Reading in the Garden

Of Love and Art I loved this historical fiction about four major players in the Impressionism movement in the late 1800s: Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas and centering mainly on new-comer Mary Cassatt. This book allowed me to be a fly on the wall in the complicated relationship between Cassatt and Degas.  It answered the nagging question of if they were a couple or not, all the while meandering through the art world as well as family trauma. I also walked along with Manet in his relationship with his sister-in-law, Morisot and his devastating medical diagnosis.  This book offered great insight into the art world.  Oliveira conjures up the artists’ insecurities, their disappointments when the critics panned their work, as well as the triumphant jubilations when success finally reached them.   A great read! Here are some of my favorite pieces from them: Left: Mary Cassatt’s sister  Mlle Lydia Cassatt , 1880.  Center: Edgar Degas’s  Green Dancer, 1879. Right:

Heroism in Hell.    A moving, well-written, important story that brings terrifying and heroic aspects of history to life.    This book is an absorbing read that alternates between two storylines.  Stephan is a Jewish boy who watches his world crumble when Hitler annexes Austria March 12, 1938. In the meantime, a true-life Dutch heroine, Geertruida Wijsmuller puts her own life at risk over and over to transport children to the safety of London.  She's involved in the Kindertransport which organizes the herculean effort of rescuing 10,000 kids in the months leading to WWII.   Very good book! Further reading about the Holocaust: Night  by Elie Wiesel  In Our Hearts We Were Giants   by Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev The Lady in Gold  by Anne-Marie O’Connor – Historical Fiction Novels set in WWII: We Were the Lucky Ones  by Georgia Hunter   (Based on  the  author's own family.) Sarah’s Key  by Tatiana De Rosnay   (About the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in Paris)

Forging Her Own Future.    Hold on to your hats! This book is like an unstoppable, runaway train.  It's gaining momentum with a buzz that's quickly turning into a loud thunder crack.   Educated  is an explosive memoir of a girl's rise above an unimaginable childhood.  Tara overcomes enormous obstacles — namely her family to get an education and she now holds a PhD. Tara's dad was a religious zealot who didn’t trust the medical establishment or the government. Four of his seven children did not attend any kind of school, and no burn or injury was bad enough to bring them to a hospital. The mother was supposed to homeschool the kids, but that fell to the wayside when the father kept them busy working (without any regard to their safety) in his junkyard.  Add an abusive brother to the mix, and it’s a miracle that Tara could forge her own destiny with so many anchors weighing her down. This book is jaw-dropping good.    I was supposed to wait for my book clu