by David Benioff, 2008 Leningrad, WWII, in siege by Germans. Lev Beniov, young 17-year-old Jewish boy, gets arrested for looting (stole a knife off a dead German), thrown into the Crosses-Russian prison. Kolya, handsome soldier, thrown in same cell for desertion (went to town to get laid). They do not get executed but instead are […]
by Pearl S. Buck, 1931, Pulitzer Prize winner I miss my messed up Chinese family already! What a great book! Wang Lung’s father arranges marriage for him to O-Lan – kitchen slave in the Great House of Hwang. Wang Lung is a farmer. They work so hard they eventually become wealthy landowners. O’Lan is a […]
by Charles Dickens, 1859 London and Paris, approximately 1770 to 1793 or 1794, French Revolution 1789 Wow! What an incredible story! Dr. Manette is rescued from 18 years in prison in France. His daughter, Lucie, now an adult, cares for him and makes him whole again. They participate in a trial of Charles Darnay, a […]
by Catherine Marshall, 1967 Christy Huddleston, 19 yrs. old, volunteers to teach in a mission school in Cutter Gap, Tennessee in 1912 (Appalachia). She learns to love God and the poor mountain people who have it so hard. Some are mean, cruel. But in the end, love conquers. She teaches 67 children in a one-room […]
by Victor Hugo, 1862, translated by Norman Denny 1200 pages. What a great book!!! Recommended by Sandy Calhoun. Jean Val Jean – ex-convict, imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving nephews, who changes into a saint after Bishop Digne gives him his silver candlesticks too, rather than having him arrested for stealing […]
by H. Rider Haggard, 1885 Three Englishmen go on an adventure to find King Solomon’s diamond mine. After nearly dying many times, and being in a war in Kukualand, they make it! Almost die in the mine, too. Gagool, the ancient witch, locks them in but they manage to get out with a few diamonds […]
by Philippa Gregory, 2001 Racy novel about 1500-1536 England with King Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn, the sweet one, is the only one to survive. Brother, George, and sister, Queen Anne, are beheaded in 1536, accused of adultery. Anne was evil, ambitious – ruined Queen Katherine – poisoned a man – would do anything to get […]
by Khaled Hosseini, 2007 Page turner! Set in Afghanistan from 1959 to present. Main characters: Mariam and Laila. Mariam was a harami, an illegitimate child. Yet her father (Jalil) set up her and her mom (Nana) in a nice little shack in the hills by a stream near Herat and visited Mariam every week. When […]
by Steven Pressfield, 1998 The 300 Spartans go to battle at Thermopylae where all are eventually killed but not until they have killed millions of the enemy (Xerxes of Persia). What a great book! What warriors! Became intimate with the Spartans-their king, Leonidas, and their officers; Polynikes, Dienekes, Olympieus, and their wives. 480 B.C. Beautiful […]
by Willa Cather, 1927 1850’s New Mexico; two French-Catholic priests are sent from Ohio to New Mexico. They settle in Santa Fe but travel far and wide to the Mexicans and Indians in New Mexico and Arizona. Beautiful descriptions. Learned a lot about Catholicism. Bishop Jean Marie LaTour and Father Vaillant.
by Sara Gruen, 2006 Jacob Jankowski’s parents are killed in an automobile accident. He is forced to join a circus – couldn’t finish his vet school exams. Gets hired as the circus vet. Falls in love with Marlena, who is married to August, a cruel, psychotic, animal trainer. He (August) tries to have Jacob killed […]
by Herman Wouk, 1971 Historical novel about the years 1939 to 1941 and the start of WWII as seen through the family of Pug and Rhoda Henry. Victor (Pug) is Navy attache in Germany and then Russia. He has 2 sons, Warren and Byron, and a daughter, Madeline. They are grown children. The 2 boys […]
by Ken Follett, 1989 From Karma. Wow! What a book, 973 pages! It was set in England from the years 1123 to 1174. Ken Follett’s preface says this book was out of character – a story about building a church. “What’s more, I don’t believe in God.” He fell in love with Peterborough Cathedral. Took […]
by Gail Tsukiyama, 2008 Japan – 1930s to 1960s Two brothers, Hiroshi and Kenji, cared for by grandparents because parents drowned. Through WWII, Hiroshi became a Sumo wrestler, grand champion. Kenji became a mask-maker for the Noh Theatre. Both married, both lost wives. Hiroshi lost Aki – suicide – never overcame the guilt of her […]
by Amy Tan, 2003 WONDERFUL!!! Ruth-modern day San Francisco and her mother, LuLing and her mother, “Precious Auntie.” LuLing’s mother, “Precious Auntie,” who lost her fiance and father on the same day because of the evil Chang family. When LuLing is to marry a Chang, Precious Auntie killed herself which saved LuLing from making a […]
by E.M. Forster, 1924 Hard to follow, hard to understand, but it was about India under British rule (yet another book in that time period!) Main characters: Dr. Aziz, Fielding, Heaslop, Mrs. Moore, Adela Quested, and many of Dr. Aziz’s Indian friends. Everything okay until Aziz takes Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested to Marabar Caves, […]
by Chinua Achebe, 1958 A story about tribal Africa (Nigeria) and Okonkwo, a warrior, ashamed of his lazy father, mean & angry, and his “clan.” Many superstitions and gods, rules, etc., for living. Grow yams. Missionaries come – His son Nwoye converts. Bad ending – 2nd missionary not good. Okonkwo wants to destroy them all […]
by M.M. Kaye, 1978 Over 900 pages – set in 1800s – India & Afghanistan. British rule India – Ash, Juli, Wally – EPIC – Ash main character from birth to young man. What a life! What he went through, not accepted by Britain or India. His thoughts and ideas could have saved 1000s of […]
by M.M. Kaye, 1963 Zanzibar – historical – slave trade – cholera. Majid Sultan, Hero Hollis, Rory Frost. LOVED this book. A lot of it was true-the rebellion, cholera, Salme eloping. Really long book, though.