The Dust That Falls From Dreams by Louis de Bernieres

The Dust That Falls From Dreams

by

Louis de Bernieres

This novel was reviewed in TIME Magazine quite some time ago and had been on my wish list to read ever since.  I discovered it was available to check out on my kindle from the State Library of Ohio so I was able to obtain it that way.  It is a very well written book and has been excellently researched historically but I found I really waded through it.  I enjoyed the story line and appreciated the fine writing but it was a bit over my head.  I am used to being able to touch a word on my kindle when I don't know what it means and the dictionary pops the definition up and I can read it and move on.   With this novel there were many words I didn't understand and when I touched the words the dictionary popped up "not found".  I am pretty sure they were British slang words that were popular during the early 20th Century.   There was also a lot of military information as far as aviation and weaponry that went over my head.  One of the main characters was half British and half French so he would throw French phrases out that I didn't understand.   Nevertheless,  I was able to glean enough out of the book to enjoy the story line and get an excellent picture of what life was like during WWI.  It did take me a long time.  I had to renew the book two or three times.  The novel is about a group of neighborhood children who come of age as WWI begins and how they made it through - or don't make it through - and for those that did survive, their struggle in the aftermath to put their lives in order.   I really felt as if I was in the trenches with the soldiers,  in the hospitals with the nurses,  and I could easily empathize as the young people mourned their friends and struggled to move on.   It is an excellent book and I recommend it with some caution.  If you are smarter than me,  if you are a man who is familiar with weapons and aviation,  or if like me you are motivated to struggle a bit,  this book is well worth the effort.  If you are more faint at heart and prefer fluff stories then I suggest you pass on this one.  Please click on the title and author's name above to follow the links for more information.  And please take time to enjoy the video interview of the author below.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge 10/22/16

My grandmother Doris Shively Whitehouse and I before a Mother/Daughter banquet

circa 1967

This week's challenge question is:  When you reflect back as a child, do you now see things that you did then, that show your interest in knowing extended family and/or your future interest in genealogy?  In order to see the other participants links and comments click HERE.  

The short answer for me is no.  But I was lucky since both of my parents parents divorced and remarried so I had twice as many grandparents as my friends.  As a result,  extended family was always a part of my life.  There were family gatherings with aunts, uncles and cousins a few times each year.   So I didn't have a specific interest but it was just normal to know them.  I have mentioned before in earlier challenges that my mother was interested in genealogy and drug us around to cemeteries when we were kids.  We were made to help find the stones she was looking for.  I hated it at the time but look back on those memories as good ones.  Also, once,  when I was about ten,  there was a mother and daughter banquet at the church my family was attending and we were to have wedding dresses modeled of several historical time periods.  My grandmother had her grandmother's wedding dress.  At age ten I was the only one in the family small enough to fit into the dress so I got to model it.  This was a really big deal to me.  See the picture at the beginning of this blog.  My sister and I have since donated the dress to the Miami County Museum in Peru Indiana.  Another interest that I had as a child that is related would be an early appreciation for history.  I loved to read as a child and my favorite books were the pioneer stories of the Oregon Trail.   Therefore,  while the short answer remains no to the question, the long answer is that I was exposed to things as a young person, and had related interests so that ending up with an passion for family history is not that far fetched of a result.  

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

The Guernsey Literary

and

Potato Peel Pie Society 

by

Mary Ann Shaffer 

and 

Annie Barrows

 The library monthly daytime reading group at my local library that I attend read this delightful book this month.  I had read it back in 2010 and reviewed it HERE.   I listened to it on audio CD then and I listened to it on my iPod this time.  It is very nicely read by multiple voices in the audio version of the book.   The novel is about the occupation of the Island of Guernsey during WWII.  It is a series of letters from the islanders to an author.  The friendship that forms between the author and the islanders  makes for a warm story that also teaches the reader what it was like for people to struggle  to survive  during the occupation.   This book is one of those that sticks with you.  I was glad for the opportunity to listen to it again.  For those that like love stories,  for those that like historical novels,  for those that are WWII history buffs - this is the book for you.  Please follow the links in this blog post for more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

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The "Which Relative Gave you Family Information" Challenge

Alice Wilson Rohrer

1886-1978

Center

The challenge states:   Was there a relative that was a big help in giving you family information?  Who and how was he/she helpful? and can be found HERE along with comments and the links to the posts of others who participated in the challenge.  

Alice Rohrer was the woman I knew as my great grandmother.    I featured her during March when I was honoring women in my family history for women's history month.  That post can be found HERE.   The woman who gave birth to my grandfather was dead two weeks after he was born.  Four and a half years after that my great grandfather married the person I grew up calling "Grandma Al".   I can't say that she furnished me with organized family history but she was quick to share fun stories.  She explained a great deal about how life was on the farm in the early 1900s and she also shared a morsel or two of family gossip here and there.  One of the most helpful things she did was keep a scrap book where she pasted obituaries from people she knew, many of who were connected to the family.   She didn't include sources of the papers they were in or dates of when the obituaries were published but the scrap book is still a treasure trove of family connections.  

Other people who provided family information to me were my mother,  who I featured last March in my blog also and it can be found HERE along with my explanation of how she got me started, which I posted during another week's challenge which can be found HERE.  And my uncle who had collected a great deal of information on the Rohrer line.  Yet undoubtably,  even though they don't count as relatives,  the folks that really helped me the gather the most information were fellow genealogists and family history buffs.   Since most of my lines are from the Pennsylvania Dutch heritage many of the helpful people I connected with were  from the old Brethren Mailing List on Rootsweb which can be found HERE.   The other message boards and mailing lists  at Rootsweb also had many helpful people which with  I corresponded and shared information.   I miss the days when Rootsweb was in its heyday but I think Facebook has replaced Rootsweb in many ways.   I also need to mention the many librarians and historical society curators that were quick to offer their assistance.     But I digress from the original question.  I pick Alice Rohrer as being a relative that was a big help in giving me family information.  

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Poetzsch

The Hangman's Daughter

by

Oliver Poetzsch

Some of the books I have enjoyed the most have been books recommended to me by others and that is the case with the book I just finished listening to on audio called The Hangman's Daughter.  It is the first of a series of historical mysteries by Oliver Poetzsch about a man who is in his family history.   Although fiction the books are based on fact.  Mysteries are not my genre but I do occasionally read one or listen to one as a break from other types of books and when I do I prefer mysteries that have some historical significance.  With my interest in genealogy this book was right up my alley.   Although a little dark it is a book that I will not forget and I highly recommend it as a good read.  It is  the story of an executioner in the 1600s that is trying to save the town midwife from being burnt at the stake for witch craft.  She is accused because children are turning up murdered in the area.   The author's ancestor is the hangman and while the mystery story is fiction the framework of the details of the hangman's trade along with the descriptions of a typical 17th century town in what is now Bavaria  are factual.   I enjoyed the book very much and will be thanking my brother for recommending it.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the link to more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

Saturday Night First Genealogy Society Challenge

A year or so  before the start of the new century I began researching my family history.  Then around 2004 I attended a couple of meetings of a genealogy group at the local library in the town I where was living at that time.  About the second time I attended a comment was made about coughing up a membership fee.  I wrote them a check - it was only about a twelve dollar membership - and never went to another meeting.  The meetings were not that outstanding and I wasn't getting that much information from them.  I had no ancestors in that particular county but happened to be living there myself at that time.  I did not appreciate having my arm twisted to write a check.  If I am honest,  I have to admit, I am not a joiner.  I am not comfortable in social groups.  I am not only an introvert but I find I lack patience with people in the social setting.  I use up all my patience in a professional setting and with family members so by the time I get to people in a club type setting I am easily annoyed.   Also before group gatherings I experience some mild anxiety.   Therefore I don't join a lot of things.  I know social interaction is important to mental health and so I do have try to have a few things I do with others on a regular basis.   Since I work second shift it isn't conducive to attend meetings anyway since most of them are in the evening.  So when I joined the Ohio Genealogical Society almost a year ago it was unusual.  I had aspirations to gain the experience of putting together a lineage society application and I had chosen to apply to one for the ADEAW.  I had been trying to put the application together  for a year and not having success as  I was stuck on one generation.   I decided I wanted to use the hard work I had done to apply for a lineage society that would work with what I did have documentation wise.  One of the OGS groups - First Families Of Ohio - was a fit.  It cost less to apply if one was a member and it also cost less if one joined to attend the spring conference where they would have  induction dinners for their lineage societies new members.   So I joined to save money.   I have found the OGS to be an organization that has a lot to offer.  I intend to renew my membership when the year is up.   I do not go to many of the events they offer but I did really enjoy the annual conference last April and hope to attend the one in 2017.   I also hope to have more time to become involved with OGS events after I retire.  To visit the blog where the Saturday night challenge is posted and find the links to everyone who participated click HERE.