The History Book Club discussion

Terry, here is your new thread in 2016. Happy reading in the new year.

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2016
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

JANUARY

1. by Bob Woodward
Finish date: January 5, 2016
Genre: History, Politics
Rating: B
Review: I listened to this as an audio book and found the narration lively. Woodward provided interesting information on the Bush White Houses response to 9/11. There were new insights for me into the personalities involved.

2. by Bob Woodward
Finish Date: January 6, 2016
Genre: History, Politics
Rating: A
Review: I listened to the audio book and appreciated Campbell Scott's narration. His Nixon sounded very close to the original. Butterfield exposes disturbing aspects of Nixon's personality and philosophy. I was fascinated with the book.

3. by Bob Woodward
Finish Date: January 8, 2016
Genre: History, Politics
Rating: A-
Review:I really enjoyed the narration and Woodward's writing. The mystery of Deep Throat has been solved for me.

Well done, Terry.....but please put January in bold caps over your first post, as is shown in my sample. The month does not need to be repeated with each post within a month......only when the month changes.
Thanks.

Jill wrote: "Well done, Terry.....but please put January in bold caps over your first post, as is shown in my sample. The month does not need to be repeated with each post within a month......only when the mont..."

Will do. Thanks

4. by Tasha Alexander
Finish Date: January 10, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Rating: B-
Review: I selected this audiobook to lighten my mood and cleanse my brain after an overload of politics. It was a good choice. The first in a series of historical mystery fiction, it has a strong, central female character with an interesting mind. Once she decides to marry Emily becomes the mistress of a number houses which will make the series rather "mobile" for the period. I think this will be a series I will save for quick reads and light entertainment.

5. by Atul Gawande
Finish Date: January 20, 2016
Genre: Non-Fiction, Health
Rating: A+
Review: I gained so many insights about our medicine driven aging process that I will have to re-read this book a couple of times to fully benefit from Atul Gawande's amazing perspective. This was an amazingly helpful read for me. I recommend this book to anyone who is aging or has aging family members.

I've heard lots of good things about this book. Another for my TBR pile

Peter wrote: "I've heard lots of good things about this book. Another for my TBR pile"
I kind of dreaded reading this book but once into it really grabbed me. I came away with hope and positive ideas. I hope you do too.

6. by Paul Hendrickson
Finish Date: January 31, 2016
Genre: Biography
Rating: B
Review: Interesting analysis of Hemingway, his creative journey, relationships and the stormy seas of mental stability. His boat PILAR acts as the place where he centers himself and finds release from tensions. It is his "happy place" if he could ever be truly happy. Lots of personal stories about little known individuals that spent time with him on PILAR.

7. by C.J. Sansom
Finish Date: January 31, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Rating: B+
Review: My favorite hunchback lawyer is in York with the Great Progress, Henry VIII and Queen Catherine Howard. I got insights into the differences between the conservatives and the religious reformers after the fall of Cromwell. Good tension, story progression and character development. Lots of mud both organic and political. All of it messy.

FEBRUARY

8. by Paula Hawkins
Finish Date: February 2, 2016
Genre: Suspense, Mystery
Rating: A-
Review: Tension, suspense and unique story line hooked me immediately. Rachel's perchance to apologize for everything annoyed me. This was an audio book I borrowed from the Library. There were three narrators which made it easy to follow the narrative changes between the three women. Very readable and hard to put down.

9. by Fredrik Backman
Finish Date: February 11, 2016
Genre: Fiction, Humor
Rating: A+
Review: After reading about three chapters I began wondering if I would find why others had found this book so great. Ove seemed a hard character to love. Persevere I did and I am glad I did. I got hooked and thoroughly enjoyed this book.

10. by Luke Barr
Finish Date: February 12, 2016
Genre: Non-Fiction, Food and Drink, Biography
Rating: A+
Review: Luke Barr's book about the culinary figures of Julia Child, Simone Beck, Judith Jones, James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher and Richard Olney not only made my mouth water but made me long for a warm gathering of friends on a terrace in Provence. It being winter, finding a farmers market might be difficult but I'm inspired to cook and bake. The narration and description told a sensuous story of the awakening of the love of cooking in America. Lots of fun to read.

I'll add this to my list.
I love to eat as much as I love to read!

11. by Aaron Elkins
Finish Date: February 15, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Rating: B-
Review: As the story brought Peter Simon from New York to France and Spain I learned about France after the end of the war and the feelings associated with living under Nazi domination. Hidden within a murder mystery is the exploration of French guilt of collaboration and the hostility toward revisionist historians. I picked this book up because the audio format was available from my local library. It was entertaining and the narrator excellent.

12. by Deborah Blum
Finish Date: February 18, 2016
Genre: Science, True Crime
Rating: B-
Review: I found this an book interesting about the birth of the medical examiners office and forensic lab in New York City. It is also an interesting tale of how deadly the period of Prohibition was. The things people would drink makes me cringe. The narrative moves along but not always smoothly. Blum's did make me chuckle at times.

I read that book last year.....I liked it and totally agree with your review. Interesting subject.

13. by Joe Abercrombie
Finish Date: February 22, 2016
Genre: Fantesy, Epic
Rating: C+
Review: A good yarn involving Magi, skeptics, proven and unproven warriors and no damsels in distress. Written as the first of a series, the menace is growing but I'm unsure of who is on point in this story. Character development is wandering a bit as the narrative switches about. Abercrombie does give insight as to how characters are perceived compared to their own ideas of self but the characters don't seemed to have good senses of "self". It is as if this book is the back story for a greater epic which is still being fleshed out.

Jill wrote: "I read that book last year.....I liked it and totally agree with your review. Interesting subject."

I'm glad you agree with my review. I think it is an interesting companion to by Daniel Okrent

MARCH
14. by Lynne Olson
Finish Date: March 3, 2016
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: For me this book evoked thoughts and emotions. Olson delved into the American/British experience as well as the British/American experience with a fairly even hand. Throughout I felt that the study of World History by all the world's inhabitants would make for better negotiations all round. There was much that the Americans didn't understand about Britain and Europe. And much Britain didn't understand about the United States. This particularly clear given the current state of politics in the United States.

15. by Jon Meacham
Finish Date: March 4, 2016
Genre: American History; Biography
Rating: B
Review: Yes. I took my time reading this biography of Thomas Jefferson. Other books kept distracting me. This book is compelling and very readable despite having to follow quotes in 18th century political thought. It is a big book and my desire for drama won out at times. I did want to finish.

16. by Isaac Asimov
Finish Date: March 4, 2016
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B
Review: I listened to this book as a digital download. I found it an interesting murder mystery woven into a philosophical discussion of how to deal with the over population of earth. The narration was good though the female characters sounded a bit whinny. I think that Asimov's women generally lack back bone. Hence the B rating.

Great progress, Terry and a good selection of diverse books. I enjoy your reviews.

Jill wrote: "Great progress, Terry and a good selection of diverse books. I enjoy your reviews."

Thanks for the words of encouragement, Jill.

17. by Anthony Doerr
Finish Date: March 7, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A+
Review: I'm going to have to read this book more times. On face value it is a story set during WWII. But it is a multi-layered story with characters of depth, studies of the relations between souls and the nature of reality. I enjoyed the prose and lyrical quality of Doerr's writing.

Glad you liked it Terry. Readers are divided when it comes to this book. They either love it or they don't. To me it was wonderful.

I agree with you Samanta. I borrowed the audiobook from the library and enjoyed the narration by Zach Appelman but will get a printed copy for my bookcase.

I plan to get a my own copy too (borrowed from the library the first time). This is just one of those books that you have to have on your shelf.

18. by Caleb Carr
Finish Date: March 11, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction , Thriller
Rating: B+
Review: I was immediately hooked by this suspense filled thriller. With John Schuyler Moore playing a Dr. Watson like role to Dr. Laszlo Kreizler's Sherlock Holmes the plot moved smoothly through the seedy side of New York and ignored lives of society that ran parallel with the upper society of the day. Throw in Teddy Roosevelt as the third leg to a childhood "gang" and I was entertained.

The narrator of the audio book was George Guidall. He did a good job interpreting the characters though he was unable to be consistent with all the accents throughout the whole work. The fiend who was the murderer was wonderfully performed however.

19. Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn
Finish Date: March 16, 2016
Genre: Mystery, Detective
Rating: B
Review: I love this K9 and Human detective team. Chet as narrator brings an interesting perspective to the art of detecting. He and Bernie are able to find cases no matter where they travel. This book in the series is one of the best. Quinn has changed it up by adding technology, spies and political intrigue. Something that Chet and Bernie don't find at home in Arizona. Quinn has provided me with a bit of fur, fluff and fun that got me past a period of gloomy, wet, cold days.

Terry, you don't need the link to the book if the cover is available. It's just a small correction, but we really like to stick to the format.

by Spencer Quinn

Samanta wrote: "Terry, you don't need the link to the book if the cover is available. It's just a small correction, but we really like to stick to the format.

by [authorimage:Sp..."

Okay. Just got carried away with the links.

Thank you!! :)

Terry, I'm going to give the "Chet and Bernie Mystery" series a look starting with the first....thanks!
by Spencer Quinn

Skeetor wrote: "Terry, I'm going to give the "Chet and Bernie Mystery" series a look starting with the first....thanks!
by [author:Spencer Quinn|19..."

Oh, Good. I will be interested in what you think of them.

20. by John Grisham
Finish Date: March 19, 2016
Genre: Legal Thriller
Rating: C-
Review: Though I have loved Grisham's "The Pelican Brief" and "The Firm" among others, I found this one a disappointment. At times the old Grisham brilliance shows through but only long enough for it to be the compelling moment in an hour long television series. The hook for each episode appeared at the end of each chapter. If it was a TV series, I'd have been a fan. As a book it just doesn't hold together.

Another issue I have with this book is his protagonists diatribes on judges, the judicial system and law enforcement practices. His criticisms are used to justify his use of the shadier sides of his practice and voiced too frequently and stridently. Grisham needs to tone it down.
by John Grisham
by John Grisham

Terry......Please put your book citations at the end of the text in your review. Makes for easier reading. You can put the name of the books in italics,bold, or quotation marks in the actual text and then cite them at the bottom. Thanks.................and great progress.

Jill wrote: "Terry......Please put your book citations at the end of the text in your review. Makes for easier reading. You can put the name of the books in italics,bold, or quotation marks in the actual text a..."

Done
:-)

Terry wrote: "5. by Atul Gawande
Finish Date: January 20, 2016
Genre: Non-Fiction, Health
Rati..."
quite interesting, straight in "to read list"

Terry wrote: "5. by Atul Gawande
Finish Date: January 20, 2016
Genre: Non-Fiction, Health
Rati..."

Wholeheartedly agree. Great book, so beautifully written, very insightful.

Terry wrote: "20. Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham
Finish Date: March 19, 2016
Genre: Legal Thriller
Rating: C-
Review: Though I have loved Grisham's "The P..."

Terry, you have put a link to the book instead of the cover, which is the standard. It's easy to make a mistake if you're in a hurry.

Vicki wrote: "Terry wrote: "20. Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham
Finish Date: March 19, 2016
Genre: Legal Thriller
Rating: C-
Review: Though I have loved Gr..."

oops

21. by Robert Galbraith
Finish Date: March 24, 2016
Genre: Criminal Thriller
Rating: A-
Review: Rowling, oops, Galbraith kept me on the edge of my seat most of the way through. I began to guess who it might be when I reached 90% but Galbraith (Rowling) once again threw in a new twist. She structures a thriller very well, mixing in a dash of personal relationship angst to spice things up. I am interested in seeing if Robin, as a character, can move on from her need to prove herself and inability to trust Cormoran enough to explain herself to him.

22. by Gilbert King
Finish Date: March 31, 2016
Genre: True Crime
Rating: B-
Review: King gives an updated account of the intertwined justice system and segregated culture of Florida which resulted in persecution of The Groveland Boys, their families and supporters. He wove the narrative of the trials with background on Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP, Harry Moore and Lake County officials in such a way that I understood the deeper meaning behind actions well but found them distracting at times. Thurgood Marshall comes across as a human being with flaws as well as a brilliant legal mind.
Given the rhetoric of the current presidential campaign and reading this book, I'm not feeling optimistic about many of my fellow Americans at the moment. Hopefully there are more people changing the way they think than sticking with the status quo.

APRIL
23. by Tony Hillerman
Finish Date: April 1, 2016
Genre: Mystery/Suspence
Rating: B+
Review: A great read about what investigative journalism use to be like before the internet, cell phones and blogs. I read right through this story because it hooked me from the start. Hillerman kept the suspense going well throughout.

24. by David Mitchell
Finish Date: April 10, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A+
Review: Mitchell creates a sense for place with deceptive ease. He uses language that flows gently but accurately through the past linking it with the familiar in the present. I was engaged quickly and was fascinated with de Zoets adventure while traveling from naivete to wisdom. I really enjoyed this clash of east meets west. The characters have depth and are described with humor and care.

I do want to read that one, Terry. Glad to see your review.

Donna wrote: "I do want to read that one, Terry. Glad to see your review."

I hope you enjoy it and will look forward to seeing your review.