Before Liberty by Roy Thompson | Book Review

In the 1970s, Roy Thompson wrote a series of 53 articles for the Winston-Salem Journal newspaper that told the history of North Carolina, pre-Revolutionary War.  Then the articles were collected and published in a hardcover book.  

I received this book from an awesome park ranger guide at a North Carolina gem mining museum.  I was on a professional development trip with a whole bunch of other educators and he gave all of us copies of the book!  How cool?

I'm a big fan of colonial American history, and NC is my current state, so I certainly looking forward to reading this.  And true to my expectations, Before Liberty was chock full of new-to-me information about my adopted state.  I loved that!  Most North Carolinians probably already know this, but did you know that the famous pirate Blackbeard was from here?  And NC actually declared independence from Britain before America as a whole?  (You can Google "Mecklenburg Declaration" if you don't believe me.)  I also learned that the capital of our state was nearly on the coast, and that we have a very strong Scottish and German history.  Bring on the tartan!

Unfortunately, the book was written in a style that I didn't quite get on with.  Each "chapter" was originally an individual newspaper article, so it doesn't have a chronological or subject "flow."  You could actually read the chapters in any order you wished without getting the least bit confused.  For me, this made the book feel a little unplanned.  No build-up to a central conflict/point.  But that's just me.  Also, the actual writing style- very newspaper-y.  There were many times when it felt like someone had made a list, complete with bullet points, and then someone else had just gone in and erased the bullet points and added periods.  No flow from paragraph to paragraph.  

Not a terrible book--definitely a great book for being free!--but the writing style/format lost it a few stars in the rating.

*I own my copy of Before Liberty.

The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks | Book Review

*I know I usually do a Top Ten list on Tuesdays, but I just couldn't make a list on this week's topic:  Top Ten Favorite Non-Book Websites.  I might be the nation's biggest dork, but I mostly stick to bookish websites and Pinterest.  So it would've been a list of one.  Enjoy this book review instead!*

Y'all, this was such a FANTASTIC book!  I didn't expect to like it so much, looking at the cover.  First, graphic novels are kind of hit or miss with me; second, the guys on the cover look so very angry.

Turns out The Harlem Hellfighters is based on the very true story of the 369th regiment- the first all-black regiment to fight in WWI.  And I love history stuff!  The book didn't shy away from showing horrific battles and trench conditions in France, but balanced it with scenes and background of black life in America at the time.  I could see this being a great resource in history classrooms in high schools.  The art is black-and-white pen and very clear.  The dialogue is very "real," including giving the characters some slang.  The history is all accurate; the only thing fictionalized is the exact dialogue between characters.  Very appealing!

*I received an advanced copy of The Harlem Hellfighters from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.  Thank you!

The Journal of Major George Washington, 1754 by George Washington | Book Review

(Look at that dashing young man!)

This was a very short book, but I loved it!  I'm a huge, huge, huge George Washington fan.  The title implies that it's an entire years' journal, but it's really only May and a little June.  It turns out there was a big miscommunication involving some French troops, and then a battle, and then George Washington's journal was taken by the French.  This is that journal.

The opening of the journal might be the best part, as it recounts the whole confusion and the battle.  I had no idea!  And I really do read a lot about George Washington.  The journal itself was pretty cool, too.  To read about something from George's own pen!  That was neat.

The whole thing was less than 50 pages long and took me about an hour to read.  No excuses not to check it out- you know you want to!

*I own my copy of The Journal of Major George Washington, 1754.

Stacking the Shelves

Happy Saturday!  Today I'm over at Tynga's Reviews, hosting Stacking the Shelves.  I went a little crazy at the library this time... but does that really surprise you?  ;)  Click on the image above to find out what titles I brought home, and to join in the fun yourself!

Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald | Book Review

What a fun book!  The back-of-book blurb compared it to "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler meets Chasing Vermeer" and it's so true!  I think I read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler about a dozen times as a kid- I so wanted to get myself locked in a museum overnight!  Revisiting it in a similar story was super enjoyable.

So Under the Egg is the story of Theodora Tenpenny, a young teen who lives with her mom in an old family home.  Her grandfather, an artist and security guard at the Met, lived with them too, until he passed away.  Then one day Theodora knocks over a bottle of rubbing alcohol onto one of her grandfather's paintings and finds another, older painting underneath.  Next thing you know, she's investigating whether or not her grandfather had a Rembrandt hidden in plain sight!

So much to love about this book!  There's the main character, Theodora, who is awesomely spunky and unique.  She's not perfect- she's real.  I would love to be her best friend.  She's enthusiastic and caring, but doesn't deny that life gets hard sometimes.  Then there's her family.  They're also far from perfect, but you can really tell that they care a lot about each other.  The relationship between Theodora and her grandfather is especially sweet.  I also love the mystery aspect.  Like a modern-day Nancy Drew!  And this is a small detail, but Theodora totally uses the library for her research.  I do love when my own profession is included in a book.  ;)

I highly recommend this book!  Yes, it's shelved in the J section of the library- I still totally enjoyed it and I feel like you would, too.

*I received an advanced readers' copy of Under the Egg from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.  Thank you!

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith | Audiobook Review

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #14!  I listened to this quite awhile ago... but then I had a baby and didn't write the review so this will be short.  (How long can I use "I had a baby" as an excuse for lackadaisical book blogging?)

I thought this one was definitely in the top tier of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.  It's mostly focused on Mma Ramotswe, as Mma Makutsi has to step into the wings for a portion of this book.  (It's ok; it's for a happy reason, but I won't spoil the surprise.)  And yet, the two womens' relationship grows!  Alexander McCall Smith manages to write character growth into a character who's not even in a scene!

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed my "trip" to Gabarone, Botswana, and my "visits" with Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, and more!  There were plenty of laughs, and also observations on life and society.  These are "cozy mysteries," and they live up to their genre.

*I checked out my copy of The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon from my local library.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog!

Top Ten Five Childhood Characters I'd Like to Revisit as Adults

The way this was explained on The Broke and the Bookish (at least as I understood it):  these are the top ten child characters from childhood books that I'd like to revisit in a novel or novella telling how their adult life is going.

*And I only have a top five because I have a 10-day-old who is sapping my ability to think straight.  Seriously:  I have to write down the last times both of us eat in order to remind myself to feed us again a few hours later.

1. Anne from the Anne of Green Gables series.  Yeah, this one is a bit of a cheat, because the series does go through her adult life.  But I love the whole series and never pass up an opportunity to recommend it on a Tuesday!

2. Felicity from the Felicity series by Valerie Tripp.  I had the Felicity doll growing up, and loved these books too!  She was the redheaded one out of the original historic doll collection.

3. Christopher Robin from Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne.  I wonder if he passed his toys down to his kids when he grew up?

4. Meg from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

5. The members of The Babysitters Club from the eponymous series by Ann M. Martin.  With how immensely popular these books were with the current millennial generation, why oh why hasn't a follow-up grown-up series been written yet?!?  You know we'd buy them!

And you?  What favorite characters from your childhood would you like to catch up with in adulthood?  Leave a link and I'll stop by your blog too!  I love seeing what others are reading.