Book For The Week: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers

by

Alice Hoffman

The library reading group selection for the library in Wilmington, Ohio for November was The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.   Even though I did not get moved in time to attend the meeting, I "read along" by listening to the novel on audio while driving these past few weeks.  Written about the same area of the world as The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, and also about women,  The Dovekeepers has some similarities but is written about a different time frame.   The Dovekeepers  is divided into four parts, each a narrative by a different woman.   It is a historical novel set in 70 - 73 CE (AD), in the Middle East and addresses the Jewish Culture and women who live with in it.  Most of the book takes place in a mountain top fortress called Massada and describes the role of the Romans in the common person's point of view.  I highly recommend this book.  Although difficult to get in to the plot for the first quarter by the second quarter one is getting pulled in and by the last fourth the book is difficult to leave alone till one finishes.  Please click on the author's name and book titles above to learn more and enjoy the two  videos that follow.  

Saturday Night At The Movies: Free Birds

My daughter, Nicole, and I took the grand kids,  Haily and Tyler, to see "Free Birds"  last pm at the local theater.  It is a cute movie with the best ending ever.  But did the pilgrims really have dynamite?

Book For The Week: Catherine The Great by Robert K. Massie

Catherine The Great

by

Robert K Massie

The month of November's choice for the library reading group I attend is Catherine The Great: Portrait Of A Woman  by Robert K Massie.   It was a challenge for me to read due both the length of the book and the Russian names throughout.  But I got through it and gleaned some understanding.  As a young girl Catherine's name was Sophia and when she was taken to Russia to marry the prince they renamed her Catherine.  She was only 14 and her marriage was not happy.  She spent a lot of years alone and read a lot of books.  Since her reign was in the latter 1700s a great deal of what she read and studied had to do with the enlightenment era which is something she had in common with the men who founded the US.  Unable to implement some of the principles she had read about she was horrified to learn what happened in France and changed her mind and felt she needed to keep a firm reign on the people.   Because her marriage was so unhappy both she and her husband maintained other relationships.  Later when she was a widow and a Empress she had a series of younger lovers through out her life.  Catherine II is known for the social reforms she began in education and health care in her country.  She is also famous for the art she brought to Russia.  One thing that she valued was humor.  I was impressed by her reading,  her cougar behavior,  and the importance she stressed in laughter.  This book is a very well written informative book.  Click on the links above on the title and author's name to learn more.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Book Of The Week 11/05/13: Fall Of Giants by Ken Follett

Fall Of Giants 

by

Ken Follett

     World War I is not a subject I have had much exposure to prior to this novel.   I have read a fair amount about WWII but WWI is not a subject I remember much about in school or as subject matter for any other historical novel or biography I have read prior to this one.  And certainly the Russian Revolution was  presented in a rather slanted point of view during my education which was colored at the time by The Cold War.   In his novel,  Fall Of Giants,  Ken Follett does a wonderful job of showing all sides of the issues that were happening on the world scene in the early 20th Century.  His series,  The Century Trilogy,  which are three books spanning the 1900s,  are something I am looking forward to completing after enjoying this first book of the three.    The author takes five families from five different countries and five different socio-economic groups and follows them through the first 25 years or so of the 20th Century.  The Russian Revolution is presented from the point of view of not only Russian factory workers but also Russian Aristocrats,  Welsh Mine Workers and also English Nobility,  both German Intelligence and Upper Middle Class Americans.  WWI is also presented from these various points of view.  Many facts jumped out at me as I listened to the audio version of this book.   For example, I realized that a rather insignificant event snowballed into  WWI.  Perhaps not insignificant to those involved as there was a murder but the death of two people and the refusal of one country to apologize to another  did not justify a world war.  See HERE.   I had to think of one of the books I used to read my kids by Rosetta Stone called Because A Little Bug Went Kachoo.    The Fall Of Giants by Ken Follett is a book that I have talked to others about as I listened and a book that I would recommend to every one to read.    Click on the links above to learn more and enjoy the video that follows.