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Heather Lende lives in Haines, Alaska, a small town of 2,500 at the north end of Alaska’s Inside Passage. A short film available on the town’s web site confirms the beauty Lende describes . . . a historic old town on the water, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Lende writes the social column (“Duly Noted”) as well as the obituaries for the local newspaper. The book portrays myriad aspects of the life of this town. In describing the hunting and fishing, and traveling in and out by small plane and ferry, Lende does not shy from the associated danger and seemingly all-too-frequent deaths. She also provides a window on the day-to-day activities of school, church, local theater, parades, local politics, and changes as the town has become a popular tourist stop for cruise ship travelers and others. As the book progresses, it moves from the merely descriptive (albeit excellent and often amusing) to touching the reader’s heart.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Nigeria's was created as a country by European powers after World War I, "uniting" three disparate groups of people: the Muslim Hausa in the North; Yoruba in the Southwest; and Igbo (or Ibo) in the Southeast. Nigeria gained its independence from the British Empire in 1960. Author Chimamandra Ngozi Adichie portrays the conflict that led to the Igbo declaring their independence as Biafra in 1967, and the ensuing war with Nigeria, through the stories of two Igbo sisters, Olanna and Kainene Ozobia, and their families and household members. The author provides richly detailed descrptions of the land and lives of numerous strata of Nigerian and Biafran society, and the devastation wreaked by the war that resulted in the starvaion of so many Biafrans. Adichi manages to enlighten the reader on everything from what the people ate to international policies that fed the disaster . . . an excellent work.
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(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
New Zealand in the 1860's is the setting for this very enjoyable historical fiction by Rose Tremain. For reasons gradually revealed, Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, and Joseph's 65-year old mother, move from England to take up farming. Shortly after their arrival, a gold rush begins. In addition to the Blackstones' story, there is also the neighboring homestead, a successful sheep ranch, where a strong connection forms between the child Erwin, and his Maori nursemaid. Tremain's characters are well developed, the plot is compelling, the historical detail and landscape well portrayed. This is a book that is difficult to put down.
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(2 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)
To me, the mark of a good book is that the reader continues to think about it for days, or longer, after reading it. This was a good book. Jonathan Raban is a master of character portayal. In this book, Raban allows us listen to diverse perspectives on the post 9/11 world from such voices as a Holocaust survivor, an identity thief, a journalist with a great ability to see all sides of an argument, a gay man, and a 12-year old girl. In spite of a minimal emphasis on plot, "Surveillance" is an absorbing book, demonstrating the author's knowledge and intellegence, and, in the unusual ending, giving the reader much to think about.
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(7 of 10 readers found this comment helpful)
Very disappointing. This is exactly the type of history book I do NOT enjoy. The first third of the book was promising, with lots of interesting details on the Puritans while in England, their first relocation to Holland, their arrival at Cape Cod, and their first year struggling to survive in their new settlement at Plymouth. Too much of the remainder of the book, however, consisted of descriptions of battles some 50 years later, between the English settlers and the Indians led by "King Phillip" . . . page after page of the battle sites, how many of each side were involved, how many muskets or flintlocks they had, how many died. I was hoping for more a "social history", in which the author elicited empathy or any kind of feeling in the reader, but instead found the narrative tedious. I'll give Philbrick credit for at least one thing, however. He showed clearly how the white man changed the way the Indians waged war. Before European settlement, Indian wars took few casualties; the Europeans taught them how to massacre and aim for genocide.
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(5 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
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reading4years has commented on (7) products.
If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende
reading4years, July 2, 2009
Heather Lende lives in Haines, Alaska, a small town of 2,500 at the north end of Alaska’s Inside Passage. A short film available on the town’s web site confirms the beauty Lende describes . . . a historic old town on the water, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Lende writes the social column (“Duly Noted”) as well as the obituaries for the local newspaper. The book portrays myriad aspects of the life of this town. In describing the hunting and fishing, and traveling in and out by small plane and ferry, Lende does not shy from the associated danger and seemingly all-too-frequent deaths. She also provides a window on the day-to-day activities of school, church, local theater, parades, local politics, and changes as the town has become a popular tourist stop for cruise ship travelers and others. As the book progresses, it moves from the merely descriptive (albeit excellent and often amusing) to touching the reader’s heart.(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
reading4years, November 11, 2008
Nigeria's was created as a country by European powers after World War I, "uniting" three disparate groups of people: the Muslim Hausa in the North; Yoruba in the Southwest; and Igbo (or Ibo) in the Southeast. Nigeria gained its independence from the British Empire in 1960. Author Chimamandra Ngozi Adichie portrays the conflict that led to the Igbo declaring their independence as Biafra in 1967, and the ensuing war with Nigeria, through the stories of two Igbo sisters, Olanna and Kainene Ozobia, and their families and household members. The author provides richly detailed descrptions of the land and lives of numerous strata of Nigerian and Biafran society, and the devastation wreaked by the war that resulted in the starvaion of so many Biafrans. Adichi manages to enlighten the reader on everything from what the people ate to international policies that fed the disaster . . . an excellent work.(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
The Colour by Rose Tremain
reading4years, November 7, 2007
New Zealand in the 1860's is the setting for this very enjoyable historical fiction by Rose Tremain. For reasons gradually revealed, Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, and Joseph's 65-year old mother, move from England to take up farming. Shortly after their arrival, a gold rush begins. In addition to the Blackstones' story, there is also the neighboring homestead, a successful sheep ranch, where a strong connection forms between the child Erwin, and his Maori nursemaid. Tremain's characters are well developed, the plot is compelling, the historical detail and landscape well portrayed. This is a book that is difficult to put down.(2 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)
Surveillance: A Novel by Jonathan Raban
reading4years, March 14, 2007
To me, the mark of a good book is that the reader continues to think about it for days, or longer, after reading it. This was a good book. Jonathan Raban is a master of character portayal. In this book, Raban allows us listen to diverse perspectives on the post 9/11 world from such voices as a Holocaust survivor, an identity thief, a journalist with a great ability to see all sides of an argument, a gay man, and a 12-year old girl. In spite of a minimal emphasis on plot, "Surveillance" is an absorbing book, demonstrating the author's knowledge and intellegence, and, in the unusual ending, giving the reader much to think about.(7 of 10 readers found this comment helpful)
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
reading4years, January 31, 2007
Very disappointing. This is exactly the type of history book I do NOT enjoy. The first third of the book was promising, with lots of interesting details on the Puritans while in England, their first relocation to Holland, their arrival at Cape Cod, and their first year struggling to survive in their new settlement at Plymouth. Too much of the remainder of the book, however, consisted of descriptions of battles some 50 years later, between the English settlers and the Indians led by "King Phillip" . . . page after page of the battle sites, how many of each side were involved, how many muskets or flintlocks they had, how many died. I was hoping for more a "social history", in which the author elicited empathy or any kind of feeling in the reader, but instead found the narrative tedious. I'll give Philbrick credit for at least one thing, however. He showed clearly how the white man changed the way the Indians waged war. Before European settlement, Indian wars took few casualties; the Europeans taught them how to massacre and aim for genocide.(5 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
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