The Eleventh Hour by Jacques Goldstyn
I want to just put a billion tears on this review for The Eleventh Hour. OMG! This book is NOT for the sensitive reader. It is a picture book (due in paper mid-August 2023; read via an online reader copy), but I do not know one child I would give this, too. With that said, it might be an interesting book for a classroom doing World War One or Canadian history, or for any Veteran’s Day events. The story is about two friends, Jim and […]
Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis by Tom Humberstone
CBR15Passport Own While I was on a short vacation, I finished a fictional novel of a little-known black dancer of the 1840s, William Henry Lane, or Master Juba. And I guess I was in the mood for stories of real, but not necessarily extremely famous people, because then I started Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis. Which is a memoir of Suzanne Lenglen, a French female tennis player. She was known, at the time worldwide, but she was not necessarily known for her tennis […]
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
This is third in the Maisie Dobbs series. It was my favorite so far, so I’m looking forward to continuing this series. In Pardonable Lies, Maisie is working on three separate cases: helping 14-year-old Avril Jarvis, who’s been accused of murdering her stepfather, finding out more about her friend Priscilla’s brother, who disappeared during World War I, and working for Sir Cecil Lawton, who promised his wife on her deathbed that he would search for their son, who was also reported dead during WWI. At the […]
Grock: King of Clowns by Grock
This was a pleasant read and Grock was a cheerful raconteur of his interesting life story. Grock was one of the most famous performers of his day, but as he himself writes, “Clowns too are soon forgotten.” I think the fact that clowning is an art best experienced live, combined with it not usually being recorded for posterity, leads to the progressive cultural memory loss of people like Grock, except by those with an intense knowledge of the field (there are videos of him that […]
Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
Series: Maisie Dobbs. I read Book 1 in 2016 (and reviewed it). What I remembered about this series prior to reading this book: Absolutely nothing. I thought I remembered that these took place after World War II, but that was actually incorrect–so, nothing. Why I stopped reading the series: Clearly, the first book didn’t make much of an impression on me. I thought that was the only reason, but then halfway through Birds of a Feather I went back and read my review of the […]
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I’m a new-er fan of Erik Larson. I read Devil in the White City only last year (or last last year?) which makes me unique in these parts, these parts being the Chicagoland area. That book details the creation of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, as well as the horrific serial killings by H.H. Holmes during that time period, and it is compelling. It’s pretty much required reading here, much like (shudder) Kate Chopin’s The Awakening in Louisiana which I read, I dunno, 5 […]
