Hello, reader…
It’s been a busy summer but I’m so happy we were able to squeeze in a gathering for July. As always, many intriguing titles were shared…I hope you find something among them to pique your interest.
A History of the Soviet Union: From the Beginning to Its Legacy, 3rd Edition by Peter Kenez
Sierra is partway through this one and commented that it’s pretty readable and fairly concise. She observed that one of the trade-offs in any history book is what the author chooses to focus on – which details to include and when to provide a mere overview. Here, for example, there is more treatment of the Bolsheviks as a group with a bit more color around Lenin while not necessarily getting into a great deal of detail. Overall, Sierra is enjoying this book.
Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 by Stephen Kotkin
Along with the Kenez book, Sierra is also reading this more focused history and noted that it’s interesting to read a history about a period of time that she lived through (though not living in Russia). The Kotkin book is very readable and enjoyable.
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
FireWoman read this historical fiction about a woman who was born at average weight and length, but stopped growing when she was really young. She was not a dwarf, but a diminutive-sized person. Her younger sister was born the same. All other siblings were normal sized. This is the same thing for the real Tom Thumb who was with Barnum Circus. It is her story and what a story it is. Firewoman really enjoyed this read – she couldn’t put it down! – though it was sad in parts.
The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende
With a renewed desire to read more Allende, Firewoman picked up this story of a young Austrian boy who survives Kristallnacht and sent to London with other Jewish children to be safe from the oncoming war. The other side of the story is a young girl in El Salvador during contemporary times who is escaping the murder and crime in her country to come to the United States.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
FireWoman initially borrowed this in eBook format from her local library and found the translation to be horrible. So she looked for a different translation and enjoyed it very much.
The Electricity of Every Living Thing: A Woman’s Walk in the Wild to Find her Way Home by Katherine May
Zoe read this book about a woman who walks the South West Coast Path in England to spend time with herself and try to make sense of her behavior. Along the way, she listens to a radio programme and a lightbulb goes on in her head….that she’s autistic. So the book is about her walk and about her journey to confirm that she’s autistic…and what to do with that diagnosis and her new vocabulary. Zoe enjoyed the self-discovery bits but found the descriptions of the actual walk to be rather boring.
The date for our August gathering is TBD….but coming soon!
The Reading Room 