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...

Downtown

Downtown chronicles the fast-paced life and loves of Maureen "Smoky" O'Donnell, a magazine writer in 1960's Atlanta. Working at a frenetic city magazine called Downtown, Smoky experiences the sometimes violent reactions of a Southern city to the civil rights movement, hippie counterculture, the sexual revolution, and the war in Vietnam. The people she meets in the big city are worlds away from her childhood Irish working-class Corkie neighborhood of Savannah, Georgia. And the man she ends up with is quite the opposite of her first love, from the tony Buckhead section of old Atlanta society money. Take a trip back to bell-bottoms and go-go-boots in Downtown!

Fallen Skies

Fallen Skies is by one of my favorite authors, Philippa Gregory. Her typical stories occur in Tudor England, but this thriller is set in post-WWI Portsmouth, England. Lily Pears meets and marries the rich and handsome, but unbalanced, war hero Stephen Winters, breaking with her dream of singing on the stage. The doting Charlie Smith, another war veteran, loves Lily but cannot fulfill her dreams of a future with him. The mysterious Coventry, Stephen's batman from his war command, lurks mutely near, loyally serving his commander Stephen. All is undone when Stephen and Lily's baby, Christopher, disappears amidst a failed marriage, strained family relationships, and Stephen's unwinding mental state. A great read for a wintry weekend!

The Seekers

The Seekers was a bear to get through. This book takes a sweeping ride through the ages describing the times and views of great wisdom seekers and philosophers, including the ancient Greeks, Martin Luther, Hegel, and many more. Although I learned new information about the ancient Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle that will be useful for the Jeopardy test someday, I had to bail after the chapter on Karl Marx about 2/3 of the way through. Don't tackle this one unless you have a heart for philosophy, or a bad bout of insomnia!

New feature: books I have read

Hi! Today I added a list to my blog: books I have read. I love to read, mostly US or European history, science, historical fiction. So let's get started with my first finished book of 2010...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society combines a rollicking story set in the post-World War II timeframe, a touching (if not misdirected) romance, and a slice of little-known history into one volume. The writing style uses a flow of letters back and forth among the characters. It's hard to follow at first, until you become comfortable with the characters and their interrelationships. But once you catch the drift, the story unfolds easily, with a few great turnarounds along the way. Touching, funny, surprising, sad, all in one. Even the acknowledgments and afterword in the back of the book touched my heart. Thanks, Michele, for recommending this one!