#history – Page 52 – Cannonball Read 17

Don’t Say We Didn’t Try

Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe by Rebecca Erbelding

February 10, 2019 by allisonata 1 Comment

Due to extensive documentation in all manner of media, World War II is an enduring object of fascination. Just when we think we’ve heard everything, the inexhaustible well comes up with something new. In my favored stories of resistance, espionage, politicking, and propaganda, the Holocaust—Nazi Germany’s systematic genocide of Jews in occupied Europe—is impossible to avoid. (Yes, other minority groups were targeted, too. This book is not about them.) It’s a favorite pastime among WWII buffs to finger people, besides the Germans, who ought to […]

Maybe the movie is better?

The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel

February 9, 2019 by yesknopemaybe 5 Comments

2.5 stars. I really, really wanted to like this book. Such an interesting story about world war 2 that doesn’t get told in schools. Hitler and other top brass during the war were obsessed with getting their hands on and hoarding artistic masterpieces. (Except, not modern art which they thought was degenerate and they sought to destroy.) Many treasures were stolen away and hidden, creating utter chaos in the art world. Cue the Monuments Men, a special force tasked with locating and saving these pieces […]

Don’t read this book!

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer

January 26, 2019 by yesknopemaybe 10 Comments

Normally I wouldn’t review a book I’d only read 22% of, but when that 22% is the size of a normal book, I feel pretty comfortable counting it. Also, nothing better than getting to pick out fuck off gifs for a book you hated, so there’s that I guess. I was so jazzed to tackle this behemoth as one of my first books in 2019. I’ve heard so many people talk about how this is the place to start with World War 2 history and […]

Love me some historical messy bishes

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

January 23, 2019 by Chloe Silverado 4 Comments

Are you one of those people who likes to read the book before seeing the movie? I am. So when I found out (around 3-4 years late) that there was a White Queen mini-series, I was excited to jump in. I had also just lost my job and I was really looking for a book to serve as a screen saver for the brain; something that would entertain me but wouldn’t test me. A historical family drama definitely hit the spot. Philippa Gregory’s collected works […]

The Americas Deserved Better Than Guns, Germs, and Steel

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

January 23, 2019 by allisonata 6 Comments

After watching John Leguizamo’s Netflix special Latin History for Morons, I felt a duty to learn more about the Hemisphere in which I live. I started with Mr. Leguizamo’s strongest recommendation: 1491, a 560-page tome with multiple appendices. The author isn’t a historian or archaeologist but a journalist who synthesizes all manner of information and makes it accessible. The result is so compelling, so dense and riddled with shocks big and small that I suspended my usual speed-reading. Unexamined assumptions that I wasn’t even aware […]

“The first rule is don’t fall in love”…. guess what happens??

How To Stop Time by Matt Haig

January 20, 2019 by kella 1 Comment

I picked this up this afternoon as a cozy read during a snow day where work is cancelled and everyone is snowed in. How To Stop Time is about Tom, a man who had a medical condition that causes him to age incredibly slowly. He’s not immortal, this isn’t played off as sci-fi or fantasy. He will eventually age and die, but in the meantime he is 439 years old and appears to be 41. The story takes us back and forth between present […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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