by Tara Westover, 2018 Tara Westover grew up in a wacko survivalist Mormon home in Idaho. Her dad believed the end times were coming and they buried fuel, guns, ammo, and canned goods all over their mountain junkyard home. He wouldn’t let them go to school, to a doctor or hospital. Tara didn’t even know […]
Author: bookhound
Lessons from a Sheep Dog
by Phillip Keller, 1983, 2002 “A True Story of Transforming Love” He adopted a fearful, distrusting, wretched, miserable sheep dog (like us before God) and turned her into a happy, beloved, obedient, helpful, indispensable sheep dog for his ranch in Vancouver, Canada. He applied the lessons he learned from training her (Lass) to us in […]
Isaac’s Storm
by Erik Larson, 1999 Interesting account of the hurricane that struck and almost completely destroyed Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900. Told on the basis that the Weather Bureau made grave errors due to pride and ignorance, so Galveston had no warning of its impending doom. Isaac Cline was the Galveston Weather Station’s chief. Over […]
A Prayer for Owen Meany
by John Irvin, 1989 Unique, thought-provoking, sometimes hilarious story about tiny Owen Meany and his best friend, Johnny Wheelwright, and their growing up in Gravesend, New Hampshire, in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The story is told from Johnny’s perspective and starts with telling how, during Sunday school when their teacher left the room for a […]
Flashback
by Nevada Barr, 2003 Took me too long to finish, but it was interesting. Ranger Anna Pigeon is on temporary assignment on Dry Tortugas National Park, where Fort Jefferson was built during the Civil War to house war prisoners. She intersperses Anna’s mystery – finding out why she’s seeing ghosts and why her assistant was […]
Tennis
by Joan Johnson and Paul Xanthos for Brown Physical Education Activities Series, 1967 Short book (88 pages) describing everything you need to know about tennis. Under “Values:” Tennis can truly be called the sport of a lifetime, since youngsters can begin at about six years of age and their grandparents may still be playing even […]
The Arrow Writer’s Handbook
The Arrow Writer's Handbook, Scholastic Inc., 2000 Short book (32 pages) for children packed with tips on writing. I particularly liked the tips on how to get more details into your writing: Use names. Think about exact colors, shapes, and sizes. Use comparisons. Notice all the details, even those that might not seem important at […]
The Flame Trees of Thika
by Elspeth Huxley, 1959 Beautifully written autobiography about Elspeth’s childhood years in Kenya in the early 1900’s before World War I. Her Mom and Dad, whom she calls Tilly and Robin, are determined to make it as coffee farmers in Kenya, despite no one having done so before and them not having the skills or […]
Simplify Your Life
100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter, by Elaine St. James, 1994 Easy to read, fun little how-to book on simplifying your life. Some parts are outdated (“Drop call waiting,” “Stop the Junk Mail,” and “Get rid of your car phone”) and there is no mention of social media, e-mail, […]
Last Seen Wearing
by Colin Dexter, 1976 I love Inspector Morse mysteries. I miss them when I’ve finished because Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis are so likable, so human, and I just want to be with them. They take me to England and back to a time before much technology, except for color TVs. Morse consults maps, phone […]
The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck, 1931 “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” This novel greatly illustrates what can happen when a man gets bored. It’s an amazing tale about Wang Lung (pronounced Wong Lung), a poor farmer in China, and what happens when he goes from poverty to wealth.
Cross Creek
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, 1942 This is the memoir by the author of The Yearling. She tells about her 13 years living in Florida on 72 acres in the northeastern part of the state near the St. John’s River between Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
The Story of Ferdinand
by Munro Leaf, 1936 Drawings by Robert Lawson Ferdinand the Bull just wanted to sit under his favorite cork tree, “smelling the flowers just quietly.” I loved this book as a child and they made a movie of it, which is pretty good, and made me want to read the book again. Learned about cork […]
The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George, 2013 Jean Perdu owns a book barge in Paris. He is 20 years into grieving his lost love. She gave him a letter but he never opened it. Finally he does and she left him because she was dying of cancer. He unhooks his barge and travels south with Max Jordan, a […]
The Way West
by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. 1949, won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950 Lije Evans, his wife, Becky, and son, Brownie, decide to go to Oregon with a wagon train. 1840’s, I think. Lije convinces Dick Summers to be the pilot. They leave Independence, MO with about 12 other families in wagons. At first, a […]
The Pearl
by John Steinbeck, 1945 Finished in 2 days. Exquisite, painful story about Kino, Juana, and little baby boy, Coyotito. Coyotito gets stung by a scorpion – that Kino, his father, couldn’t catch in time. Jauna, Coyotito’s mother, sucks out the poison but decides they must see the doctor. The rich doctor won’t see them because […]
Cleopatra, A Life
by Stacy Schiff, 2010 I read 2 chapters – gave up – too speculative – Ptolemy and on and on – couldn’t finish – Thanks to Wayne – No time for bad books.
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens, 1861 Pip as a young boy meets an escaped convict in a church cemetery. The convict scares him into bringing him food and a file to cut off his leg iron. Pip does this. Pip lives with a much older sister and her blacksmith husband, a saint of a man, Joe Gargery. […]
The Arabian Nights
Translated by Husain Haddawy “This translation is of the complete text of the Mahdi edition, the definitive Arabic edition of a 14th century Syrian manuscript, which is the oldest surviving version of the tales and considered to be the most authentic.” Shahrazad marries the King Shahrayar who typically puts his wives to death after one […]
The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain, 1882 Fabulous book! Set in 1500’s in England. Two little boys; one the prince, the other a pauper (Tom Canty) change places. The real prince learns what it feels like to be poor and downcast and to see his laws in action (such unfairness!). The pauper becomes rich and catered to. In […]