The Ninth Daughter

Picked this one up at Mount Prospect Public Library... The Ninth Daughter is the first in a new series of Abigail Adams mysteries. A woman is murdered in Boston at Abigail's friend's home, amid the prelude to the Boston Tea Party. Abigail plays detective to retrieve the codebook critical to communications among the Sons of Liberty, and to save her friend, who has mysteriously disappeared. Abigail Adams was an educated, beautiful woman who played her own critical part in the Revolution while juggling a household of young children. Founding fathers, hah! Hail to the founding mothers!

The Lost Continent

I was drawn to this book after reading the author's story of his hike over (not quite all of) the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods, a funny, poignant, harsh look at the folly of two middle-aged tenderfoots (or is that tenderfeet...) taking a hike for hundreds of miles with tents and meager provisions. This effort, The Lost Continent, details Bryson's attempt to reignite childhood family vacation memories by taking a drive around the USA in his Chevette. A Des Moines, Iowa native, Bryson moved to England for almost two decades, then returned to the States. Unfortunately, what could have been another great travelogue ended up as a whiny diatribe against modern America. Yes, we have more drive-up windows, guns, obese tourists, giant RVs, bad visitor centers, greasy diners and "roach motels" than merry olde England, but there must be more than five picturesque places around America. He can only find compliments for a few small towns of perfect quality, and predictably, the old hometown, Des Moines. I guess he's never been to the America I've seen. Chalk this one up to "you can never come home again." Pass the slow traffic in the right lane and read something else.

The Know-It-All

The Know-It-All follows the endeavor of Esquire writer A.J. Jacobs to read through the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. Fascinating overarching themes emerge across the historical record chronicled in the encyclopaedia articles: artists' and writers' suicide, war, invention, marrying your cousin, syphilis (not necessarily related to the prior item), insight, genius, luck. Jacobs interweaves his concurrent life story among the alphabetical review of EB material, and often, as it is said, life imitates art. This funny, cerebral, irreverent look at the world's premier body of accumulated facts [in thirty-two volumes, four pounds each, 33,000 pages, 65,000 articles, 44 million words, $1,400] will keep you laughing and thinking.

Daughter of York

Daughter of York tells the story of Margaret of York, born in 1446, sister of Edward IV and Richard III, wife of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. The great thing about historical fiction is that it takes great characters of history and adds plot elements and characters to augment the story. This book does both well. A rousing love story between Margaret and Lord Rivers, Anthony Woodville, brother of Elizabeth, England's Queen, adds the romantic element. Charles is definitely the villain...or is he just a mama's boy and misunderstood? Edward is the larger-than-life older brother...or is he a murderer? Fortunata is a dedicated servant...or is she a witch? Imagine your way through late medieval England and Burgundy in Daughter of York.

Mayflower

Mayflower recounts the story of the Pilgrims preparation for, landing in, and early colonization of New England, but perhaps not the story with which you are familiar. This is the story, based on the historical record, of the Pilgrims' real motivations and exploits in the Plymouth colony. Mayflower also shows the distinct differences between the early colonies in religious persuasion and ethnic heritage, and their role in the growth, survival, and destruction of Plymouth. The story of Pilgrims and Indians living in harmony at the first Thanksgiving is a fable, and the forgotten story of "King Philip's War", the first and bloody war between various Indian tribes and the English settlers is told here in its confusing detail. Shifting sides and broken promises result in the highest death toll in a war (as a percentage of population) ever fought on American soil, and was higher than many foreign wars as well. Still, the small band of English settlers who arrived on the Mayflower and survived the first year sired many present day descendants. Philbrick writes, "In 2002 it was estimated that there were approximately 35 million descendants of the Mayflower passengers in the United States, which represents roughly 10 percent of the total U.S. population." But this book shines a light on the brutal, stubborn, narrow-minded English men, the so-called "Pilgrim fathers", fleeing religious persecution, but full of religious and ethnic intolerance of their own. The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems...