Pride of America, We're With You: The Letters of Grace Anderson U.S. Army Nurse Corps, World War

Title: Pride of America, We're With You: The Letters of Grace Anderson U.S. Army Nurse Corps, World War I (American Voices Series)

Author: Shari Lynn Wigle (Editor), Grace Anderson

Genre: biography, historical non-fiction, WWI

Summary: All of our strength we'll gladly give you ... In their unit song, Grace Anderson and the Base Hospital No. 115 nurses promised the soldiers: "Pride of America, we're with you, all of our strength we'll gladly give you ." More than ten thousand World War I army nurses volunteered for a perilous overseas venture. They aided the troops in the fight for democracy before American women had the right to vote. Grace, a nurse anesthetist, helped save lives in the operating rooms and hospital wards. She healed "our boys" and her own heartaches-a life-changing romance and the tragic loss of a loved one. Her 1917-1925 letters follow her from Camp Pike training to France, occupied Germany, and her return home. The narrative interweaves her correspondence with World War I history and her personal life, including her secret relationship with an army surgeon. The true story focuses on the human side of the Great War and recounts Grace's challenges in the postwar years. About the Author During a home remodeling project, Dana and Lynn Swan found the World War I letters of his grandmother, Grace Anderson, a U.S. Army nurse. The serendipitous event led Shari Lynn Wigle on a journey back to the Great War and offered her a new adventure in research and writing. About the Author: Shari Wigle has had many articles published in magazines and newspapers. Her career also includes newspaper reporting, film production, and corporate publications/publications. A graduate of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana and the University of California, Los Angeles, she lives in Westlake Village, California. Pride of America, We're With You is the author's first book.

Rating: Excellent!

Why I Like It: So easy to read, interesting, learned so much in many different areas of WWI. Photos included through out the book.

Reviewer: Patsy

The Anthropocene Reviewed

 

Title: The Anthropocene Reviewed

Author: John Green
Genre: Non-fiction, History, Memoir, Short stories, Science, Essays

Summary: A deeply moving and insightful collection of personal essays.

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.

Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

Rating: Excellent

Why I Like It: So interesting! Kept my attention & learned so much. Indianapolis was mentioned a lot.

Other: Audio, read by the author

Reviewer: Patsy

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

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

Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail

Title: Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail

Author: Ben Montgomery

Genre: biography, nonfiction, travel, nature, history

Summary: (From Goodreads) Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, having survived a rattlesnake strike, two hurricanes, and a run-in with gangsters from Harlem, she stood atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin. There she sang the first verse of “America, the Beautiful” and proclaimed, “I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it.”

Grandma Gatewood, as the reporters called her, became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone, as well as the first person—man or woman—to walk it twice and three times. Gatewood became a hiking celebrity and appeared on TV and in the pages of Sports Illustrated. The public attention she brought to the little-known footpath was unprecedented. Her vocal criticism of the lousy, difficult stretches led to bolstered maintenance, and very likely saved the trail from extinction.

Author Ben Montgomery was given unprecedented access to Gatewood’s own diaries, trail journals, and correspondence, and interviewed surviving family members and those she met along her hike, all to answer the question so many asked: Why did she do it? The story of Grandma Gatewood will inspire readers of all ages by illustrating the full power of human spirit and determination. Even those who know of Gatewood don’t know the full story—a story of triumph from pain, rebellion from brutality, hope from suffering. 

Rating: amazing

Why I Like It: Since I was born in 1952 & grew up in Ohio, I found this book was very interesting & fun! I liked the going back and forth with the history of what was going on at the time & Grandma Gatewood's Life story. Made me wonder if our Mom & Dad knew about her.

Other: audio

Reviewer: Patsy

A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home

Title: A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home

Author: Steve Pemberton
Genre: Audiobiography

Summary: (from Goodreads) From the day he is five-years-old and dropped off at his foster home of the next eleven years, Stephen is mentally and physically tortured. No one in the system can help him. No one can tell him if he has a family. No one can tell him why, with obvious African-American features, he has the last name of Klakowicz.

Along the way, a single faint light comes only from a neighbor’s small acts of kindness and caring—and a box of books. From one of those books he learns that he has to fight in any way he can—for victory is in the battle. His victory is to excel in school.

Against all odds, the author succeeded. He attended college, graduated, became a successful corporate executive, and married a wonderful woman with whom he established a loving family of his own. Through it, he dug voraciously through records and files and found his history, his birth family—and the ultimate disappointment as some family members embrace him, but others reject him.

Rating: Excellent!

Why I Like It: The author of this Book, Steve Pemberton, is the orphan & subject of this book. He does such a terrific job of narrating it on audio! Many of of the reviews indicated on how hard it was to read this book. I found that listening to it, with the author speaking, most likely made it easier & more meaningful. Terrific book & very inspiring!

Other: audio
Reviewer: Patsy

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Author:  Maria Semple

Genre: Fiction, humorous

Summary: (Goodreads) When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces--which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.

Rating: Very good!

Why I Like It: Funny, engaging & entertaining!

Other: audio: very good, also liked by Patsy

Reviewer: Patsy

Craig & Fred

Title: Craig & Fred
Author: Craig Grossi
Genre: autobiography
Summary: (Goodreads) The uplifting and unforgettable true story of a US Marine, the stray dog he met on an Afghan battlefield, and how they saved each other and now travel America together, "spreading the message of stubborn positivity."

In 2010, Sergeant Craig Grossi was doing intelligence work for Marine RECON—the most elite fighters in the Corps—in a remote part of Afghanistan. While on patrol, he spotted a young dog "with a big goofy head and little legs" who didn’t seem vicious or run in a pack like most strays they’d encountered. After eating a piece of beef jerky Craig offered—against military regulations—the dog began to follow him. "Looks like you made a friend," another Marine yelled. Grossi heard, "Looks like a 'Fred.'" The name stuck, and a beautiful, life-changing friendship was forged.

Fred not only stole Craig’s heart; he won over the RECON fighters, who helped Craig smuggle the dog into heavily fortified Camp Leatherneck in a duffel bag—risking jail and Fred’s life. With the help of a crew of DHL workers, a sympathetic vet, and a military dog handler, Fred eventually made it to Craig’s family in Virginia.

Months later, when Craig returned to the U.S., it was Fred’s turn to save the wounded Marine from Post-Traumatic Stress. Today, Craig and Fred are touching lives nationwide, from a swampy campground in a Louisiana State Park to the streets of Portland, Oregon, and everywhere in between.

A poignant and inspiring tale of hope, resilience, and optimism, with a timeless message at its heart—"it is not what happens to us that matters, but how we respond to it"—Craig & Fred is a shining example of the power of love to transform our hearts and our lives.

Rating: Excellent!

Why I Like It: Audio, read by the author who did a fantastic job! Well written, interesting and easy to follow. Many good lessons in it!

Other: Avery recommended this book on Goodreads. Thank you Avery!

Reviewer: Patsy

The Orphan's Tale

Title: The Orphan's Tale

Author: Pam Jenoff
Genre: historical fiction, Jewish fiction, WWII
Summary: (From Goodreads) A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan's Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.
Rating: Very good.
Why I Like It: Another interesting aspect of WWII, concerning the circus
Other: listened to it on audio
Reviewer: Patsy

The Warmth of Other Suns

Title: The Warmth of Other Suns
Author: Isabel Wilkerson
Genre: Non-fiction
Summary: (From Goodreads)  In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

Rating: Excellent!!

Why I Like It: This epic migration took place from 1915 to 1970. It was interesting to think about & compare it to what was going on in our grandparents, parents & my own life at the time. Learned a lot!

Other: listened to it on audio, long book - 622 pages

Reviewer: Patsy

Brown Girl Dreaming

Title: Brown Girl Dreaming

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Genre: memoir

Summary: Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Rating: Very good

Why I Like It: I enjoyed the style of her writing. It is all in poem but with her style of poem writing, it was very easy to listen to and so well done. Loved the history I learned from it!

Other: Audio, read by author who did an excellent job!  Award won: 
John Newbery Medal, National Book Award for Young People's Literature and
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Youth / Teens.

Reviewer: Patsy

Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City

Title: Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City
Author: Phillip Hoose
Genre: nonfiction
Summary: The true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose.
By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in the state shattered the myth of their inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team from a group of boys born in the South and raised in poverty. Anchored by the astonishing Oscar Robertson, a future college and NBA star, the Crispus Attucks Tigers went down in history as the first state champions from Indianapolis and the first all-black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament—an integration they had forced with their on-court prowess.
From native Hoosier and award-winning author Phillip Hoose comes this true story of a team up against impossible odds, making a difference when it mattered most.

Rating: Very good!!

Why I Like It: Interesting history, easy to read, & great pictures.

Other: At this 1-11-19, Warren Central, a big school in Indpls. extended their basketball winning streak to 45 games and tie Crispus Attucks for third on the all-time state list. 

Reviewer: Patsy

The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Author: Gretchen Rubin

Genre: Nonfiction, Healthy-living

Summary: (from Good reads)  Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter.” In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.
In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference. 

Rating: Very good

Why I Like It: I listen to Her podcast, "Happier” which I really enjoy! I got this book – Listened to audio which I think is the best way to read it & use the book as a reference. On the podcast it’s Gretchen & her sister talking, they share about their families, give encouraging ways to be happy.

Other: I suggest maybe you could listen to the podcast first & see if you’d be interested in the book.

Reviewer: Patsy

Jim Henson: The Biography

Title: Jim Henson: The Biography

Author: Brian Jay Jones

Genre: Biography

Summary: (Part of a summary from Amazon) This extraordinary biography—written with the generous cooperation of the Henson family—covers the full arc of Henson’s all-too-brief life: from his childhood in Leland, Mississippi, through the years of burgeoning fame in America, to the decade of international celebrity that preceded his untimely death at age fifty-three. Drawing on hundreds of hours of new interviews with Henson's family, friends, and closest collaborators, as well as unprecedented access to private family and company archives, Brian Jay Jones explores the creation of the Muppets, Henson’s contributions to Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, and his nearly ten-year campaign to bring The Muppet Show to television. Jones provides the imaginative context for Henson’s non-Muppet projects, including the richly imagined worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth—as well as fascinating misfires like Henson’s dream of opening an inflatable psychedelic nightclub.

An up-close look at the charmed life of a legend, Jim Henson gives the full measure to a man whose joyful genius transcended age, language, geography, and culture—and continues to beguile audiences worldwide.
Rating: Excellent

Why I Like It: Easy to listen to &entertaining.  So interesting, especially because I really didn’t know much about Jim Henson. But my children grew up with the muppets, sesame street, etc. being a big part of their lives.

Other: Audio, this is what made this book so excellent – listening to the narrator, Kirby Heyborne, who has a wide range of voices, dialects & characters.

Reviewer: Patsy

Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White

Title: Some Writer!: The Story of E. B. White

Author: Melissa Sweet

Genre: nonfiction, biography, young readers

Summary: From Goodreads:

“SOME PIG,” Charlotte the spider’s praise for Wilbur, is just one fondly remembered snippet from E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. In Some Writer!, the two-time Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet mixes White’s personal letters, photos, and family ephemera with her own exquisite artwork to tell his story, from his birth in 1899 to his death in 1985. Budding young writers will be fascinated and inspired by the journalist, New Yorker contributor, and children’s book author who loved words his whole life. This authorized tribute is the first fully illustrated biography of E. B. White and includes an afterword by Martha White, E. B. White's granddaughter.

Rating: Excellent!

Why I Like It: This book is at the house where Rich & I are vacationing, So, I picked it up & read it. Such a delightful & easy read! Loved the illustrations & how it was all put together. Learned a lot about E.B. White & I want to read more of his writings.

Other: Actually read the book (wasn’t audio). Best this way since it has so many illustrations & photos.

Reviewer: Patsy

Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him

Title: Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him

Author: Luis Carlos Montalván, Bret Witter (Writer)

Genre: nonfiction, memoirs, dogs

Summary: From Goodreads:

A heartwarming dog story like no other: Tuesday, a lovable golden retriever, changes a former soldier's life forever.
A highly decorated captain in the U.S. Army, Luis Montalván never backed down from a challenge during his two tours of duty in Iraq. After returning home from combat, however, his physical wounds and crippling post-traumatic stress disorder began to take their toll. He wondered if he would ever recover.
Then Luis met Tuesday, a sensitive golden retriever trained to assist the disabled. Tuesday had lived among prisoners and at a home for troubled boys, and he found it difficult to trust in or connect with a human being--until Luis.
Until Tuesday is the story of how two wounded warriors, who had given so much and suffered the consequences, found salvation in each other. It is a story about war and peace, injury and recovery, psychological wounds and spiritual restoration. But more than that, it is a story about the love between a man and dog, and how, together, they healed each other's souls. (less)

Rating: Very Good!

Why I Like It: I didn’t know much about service dogs & post-traumatic stress disorder. So amazing & interesting!

Other: Audio - Luis Carlos Montalván, author

Reviewer: Patsy

Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms

Title: Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms

Author: Erin Benzakein

Genre: gardening

Summary: From Amazon: From Erin Benzakein, a leader in the locaflor farm-to-centerpiece movement and owner of internationally renowned Floret Flower Farm, Cut Flower Garden is equal parts instruction and inspiration—a book overflowing with lush photography of magnificent flowers and breathtaking arrangements organized by season. This beautiful guide to growing, harvesting, and arranging gorgeous blooms year-round gives readers vital tools to nurture a stunning flower garden and use their blossoms to create showstopping arrangements. With irresistible photos of Erin's flower farm that showcase exquisite blooms, tips for growing in a variety of spaces and climates as well as step-by-step instructions for lavish garlands, airy centerpieces, and romantic floral décor for every season, Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden informs and entices gardeners of all skill levels.

Rating: Very Good

Why I Like It: A few years ago, a friend from California sent me a couple dozen dahlia tubers. (Her brother owned a dahlia business out there) So, thus, my sudden interest in dahlias! This book caught my attention because of the beautiful pictures & instructions for growing, not only dahlias, but many varieties of flowers. I got this book from my library about a year ago, renewed it all year – now I have to return it! But I’ll get it out again soon.

Reviewer: Patsy

"All But My Life: A Memoir"

Title:  All But My Life: A Memoir

Author: Gerda Weissmann Klein

Genre:  Memoir

Summary: (from Amazon) All But My Life is the unforgettable story of Gerda Weissmann Klein's six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. From her comfortable home in Bielitz (present-day Bielsko) in Poland to her miraculous survival and her liberation by American troops--including the man who was to become her husband--in Volary, Czechoslovakia, in 1945, Gerda takes the reader on a terrifying journey.

Rating: Excellent

Why I Like It:  I wasn’t familiar with this much detail information of the Holocaust.  So, it was very interesting, inspiring, informative, sad, heart wrenching, etc.  It made me realize more that we certainly have very little to complain about & so much to be thankful for!

This autobiographical account of the Holocaust, All but My Life (1957), was adapted for the 1995 short film, One Survivor Remembers, which received an Academy Award and an Emmy Award, and was selected for the National Film Registry. I watched it on YouTube.  Also very good!!

Other:  listened to it on audio

Reviewer:  Patsy