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"MY YEAR ABROAD" BY CHANG-RAE LEE
How to review this book? One side of me wants to tell you how very talented this Pulitzer Prize finalist is - he is a master with words. And there are plenty of words in this 476-page tome. The other side of me also needs to tell you that there is a great deal of explicit sex going on. There is also a very complex plot, at times warm and tender, other times harsh and cold, convoluted and puzzling. It's also more than just a book about travel. So consider this advice when deciding whether or not to check out this book.
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"THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN" BY MARIE BENEDICT AND VICTORIA CHRISTOPHER MURRAY
This historical novel is based on the life of Belle da Costa Greene, the personal librarian of New York philanthropist J. Pierpont Morgan. Born in the late 1800s, into a family of light-skinned and well-educated African-Americans, her intellect takes her from Princeton University to New York where she is able to live and thrive as a white person in the social world of upper-class whites. This is a remarkable story, well-researched. Also interesting are the Historical Notes and Author's Notes at the end.
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"THE ARCHER'S TALE" BY BERNARD CORNWELL
This is a tale from the 1300's, at the beginning of the Hundred Years War between England and France, based on the known history of that time. Although I was very impressed by the author's writing skills and knowledge of his subject, all the mayhem and gory details of siege after siege was more than I was willing to take on and stopped after the first 50 pages. Sorry, Mr. Cornwell, but I need something a little more on the softer, feminine side.
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"THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER" BY ELIZABETH CHADWICK
And so I turned to another historical novel of the Middle Ages, written by an already familiar-to-me author. Loosely based on historical facts along with plenty of English legend, this novel begins in a convent and reaches to the flourishing trade in cloth - all spiced with plenty of deception. Let's face it - living with Covid isn't so bad, when compared with life and death a thousand years ago. Especially when there are books to read to lose ourselves in intrigues from the past.
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"CRYING IN H MART" BY MICHELLE ZAUNER
Grief takes many forms, and this book is a detailed, heart-felt tribute to a Korean mother from her half-Korean/half-American daughter. But it is also a compendium of memories of the many special Korean foods, the superstitions, the ups and downs that make up the history of a family. Attention, cooks: If our author ever comes out with a cookbook of all her favorite Korean dishes, be sure to check it out. But then, you may not be able to find any of the ingredients anywhere in Ohio.
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"GOOD COMPANY" BY CYNTHIA D-APRIX SWEENEY
This novel takes you far away from rural Ohio and into the theater districts in the cities of New York and Los Angeles. But, even there, you will find the same basic themes of friendship and marriage, success and failure, wounding and healing that many novels contain. In this tale, a small theater troupe (the Good Company) struggles and eventually succeeds. But with success comes other problems that are finally resolved (at least relatively so) by the end.
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"THE ROMANOV SISTERS" BY HELEN RAPPAPORT
The opening sentence on the flyleaf got my attention: "They were the Princess Diana's of their day." This extensively-researched book about the four privileged Romanoff daughters of Czar Nicholas and Alexandra has been drawn from many unpublished sources and material in private collections. This is a scholarly book, replete with a wealth of information but, at the same time, is written with a story-teller's way of keeping the reader's attention. Photographs enhance the story.
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"THE WINTER MANTLE" BY ELIZABETH CHADWICK
Another tale from early European history, this time during the years 1067 to 1098, during the time of William the Conqueror and the Crusades. There are intrigues and rebellions but, in between, loves and marriages, honor and promises. Our author, an expert on medieval history, takes what scattered historical facts are available, adds her own twists to the plot, and creates a tale that makes those centuries-old personages live for the readers of today.
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