Early Book Review: Sky Wolf's Call: The Gift of Indigenous Knowledge by Eldon Yellowhorn, Kathy Lowinger
Book Review: Disability and the Tudors: All the King's Fools by Phillipa Vincent Connolly
Disability and the Tudors: All the King's Fools by Phillipa Vincent Connolly is a nonfiction book. Throughout history, how society treated its disabled and infirm can tell us a great deal about the period. Challenged with any impairment, disease or frailty was often a matter of life and death before the advent of modern medicine, so how did a society support the disabled among them? For centuries, disabled people and their history have been overlooked - hidden in plain sight. Very little on the infirm and mentally ill was written down during the renaissance period. The Tudor period is no exception and presents a complex, unparalleled story. The sixteenth century was far from exemplary in the treatment of its infirm, but a multifaceted and ambiguous story emerges, where society’s ‘natural fools’ were elevated as much as they were belittled.Meet characters like William Somer, Henry VIII’s fool at court, whom the king depended upon, and learn of how the dissolution of the monasteries contributed to forming an army of ‘sturdy beggars’ who roamed Tudor England without charitable support. From the nobility to the lowest of society, Phillipa Vincent-Connolly casts a light on the lives of disabled people in Tudor England and guides us through the social, religious, cultural, and ruling classes’ response to disability as it was then perceived.
Early Book Review: Soaring in Style: How Amelia Earhart Became a Fashion Icon by Jennifer Lane Wilson, Lissy Marlin
Early Book Review: Incubators: A Graphic History by Paige V. Polinsky, Josep Rural
Early Book Review: Silk, the Thread that Tied the World by Anthony Burton
Early Book Review: Friends Change the World: We Are the NASA Scientists by Zoë Tucker, Amanda Quartey
Early Book Review: The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen
The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen is currently scheduled for release on November 7 2021. Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes, or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings—the history of the library is rich, varied, and stuffed full of incident. Historians Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen introduce readers to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world’s great collections, trace the rise and fall of literary tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanors committed in pursuit of rare manuscripts. In doing so, they reveal that while collections themselves are fragile, often falling into ruin within a few decades, the idea of the library has been remarkably resilient as each generation makes—and remakes—the institution anew.
The Library: A Fragile History is a well written and thoroughly researched book. It gives an overview of the history of libraries, highlighting some notable libraries and collectors along the way. I think the information is very well organized, and I appreciated the inclusion of some women that have had an impact, which is often left out or written about in a condescending way. I appreciate the amount of research and work that went into the book, and found the subject matter fascinating. However, I think those most interested would do better to tackle this book one section at a time rather than trying to read it straight through. The information is great, it is meticulously researched and cited, but the text reads a bot dry and dense. The passion the authors, and most readers that pick up this book, feel is not conveyed through the text making it a less engaging read. I am still very glad I read it and learned so much, and I think those interested in the title and subject matter will be as well. It is just a slightly more dense non fiction read than I normally enjoy. As one would hope, and expect, from a book about libraries the lists of citations and the bibliography was complete and though. This made me happier as a reader because I could further explore the sources used in researching this book.
The Library: A Fragile History is a book that will appeal to anyone that has ever fallen in love with reading, books, libraries, or the trappings of any related topics.
Book Review: Amazing Temples of the World by Michael Kerrigan
Early Book Review: The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown
The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown is currently scheduled forrelease on August 31 2021. In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history, and literature to imagine her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined. Brown uses science to link the Birka warrior, whom she names Hervor, to Viking trading towns and to their great trade route east to Byzantium and beyond. She imagines her life intersecting with larger-than-life but real women, including Queen Gunnhild Mother-of-Kings, the Viking leader known as The Red Girl, and Queen Olga of Kyiv. Hervor’s short, dramatic life shows that much of what we have taken as truth about women in the Viking Age is based not on data, but on nineteenth-century Victorian biases. Rather than holding the household keys, Viking women in history, law, saga, poetry, and myth carry weapons. These women brag, “As heroes we were widely known—with keen spears we cut blood from bone.” In this compelling narrative Brown brings the world of those valkyries and shield-maids to vivid life.
Early Book Review: Water: A Visual and Scientific History by Jack Challoner
Early Book Review: Why Longfellow Lied: The Truth About Paul Revere's Midnight Ride by Jeff Lantos
Book Review: Lawbreaking Ladies: 50 Tales of Daring, Defiant, and Dangerous Women from History by Erika Owen
Book Review: An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler (Rogues and Remarkable Women) by Vanessa Riley
Book Review: For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters and More by Graham Tarrant, Narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies
For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters and More by Graham Tarrant, Narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies is a book with a variety of bookish information. Which famous author died of caffeine poisoning? Why was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland banned in China? Who was the first British writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature? What was Truman Capote superstitious about? Here is a light-hearted book about books and the people who write them for all lovers of literature. A treasure trove of compelling facts, riveting anecdotes, and extraordinary characters, For the Love of Books is a book about books—and the inside stories about the people who write them. Learn how books evolved, what lies behind some of the greatest tales ever told, and who's really who in the world of fiction. From banned books to famous feuding authors, from literary felons to rejected masterpieces, from tips for aspiring writers to stand-out book lists for readers to catch up on, For the Love of Books is a celebration of the written word.
For the Love of Books is a very interesting book. I think some of it is better suited to the written word than audiobook- for instance some of the author and book lists are probably easier to follow and track when read on the page rather than listening to. However, I found most of the information to be interesting, and some of the stories were new to me while others were familiar. There was a great deal of information covered, but even more left untouched. I know there is no way to get all the information about the past and current state of literature in one book. It did seem to focus more on older material and authors than more recent works- with a slight leaning toward European authors and works- but some of that is not unexpected. I would love to see the subject expanded on in other books- perhaps with a focus on women authors or those from different countries or ethnicities. I know that the majority of information recorded from history is about old white men- and I was glad to see some stretching out of that category in this book- but I think I would have been even happier with a touch more of that.
For the Love of Books is an interesting and informative read that book lovers will enjoy.
Early Book Review: The Magic of Sleep: A Fascinating Guide to the World of Slumber by Vicky Woodgate
Early Book Review: A History of the Undead: Mummies, Vampires and Zombies by Charlotte Booth
Early Book Review: Living Fossils: Survivors from Earth's Distant Past by Rebecca E. Hirsch
Book Review: Life Through Time: The 700-Million-Year Story of Life on Earth by John Woodward
Life Through Time: The 700-Million-Year Story of Life on Earth by John Woodward is a book that uses panoramic images to tell the story of life on Earth, from its earliest origins to the present day. The amazing story of life's evolution begins in vast oceans and swamp forests and is shaken by dramatic extinctions caused by ice, violent volcanic eruptions, and meteor impacts. It explores geological time and the origins of species that still exist today in early fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals. It takes readers up to the appearance of our first human ancestors around 6 million years ago, the evolution of hunter-gathering Homo sapiens in the Ice Age, Stone Age farmers, the earliest civilization in Mesopotamia, the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the natural world, and people living with nature in the modern world.
Early Book Review: Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons by James Otis Smith
Black Heroes of the Wild West: Featuring Stagecoach Mary, Bass Reeves, and Bob Lemmons by James Otis Smith is a nonfiction graphic novel currently scheduled for release on September 15 2020. This book celebrates the extraordinary true tales of three black heroes who took control of their destinies and stood up for their communities in the Old West. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Mary Fields became famous as “Stagecoach Mary,” a cigar-chomping, card playing coach driver who never missed a delivery. Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi, was one of the wiliest lawmen in the territories, bringing thousands of outlaws to justice with his smarts. Bob Lemmons lived to be 99 years old and was so good with horses that the wild mustangs on the plains of Texas took him for one of their own.
Black Heroes of the Wild West is a great start, or continuation, of learning the diverse history of he United States. Much of the history that includes people of color has been ignored or twisted, leaving us with an incomplete and sometimes very incorrect vision of what our past really looked like. I had read bits and pieces of the history included in this book before, but I found the information and artwork to be very well done and engaging for readers of all ages. It was inspiring to read about the odds these three people faced, and how they persevered and exceeded the expectations of those around them, particularly those that judged them based on race, gender, or both. I also liked the time line and further information about the history of cowboys and how people from a variety of heritages and cultures made a huge difference, and have been left out of much of the history we get taught in school and the most readily available texts.
Black Heroes of the Wild West is a graphic novel that I highly recommend for public, school, and classroom libraries. It is very well done, and offers a look at real history that often gets ignored. I will be looking for more books like this for myself and my children.