A nice variety of books were proposed by fellow bloggers and readers including Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller, A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames, Mayhem by J. Robert Janes, Sycamore Row by John Grisham and White Heat by M.J. McGrath.
Out of the group Sharon chose Sycamore Row which had been recommended by Kathy D. and who was so enthusiastic about the book that she followed up with two more comments on the book.
I started reading it today. It is off to a good start. I am optimistic because it is set back in rural Mississippi. I have enjoyed every one of the Grisham legal thrillers set in the Deep South. When he sets a book back in Mississippi the book has a deep connection with the people, culture and geography of the state.
Sycamore Row was not the only book I received at Christmas. My sons gave me a total of 4 books. They are immensely varied.
Michael, who returned from a semester of law at the University of Copenhagen on December 22, gave me a couple of books connected with Denmark.
The first, Hitler's Savage Canary by David Lampe, was first published in 1957 and is sub-titled A History of the Danish Resistance in World War II. I have also started to read the book.
The second is Hornet Flight by Ken Follett. It is a thriller from 2002 based in Denmark.
Jonathan gave me a pair of books.
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin won the American Pulitzer Prize and is sub-titled Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism. Jonathan knew I had enjoyed her previous book, Team of Rivals - The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. I thought the movie inspired by the book was brilliant.
The other book is The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. I told Jonathan that I had looked at the 2013 Man Booker Prize Winner in bookstores but hesitated to buy it because of its length of 800 pages. The choice has now been made for me. In Canada there was some claim of her as a Canadian author as well as a New Zealand author as she was born in Canada. I will not delve into how to designate the country of an author.
Jonathan, Sharon and Michael joined together to get me The Forgotten by Nathan M. Greenfield. It is sub-titled Canadian POWs, Escapers and Evaders in Europe, 1939 - 1945. I am looking forward to the part on the Great Escape which became the subject of a classic movie. From a radio interview with the author it appears Canadians were far more involved in leading the Great Escape than they were given credit for by Hollywood.
The books will be the focus of my winter reading. After a few years in which books given to me by my family have languished I have told them their gifts will be priority reading. I do not know why it took me so long to recognize that I should put to the top of the TBR piles book gifts from family.
Looks like a really good, diverse range there Bill. I'm still wavering about reading The Luminaries...it sounds good but those 800 pages do scare me off so I shall be curious to hear your thoughts. Happy reading of your gifts.
ReplyDeleteBernadette: Thanks for the comment. Not too long ago 800 pages would form a triology.
DeleteAm looking forward to your reviews, Bill!
ReplyDeleteJose Ignacio: Thanks for the comment. I am sure I have lots of good reading ahead.
DeleteBill, I think books are a lovely gift to give and receive provided both parties read them. You have got a fine mix of fiction and non-fiction. However, I'm partial to the non-fiction titles like "Hitler's Savage Canary," "The Bully Pulpit," "Team of Rivals," and "The Forgotten" and I look forward to reading your thoughts on them. John Grisham seldom disappoints while Ken Follett, whom I last read many years ago, can be a real page-turner. A good note to end this year and begin the new one.
ReplyDeletePrashant: Thanks for commenting. With three of the books non-fiction I am not going to be reading as many mysteries for awhile. I am looking forward to reading all of them.
DeleteBill - Oh, you got some good ones! And I do like the mix of books you got - a nice variety. I hope you enjoy them and I'll look forward to your reviews.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. There certainly is a variety. Obviously the boys thought of my interest in WW II history when they were shopping.
DeleteNice selection - what a thoughtful family you have! I'll look forward to the reviews in coming months.
ReplyDeleteMoira: Thanks for the comment. I am grateful for my family every day.
DeleteI am looking forward to all of your reviews. I hate to admit that I had not realized that most (all?) of John Grisham's books are set in the South. A Time to Kill I knew was set there and Pelican Brief, but just had not realized that he had come from the area. Kathy D. has given me suggestions to read too, and I guess I am going to have to move on that.
ReplyDeleteThe two books about Denmark sound interesting. Years ago I read a book about the Danish resistance (Leeway Cottage by Beth Gutcheon). I have reservations on reading The Luminaries just based on length, but I will definitely be interested in what you think.
You are lucky to have a family that buys you books.
Tracy K: Thanks for the comment. Many of Grisham's books are not set in the South but most of the best take place there. If you would like to read some of Grisham's personal history I put up a couple of posts last year as part of the Crime Fiction Alphabet meme.
DeleteI had not heard about Leeway Cottage. Did you enjoy the book?
I am hoping The Luminaries is as good as the praise it has received.
Bill, I will check out your posts on Grisham. I did enjoy Leeway Cottage, and I have bought a sequel to that book called Good-bye and Amen, which I have not read. Might reread Leeway Cottage first. I especially liked it because the author supplies a lot of background on her website.
DeleteTracyK: Thanks for the further comment. I will keep Leeway Cottage in mind during my reading.
DeleteWonderful taste your family has, and they're si generous.
ReplyDeleteI, too, gave Sycamore Row as gifts. Hope you enjoy it.
And am looking forward to the tutorial on the Danish Resistance.
Kathy D.: Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteLast night two more books were added as Christmas gifts. My older son's girlfriend gave me a pair of books by Jo Nesbo. I am a fortunate reader.
I am absorbed in Sycamore Row. Having been involved in several will disputes as a lawyer the plot resonates with me.
I am thinking of a post after the review of the book on the Danish Resistance of publishing as a post our exchange of comments on my post of Furst's Quiet Heroes. Would you have a problem with putting up the comments as a post?
No. I don't have a problem, just worry that my comments are not complete, and don't even give enough of a view of the resistance in Europe, the partisans in Belarussian forests, the heroes of the Dutch Resistance, the Danish and more.
ReplyDeleteI thought of an artist I know whose mother is from the Netherlands. Her brother was in the Dutch Resistance and was caught. The friend never met him.
Then I have read about women in the French Resistance. A convoy in 1943 of women in it or whose husbands were resisters were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. What astounds me -- and I read about it again last night -- is that there was resistance inside that horrific place.
Read about a woman who was in the resistance committee within the camp.
Even though women prisoners were of different religions, nationalities and ideologies, they united to sabotage the German war production. They sabotaged machinery, slowed down the work, protected frail women. To me that is resistance. To do this in the "belly of the beast," when being caught meant the worst represents the highest form of courage.
There is so much to say on this the more one looks.
I meant to include that among the Dutch resisters was Willem Arondeus, A gay man, he was a member of the Resistance Council. They blew up the population center in Amsterdam, destroying thousands of records in March, 1943. The Nazis had been looking for Jews amid the documents.
ReplyDeleteArondeus and others were caught, but they saved lives,
Kathy D.: Thanks for the further comments. I will include them when I put up a post on our comment exchange.
DeleteIn Norway I met a man whose wife's parents were caught and imprisoned for being part of the Norwegian Resistance. For New Year's in 1945 she embroidered the names of the women in her hut to remember them. She hid the embroidered cloth in a shirt whose seam she had opened. Almost 70 years later it was proudly framed and displayed in the family living room.
So many examples and types of resistance, large and small, collective and individual, that it is heartening. So many people risked their lives.
ReplyDelete