Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe by Robert Matzen, 400 pages

Jimmy Stewart was an academy winning actor when World War II broke out.  This biography details his life, but focuses mostly on his military service during the war.

Being a fan of World War II history and Jimmy Stewart, I really enjoyed this book.  Stewart was a decorated officer and pilot of B-24 bombers during the war.

This book might not appeal to someone who simply enjoys a Hollywood biography.  However, those interested in World War II history will not be disappointed. 

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, 320 pages

In the 1920's the Osage Indians of Oklahoma were quite wealthy.  Their land was oil-rich and they owned the mineral rights.  All was not rosy however.  Dozens of Osage Indians were murdered and somehow those cases couldn't be solved locally.

Finally, the Bureau of Investigation stepped in and found out who was behind at least some of the murders.  The why was easy - greed. 

In the first part of the book, author David Grann explores the story of one of the families whose members were murdered.   The second part details the investigation into the murders by the Bureau of Investigation, which became the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The third part details the authors own investigation into this story, the additional information he found and the closure he was able to provide to some of the families whose relatives were murdered. 

Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space by Margo Lee Shetterly, 240 pages

The hit movie "Hidden Figures" is based on the book "Hidden Figures" and I listened to the Young Readers Edition because that is what we had available through MissouriLibraries2Go.

A little known fact is that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics based in Langley, Virginia recruited women during WWII to work as mathematicians, known as computers.  NACA also recruited black women to be computers.

This is the true story of four of those black women, who were all brilliant mathematicians, and their journey at NACA, which became NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Ego-tripping and Other Poems for Young People by Nikki Giovanni, 37 pages

The award winning poet, Nikki Giovanni, is visiting St. Joseph in April and will be offering a public presentation on April 6th, on the MWSU campus. 

I didn't want to miss this chance to meet Ms. Giovanni but wanted to brush up on her poetry so checked out some books from the library.  This book, originally published in 1974, is still relevant today and is about growing up black.  Race, and how we treat each other, is still an unresolved issue and that makes this book of poetry timeless, for now.

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, 396 pages

This book was originally published in Sweden and was translated into English by Rod Bradbury.  It is a comic caper about Allan Karlsson, who escapes from a nursing home on his 100th birthday.

First stop?  The bus station where a criminal with a suitcase full of cash needs to use the bathroom and entrusts Allan with the suitcase.  Oops.

The book fluctuates between the present and Allan's storied life.  Remember how Forrest Gump was present for A LOT of stuff in history?  Yeah, so was Allan.  I rate the book enjoyable, but not lovable. 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, 256 pages

This is a book club book this year for two of the library's book clubs.  The book was written in 1937 and is a classic in African-American and Women's Literature.  In 2005, Time named it as one of the 100 best English-language novels.

It's a difficult story to read, or in my case, listen to because of how people treat each other.  It is set in Georgia and Florida in, I believe the early 1920s.  The exact timing is never shared, but I believe it is before the Depression.  There is total separation of whites and blacks, except of course, in some working relationships.

It is the story of a beautiful, mixed race woman Janie Crawford, who marries three times.  She grows from a quiet girl who does as she is told to a strong and confident woman by the end of the story.  It is beautifully written, but some of the dialog is difficult to understand because it is written in the vernacular of the time and location of the story.  

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown, 416 pages

While this book tells the wonderful story of the Washington University rowing team who made it to the Berlin Olympics in 1936, it mostly focuses on one of those boys in the boat, Joe Rantz. 

The book also shares a lot of information about the Depression, the Dust Bowl and the lead up to World War II in both the US and Germany.  It was an incredibly informative and spectacular book. 

I learned a lot about rowing, but I also learned a lot about what people overcame to survive in America in the 1930s.  I also learned about the nine boys in the boat and their coaches and their varied stories and what it took to reach Olympic glory.

A+, 5 stars, thumbs up!

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler, 325 pages

This is a poignant story that weaves two story lines together.  Isabelle McAllister is an 89 year old white woman who asks her 30-something black hairdresser, Dorrie Curtis, to drive her from Texas to Ohio for a funeral. Obviously, they are also close friends.

On the road, Dorrie learns the story of Isabelle's life in the 1930s when she fell in love with a young black man.  It didn't end well.

Dorrie has her own problems and Isabelle helps her come to terms with those too on their week-long road trip.  This was a beautiful story that made me wonder why we still keep worrying about the color of other people's skin.

The Butler: a Witness to History by Wil Hagood, 112 pages

Wil Haygood is a writer for the Washington Post and his article about Eugene Allen, published around the time that Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, inspired both a movie and this book.

Real-life White House butler, Eugene Allen, was the inspiration for the fictional character of Cecil Gaines in the 2013 movie, "Lee Daniels' The Butler."

Eugene Allen worked for 8 Presidents, beginning with Dwight D. Eisenhower and ending with Ronald Reagan.  This book delves into his story and the story of making the movie that fictionalized his life.  His is a great story and this book tells it well.  

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, 320 pages

I listened to this book, read by Linda Lavin.  Addie Baum was born in Boston in 1900 to Russian immigrants.  The premise of the story is that Addie is telling her life story to her granddaughter Ava in 1985, not long after Addie has celebrated her 85th birthday.

It was a story of family, friendship and life and was an enjoyable book that was easy to listen to.  Rocked my world? No.  Waste of time?  Not at all. 

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, 278 pages

I eagerly awaited my turn to listen to this book and was rewarded by having it read by Reese Witherspoon, who has a wonderful southern drawl.

I really enjoyed this book.  Yes, yes, there is the controversy of Atticus.  How could Harper Lee have changed him?  Well, this book was set in the 1960s during desegregation and I think Ms. Lee did a good job of portraying how many (especially older) southern white middle class people felt at the time. 

Scout is now known as Jean Louise and has lived in New York for five years and is just as shocked as the rest of us to learn how her father feels about desegregation.  Was it really written by Harper Lee?  I don't know.  All I know is, I'm glad I read it.

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough, 320 pages

Not surprisingly based on his track record, David McCullough has done it again.  He has written an interesting and completely readable (in my case, listen-able) story about Wilbur and Orville Wright. The men who solved the mystery and question of the possibility of flight.

The Wright family lived in Dayton, Ohio.  Wilbur was four years older than Orville and they had two older brothers and one younger sister, Katharine.  Wilbur and Orville never married and owned a bicycle shop together.

How did these two non-college attending men go from bicycle builders and sellers to airplane pioneers?  Through hard work, determination, inquiring minds and perseverance.   Put this on your to be read or listened to list!

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson, 418 pages

Erik Larson writes narrative nonfiction.  That means he does a good job of making history interesting.

The Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast in May 1915.  In my vague knowledge of World War I, I thought that the sinking of the Lusitania prompted the United States to declare war on Germany.  It didn't.  The United States didn't enter the war until April 1917.

This is a story of the ocean liner, its passengers and crew, its final voyage, its sinking and the aftermath.  It is also a story of what was happening politically in the United States, Britain and Germany in front of and behind the scenes from 1915 to 1917.

This is a great book for anyone interested in history, intrigue or a good story.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, 294 pages

"Orphan Train" is a book club selection for two of the library's book clubs this year.  It tells the story of two women, Vivian, who is 91 and was an Orphan Train rider in 1929 and Molly, who is a 17 year old foster kid in 2011.  Their stories intersect when Molly is sent to Vivian's house to help clean out the attic in order to work off 50 hours of court mandated public service.

The books goes back and forth between 2011 and the past in order to tell Vivian and Molly's stories.  Vivian and her family immigrated to the United States from Ireland and ended up a New York City tenement house, where most of her family perished in a fire.  That's how she ended up on an Orphan Train, headed to Minnesota in 1929, at the age of nine,

Molly's father died when she was young and her mother fell apart.  Molly ended up in the foster system.  Neither Vivian nor Molly had and easy life with their foster families.

For some reason, I expected the book to be somewhat trite and sweet.  It wasn't.  It was gritty and sad and heartwarming and hopeful.  On the surface Vivian and Molly have nothing in common, but underneath, where it counts, their experiences bring them together.

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre, 384 pages

Ben Macintyre begins this book by saying lots has already been written about the English Spy Kim Philby, who was recruited by the Soviets while he attended Cambridge University, prior to World War II.

Philby was hired at MI6 during the war and worked there until the early 1950s when he was ousted because of questions of his loyalty.  He finally admitted he was a double agent in the early 1960s and fled England for the Soviet Union.

The book focuses mostly on his relationship with Nicholas Elliott, a fellow MI6 agent, who practically had to be hit over the head with the evidence against Philby before he would believe "the old boy" could possibly be a spy.

The implications of Philby's long spying career rocked not only British, but also American intelligence agencies.  Philby was well liked on both sides of the pond and had cultivated many friends in order to pass on as much information as possible to the Soviets.

Philby spied for ideological reasons, but even faced with the reality of the failures of communism refused to change his mind or his ways.  Quite the interesting read!

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride, 291 pages

It took me months to read this book because I rarely found time to sit and read.  However, that is not a reflection on the book.  It was totally engrossing every time I sat down to read it.

James McBride is one of twelve children born to Ruth McBride Jordan in the projects in New York City.

The book alternates between chapters written by James, and chapters dictated by Ruth.  When James was a child his mother never admitted to being white.  She was born an Orthodox Jew named Rachel Shilsky.  Her family left Poland and emigrated to America when she was a child.  Her father was a rabbi who also operated a general store in Virginia.  Family life was difficult.

Rachel left Virginia after high school and started life again in New York City in the early 1940s.  There she fell in love with James McBride, a black man.  She left the Jewish faith and became Ruth.  Her first husband died when she was pregnant with their eighth child (James).  A few years later she fell in love again and married Hunter Jordan, with whom she had four more children.  Hunter died when James was a teenager.

Ruth's will helped her leave her past and raise her twelve children, all of whom went to college and are successful professionals.  Ruth was a woman who never gave up or in.  I'm not doing this powerful book justice.  Read it for yourself and see.

Edge of Eternity, Book Three of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett, 1098 pages

 

 

 

 

The first thing I have to say about this book is: it weighs a TON!  Seriously, this is one heavy book!

This third installment in the trilogy takes us from the early sixties, JFK, the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights, Rock and Roll, to the dismantlement of the Eastern Bloc of communist countries.  It ends with the falling Berlin Wall.  Each historical event is told thru the eyes of members of 5 entwined families: American, German, English, Welsh and Russian.  This is a fictional tale, of course, but it made you think about each event, the political nonsense behind it and the affect it had on real people and families.