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. ...

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 ...

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 supp...

Bryson’s Africa.    This super slim 50-page book is brimming with Bill Bryson’s usual mix of humor, interesting insights and information—this time about his 2002 trip to Nairobi, Kenya.  While Bill saw beautiful green grassy stretches with herds of impalas, zebras, families of baboons, and thousands of pink flamingos, most of the trip was eye-opening for different reasons. One stop was at an enormous slum with 700,000 inhabitants living without running water in horrendous conditions. Another destination was CARE’s refugee camp where thousands of Somalis and others seek shelter, food, and work.   A journey that was rife with danger and despair, this is one excursion I’m glad to read about without a twinge of temptation to undertake it myself.  It made me acutely aware of the blessings, comforts, and luxuries I take for granted—like running water. Bryson’s trip was sponsored by CARE International, the leading poverty-fighting organizatio...

Bad-Ass Women.    I love this book about women who made significant contributions to the world!  The easily digestible, bite-size bios provide just enough information to discover what the selected ladies were famous (or infamous) for. I had heard of Lady Godiva, for instance, but I thought she was just some free spirit riding naked through town.  Little did I know that her nude exhibition was spurred on by her own husband in exchange for lower taxes for the people!  There were many women I learned about from successful pirate captains to a sixty-three-year old daredevil who packed herself in a barrel and plummeted down Niagara Falls.  Doctors, inventors, scientists, conservationists, suffragettes, pharaoh, soldiers, nurses, pinup girls, and entertainers, the list goes on to explore one hundred women who were not necessarily bad, but definitely bad-ass.  This is a book I will be passing on to my granddaughters so that they ...

Stars of the Silent Screen. Melanie Benjamin is quickly becoming my go-to historical fiction author.  She continuously cranks out one book after another exploring bygone eras and fascinating people.   The Girls in the Picture  is an interesting read about two pioneers in the film industry.  Mary Pickford was a silent screen superstar. Frances Marion was a screenwriter.  Together they took the movie industry by storm:  each one gaining celebrity and becoming the highest paid women in their fields.  But nothing is ever as easy as it seems. This book sifts through the challenges they faced as ladies who dared to follow their own dreams and delves into their friendship complicated by power and jealousy. Other Books by Melanie Benjamin: - The Aviator’s Wife - The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb -Alice I Have Been -The Swans of Fifth Avenue -Mistress of the Ritz Happy Reading, Annette 

Time-Traveling Love Story. An enchanted, time-traveling romance about a Grand Central Terminal worker in the 1930s who meets a woman from the ‘20s. Besides the intrigue of time travel, I was drawn in by the rich historical references: the descriptions of Grand Central Terminal, the 1939 New York World’s Fair, and the phenomenon called Manhattanhenge. The images of a different time period combined with the heartfelt connection of Joe and Nora ran like a full motion picture in my mind.  Good book! Happy  Reading! Annette