop culture references. We get a good look at LaFayette’s motivations and sacrifices to fight in the Revolution. I don’t know how Vowell have avoided pulling out of his narrative to describe the larger things happening in the United States and the world. I just wish it had tightened on him a bit. I guess some of that’s on me; I was expecting more of a biographical sketch. The title isn’t just “LaFayette.” It’s “LaFayette and the Somewhat United States.”
Even so, I enjoyed learning about the actual state of the American army. I appreciate the win so much more knowing how undertrained and lacking in supplies the fighters were. I liked how Vowell brought us out of the history and into modern times with her anecdotes about researching the important places in LaFayette’s life by visiting tourist traps. It’s inspired me to read up more when I visit historical landmarks....more
William Drummond Stewart was a 19th century Scottish noble, a fur trader, and likely a gay man. Turns out the American West—with its lack of social orWilliam Drummond Stewart was a 19th century Scottish noble, a fur trader, and likely a gay man. Turns out the American West—with its lack of social order and women—was probably a huge draw for gay men and other social misfits in the early 19th century.
I’m fascinated with how LGBTQ people lived their lives in the past. It ticks me off that homophobia has erased most of their stories from history. It also ticks me off when well researched books like this one come out and scholars and Goodreads reviewers dismiss the possibility of gay historical figures because of the lack of definitive proof. There will never be proof for most LGBTQ people in the past. No document will ever exist that will flatly state that someone like WDS or Abraham Lincoln or Friedrich von Steuben was gay. But Oscar Wilde and a few Greeks weren’t the only queer people to have lived. We have always existed in the world, and it does the community a disservice to pretend they didn’t. All historians can do is draw conclusions based on the facts of people’s lives. And Benemann did just that.
WDS never married and had a long string of friendships with younger men. He brought Antoine Clement, a notoriously skilled hunter and frontiersman who had never lived in British society, back to Scotland with him to be his “valet,” a position that required him to live in the manor, and not a groundsman, the only job he would be somewhat qualified for. WDS chose to spend many months at a time among men with little possibility of women being around and surrounded himself with other men who were known to be gay. Dude was gay. I’ll grant people that there is reasonable doubt with Honest Abe, but this dude was having costume balls in the Rockies. DUDE WAS GAY. And I’m very happy to have found his story.
Benemann has a very easy-to-read writing style. The book wanders away from WDS for a while, so I think it was too long. But from this story I got a very complete picture of what life was like on the frontier in the 1830s, how people could willfully ignore WDS’s and other's obvious sexual orientations, and the motivations for men in his position to make the choices he’d made....more
Vowell delves into the lives of the Plymouth Colony, their society, their religion, and their relationship to Great Britain. I appreciated the links sVowell delves into the lives of the Plymouth Colony, their society, their religion, and their relationship to Great Britain. I appreciated the links she made to pop culture and the research she put into understanding the legacy of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in our country. I felt it got a little too heavy in interpersonal relationships. I found it hard to keep track of everyone because of the time leaps and the number of people with similar names. Probably great for most people who picked it up; not my cup of tea....more
From Native American berdaches to ACT UP, this book follows the attitudes and treatment of LGBTQ people in the United States.
As a gay man and a histoFrom Native American berdaches to ACT UP, this book follows the attitudes and treatment of LGBTQ people in the United States.
As a gay man and a history buff, I enjoyed Bronski’s take the major events in world history and how they affected the LGBTQ population. For a long time our history was left out of history books, but Bronski does a good job and showing modern LGBTQ people how our predecessors mattered in the past, changed attitudes in their societies to allow the environment, while not ideal decidedly better than in Oscar Wildes time, in which we live today.
I would have preferred more specific stories on, say, Rustin’s contributions to the Civil Rights movement, or Eleanor Roosevelt’s sway with her husband. But since this book encompasses over 300 years I understand why some stories had to be skimmed over.
I have seen other reviewers on Goodreads comment that certain communities were underrepresented in the book. That is true, but Bronski makes a point to say in the beginning that GLBTQ history is difficult to prove. Records actively leave out or codify facts that would have gotten their subjects thrown in jail or killed. Sexualities of people from the past cannot be proven. And retrofitting common identities we know today to people who lived in sexually repressed societies would not be ethical or accurate. Plus, we can’t expect an author writing in 2011 to be up on the common parlance of 2020.
I was disappointed to find no mention of Abraham Lincolns’ possible bisexuality. But, again, it cant be substantiated. Men in that time shared beds and we cannot know if they had sex while doing so. Men and women in that time wrote romantic and emotional letters to their friends that sound very much to people living today like love letters. But we cannot know....more
A detailed account of the life of Theodore Roosevelt from the time he was 10 until his failed run for governor of New York when he was 27.
McCullough A detailed account of the life of Theodore Roosevelt from the time he was 10 until his failed run for governor of New York when he was 27.
McCullough doesn't leave any stone unturned when it comes to his subject matter. He does mostly stick to the interesting parts. I did feel the earlier accounts of Roosevelt as a child was a little redundant. The influence of his older sister Bamie was fascinating. It was interesting to see how she expanded her influence with in the family. The chapters of how he transformed from a sickly child to the hardy naturalist and cowboy we most associate with him was well handled. I liked most the stories of him in North Dakota. How he escaped the city to avoid the dual loss of his mother and wife. No wonder he could work 16 hours a day as a cowboy and a writer. The man had a lot of troubles to dodge....more
I don't know what took me so long to read Sarah Vowell. I like how she finds engaging angles to introduce somewhat obscure American history. For instaI don't know what took me so long to read Sarah Vowell. I like how she finds engaging angles to introduce somewhat obscure American history. For instance, she opens this book about the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley by discussing the little piece of trivia that Lincoln's son, Robert Todd, had the terrible luck of being present on all three occasions. Fascinating. That poor man.
Vowell folds in popular culture (many references to the musical Assassins! which I want to see now) and personal anecdotes (bringing her young nephew along to cemetery and statue trips) into her tales of death and change. The effect is a lighter kind of morbidity. She pokes fun at her gothic tendencies and at the way she convinces her friends to come along on her strange adventures. I will most likely be reading more of her soon....more
A blind French girl flees Paris with her father during the invasion while a German boy trains for his job with the Nazis.
One of the most beautiful boA blind French girl flees Paris with her father during the invasion while a German boy trains for his job with the Nazis.
One of the most beautiful books I've read in years.
Every short chapter is painstakingly sculpted--elegant, crackling, propulsive. The time leaps built suspense and spread foreshadowing to the rest of the chapters. Every detail in Marie-Laure's chapters were so rich in textures and details. The author knew the tropes of a WWII story and made you think he was going there and then turned the plot on its ear. I cared deeply for Marie-Laure, Werner, Frederick, Etienne, and Madame Manoc. After I read the first four chapters I thought to myself, I want to read this book again. I rarely want to read books a second time, especially while I'm still reading them.
Our book group gushed over the characters and the writing. Those in the group who listen to audio books didn't recommend listening to this story: too many names and time jumps made it difficult to follow.
I had to hug the book to my chest for a bit before I put it away. I really can't speak highly enough about what Anthony Doerr has done here.
We selected Signal to Noise by Moreno-Garcia for our next book. We also discussed reading Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart and Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson....more
A nonfiction account of two Mormon brothers who murdered their sister-in-law and toddler niece and expanding outward into a history of the Mormon fundA nonfiction account of two Mormon brothers who murdered their sister-in-law and toddler niece and expanding outward into a history of the Mormon fundamentalist religion.
--------SPOILERS AHOY----------------
I've read quite a bit about Mormon history before so some of the book was not new to me. Even still, I think I would have wished for more about the killers and less about the history; or more obvious connections between the two topics.
The author made a point to discuss the complicated lineages of fundamentalist Mormon families - fundamentalists are those families that practice polygamy. He discussed the treatment of women, the problems inherent to a religious system that is based on dictatorship, and religious persecution in America.
It definitely has me thinking about the money I send the church for my Ancestry subscription. I admire people with strong convictions in their faith; but that admiration lessens when I learn that a faith condemns others for not believing, or if it doesn't allow followers to think for themselves, or when their religious culture settles into Us versus Them. Krakauer's book informed me straight away that Mormon Fundamentalism was solidly built on those three tenets.
This book is an eye-opening look at what happens when zealotry takes the wheel. The fact that Dan has no remorse because he is completely convinced he was an instrument of God when he killed his family members is chilling and unbelievable and retched....more
Two Russian "criminals" set out to complete an impossible task in the middle of the Nazi siege of St. Petersburg. The introduction suggests the story Two Russian "criminals" set out to complete an impossible task in the middle of the Nazi siege of St. Petersburg. The introduction suggests the story is based on family history, which is right up my alley.
I think I'd rate this book at 5 stars and claim it as an all-time favorite, if only I wanted to read it again. I mean that in the best way possible. The most Schindler's List way possible. At the point where Lev and Kolya find the dogs/bombs, my partner asked me if I was all right. I had been sobbing. In bed. Completely unaware that any other reality existed except for that battle field and the sheep dog with one last goal in his life.
The Introduction explains that the story is based on family lore. It is fiction based on lots of research and a few bullet points of truth. This is the kind of writing I'm interested in; the kind of writing I am practicing. So to find such a well written blend of fact and fiction is serendipitous for me.
Benioff was smart to have two such likable narrators take us on this horrific journey of humanity at its ugliest. Kolya's character is clear-as-a-bell about 30 pages in. You know someone who isn't afraid to cross lines with Nazis around probably isn't going to make it through the story. The irony of having it be friendly fire added to the confusion of the times for me. The humor and comradery between the 2 characters balanced out the terrible people they encountered and the ungodly things they saw. This book will stay with me for a very long time....more
Charles Mann details the proof archaeologists have uncovered about the life of North Americans before Columbus entered the scene. Turns out what we leCharles Mann details the proof archaeologists have uncovered about the life of North Americans before Columbus entered the scene. Turns out what we learned in school is completely off the mark.
I remember being taught in school that when Columbus discovered the early Americans he found a savage culture devoid of civilization, complex language, record keeping, or economy. But Mann delves deep into the fact that when Europeans began arriving on the New World's shores, they unleashed a epic spreading of disease that wiped out whole cultures and cities. What they saw was by no means the world in which the Native Americans had lived for thousands of years.
And since the Europeans were so set on the idea that their way was the right way to govern society, they failed to notice the complex and advanced ways of living early Americans proved to have established.
For instance, it was fairly common for European settlers to leave their communities to live with the Indians because their culture was much more community oriented. It was unfathomable to some of the Indian tribes to allow someone in their community to starve like the Europeans did. It was considered rude for a hunter to eat his own kill. He gave his kill to the community and was fed by someone else's quarry. I'm sure they had their drawbacks as well. But Mann's point is to show people that vast cities and trading networks existed in our land for centuries. Silver only found in the Great Lakes has been found in middens (ancient trash heaps) around the mouth of the Mississippi. Conch shells from around the Mississippi have been up as high as Saskatchewan. There was just so much going on. And so many people here to make up the networks and the cities.
Overall an interesting read, but it did get a little dry in parts. ...more
A look at the people who affected the borders of the states. For me, not as enjoyable as the original HTSGTS. It didn't match the humor and bounce.
ThA look at the people who affected the borders of the states. For me, not as enjoyable as the original HTSGTS. It didn't match the humor and bounce.
The biographies get mired down in the thick gravy of legalese sometimes. And there's one person entered into this book who did not affect a state boundary at all. The entry tries to justify its inclusion by stating that the Kansan suffragette changed the borders of her state's human rights. As important as that is, she probably should have been edited out of the geography book.
I did enjoy the Sam Houston and Ethan Allen entries. Those two men had zazz, and I've always wondered exactly how they figured into history....more
It's a little dry. But in a 1950's tv program kind of way. We're used to whistles and bells in our culture nowadays. I know SEVERAL people who won't aIt's a little dry. But in a 1950's tv program kind of way. We're used to whistles and bells in our culture nowadays. I know SEVERAL people who won't attend a movie on the basis of monotony if it doesn't have at least one explosion or murder in it.
This book is not for them. I kept having to remind myself that the book was written 50 years ago. As a textbook. And apparently a very well respected one. George Stewart has a mild humor as he writes. He passes the silly, the overly complicated, and the mundane stories of how we named the New Land mostly in a hurry and mostly without having done it for thousands of years.
I'm a name nerd. So I liked it. I learned the 6 basic ways people name places. I learned that most of the 'Indian' names I grew up around in Michigan were really just badly heard Sioux/Algonquin filtered through badly translated French. Same is true for most of the 'Indian' names of the states. I learned the spelling of Arkansas vs. the pronunciation of Ar-kan-saw caused a lot more furor than one modern reader could believe. Same is true for Mt. McKinley. I learned the county I was born in (Genesee County, Michigan) was named after the county and town in New York state. The Geneseo Indians probably never lived in Michigan. That shoots down a lot of childhood daydreams I had. Alot of the west (west of Appalachia, that is) was named to get people to move there and buy land. That explains all the Mt. Pleasants, the Oak Brooks, the Springfields. I learned that most of the states after the original 13 had been chosen from several different names (i.e. Washington was almost Columbia after the river, Missouri was almost Jefferson, Minnesota was almost Mississippi)....more
I feel pretty accomplished reading this book in its entirety. I had to put it down a couple times, but the writing was engaging enough for me to contiI feel pretty accomplished reading this book in its entirety. I had to put it down a couple times, but the writing was engaging enough for me to continue. Let's face it: any biography of the minutia of an American President can risk running a little on the dry side. And I felt there was a little of that here. But overall, I enjoyed it. It seemed to be as much about Abigail Adams as John, which was gratifying. One might think that a book named solely for the subject of the biography would center around that figure. But McCullough makes a point to say that Adams was a family man from start to finish and that he never took Abigail and her political savvy for granted.
I read this in celebration of the Fourth of July. I am glad to have a better understanding of the tribulations of revolting against the monarchy, the ties that made the early Americans rely on France so and then the unravelling of those ties that almost, thanks to Adams, resulted in war. Not only did I get a sense of Adams' role, but I got a picture of how the first 6 Presidents came to gain the title and their relationship to one another.
Now on to the HBO series to see how they did it!...more
read half of it in one sitting. I'm so not cool. Toward the end though, it got pretty repetitive. The strategy of covering every border one state at aread half of it in one sitting. I'm so not cool. Toward the end though, it got pretty repetitive. The strategy of covering every border one state at a time is good in theory, but if read from cover to cover, could be done in about 25 pages. Things I learned from the book: 1. There was a whole lot of bad surveying going on. 2. Panhandles are the most telling of the political atmosphere back then. Oklahoma has a panhandle because Texas wanted to be a slave state. Florida has a panhandle because it was originally occupied by the Spaniards. Utah has a panhandle solely because of geography. 3. Connecticut actually had land all the way to the Pacific. And is the Eastern Reserve implied in the Cleveland college Case Western Reserve. 4. South Dakota and South Carolina are both weirdly shaped because of Native American reservations. 5. The Spanish and French colonies had a lot more to do with the shape of the eastern states than you'd think. 6. The government had actually intended for the states after the original 13 colonies to be as equal as possible. As evidenced in the size and natural resources of Alabama, Mississippi, Oregon, N & S Dakota, Washington, Colorado, and Wyoming....more
Very dry read. As dry as a book about the first man to use stones to date the landscape could be. Are you snoring yet? I stuck it out though and was sVery dry read. As dry as a book about the first man to use stones to date the landscape could be. Are you snoring yet? I stuck it out though and was somewhat redeemed when the hero of the story gets his recognition after years of being a forerunner to a Steve Carell character. Originally interested in the 'Map' part of the title, but instead of Geography the book focused on Geology. Should really learn to read secondary titles from now on....more
Loewen's cases on why american history textbook editors feel they need to sugarcoat events from our past (Vasco de Gama's Foummm...I loved this book.
Loewen's cases on why american history textbook editors feel they need to sugarcoat events from our past (Vasco de Gama's Fountain of Youth was actually a business venture for more slaves), the reasons certain truths are left out of student's lessons (Woodrow Wilson was a raging racist, having almost single handedly removing African Americans from the White House during his presidency) and the overtly biased slant in our textbooks toward European conquests (in 1492 Columbus discovered the Americas, even though people had already been living there for centuries?) are thought provoking. They helped explain "not-right" feelings I remember having in American Government class with Mr. Dean where the textbook would glide over statements that glaringly required cause and effect reasoning (The US assisted in overthrowing Jacobo Arbenz Guzman in Guatamala at the height of McCarthyism stating the gov't was concerned with stopping the spread of communism. The effect that's left out of the books is rioting occured with the Guatamalan people that was so angry mob-ish that our goverment sent troops into that country over a dozen times the next 12 years killing thousands on both sides.)
And what the author rights about American's sense of entitlement, consumption and progress is stupefyingly applicable to the environmental issues we are currently hearing about. Oh, it pissed me off right....more
so many people have told me to read this book. And I can see why, great dichotomy between a man whose passion is to create and a man whose passion is so many people have told me to read this book. And I can see why, great dichotomy between a man whose passion is to create and a man whose passion is to destroy. I really enjoyed the glimpses into everyday 19th century life. Larson succeeds in making his story of the Worlds Columbian Exposition's creation as it does telling the story of one of the world's first serial killers. He even tactfully and gently handled numerous children being killed.
This was a great piece of nonfiction. The lack of the fifth star, and this is typical with me and nonfiction, equals the lack of connection between the main characters (I did have to remind myself: Holmes and Burnham aren't real people - they are well researched versions of real people) and the author's narrative. I know, I know. Why should I expect nonfiction to read like fiction? Well...I guess that's what made In Cold Blood such a tremendous story. I'm not saying Larson should be ruined by the story's he tells. And I am absolutely sure he was passionate about this topic. I just didn't see it in his writing. And that's why I'm not a big nonfiction reader....more
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