The History Book Club discussion

Michele, this is your thread for 2018. I have included the link to the required format thread and an example. If you had a 2017 thread - it will be archived so when you get the opportunity move over your completed books and formats to the 2018 thread - but we will allow time for you to do that.

Please follow the standard required format below - I hope you enjoy your reading in 2018. Here is also a link for assistance with the required guidelines:

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2017
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.

IMPORTANT - THE REVIEW SHOULD BE SHORT AND SWEET - THERE ARE NO LINKS OF ANY KIND IN THE BODY OF THE REVIEW ALLOWED. NONE. DO NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER BOOK IN YOUR BRIEF REVIEW. THE ONLY BOOK CITED IN YOUR REVIEW IS THE ONE YOU ARE REVIEWING - NO OTHERS. ALL LINKS TO OTHER THREADS OR REVIEWS ARE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - THERE WILL BE NO WARNING. WE CONSIDER THIS SELF PROMOTION AND IT IS NOT ALLOWED AND IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES AND GUIDELINES.

JANUARY

1. by Adrienne Mayor
Finish date: Jan. 2018
Genre: non-fiction , military history
Rating: A-
Review: This is a re-read for me, as I got a copy for Christmas.

Is biological and Chemical Warfare a modern invention or a thing of the past? Yes! Is is a thing of the past and a very old idea.

Poisoned arrows, fouling water supplies, deadly scorpions used inside bombs and spreading disease as a weapon are ancient tactics used in the ancient world. Adrienne Mayor sheds light onto the use of "weapons of mass destruction" thousands of years before one would associate the term to warfare. In this book, she points out various civilizations that employed 'dishonorable' acts in early battles.

Greek fire? it was an early version of napalm!

2. by National Geographic Society
Finish date: Jan. 2108
Genre: photography, travel
Rating: A
Review: Picked this up at B&N bargain book table and gave it a read. Very good on the basics and with assignments for beginning photographers to stretch their wings with.

3. by William Shakespeare
Finish date: Jan 2018
Genre: fiction, classics, plays
Rating: A
Review: Read this almost 30 years ago, and re-read it now.. I like the play and its better when you understand some Elizabethian slang.

4. by Adrienne Mayor
Finish date: Jan. 2018
Genre: paleontology, history, mythology
Rating: A-
Review: Adrienne Mayor does a great job of piecing together a paleontological puzzle long hidden in mythical obscurity. The First Fossil Hunters is an academic marvel that connects ambiguous dots to draw a picture of fossil discoveries that underwent anthropomorphic and monstrous conversions to accommodate mythical belief and hero worship.

Mayor speaks to the average reader without dumbing down the narrative. One never wonders what she's trying to say, and all speculation is clearly defined without being weighed down by insistent presumption. The book is a joy to read, logical and well reasoned throughout.

5. by Robert Frost
Finish date: Jan. 2018
Genre: poetry
Rating: A
Review: Robert Frost can do no wrong in my eyes and this compilation by B & N comes in a beautiful leather cover.

Wow you are up and running. Great.

Yup, I am. Should I delete these 5 out of the 2017 folder?

That would be great and then I can archive it.

Ok, Bentley, Done. All 2018 deleted out of 2017.

Great

6. by Evelyn C. Rysdyk (no photo)
Finish date: Jan. 2018
Genre: shamanism - europe, northern, anthropology
Rating: B+
Review: Well researched and rooted in findings in anthropology, archeology and history, as well as personal experience. I appreciate that the author delved deeper than just the Viking Age.

We are off (smile)

FEBRUARY

7. by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Finish date: Feb. 2018
Genre: memoir, politics, USA
Rating: B
Review: Good book, boring in the first chapters, but picks up.

8. by Florence Caplow (no photo)
Finish date: Feb. 218
Genre: zen, buddahism
Rating: A
Review: This book is about Zen/Buddhist koans (stories) featuring women, followed by an interpretation by a woman Buddhist practitioner. Each koan and interpretation take no more than 5 minutes to read. However understanding/digesting this takes time.

9. by Agatha Christie
Finish date: Feb 2018
Genre: mystery
Rating A
Review: This is a compilation of three mysteries: Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Curtain: Poirot's last case. So technically, I read two books within this one book. Its a beautiful edition with three of Christie's best

10. by Ernest Hemingway
Finish date: Feb 2018
Genre: Short story
Rating: B
Review: I guess I am not a Hemingway fan. I did enjoy this short story about a dying man though.

11. by Arden Moore
Finish date: Feb 2018
Genre: animals
Rating: B
Review: This book is in a question and answer format. Some people love it, some hate it, I didn't care as I did pick up some tips and tricks.

12. by Larry J. Zimmerman (no photo)
Finish date: Feb. 2018
Genre: anthropology, religion
Rating: B
Review: This book is an overview of the spiritual outlook and way of life of Indigenous Americans. This is not a history book, but is is a cultural survey full of photos and illustrations. Beautiful hardcover.

MARCH

13. by Joseph Campbell
Finish date: March 2018
Genre: mythology, dance
Rating: B+
Review: This is Joseph Campbell's collected writings on dance and art, edited and introduced by Nancy Allison, CMA. It includes Campbell’s unpublished manuscript “Mythology and Form in the Performing and Visual Arts,” the book he was working on when he died.

Good progress

14. by Malcolm Gladwell
Finish date: March 2018
Genre: sociology, psychology
Rating: C+
Review: This book has some gems in it, but suffers from too much repetition. It might be, that for me, I got most of what is in this book elsewhere.

15. by Hala Alyan (no photo)
Finish date: March 2018
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: B
Review: Very interesting portrayal of the Palestinian perspective of the territorial and religious issues. Told over multiple generations of one family.

I just came across a review of this in the paper. Glad to see you liked it. I feel better when someone I know has read it.

16. by Mike Duncan
Finish date: March 2018
Genre: history, rome
Rating: B+
Review: Good look at the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic.

APRIL

17. by Ursula K. Le Guin
Finish date: April 2018
Genre: young adult, fantasy
Rating: A
Review: Read this as a teen and now, as an adult, I notice the taoist themes running though this book.

18. by Joel Harrington (no photo)
Finish date: April 2018
Genre: biography, theology
Rating: B
Review: This is a Giveaway book, paperback and is an advance uncorrected proof.

Book is both a biography and theology. Traces Meister Echhart's theology though out his life.

19. by Joseph M. Marshall III
Finish date: April 2017
Genre: Native American, Lakota, memoir
Rating: A
Review: A re-read for me . Loved the way the author took us though his memories and the lessons he was taught.

20. by C.J. Sansom
Finish date: April 2017
Genre: historical fiction, mystery
Rating: B
Review: Book introduces us to Matthew Shardlake, in England during the reign of Henry VIII. Mystery is set against the dissolution of monasteries .

21. by Lionel Casson
Finish date: April 2018
Genre: history, egypt
Rating: B
Review: Book focuses on daily life during the New Kingdom, roughly 1550 to 1075 bce. Short and easy to read.

22. by Katherine Arden
Finish date: April 2018
Genre: fiction, folklore
Rating : C
Review: I am one of the few that didn't really like this book. I thought the adventures were too unrealistic (not sure if that is the correct word) . I tried to focus on Vasya and how her character develops, and that helped.

Too many people behaving very badly. I was really annoyed at Dmitri (view spoiler)[ So your cousin lies to you to protect his sister and you have a hissy fit about it and throw "her" to the wolves and charge her with witch craft? WTF? (hide spoiler)] , and for the rest, just overdone.

I can understand the problem you had with the book's Dmitri - but don't get too overwrought over it - thankfully it is fiction (smile).

It is, maybe my expectations were too high....

I have gotten that way with certain books and wanted to throw a few at the wall but then realized - it is only a book and it is fiction - non fiction is another thing - that you can throw at a blank wall if you want.

23. by Umberto Eco
Finish date: April 2018
Genre: historical ficion
Reating: A-
Review: Second time reading this and it is still as good as I remember. Death in an abby!

MAY

24. by Ursula K. Le Guin
Finish date: May 2018
Genre; fiction, fantasy, young-adult
Rating: A
Review: This is probably the best out of the original trilogy. In it we see an old evil, a teenage girl breaking out of her assigned role within this evil and Ged the Mage.

25. by James Comey (no photo)
Finish date: May 2018
Genre: politics, history, biography
Rating: B+
Review: Was not sure how I would respond to this book but I found it easy to read. I still don't understand his thinking relative to Hillary Clinton's emails, as to why he had to make a statement regarding the emails at end of the campaign. I also do not understand why the investigation relative to Russian interference in the 2016 election to help Trump, was not exposed during campaign, before Nov. 2016.

26. by Jeffrey Spier (no photo)
Finish date: May 2018
Genre: classical history
Rating: B+
Review: Good companion book to the Getty exhibit and it has beautiful photography. The text is academic, so it will be on the dry side for the average reader.

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/...

27 by Adrian Goldsworthy
Finish date: May 2018
Genre: roman history, classical history, ancient rome
Rating: B+
Review: This book begins with a description of the politics of late republican Rome in the early first century (BCE.) It details Caesar's rise through the complexities of assorted offices. The main emphasis is on Caesar the military leader including good descriptions (with maps) of most of the crucial battles and the all important logistical issues. There are well balanced characterizations of both Pompey and Caesar (showing the latter as definitely less brutal). The only negative was that there was not enough about Caesar's relations with Mark Antony or Octavian.

28. by Pam Johnson-Bennett
Finish date: May 2018
Genre: animal behavior, cats
Rating: B+
Review: There are some really solid tips on cat behavior in this book along with a lot of training tips.

JUNE

29. by John V. Wylie
Finish date: June 2018
Genre: psychology, evolution
Rating: B
Review: This book changed my view of human nature. Book brings fresh insights to evolutionary theory by delving into how emotions, relationships, and group cooperation evolved. Dr. Wylie also delivers thoughts on mental illness through an evolutionary perspective, and shows how mental illnesses are by-products of what makes us uniquely human.

30. by Franchesca Ramsey
Finish date: June 2018
Genre: memoir, humor
Rating: B
Review: have never heard of Franchesca prior to reading this book, but came away impressed. She is someone who turned Youtube stardom (mostly over a sketch involving race relations) into an actual career in TV writing. In her book, she shares the ups and downs, mistakes and recovery that she has done. And I finally know what Cisgender is!

31. by Gary Krist (no photo)
Finish date: June 2018
Genre: history, California, Los Angeles
Rating: A-
Review: Picking up about 20 years after Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles this book gives us the birth of modern Los Angeles, from 1900 to the 1930's. It covers DW Griffith, Cecil B DeMill and the early silent film industry, to William Mulholland and the infrastructure that brought water to Los Angeles, including the St. Francis Dam disaster, and though Aimee Semple McPherson (and her mysterious disappearance) ,Robert Schuller, both in the early evangelist movement in Los Angeles. The book tells us of the growing pains the city had while on the way to the city we know now.

32. by Stephen King
Finish date: June 2018
Genre: fiction, horror
Rating: B
Review: Terry Maitland was very publicly arrested for the sadistic murder of a young boy. Finger print. DNA, and witnesses all point to him as the perpetrator. But there is a problem. Terry was at a conference 100 miles away, with video of him there, fingerprints of him there and another set of witnesses who saw and spoke to him. So how can one man be in two places at the same time? The answer may surprise you.

Classic Steven King book. I do think that this book was too long. Could have told the same story with 150 less pages. Has places where it bogs down but does pick up again

I'm glad to hear you say "classic" Steven King book about this one because some of his latest ones have been hit or miss and I have this on my list. I always liked his earlier work.

I feel the same way about King's latest. Hit or miss. This one did have the classic SK feel about it , but for me, there was too much on police procedures. You may feel differently, when you read it.

33. by Zora Neale Hurston
Finish date: June 2018
Genre: history, cultural anthropology
Rating: A-
Review: This book is an important historical document. It is rare that we have a narrative of a person who remembers and recounts the journey from Africa to America, from free person to enslaved man to free person. So, Zora Neale Hurston writing and working as a folklorist and cultural anthropologist took interest in the story of Kossula, the last surviving individual from the last slaving ship that touched down in Alabama in 1860, the Clotilda.

34. by Brad Steiger
Finish date: June 2018
Genre: paranormal, horror
Rating: B
Review: These short books are in ebook or Kindle format only. Easy to read with some interesting stories.

JULY

35. by Alexander Langlands (no photo)
Finish date: July 2018
Genre: art, craft, history
Rating: D
Review: Honest, I am not sure what this book is about. It supposed to be about crafts, as in the various traditional skills that were once vital to our survival. It goes though farming, tanning leather and other crafts. To me it came across as pretentious and elitist. Example: early in the book he was ranting against electric pepper mills as a step down in craft, but I thought they would be wonderful for people with arthritis, tremors, etc. This pretentious feeling was though out the book. Maybe its because I am not an anthropologist or an expirmental archaeolgist.

36. by Theodora Goss
Finish date: July 2018
Genre: fiction, horror, historical
Rating: B
Review: An entertaining, light read. The writing is a bit lazy in that it employs a convention I did not enjoy -- the author interjects (really interrupts) the narrative with direct commentary from the characters. This disrupts the flow of the narrative.