The Forgotten Home Child

 

Title: The Forgotten Home Child

Author: Genevieve Graham

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: Inspired by true events, The Forgotten Home Child is a moving and heartbreaking novel about place, belonging, and family—the one we make for ourselves and its enduring power to draw us home. It about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home. It is based on a true story of the British Home Children.

Rating: Very good and easy to read.

Why I Like It: A friend of mine found out that her Grandmother was a Home Child while she was researching her family history and recommend this book to me. Her Grandmother had lived her life the same as the character in the book. It is a part of Canadian and English history I never knew.

Reviewer: Nancy Bucher

The Bluebird Effect Uncommon Bonds With Common Birds

 

Title: The Bluebird Effect Uncommon Bonds With Common Birds
Author: Julie Zickelfoose
Genre: Natural History

Summary: (from Goodreads) Julie Zickefoose lives for the moment when a wild, free living bird that she has raised or rehabilitated comes back to visit her; their eyes meet and they share a spark of understanding. Her reward for the grueling work of rescuing birds—such as feeding baby hummingbirds every twenty minutes all day long—is her empathy with them and the satisfaction of knowing the world is a birdier and more beautiful place.

The Bluebird Effect is about the change that's set in motion by one single act, such as saving an injured bluebird—or a hummingbird, swift, or phoebe. Each of the twenty five chapters covers a different species, and many depict an individual bird, each with its own personality, habits, and quirks. And each chapter is illustrated with Zickefoose's stunning watercolor paintings and drawings. Not just individual tales about the trials and triumphs of raising birds, The Bluebird Effect mixes humor, natural history, and memoir to give readers an intimate story of a life lived among wild birds.

Rating: Very Interesting

Why I Like It: I learned a lot about the behavior of the birds I have observed over the years. It was very good book to read during the summer. Non-birders should like it.

Reviewer: Nancy Bucher

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Title: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Author: Daniel James Brown
Genre: Historical Nonfiction

Summary: (from Goodreads) Daniel James Brown's robust book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.

The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled by an enigmatic coach and mentored by a visionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together—a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism.

Drawing on the boys' own diaries and journals, their photos and memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, The Boys in the Boat is an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate story of nine working-class boys from the American west who, in the depths of the Great Depression, showed the world what true grit really meant. It will appeal to readers of Erik Larson, Timothy Egan, James Bradley, and David Halberstam's The Amateurs.

Rating: Excellent
Why I Like It: It was so interesting because of the variety of topics it covers: rowing, development of Seattle, the depression, the rise of Hitler, 1936 Olympics, music, etc.

Reviewer: Nancy

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever

Title: Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever

Author: Bill O’Reilly

Genre: Biography, War, History

Summary: From Goodreads: The anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history—how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased.

In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington D.C., John Wilkes Booth—charismatic ladies' man and impenitent racist—murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country's most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices. The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions—including that of the first woman ever executed by the U.S. government, Mary Surratt. Featuring some of history's most remarkable figures, vivid detail, and page-turning action, Killing Lincoln is history that reads like a thriller.
Rating: Really liked it
Why I Like It:

Had many interesting details but easy to follow. Went along well with another book I had read about Lincoln, "A Team of Rivals."

Other: Audio
Reviewer: Patsy

ME BEFORE YOU

Title: ME BEFORE YOU

Author: Jojo Moves

Genre: fiction, romance

Summary: From back of book: 'Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life who has barely been farther afield than her tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and he is not interested in exploring a new one.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, Lou sets out to show him that life is still worth living.'

Rating: Very good

Why I Like It: The story is about a difficult subject, but draws you in with humor and romance. It is not morbid or predictable.

Other: A movie was made based on the book, but I have not seen it yet. The book takes place in England.

Name: Kathy

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Title: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Author: Dori Kearns Goodwin

Genre: Non-Fiction

Summary: Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.

This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.

Rating: Five-Stars!

Why I Like It:

This was a captivating book. It's not told like a monotonous history book but instead told like a story. The author did fabulous research to give so many points of views. I learned so so much! I wish this was how we all learned history.  There were so many times when Lincoln could have chosen to stick it to some one, give a snappy come back or point out someone's faults, but he so often chose love and respect.  Lincoln saw the value and benefits that his rivals brought to the table, and chose to add them to his administration.  I can already say that this will be one of my favorite reads of the year!  It will be hard to top this one.

Other: I did listen to the audio version of this book.
Reviewer: Avery

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

Title: Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

Author: Julie Andrews Edwards, Emma Walton Hamilton

Genre: Autobiography

Summary: (From Goodreads) NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In this follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Julie Andrews shares reflections on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Victor/Victoria.

In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage.
With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films--Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry -- from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

Co-written with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews's trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring. 

Rating: Really liked it!

Why I Like It: Enjoyed hearing Julie Andrews voice reading this book! Very interesting! Great continuation of her first book.

Other: Audio
Reviewer: Patsy

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

Title: Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

Author: Julie Andres Edwards

Genre: autobiography

Summary: (From Good Reads)Since her first appearance on screen in Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews has played a series of memorable roles that have endeared her to generations. But she has never told the story of her life before fame. Until now.

In Home: A Memoir of My Early Years, Julie takes her readers on a warm, moving, and often humorous journey from a difficult upbringing in war-torn Britain to the brink of international stardom in America. Her memoir begins in 1935, when Julie was born to an aspiring vaudevillian mother and a teacher father, and takes readers to 1962, when Walt Disney himself saw her on Broadway and cast her as the world's most famous nanny.

Along the way, she weathered the London Blitz of World War II; her parents' painful divorce; her mother's turbulent second marriage to Canadian tenor Ted Andrews, and a childhood spent on radio, in music halls, and giving concert performances all over England. Julie's professional career began at the age of twelve, and in 1948 she became the youngest solo performer ever to participate in a Royal Command Performance before the Queen. When only eighteen, she left home for the United States to make her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend, and thus began her meteoric rise to stardom.

Home is filled with numerous anecdotes, including stories of performing in My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison on Broadway and in the West End, and in Camelot with Richard Burton on Broadway; her first marriage to famed set and costume designer Tony Walton, culminating with the birth of their daughter, Emma; and the call from Hollywood and what lay beyond.

Julie Andrews' career has flourished over seven decades. From her legendary Broadway performances, to her roles in such iconic films as The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hawaii, 10, and The Princess Diaries, to her award-winning television appearances, multiple album releases, concert tours, international humanitarian work, best-selling children's books, and championship of literacy, Julie's influence spans generations. Today, she lives with her husband of thirty-eight years, the acclaimed writer/director Blake Edwards; they have five children and seven grandchildren.

Rating:Very good!

Why I Like It: Loved Julie Andrews reading her book! So talented! She has had a very interesting life & lived in wonderful places! Very engaging book!

Other: Audio, also got printed copy from the library so could see the pictures she included in her book

Reviewer: Patsy

One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season

Title: One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season

Author: Chris Ballard

Genre: Non-fiction, historical, sports

Summary: (From Good Reads) The Inspirational Story of a Coach, a Baseball Team, and the Season They'll Never Forget

In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to represent the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. There, sporting long hair and warming up to Jesus Christ Superstar, the Ironmen would play a dramatic game against a Chicago powerhouse that would change their lives forever.

In this gripping, cinematic narrative, Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard tells the story of the team and its coach, Lynn Sweet, a hippie, dreamer, and intellectual who arrived in Macon in 1966, bringing progressive ideas to a town stuck in the Eisenhower era. Beloved by students but not administration, Sweet reluctantly took over the ragtag team, intent on teaching the boys as much about life as baseball. Inspired by Sweet's unconventional methods, the undersized, undermanned Macon Ironmen embarked on an improbable postseason run that infuriated rival coaches and buoyed a town suffering from a damaging drought and the shadow of the Vietnam War--one in desperate need of something to celebrate.

In a final grace note, Ballard returns to the present day, revisiting the 1971 Ironmen to explore the effect the game had on their lives' trajectories--and the men they've become because of it. Engaging and poignant, One Shot at Forever is a testament to the power of high school sports to shape the lives of those who play them, and it reminds us that there are few bonds more sacred than that among a coach, a team, and a town. 

Rating: Excellent

Why I Like It: Wonderful, interesting, entertaining story!! Having graduated from high in 1970, it was fun to connect again with that time, especially since I grew up in a smaller, farming area, but not as small as this book is about!

Other: Audio

Reviewer: Patsy

THE POPPY WIFE

Title: THE POPPY WIFE

Author: Caroline Scott

Genre: historical fiction

Summary: From back of book: '1921. Survivors of the Great War are desperately trying to piece together the fragments of their broken lives. While many have been reunited with their loved ones, Edie's husband, Francis, has not come home. Francis is presumed to have been killed in action. But when Edie receives a mysterious photograph, she begins to think he might still be alive and embarks on a journey to find him.'

Rating: Very good

Why I Like It: Although about a difficult subject, the book is very well written and hard to put down. Very interesting as you get to know the characters and their stories come out. There is also hope for recovery and for the future. The author is a historian specializing in World War I and woman's history.

Reviewer: Kathy