Category Archives: 20th century

How to Be a Family: the Year I Dragged my Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together by Dan Kois

14 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by in 20th century, anecdotes, Biography, Non-fiction, Travel

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Heartwarming, funny, full of good intentions, journalist, Dan Kois is determined to break out of the East coast parenting bubble to find a better quality lifestyle for his wife and two preteen girls.  One year, four locations:  New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small town Kansas.

“In this highly entertaining and wryly insightful book, Dan Kois shows how elastic the very concept of family is. As he recounts his family’s encounters with four foreign cultures, he illuminates not only those other societies, but also our own. He argues persuasively that we have much to learn from divorcing ourselves from our own assumptions.”―Andrew Solomon, author of Far and Away and Far From the Tree

“Lots of people talk about pulling up stakes and traveling for a year. Dan Kois and his family actually did it. He’s funny and honest about how it all turned out.”―Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bébé and There Are No Grown-Ups

“This sometimes hair-raising adventure in family togetherness across many continents took courage even to attempt, and a lively sense of humor to describe. Kois has produced a delightful and eye-opening book about what it means to be a family in the modern world.”―Ian Frazier, author of Family and Coyote V Acme

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She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey

22 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in 20th century, Non-fiction

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Two New York Times journalists detail their investigation into Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and his years of sexual assault and harassment. Kantor and Twohey provide a suspenseful, informative look at what it takes to pursue a high-profile story involving many people, some of whom were reluctant to come forward, and how their story set off a national conversation.

“‘She Said’ is riveting and, crafted by two of the country’s most talented journalists, a vibrant, cinematic read.”— CNN 

 “‘She Said,’ a chronicle of the #MeToo era by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, reveals the power of women who, together, refused to stay silent.” – The New Republic

“’She Said,’ a new book detailing the astonishing behind-the-scenes of the New York Times’s bombshell Harvey Weinstein exposé, is an instant classic of investigative journalism. If your jaw dropped at the newspaper’s original allegations against the predatory movie mogul, prepare for it to hit the floor as authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey recount how they uncovered the story: secret meetings, harrowing phone calls, private text exchanges with A-list actresses agonizing over whether to go on the record. Ashley Judd plays the stoic warrior; Gwyneth Paltrow, the circumspect liaison who tries to help the reporters find other sources.” – Monica Hesse, The Washington Post

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Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer

27 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, Non-fiction

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If you can accept that there are no maps. no pictures, and 19-year-old Brit “wit/slang” descriptions, you are in for a reading experience (much like Wild and Educated and  A House in the Sky) where a courageous woman takes on big risk, totally unprepared, and out of sheer determination manages to win the 1,000 kilometer horse race (riding 25 horses) in Mongolia.  Fascinating read!

“An inspirational tale of struggle―dehydration, injury and isolation―ultimately overcome through grit and sheer willpower.” ―Thomas Gebremedhin, Wall Street Journal Magazine,

“First-time author Prior-Palmer transforms from hopeless 19-year-old underdog into surprising champion of the grueling 2013 Mongol Derby in this exhilarating, visceral account of her attempt to win a 1,000-kilometer horse race across the Mongolian countryside . . . Filled with soulful self-reflection and race detail, this fast-paced page-turner is a thrill ride from start to finish.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Excellent prose and rigorous honesty . . . An unusual pleasure to read . . . Prior-Palmer writes with a dash and boldness few writers possess; her language seems sui generis . . . Her narrative alchemy is remarkable; in every chapter, she turns boredom to suspense and back again. The Derby is at once heart-stoppingly close and a miserable slog to which we already know the ending. That shifting―heroism to comedy, glamour to stinking holes in the ground―creates a tension far more interesting than the question of who’s going to win the race, or how.” ―Lily Meyer, NPR

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The Yellow House: a Memoir by Sarah M. Broom

25 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, memoir, United States

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****Winner of THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION****

A brilliant memoir about place, race, and class, Sarah Broom escaped East New Orleans (often just blank space on early maps) to become a successful journalist yet feels that monstrous pull to return to her home with 11 siblings in the yellow shotgun house that was wiped off the map by Hurricane Katrina.  Meet her vibrant family and breathe in the quirky French Quarter where, as a child, she never knew existed.

“A heartfelt but unflinching recovery project . . . Broom’s lyrical style celebrates her family bonds, but a righteous fury runs throughout the narrative at New Orleans’ injustices, from the foundation on up. A tribute to the multitude of stories one small home can contain, even one bursting with loss.”―Kirkus Reviews

“A great, multigenerational family story . . . Broom is an engaging guide; she has some of David Simon’s effortless reporting style, and her meditations on eroding places recall Jeannette Walls. The house didn’t survive Katrina, but its destruction strengthened Broom’s appreciation of home. Broom’s memoir serves as a touching tribute to family and a unique exploration of the American experience.”―Publishers Weekly

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Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham

30 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by in 20th century, History, Non-fiction

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I picked up this book after watching the recent HBO series Chernobyl. It is a great companion to the show, but also fascinating and well-written on its own. It describes the political climate and human errors that led to the devastating accident at the nuclear power plant, as well as the aftermath and effects on the people that lived and worked in the surrounding areas.

“A gripping miss-your-subway-stop read . . . Higginbotham captures the nerve-racked Soviet atmosphere brilliantly.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Midnight in Chernobyl is top-notch historical narrative: a tense, fast-paced, engrossing, and revelatory product of more than a decade of research. . . . A stunningly detailed account . . . For all its wealth of information, the work never becomes overwhelming or difficult to follow. Higginbotham humanizes the tale, maintaining a focus on the people involved and the choices, both heroic and not, they made in unimaginable circumstances. This is an essential human tale with global consequences.”—Booklist, Starred Review

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The Paragon Hotel by Lindsay Faye

15 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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An engrossing book that seamlessly weaves human drama with historical racism in 1920’s Oregon.  “Nobody” or Alice, wounded in almost every way, is on the run from the Mafia in Prohibition-era Harlem, and lands in Portland’s only hotel for blacks. The story begins and sweeps the reader into the lives of the unforgettable residents of the hotel. And then the Ku Klux Klan shows up.  A cracking good read.

“This historical novel, which carries strong reverberations of present-day social and cultural upheavals, contains a message from a century ago that’s useful to our own time: ‘We need to do better at solving things.’ A riveting multilevel thriller of race, sex, and mob violence that throbs with menace as it hums with wit.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The Paragon Hotel is set a century ago, but its themes of social and cultural upheaval feel sufficiently fresh that you might think twice about calling Lyndsay Faye’s sixth novel historical fiction. But calling it terrific—not for a minute should you hesitate to do that….The great strength of “The Paragon Hotel” is Ms. Faye’s voice—a blend of film noir and screwball comedy….The jauntiness of the prose doesn’t hide the fact that Ms. Faye has serious business on her mind. At bottom, The Paragon Hotel is about identity and about family—those we’re born into and those we create.”—The Wall Street Journal

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

12 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by in 20th century, Non-fiction

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief, on the surface is a whodunnit.  Who set fire to the Los Angeles Public Library on April 28, 1986? Why did he/she do it? What was the outcome? Orlean chronicles the investigation into the fire that reached 2000 degrees and destroyed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.  In addition, the author also tells the broader story of libraries and librarians as well as a fascinating social history of California.

Orlean has written a detective story that is a love letter not just to the Los Angeles Public Library, but to all public libraries and what they represent in a democratic society – a place for free access to information.   Public libraries are a combination of a people’s university, a community hub, and an information base, happily partnered with the Internet rather than in competition with it.  Public libraries are a government entity that is nonjudgmental, inclusive and fundamentally kind.

A dazzling love letter to a beloved institution—and an investigation into one of its greatest mysteries—from the bestselling author hailed as a “national treasure” by TheWashington Post.

 A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018

“A constant pleasure to read…Everybody who loves books should check out The Library Book.” —The Washington Post

“CAPTIVATING…DELIGHTFUL.” —Christian Science Monitor * “EXQUISITELY WRITTEN, CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINING.” —The New York Times * “MESMERIZING…RIVETING.” —Booklist (starred review)

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Small Fry: a Memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs

04 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

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A tender coming of age story about a young girl trying to reconcile two very different lifestyles between her mother and father….. who just happens to be Steve Jobs.   This is not a celebrity biography.  She is true to her young voice throughout plus you will fall in love with her snapshots of 1970’s-80’s northern California.

“Entrancing… Brennan-Jobs is a deeply gifted writer… Her inner landscape is depicted in such exquisitely granular detail that it feels as if no one else could have possibly written it. Indeed, it has that defining aspect of a literary work: the stamp of a singular sensibility… Beautiful, literary, and devastating.”―New York Times Book Review

“Brennan-Jobs skillfully relays her past without judgement… staying true to her younger self. It is a testament to her fine writing and journalistic approach that her memoir never turns maudlin or gossipy. Rather than a celebrity biography, this is Brennan-Jobs’s authentic story of growing up in two very different environments, neither of which felt quite like home.”―Booklist (starred review)

“Brennan-Jobs’s narrative is tinged with awe, yearning, and disappointment… Bringing the reader into the heart of the child who admired Jobs’s genius, craved his love, and feared his unpredictability.”―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

05 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, murder, mystery, nature

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I can’t say enough about this book and have already placed it in the hands of my favorite readers. The main character survives an impoverished childhood at a very young age in the North Carolina marshes only to remain isolated for the rest of her life. She opens her heart to everything that lives and breathes in this foreboding, haunting place.  You will too.  It is nature writing at its best with an added coming of age story, romance, and murder mystery.  Guaranteed a deep reading experience.

“A lush debut novel, Owens delivers her mystery wrapped in gorgeous, lyrical prose. It’s clear she’s from this place—the land of the southern coasts, but also the emotional terrain—you can feel it in the pages.  A magnificent achievement, ambitious, credible and very timely.”—Alexandra Fuller, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight “

A painfully beautiful first novel that is at once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative and a celebration of nature….Owens here surveys the desolate marshlands of the North Carolina coast through the eyes of an abandoned child. And in her isolation that child makes us open our own eyes to the secret wonders—and dangers—of her private world.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Carries the rhythm of an old time ballad. It is clear Owens knows this land intimately, from the black mud sucking at footsteps to the taste of saltwater and the cry of seagulls.”—David Joy, author of The Line That Held Us

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Educated: a Memoir by Tara Westover

08 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University

I was enthralled and moved by this powerful memoir. The author grew up in a survivalist family in Idaho, the youngest child. She was not homeschooled—instead, she simply didn’t go to school at all, due to her father’s mistrust of public schools. Her family didn’t believe in modern medicine. Instead, her mother was an herbalist and midwife. The memoir becomes a story of her internal struggle—to believe her own version of her life and to have the strength to break away from her past.

“The extremity of Westover’s upbringing emerges gradually through her telling, which only makes the telling more alluring and harrowing.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Incredibly thought-provoking . . . so much more than a memoir about a woman who graduated college without a formal education. It is about a woman who must learn how to learn.”—The Harvard Crimson

“At its heart, her memoir is a family history: not just a tale of overcoming but an uncertain elegy to the life that she ultimately rejected. Westover manages both tenderness and a savage honesty that spares no one, not even herself.”—Booklist

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