In January 1943, two hundred and thirty women of the French Resistance were sent to the death camps by the Nazis who had invaded and occupied their country…..Only forty-nine would survive.

In A Train in Winter, Caroline Moorehead tells the story of the two hundred thirty women – who they were, what drove them to resist the occupying Nazis and the collaborationist Vichy government, the sacrifices they made to serve their cause, and the families they left behind when they were captured.

The forty-nine that survived Auschwitz and Birkenau did so because of a combination of fate and intelligence – and because they faced their imprisonment and captors as a united force. They learned how to fake health and strength to avoid being chosen for the gas chambers. They learned how to trade and steal for extra scraps of food, for tiny bits of medicine. They watched their friends and companions die, one by one. And they survived the most unimaginable circumstances and conditions – conditions so horrific that even members of their own families didn’t believe the stories they told when they came back.

To be honest, this was a very difficult book to read. I admire Moorehead for undertaking the task of telling the story of these women, but, in my opinion, she kept her focus much too broad. As I look back over the non-fiction that I’ve read this year, the ones that were the most engrossing, the most readable, were the ones that focused on a small group of people and told their stories. In A Train in Winter, the author introduces so many of the 230 women that I became completely overwhelmed. There were simply too many names and stories to keep track of.

The first half of the book was spent introducing these women and telling about their activities for the Resistance and the various police investigations that led to their capture, and it took me a long time to become engrossed in the story. The book picked up when the women were taken to Auschwitz, but then the book became difficult to read for a different reason. The magnitude of the atrocities these women experienced was simply overwhelming, and there were times that it became too much and I had to set the book aside. Of course, it is important that the truths of the death camps are told in literature, and I’m glad there are authors who make sure that we never forget. A Train in Winter may not be the easiest read, but the women who embody its pages must never be forgotten.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2011. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: history, non-fiction

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The books in this series about kids trying to survive without adults have given my sons and I many enjoyable hours of read-aloud time. While we have enjoyed every title, we all agree that this is the best one since the first. The series is very dark, and books two and three had very little to alleviate the darkness. This book, however, had Nutella and Pepsi, which will only make sense to you after you’ve read it. Our only beef is that Michael Grant doesn’t write faster, and we have to wait until next year for book five, and until 2013 for the final book in the series.

Title: Minding Frankie
Author: Maeve Binchy
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Publisher: Knopf
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Sile Bermingham
First line: Katie Finglas was coming to the end of a tiring day in the salon.

Oh, how I love Maeve Binchy! After Whitethorn Woods and Heart and Soul, I feel like I know the characters in this little corner of Dublin that she writes about. At the heart of Minding Frankie is a motherless baby girl. Her stunned father, Noel Lynch, is trying to get his life together – giving up the “gargle,” going back to college in order to get a better job – but isn’t equipped to do it on his own. Enter his cousin, Emily, from America, who organizes the residents of St. Jarlath’s Crescent to help with baby-minding duties. But can they help convince the ever-vigilant social worker Moira that Frankie belongs with her father?

I haven’t read all of Binchy’s books that include these familiar characters (Quentins, Scarlet Feather, Nights of Rain and Stars), but I plan to. I just wish my library had them all on audio, because Sile Bermingham’s beautiful narration has spoiled me for reading them in print.

Title: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin
Author: Erik Larson
Genre: Non-fiction, history
Publisher: Crown
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Stephen Hoye
First line: It was common for American expatriates to visit the U.S. consulate in Berlin, but not in the condition exhibited by the man who arrived there on Thursday, June 29, 1933.

In 1933, William Dodd, a history professor with no diplomatic experience, became the first American ambassador to Hitler’s regime. His family accompanies him to Berlin, and his daughter, Martha, quickly becomes a hit in the round of social affairs attended by the diplomatic community – and top-ranked Nazis. This is an interesting picture of Hitler’s rise to power, and a disturbing affirmation that different choices by Americans in power could have changed the course of history, and possibly prevented the magnitude of the atrocities committed by the Third Reich. While I found the subject fascinating, the story became dry and slow in places, which kept me from rating it higher than three stars. However, I still recommend it to readers interested in World War II.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2011. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiobooks, contemporary fiction, dystopian fiction, history, irish fiction, maeve binchy, non-fiction, science fiction, YA fiction

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Publisher blurb: On 5/13/45, two dozen US servicemen & WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over Shangri-La, a beautiful unmapped valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea. Unlike the peaceful Tibetan monks of James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon, this Shangri-La was home to spear-carrying tribesmen, rumored to be cannibals. The pleasure tour became a battle for survival when the plane crashed. Three passengers pulled thru. Margaret Hastings, barefoot & burned, had no choice but to wear her dead best friend’s shoes. John McCollom, grieving the death of his twin brother also aboard the plane, masked grief with stoicism. Kenneth Decker, too, was severely burned & suffered a gaping head wound. Emotionally devastated, badly injured & vulnerable to the dangers of the jungle, the trio faced certain death unless they left the crash site. Caught between imagined headhunters & the Japanese, they endured a harrowing hike down the mountainside–a journey into the unknown that would lead them straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who’d never seen a white. Drawn from interviews, declassified Army documents, personal photos & mementos, a survivor’s diary, a rescuer’s journal & original film footage, Lost in Shangri-La recounts this incredible true-life adventure for the 1st time. Zuckoff reveals how the determined trio–dehydrated, sick & in pain–traversed the jungle to find help; how paratroopers risked their lives to save them; & how a cowboy colonel attempted a previously untested rescue mission to get them out. By trekking into the New Guinea jungle, visiting remote villages & rediscovering the crash site, Zuckoff also captures the contemporary natives’ remembrances of the long-ago day when strangers fell from the sky. A riveting work of narrative nonfiction that brings to life an odyssey at times terrifying, enlightening & comic, Lost in Shangri-La is a thrill ride.

Kelly from The Written World and I read Lost in Shangri-la a while ago, and have had a meandering discussion going on ever since. We finally decided we were done talking about it, and now give you our discussion. This is the first half; click over to Kelly’s blog for the second.

Me: This book was different than what I expected, and the biggest surprise for me was how much humor there was in it! Obviously, this was a tragic accident, with 21 people not surviving, but the interactions with the natives were often very funny. Especially the scene when the paratroopers jump in and they’re afraid the natives think they’re women, so decide to prove otherwise.

I really liked the way the author used the journals of the people actually involved to show the way their experiences in Shangri-la changed them. How Margaret’s views of the natives evolved from very condescending (“simple people”) to seeing them as human beings and forming relationships with them. Also the way the paratrooper leading the rescue mission started out wanting to make a name for himself, but then ended up being a truly great leader who put the safety of his team first.

Kelly: I had heard that this was a very conversational-type non-fiction and not really all that dry. I love books that take place during the World Wars, so I was planning to read this anyway, but when I started seeing the reviews talking about the writing style and just how readable the book was, I was glad to read it sooner rather than later. It talked about an aspect of the war I had never heard anything about. I have always been interested in pilots and flying, so that aspect of the book interested me. These people had crashed in a place where it was virtually impossible to get them out, so reading about all the different plans was really interesting.

I agree with you on the humour. The scene where the paratroopers prove that they are men was hilarious. The reader is told what the natives were really thinking, but there was obvious some separation between the two cultures. The people on this flight wanted to see the natives and the world that they inhabited. They were not expecting to have to live amongst them for many days. It change the natives world, which is a bit sad, but is what always seems to happen. The ‘white’ culture always thinks that how they live is better and feel the need to ‘change’ things for the ‘better’ for the other culture.

What is the one thing that you have taken away from this book that will stick with you for a long time?

Me: As I listened to this on audiobook, I kept being amazed at the resilience of people. The fact that so few survived and yet were able to set aside their grief and fear and continue on without losing hope – that’s what astounded me.

I am also grateful about how far we have come as an American culture when it comes to the way we perceive cultures other than our own. I know that racism is still very real and pervasive in many areas of our society, but it’s not the norm anymore to look at another culture of people whose ways are different from ours and assume that they are “simple” or “savages.”

I really enjoy reading narrative non-fiction. Are there any non-fiction titles you would recommend to me – and others? I recently enjoyed Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It’s a different type of story – less humor – but amazing and inspiring.

Kelly: I know. They overcame a lot and still managed to keep themselves going. And, the paratroopers jumped into a zone where they had no idea if they were going to make it out again because at that time there was no escape plan in effect. That took a lot of courage. They could easily feel trapped!

I am waiting my turn for Unbroken to come in at the library. I have heard really good things about it. I am sure there is some narrative non-fiction I could recommend, but I haven’t read as much non-fiction this year as I normally do, so nothing is jumping to mind.

Don’t forget, you can read the second half of our discussion at Kelly’s blog.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiobooks, history, non-fiction

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David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, has a reporter’s nose. He can smell a story. He hears those little anecdotes or offhand comments that most of us barely take note of, and he chases the whole story down. Then he writes the story with human interest and unbiased honesty. I admit that some of the articles in this collection interested me more than others, but that was simply due to subject matter and not to writing style. Grann has become one of my favorite non-fiction authors.

Title: The Bourne Identity
Author: Robert Ludlum
Genre: Spy thriller
Publisher: Bantam
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Scott Brick
First line: The trawler plunged into the angry swells of the dark, furious sea like an awkward animal trying desperately to break out of an impenetrable swamp.

It is interesting how different the book version of The Bourne Identity is from the film, which I saw first. The book was written in the middle of the Cold War, before computers, cell phones, and all the other gadgets we’re used to see strewn through modern spy thrillers. It made for a different story, but equally good. Ludlum knows how to spin a tale – but I wish he had edited it a bit more. There was a lot of repetition of phrases, a tactic that was meant to show the fractured state of Bourne’s mind, but listening to these mantras over and over on audio became a bit tedious. I will still continue the series, though, as I love the characters and the audiobook narrator.

Audio notes: Scott Brick is probably my favorite American audiobook narrator. His voice is smooth and dark and he alters it just enough for the different characters’ voices. He also is adept at various European accents, which is necessary for the Bourne books.

Title: While I Live
Author: John Marsden
Genre: YA dystopian fiction
Publisher: Scholastic
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy from my personal library
First line: We were halfway up the spur when we heard it.

Oh, how I missed Ellie! I loved Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began series (You can find my reviews under his name on my Reviews by Author page.) and I was sad when I finished it. Then I discovered that he wrote a follow-up trilogy called the Ellie Chronicles, and I treated myself to them with some Christmas money at the beginning of the year. This book has everything I loved about that series: action, relationships, realistic emotion, and authentic characters. It picks up shortly after the last book in the Tomorrow series, and it felt like no time had gone by between finishing that one and starting this one. I am looking forward to the other two books in this trilogy, but I’m making myself wait just a bit, as I will hate to say goodbye to Ellie when I turn the last page.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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After Bryan at Unfinished Person said that Unbroken would be one of his top reads of the year – even though it was only February – I knew I had to read it. Then it showed up on my library’s list of new audiobooks, and so it jumped right to the top of my list. This is truly an amazing story that vividly demonstrates how much the human spirit can endure. Louie Zamperini went from Olympic athlete to World War II bombardier to POW in Japan, never losing his amazing strength of spirit. His story is heartbreaking, inspiring, and ultimately, redemptive. I can’t recommend this one highly enough.

Audio notes: Edward Hermann does a fantastic job of telling Zamperini’s story. He has the type of voice you would associate with a news broadcaster, and yet he brought just the right amount of emotion and warmth to the narration.

Title: The Supernaturalist
Author: Eoin Colfer
Genre: YA science fiction
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Chiwetel Ejiofor
First line: Satellite City: The City of the Future, proclaimed the billboards.

The Supernaturalist is my second experience with Eion Colfer’s work, and it is completely different than Artemis Fowl, though just as enjoyable. This book is definitely darker but still has elements of humor that keep it from being too heavy. This is a cross between a dystopia and fantasy, with a fantastic group of characters. The protagonist, Cosmo Hill, on the run from the Clarissa Frayne Institute for the Parentally Challenged, gets rescued by a group called the Supernaturalists. Cosmo possesses an ability that helps him fit in perfectly with the group – the ability to see the Parasites, which feed off the energy of dying humans – and joins them in their war to stop the creatures. The premise is unique, the plot has just enough twists to keep things interesting, and the characters are memorable.

Audio notes: Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose name I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce, does a wonderful job of embodying the young Cosmo Hill, as well as voicing a range of other characters of various ethnicities.

Title: Sarah’s Key
Author: Tatiana de Rosnay
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Polly Stone
First line: The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door.

I enjoy historical fiction that follows dual storylines: a modern plot line in which someone researches or discovers a part of history, and the historical story itself. It isn’t always done well, but when it is, it makes for a great read, and Sarah’s Key is a great read – or, rather, a great listen. Expatriate Julia Jarmond lives in Paris with her husband, Bertrand, and 11-year-old daughter, Zoe. She writes for a Paris magazine, and when her editor asks her to write an article for the 60th commemoration of the Vel d’Hiv Roundup, she discovers that her husband’s family has a connection to one of the victims of the Vel d’Hiv, a fact that has been kept secret from even her husband. The story alternates between Julia’s story in 2002, and the story of Sarah Starzynski, a young girl who was rounded up by the Paris police on July 16, 1942. I had never heard of the Vel d’Hiv Roundup before and found the history heart-breaking and fascinating. While the modern storyline, told in first person by Julia, occasionally involved too much navel-gazing for my taste, I mostly enjoyed her story as well.

Audio notes: Polly Stone is an amazing reader, and I’m sure she was hired in part for her flawless French. I loved listening to all the French phrases and place names and she varied her voice just enough between Julia’s story and Sarah’s story.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2011. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiobooks, historical fiction, history, non-fiction, science fiction, YA fiction

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This is the type of non-fiction I love, the kind that teaches and entertains at the same time. Percy Fawcett is a fascinating historical figure, and his quest to find the Lost City of Z was an obsession that cost him everything. There are two stories here: the story of Fawcett’s expeditions to the Amazon, and the story of author David Grann’s research on Fawcett that ultimately led him to follow Fawcett’s tracks to South America. The Amazon itself is also a main character, with wonderful description that convinced me that, while it may be beautiful, the bugs are enough to keep me from ever visiting. Mark Deakins is the audiobook narrator, and he has a terrific voice for non-fiction: informative and personable.

Title: The Year of Fog
Author: Michelle Richmond
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Publisher: Bantam Discovery
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Carrington MacDuffie
First line: Here is the truth, this is what I know: we were walking on Ocean Beach, hand in hand.

From the outside, The Year of Fog would appear to be a mystery or thriller. It does have a mystery at its core, but it is also beautifully written fiction about the guilt a woman feels when her fiance’s daughter disappears on her watch. Abby refuses to give up hope that Emma is still alive, even when Emma’s father determines that he must move on or simply curl up and stop living. As Abby searches for some clue to what might have happened on the beach that day, she becomes obsessed with remembering every little detail, convinced that she’s missing something that will lead to Emma’s recovery. Her story is interspersed with the information she is learning about how human memory works, as well as memories from her own past. Professionally, Abby is a photographer, and as the story is told in first person, her knack for capturing people, places, and moments comes through on every page. Carrington MacDuffie’s voice is a good fit for Abby’s and Emma’s story.

Title: Angelology
Author: Danielle Trussoni
Genre: Paranormal fiction
Publisher: Penguin
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
Audiobook reader: Susan Denaker

Oh, the cruelty of the cliff-hanger! I very much enjoyed listening to Danielle Trussoni’s novel about the study of Angelology. She has created a complete history and mythology of the Nephilim: half-human, half-angelic creatures that live among us. The story spans generations, and is intricately woven into the worlds of art and literature and religion. The book was complex without being confusing, and peopled with villains full of malice and heroes and heroines who are human and determined and frail and real. At the heart of the novel is a search for an ancient artifact, the Lyre of Orpheus, which can turn the tide in the battle between humanity and the Nephilim. I did not realize, however, that this was the first book in a planned series, and the ending totally left me hanging – a feeling I do not enjoy. I can’t remember who said it, but this thought sums it up: Write well enough to make me want to read the next book; don’t leave me hanging so much that I feel like I have to. The audio edition is definitely the way to go with this one, as Susan Denaker voices each character perfectly, whether they’re from France, Russia, Japan, the US, or a host of other places.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audiobooks, contemporary fiction, fantasy, history, non-fiction, paranormal fiction

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© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Update: I’m editing the title to indicate that these are books I think everyone must read, not books I’m listing for myself to read. I’ve read – and loved – all of these, that’s why I consider them must-reads. )

I have officially run out of genres in which I can list my favorites. I thought it would be good to do one last “favorites” post, in which I compile all the lists, plus any must-reads I’ve come across since, and any other books I love that didn’t quite fit into one of the lists. This list will continue to grow – for many years, I’m sure. Because of the fact that it would make me insane to try to actually put them in any order of preference, there is no order to this list. I will attempt to separate it into genres, but know that there is often over-lap between genres.

(Aside: How do you determine between contemporary fiction and literary fiction? What about historical fiction – does it matter if it’s literary, too? Does the Outlander series count as historical fiction, or do I have to put it in fantasy because of the time travel element? What about women’s fiction? I get confused by these questions.)

Fiction:
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler
Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon (the entire series)
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
Levi’s Will by W. Dale Cramer
Straight Up by Lisa Samson
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
River Rising by Athol Dickson
One True Thing by Anna Quindlen
Summer of Light by W. Dale Cramer
Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout
How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
Belong to Me by Marisa de Los Santos
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
The Laws of Harmony by Judith R. Hendricks
The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne
The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard
The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
Good Grief by Lolly Winston
The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart

Historical fiction:
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Ireland: A Novel by Frank Delaney
Trinity by Leon Uris
Exodus by Leon Uris
Homestead by Rosina Lippi
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Children of Men by P.D. James
The Walking Drum by Louis L’Amour
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Guernica by Dave Boling
North River by Pete Hamill
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Leonardo’s Swans by Karen Essex
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

Fantasy:
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (the entire series)
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Magical realism:
Snow in August by Pete Hamill

Classics:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Short stories:
That Distant Land: Stories by Wendell Berry

Children’s fiction:
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Tigerheart by Peter David
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (and the sequel)
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (and the sequel)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (the entire series)
Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Penny From Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm

Science Fiction:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Mystery series:
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (First in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series) by Laurie R. King
Cover Her Face (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries, No. 1) by P.D. James
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Cordelia Gray Mysteries, No. 1) by P.D. James
Booked to Die (Cliff Janeway Novels) by John Dunning
A is for Alibi (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries) by Sue Grafton
One for the Money (Stephanie Plum mysteries) by Janet Evanovich

Graphic novels and memoirs:
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
American Widow by Alissa Torres and Sungyoon Choi
Blankets by Craig Thompson

YA fiction:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Pirates! by Celia Rees
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (the entire series)
Gone by Michael Grant

Memoirs:
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned by Alan Alda
Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson
Imagined London: A Tour of the World’s Greatest Fictional City by Anna Quindlen
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier
The Woman Who Can’t Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science by Jill Price

History:
1776 by David McCullough
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose

Non-fiction about reading and writing:
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
On Writing by Stephen King
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft by Jane Yolen
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

Poetry:
The Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982
The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems by Billy Collins
Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake
The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L’Engle
The Radiation Sonnets: For My Love, in Sickness and in Health by Jane Yolen
What the Light Was Like: Poems by Luci Shaw

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2009. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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1776 by David McCullough
McCullough chooses to focus on one year of the American Revolution, and describes the military strategy, the troop conditions, and the leaders on both sides of the conflict.

A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 by James Shapiro
Another book that focuses on one year in history. In this one, Shapiro looks at the year that Shakespeare penned Henry the Fifth, Julius Ceasar, As You Like It, and Hamlet. He shows how the British politics and conditions of the time informed each of these works.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
This book could be subtitled “What your teachers and the textbooks didn’t tell you.” I was amazed to discover how ignorant I was of the story of the Mayflower and its passengers – it goes so far beyond the story of the first Thanksgiving.

Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose
After watching the mini-series adaptation of this book – which is one of my husband’s all-time favorite movies – I decided to check out this book so I could read the afterword to discover what happened to the men of Easy Company after the war. I ended up reading the whole thing. Ambrose is a writer first, a historian second. I don’t mean he takes liberties with history, I mean his writing is very accessible and draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. The story of these men and their valor in the face of horrific circumstances is extraordinary.

Which books on history are your favorites?

Related posts:
Favorite books on reading and writing
Favorite historical fiction

Up next week: favorite memoirs.

© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2009. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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