Review: Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: An Extraordinary Union

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
My rating: 2 of 5 stars



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Review: The Overhaul

The Overhaul by Kathleen Jamie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite enjoyed most of these poems. They are descriptive, mainly of nature. A few were in what I took to be Gaelic, were the most difficult to follow. Not sure I fully understood those ones. I read this fairly quickly, as it's a short book, but likely better if read slowly to savor the imagery.

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Review: The Overhaul

The Overhaul by Kathleen Jamie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America

Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America by Trent Preszler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like reading books about trees. This one took the evergreen trees as a jumping point. This was a social history, looking at what trees are used for with a focus on the use of wood and Christmas trees. The holiday tree became a recurring theme, even looking at the various fake trees history, and what a Christmas tree can symbolize.

Wood is a very important resource. This was not a complete assessment of everything evergreens are used for, but did discuss a variety of areas. Which trees that were found to be better during the war, which trees are better the balloon frame type house that became popular.

Preszler meanders away from the topic, going into more social and cultural history at times, such as lumberjack camps and how that plays into gay history. After veering away from the trees, he would refocus back, particularly onto the Christmas tree.

Had hoped for more about the trees history, not just focused on its usage, but it was a decent book overall.


Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.


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Review: Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America

Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America by Trent Preszler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Tao Of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road

The Tao Of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road by Paul Theroux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This tale is a true account, as much as one can know, of the disaster that occurred with British naval warship The Wager and it’s men. It was 1740 during a war with Spain, and The Wager was deployed engage enemy ships. When approaching the horn of South America the wild seas and severe storm punished the ship severely, and without realizing how close they were to the rocky shores the ship was destroyed.

The men were already weak from scurvy even before the battle of the fierce seas, then shipwrecked, now with lack of provisions. Once on the island the men were starving and keeping the rank was difficult.

Some of them do survive, but not many. After finally leaving the island, now called Wager Island, their ordeal was not yet over.

David Grann dug up the different accounts, some buried by time, others purposefully lost. He puts together this narrative that has been long forgotten. There are different scenarios of what happened, told by those few that survived. Grann gives both accounts, which does make the narrative less linear, but more truthful.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated a bit dramatically. At times I thought more than was necessary as the story itself was dramatic enough.



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Review: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review 660: Prodigal Summer

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoy Barbara Kingsolver’s fiction. Her writing is of quality. This book takes place during one momentous summer in (fictional) Zebulon County, which is located in the Appalachian region. There are three separate stories in this book. One can almost think of them as three independent stories, although they do have a connection, as Zebulon is a small county and everyone knows everyone.

There is a strong focus on the land, with predators and small bugs. One story-line has a middle-aged woman living in a cabin working for the forest service and trying to protect the predators, if possible. Another story is about two older people with differing views on using pesticides. The last is a young widow, newly married too, less than a year. Lusa has studied bugs extensively, but now on the in-law’s family farm she’s trying to figure out how to fit in this family and how to make the farm work.

I’ve had this book for a couple of decades, and not sure why I always passed up reading it until now. Perhaps I thought is was just of short stories, which the book really isn’t. In any case, glad I finally got to reading it.

Review 659: Vigil

Vigil by George Saunders
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book reminded me of Saunders surprisingly popular book Lincoln in the Bardo. There are a multitude of voices and most are not of this world, they have passed on.

One reason I liked the earlier book was its novelty, but in a second book with something similar, they style is not new. Yet the story line was more contained and seemed to fit this story somewhat better than the earlier book.

A young woman, Jill Blaine, sits with people as they are dying. She already has passed onto the other side, and once there you can inhabit others. This dying man has several that come to visit him in his last hours, some living and some not.

The story is not all about this man, as Jill has her own journey finding out about her own death and what became of her young husband and the man that killed her. It also poses some philosophical questions about how one acts and effects the world. Also are these actions due one's choice to act or inevitable due to circumstances?

I listened to the audiobook and felt swept along with the story. I’m not so sure I would have liked the book as much if I read this in print. Honestly, the ending was the most interesting part of the book.

Thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.