Eighteen

Finished November 25

Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives by Alice Loxton

This interesting history book encompasses history, biography, and fiction in one book. The author takes the idea of eighteen being the commonly understood age that people become adults and looks at eighteen British people whose achievements made large impacts on Britain, when they were eighteen. The short biographies focus on them at that age, but also discuss what brought them to that place, in terms of both background and personal achievements, and what their lives went on to become and what achievements they made later in their lives. She has chosen people that she could find some information on from that point in their lives, but her choices are all personal favourites as well, people she would want to spend time with. 

Her introduction discusses the idea of adulthood and age being linked, and looks at how this idea changed over time. She also talks about Britain as a country, and it's evolution over time. She also talks about the fictional element of the book here. Between each of the biographical chapters are descriptions of a dinner party, an eighteenth birthday party that each of these people are attending together. Near the end of the book she includes a seating plan for this dinner, and a list of places that were important to one or another of them as well as being worth visiting. Her writing style is conversational and disarming, with references to pop culture as well as posing interesting questions for the reader to think about. 

This book is in many ways aimed at those who are new adults themselves, particularly in the last chapter, and at the end of the book a collection of advice from various people to eighteen year olds is insightful and potentially helpful.

Some of those she included I was familiar with, and others were completely new to me, but I found all of the entries interesting and learned something new even about the people I was previously aware of. This is an historical book that is very approachable and readable and I highly recommend it. 

Paris Echo

Finished October 14

Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks

This novel is haunted by the past but set in present-day Paris. Hannah is an American graduate student, in Paris to do research on women living in occupied Paris for a paper she is writing. She is haunted by the memories of her earlier time in Paris when she fell in love and then had the relationship end. She is also haunted by the stories of the women whose stories she finds. Listening to the recorded voices of the women, collected by a small archive in the city, she finds some hopeful, some sad, and some full of anger. Early in her stay, she finds a young woman on the street, cold and tired. She takes her in, letting her stay in the small second bedroom in her rented apartment. The next day, she finds a young man Tariq has also arrived in her flat, a friend of the woman, and she soon agrees to let him stay there.

Tariq is nineteen and from Morocco. He has come to Paris partly to escape his life there, and partly to see the city that his mother, long dead, was from, and maybe learn about her. Tariq is an open young man, who quickly finds a job, and begins exploring the city. He takes on some of the stories that Hannah is researching and connects them to people he sees in the streets. He also learns more about French history and the people of this country, from many angles. 

Hannah has also reconnected with a professor from her earlier time, an Englishman named Julian and finds herself confiding in him and bouncing ideas off of him. He too finds himself drawn into her research, looking up information on that time in history, and making connections for her. 

As the characters grow closer to each other and learn more about the city, its past, and themselves, they also find new paths forward for themselves.

I really enjoy Faulks writing and this book is one I highly recommend.

The Songlines

Finished January 26
The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin, illustrations by Simon Pemberton

I've had this one on my shelf for a while, but Australia being in the news lately made my pick it up. It was a relatively easy read, with most of the book being a fictionalized version of the author's short time in the Australian outback among aboriginal people and those working with them. In particular it features a man whose parents emigrated from Russia, and who is working with aboriginal people to identify sacred places so the railway they are building can avoid causing more damage than it naturally will just by existing.
The idea of songlines as a birthright and a responsibility is made very clear, and I liked the way that the people were shown to be intelligent and with real character, not stereotypes. There was recognition of the struggles they are facing, and the harms done to them.
As the book progresses, when Bruce spends some time alone in a small outback town, stranded by the rain, he delves into his journals and notebooks and pulls out a bunch of quotes, anecdotes, and other passages that look at man's relationship to the world, to animals, to nature, to the idea of moving around as a way of life. This was also interesting, but these sections took more time to separate ideas and make connections.
My edition also had a very useful introduction by Nicholas Shakespeare that gave me background and context for the book, that made my reading more meaningful.

Sky Girls

Finished January 21
Sky Girls: The True Story of the First Women's Cross-Country Air Race by Gene Nora Jessen

This was a fascinating read, and my book club enjoyed it as well. The race this book tells the story of took place in 1929, and the female pilots did the solo race from Clover Field in Santa Monica, California to Cleveland, the site of the Cleveland Air Races. The race was the Women's Air Derby, the first of its kind, although similar races already existed for male pilots. Male Derbys from both the east and the west were also happening at the same time. Once at Cleveland, several of the women pilots would also engage in other races and competitions.
The race had many legs, and the women were timed for each leg, getting a cumulative total that was their race time. There were prizes for each leg, as well as overall prizes. The race follows one woman, Louise Thaden, a little more closely than the others. She was a saleswoman for Travel Air Manufacturing Company, and would be flying one of their fairly new planes.
This book touches on each woman's experiences during the race, their difficulties, and their interactions with others. It was interesting to see the lack of safety considerations, the lack of security for the planes at most of the stops, and the ways in which ordinary people offered assistance when it was needed.
The woman were mostly experienced pilots, and all fairly young. The oldest was born in 1896 and the youngest in 1910. They were mostly American, although one was German and one Australian. One pilot died during the race, likely due to poor airplane design causing carbon monoxide poisoning. Crowds interfered with runway safety, causing the crash of at least one pilot and her subsequent withdrawal from the race. I enjoyed learning about the women themselves, although my book club members all agreed we would have liked to learn more about all of them.
The personalities were wide-ranging from the rebellious, go-my-own-way Pancho Barnes, to the petite, budding actress Blanche Noyes and the boyish Bobbi Trout. All of the women had some mechanical know-how, necessary for pilots of that time.
The stops along the way were well-attended, but not well-managed, and the women found the socializing stressful when they were already tired from their race. But they were mostly gracious, even in the face of those that wanted women to "stay in their place". The support of Will Rogers and Wiley Post were appreciated by the pilots.
I liked the maps that were included, and the epilogue that summarized the pilots' lives after the race. Also of great interest was the Afterword that included a lot of the more general history of women and aviation.
Enlightening overall.

Slow Train to Switzerland

Finished September 28
Slow Train to Switzerland: One Tour, Two Trips, 150 Years -- and a World of Change Apart by Diccon Bewes

I liked the premise of this book, following in the footsteps of an earlier journey. Diccon Bewes is a British travel writer who lives in Switzerland, and during research he came across a diary from a young Englishwoman, Jemima Morrell, who, as part of a group who called themselves the Junior United Alpine Club, travelled on the very first Thomas Cook tour to Switzerland in 1863. The group consisted of four young women and three young men, and included Jemima's brother William, who paid for both of them.
Bewes determined to follow as much as possible in her footsteps, following the route she took, staying in the same places and visiting the same sights as much as possible. Near the beginning of the book is a map of the Cook tour from 1863 which took place from June 26th to July 15th, and included travel by rail, diligence, foot, mule, and steamship. With Thomas Cook the company that launched modern mass tourism, and by the time I finished the book going into bankruptcy, this book looks at travel from an interesting vantage point. Bewes took the trip with his mother, going back to certain points at a later date on his own.
Appendices include: a brief description of the world in 1863, and a timeline of that year showing some important events that occured; a summary, including data points of Switzerland in the 1860s with information on language spoken, size of towns, birth and death rates, wages and prices, and occupations; and descriptions and explanations on money of the time, both English and Swiss their modern equivalencies.
As he followed Jemima's journey, he and his mother read sections from the diary at each point in their journey, and while many of the lodgings that she stayed in no longer existed, a few did. Some sections of the journey are now done by train, where there weren't trains back then, and Jemima's journey definitely involved longer and more difficult travel times. Some of her days were exceedingly long, and many of the places she stayed didn't offer the modern conveniences now available.
Dewes shows the differences between the two experiences plainly, from the modes of travel, to the the time travelling took, to the things one was able to see at each point in the journey. He shows the huge changes that have taken place in the tourism industry in Switzerland, and talks about the drivers of those changes. He discusses changes to the physical environment, from the buildings and food on offer to the shrinking of the snow caps and glaciers. He follows up at the end with a look at what became of Jemima after this journey and the discovery of a personal connection to her family.
This was a fascinating and educational read, and hugely entertaining.

Stitches in Time

Finished July 14
Stitches in Time: The Art and History of Embroidery by Hilda Kassell

This book is one I came across in my mother-in-law's collection that she didn't want anymore. It is a short book split into three sections. The author includes some black and white photographs scattered throughout of various embroidery pieces.
The first part is called History Through the Needle's Eye, and covers some history of embroidery in the United States. She begins with samplers stitched by children, mostly by girls, the earliest documented of which is by Loara Standish, likely a few years before her 1650 death. The one boy she mentions working on a sampler was Lemuel Vose in 1737, and it was left unfinished. Besides describing a number of samplers, and giving some information on the stitchers, she also discusses some other works. Some are pictures of homes and communities. Some included some painting on the work as well, particularly in backgrounds. Some works were patriotic, particularly around the time of the American Revolution.
Also included are some examples of clothing and accessories, such as wallets, suspenders, and vests for men; domestic items such as chair seats (by Martha Washington no less!) and table tops; and textual items such as family records, family trees, and maps.
Into the 1800s there are pictures of ships, rural scenes, and a variety of folk art pictures.
Part Two is Twentieth-Century Embroidery, and the author has included works commemorating soldiers from World War One, Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic, and World War Two patriotism. One in this section that definitely spoke as being from a different time is Mrs. Teddy Roosevelt, Jr's picture depicting the large animals her husband trophy-hunted.
I found some of the more modern works, but immigrants following the Second World War interesting, particularly those by Reet Pukk and Margaret Haas.There are many examples of patriotic pictures and those inspired by historical events. There is also a picture showing the actress Mary Martin embroidering, which she apparently did in her dressing room often. Again, there are some domestic items such as rugs and chair-seats.
She has a number of religious examples as well, many from kneelers, but also from communion rails cushions, altar frontals, and wall hangings.
There are also a couple of examples of vests made by women for their husbands depicting items from their careers.
Part Three is Instructions and here Kassell gives some instructions of making designs, transferring them to the stitching material, the use of working frames and other preparatory helps. She talks about the different kinds of threads available, and the best uses for each one. There are good descriptions with drawings of a variety of stitches including blanket and buttonhole stitch, back stitch, chain stitch, Cretan stitch, cross stitch, feather stitch, fishbone stitch, Florentine stitch, French knot, hemstitch, herringbone stitch, needlepoint stitch, outline stitch, and satin stitch. There is also a section on applique embroidery.
The book finishes with a short bibliography, including books as well as booklets and leaflets.
It was a very interesting read.

Paris at the End of the World

Finished June 4
Paris at the End of the World: The City of Light During the Great War, 1914-1918 by John Baxter

This book has a split focus. Part of it is following the experiences of John's grandfather as he left his family in Australia and signed up to be a soldier in Europe. The other is the one in the title, Paris herself during this historic time. The book moves back and forth between these two things.
On the personal side, John was looking to both discover what his grandfather's motives and experiences were, and find out where he was during his time in Europe.
On the bigger picture side, John used a variety of historical items and situations to bring this time in Paris to life. He looks at a variety of historical figures including Jean Cocteau, Misia Sert, Douglas Haig, Rupert Brooke, and Joseph-Simon Gallieni. He uses contemporaneous news and entertainment magazines, postcards, ephemera, and other resources to bring the city of Paris and its people to life.
There are lots of little tidbits of information the author shows here that humanizes the people he writes about and makes the book very interesting.

Four Fields

Finished December 31
Four Fields by Tim Dee

This book has the author look at four vastly different fields, noting their features, the creatures that inhabit them, and their history.
The first field, and one he returns to in different seasons later in the book is his home field, the fens near Cambridge. Dee lives very close, and often ventures into the fields, birdwatching, walking or bicycling, and noting the changes that have taken place since his last visit.
His second field is a field in Zambia, near the country his wife comes from, and where he went with a local man to follow honeyguides to wild bees.
His third field is one in Montana, where George Custer lost his life, a field rich in history, and in life. The last field is the Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl where he goes with researchers who annually take samples of local wildlife for testing. His job is to collect grasshoppers at each stop. This means that he pays attention to the noise of the life around him, to the activity on the ground, to the birds overhead.
This is a book of nature, of birds, of life going on, and life dying, and of history and the changes wrought over time, by both nature and man. A fascinating read.

The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium

Finished May 15
The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium: From Joseph P Frisbie to Roy Jacuzzi, How Everyday Items Were Named for Extraordinary People by Philip Dodd

This book was inspired by the curiosity of the author as he tracked down the story of the origin of a wide variety of items to their namesakes. Some of these you may have been aware of, others are less well known. Included here are:
* The frisbee
* The saxophone and other musical instruments
* The jacuzzi
* The biro
* Mesmerism and the guillotine
* The leotard
* Oscars and Tonys
* The dahlia, the freesia, the bougainvillea, the fuchsia, and the magnolia
* The G-spot
* The sandwich
* The Mercedes
* The silhouette
* The foxtrot
* Mavericks
* and, of course, guppys
For some he finds dubious myths about origin, others are well documented. And the reader learns a number of other interesting things along the way.

The Glass Universe

Finished November 13
The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel, read by Cassandra Campbell

This fascinating look at the history of astronomy takes us from the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth century. It is centered around the Harvard University and the women who worked and volunteered there, but also around the men who hired, worked with, promoted, supported, and cared about these women.
The first women at the observatory were family members of the male astronomers, many of whom took on volunteer roles as computers, interpreting the observations of the male astronomers. As photography advanced to allow the capture of the night skies, the role of women included observation of these photographs. The library of glass photography plates is the origin for the title of this book. Anna Palmer Draper, widow of one of the earliest photographers of the stars wanted to continue his life's work, and she donated money to the observatory to continue this work.
One of the earliest female employees was Williamina Fleming, a Scottish woman who had worked as a maid in the home of the director of the observatory, and who took on the role of curator of the glass plates of photographs of the stars. Fleming also observed these photographs and identified over three hundred variable stars (stars whose intensity changes in regular or irregular cycles) and ten novae. She was followed by women who were some of the first graduates of colleges such as Smith and Vassar and, later, by post-graduate students, research fellows, working astronomers, and professors.
Annie Jump Cannon, a college graduate, looked at the previous work and designed a classification system for the stars that is still used today. She and others made important breakthroughs in learning about the chemical make-up of stars and used features of starlight to measure distances in space.
Dr. Cecelia Helena Payne became the first female professor of astronomy at Harvard, and the first female department chair at the university.
Two directors, Edward Pickering who was director from 1877 to 1919, and Howard Shapley, director from 1922 to 1951 were key to valuing the work of these women, promoting them, supporting their work, and giving them credit for their achievements.
I learned so much about astronomy that I didn't know, thanks to Sobel's wonderful explanations of the various key discoveries. I also found the women very interesting. The book is about astronomy and the work these people did, the discoveries they made, and the contributions of their work worldwide. It is not about the personal lives of the various players, other than mentioning facts of children, spouses, and living arrangements. But for me, that was fine. Each of these women would merit a biography of their own as separate books. The reading of the book by Campbell was captivating, and I found even the appendices of the timeline, short biographies, and glossary worth listening to.
This was a story that needed to be told, and Sobel did a fantastic job.

The Unfree French

Finished August 3
The Unfree French: Life Under the Occupation by Richard Vinen

This heavily researched book looks at the lives of the people who lived in occupied France during the Second World War. The book is organized roughly in the order in which things happen, with the first chapter about the summer of 1940 and the last chapter about the liberation. There are also some experiences grouped by type here. Chapters are given over to the prisoners of war, the French who were in Germany, women, Jews, and the youth forced to work for the Germans.
While there were descriptions of individuals here, they were not gone into in depth, and I found the book gave a very good accounting of what was going on with different groups, and at different times, and in different areas, but this is not a piece of narrative nonfiction, giving us a connection to the people that lived under German control, which is what I was hoping for when I bought this book.
I learned a lot and I found the book very informative, but a tad dry. It was more academic than I expected.

Welcome to Gamla Stan!

Finished July 31
Welcome to Gamla Stan! by Michal Hudak

I picked up this book in Gamla Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm. A book for children grade 3 or 4 and up, it gives the history of this part of the city. The guide to the history is a seagull named Holmer, Stock Holmer, and he has something special to add in commentary in every part of this history.
There are also activities from coloring some of the pictures here to identifying some of the doors pictured, for those who are reading locally, or maybe checking it out through Google Maps Streetview.
Gamla Stan is a set of four islands at the heart of the city of Stockholm, with a rich and vibrant history, and this book gives facts, stories, and exciting details that will intrigue the reader. With lots of pictures, drawing, songs, legends, and a few quizzes, this is a book to go back to again and again.

An Intimate Wilderness

Finished April 8
An Intimate Wilderness: Arctic Voices in a Land of Vast Horizons by Norman Hallendy

To understand the value of this book, you have to know the author's background. Hallendy has spent over fifty years building relationships with the Inuit, from translators to elders, to the elders' families. He was given the name Apirsuqti, which means "the inquisitive one." He is the world's leading authority on inuksuit. He has received recognition for his work from the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He is an ethnographer of international renown.
This book contains observations, descriptions of experiences, conversations, storytelling, Inuit history and legend, intricacies of the language and the importance of naming, and as with many things, the parts add up to so much more together than they do singly.
His work has allowed him to immerse himself in their culture, learning the words for places, experiences, symbols, people, nature, and ideas. He knows when to listen and when to ask questions. He respects the culture and you can tell he really wants to understand and know what he is asking about. He cares about the people he meets.
While this book tells of places, events, and ceremonies long kept to themselves, his telling of them is not a betrayal, but becomes a trusted, well-researched archive. Due to the influence of white colonizers on this culture, a disconnect has been introduced between the older people who still remember either for themselves or from their parents and grandparents the way things were done, the way lives were lived before and the younger generation who live in towns and lead a more modern way of life. As he says "There came a time when the elders no longer handed down tales, songs, customs, and mysteries. Instead, catechism and schooling were the shape the Inuit child's knowledge and future." This book is a bridge between those two world, to ensure the stories and traditional way of life are not forgotten.
There are so many beautiful and important things in this book and I am so glad they have been gathered up before they were lost to history. As one interaction goes "...when I asked him about myth and reality he explained to me that there are things said to have happened that may or may not have happened. It doesn't matter, as long as they are believed. The expression he used was sulinngikkaluaqtut ukpirijaujut, the reality of myth."
The book includes photos, drawings, maps, art, and other visual aids to understanding, some specifically made for the book.

There Was an Old Woman

Finished February 27
There Was an Old Woman by Hallie Ephron

This suspense novel takes place in the fictional neighborhood of Higgs Point, across the East River and Long Island Sound from Manhattan. Sandra Ferrante, an elderly woman living in the neighborhood is taken out by ambulance, and tells her long-time neighbor Mina to let her daughter know and to "not let him in until I'm gone". Mina doesn't know what she means by that, but she calls Sandra's daughter Ginger to let her know. Ginger has been taking care of her mother when things happen for years, but this time she can't do it, and she calls on her younger sister Evie to do the job. Evie is an historian, working on the last stages of a big project, but she knows it's her turn. When she gets to her mother's house, she finds it so much worse than she imagined. Full of old newspapers and clutter, garbage rotting in bags, empty cat food cans even though her mother has no cats. She can't believe it and wonder how it got so bad so fast.
She starts work on the clean up and the neighbor, Mina, becomes a resource, a confidant, and a friend. Mina is pretty with it, but feeling pressure from her nephew to move to a home before the house gets too much for her. She doesn't want to leave, but when an accident befalls her, she finds things beyond her control.
Evie is used to putting pieces together to make sense of history, and her impulses kick in when things don't seem to match the story she's been given. As she begins to gather information and make a different story come to life, she finds that her efforts may be too late.
This is a story of corruption and greed, of elder abuse and the way we sometimes dismiss people without knowing their story. With interesting history, and characters that have depth, this is a hard book to put down.

Dry Store Room No. 1

Finished December 28
Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey

This book is a personal exploration of the the work going on at the Natural History Museum in London, and the people doing that work. Fortey worked at the Museum for decades, specializing in trilobites. The book tells a little of his own history, but also looks at the various departments contained within the Museum, from his initial wanderings as a young scientist there to those projects that caught his interest over the years. He looks at how these projects relate to the larger world, and how the current funding model may not meet the real needs of science going forward, particularly in light of the environmental challenges our world is now facing.
Fortey begins with an initial look at the vast network of rooms, offices, labs, and storage areas behind the public galleries, continues with a chapter explaining taxonomy, the naming of names, and how this is the underlying language that connects scientists work around the world and across time.
He then looks at the traditional world of natural science and how that has changed over time.
The next four chapters look at particular departments within the museum, and at a selection of the projects and personalities that have caught Fortey's interest. These include animals (both current and fossilized), plants (again, both current and fossilized), insects (the largest area of species and in many ways the most challenging), and geology (how rocks can tell us history, evolution, migration, and other stories about our world). The next chapter brings all of these together, and shows where the Museum is now in terms of research and priorities.
The last chapter is a call to all of us to recognize how important this work is to our world, our future, and our continuing existence.
A personal, yet highly enlightening look at the world of natural science, with its diversity, range of studies, and the people that dedicate their lives to it.

The 8.55 to Baghdad

Finished April 17
The 8.55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames

Andrew Eames is a travel journalist and he was in the ancient city of Aleppo in Syria when he discovered a side of Agatha Christie that he hadn't previously been aware of. As he learned more of her life in the Middle East, he decided  to retrace the 1928 trip she took on her own to Baghdad, and beyond, the trip that completely changed her life. It was on this trip she met Max, who became her second husband and led her to spend many winters in this part of the world as she accompanied him on his archeological digs.
Eames travels the route of the Orient Express, the Taurus Express and on, exploring not only Christie's life, but the history of the train routes, train stations, and of each of the places he goes through. Of course he also talks about the people he meets along the way, whether those travelling along with him, or those he interacted with when off the train visiting the locations along the route.
He begins this journey in Sunningdale, England, the wealthy community Agatha lived in with her first husband Archie. He arrived at Victoria Station in London and boarded the first stage of the VSOE (Venice Simplon Orient Express) which uses restored Pullman coaches and then switched to a bus for the trip across the Channel. Once across, he was once again in luxury, this time in restored Wagon-Lits coaches, which took him on to Venice.
Not spending much time in Venice, he took a regional express to Trieste, where he did take time to explore this port city with a very interesting history. From there he took the Drava to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he took a sidetrip from Ljubljana to Lake Bohinj, where Christie vacationed in 1967 and talking to a journalist who interviewed her then. He then took the Mimara from Ljubljana to Zagreb, Croatia. There he visited the Archeological Museum, observed the people, and met with a local historian to better understand the complex history of the former Yugoslavia and its resultant nations. He then took a train on to Belgrade, where he again made time to learn more about the Balkan situation, even arranging a meeting with the Crown Prince.
Eames then crossed into Bulgaria, but felt a need to take a break from cities, so took a sidetrip to the Black Sea, exploring the route of the original Orient Express. Following the first World War, the route was changed to the south to avoid German-speaking countries. The original train route ended in Ruse, Bulgaria, where the tracks ended (to be completed six years later), took a local train to the coastal resort of Varna and switched to a sea voyage on to Constantinople across the Black Sea. Eames travelled to Ruse, where he explored the Railway Museum, to Varna, on to the Golden Sands resort on the Black Sea and then inland to Veliko Turnovo [which I have also visited] and then back to Sofia to catch the sleeper to Istanbul. In Istanbul, he managed to stay in Christie's usual room at the Pera Palas hotel and explored the city for a few days.
He then took a train on to Konya, stayed a few days, and then took the day train on to Adana.to join back up with the Taurus Express. This took him into Syria and on to Aleppo, where he again stayed in the Baron Hotel where Christie stayed when in town. He then continued on to Damascus on the sleeper train. From here following on Christie's 1928 route was only possible by joining a group tour by bus, which he did. This took him to Baghdad, but also on to the archeological sites of Samarra, Nimrud (where Christie spent many seasons), Nineveh (where Christie first worked together with her husband Max), and Ur (where the two met in 1929).
It was only a few short months later that the Iraq war started, so this story is also catches a unique moment in history for Iraq. The author takes time to try to find out what he can about the places he goes, talking to locals, trying to make connections, and showing the historical background. It is no surprise that this book won the British Guild of Travel Writers' Narrative Travel Book of the Year Award in 2004. It is a great, thought-provoking, informative read that also entertains.

Tillie the Terrible Swede

Finished June 7
Tillie the Terrible Swede: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History by Sue Stauffacher, illustrated by Sarah McMenemy

This picture book is about an immigrant girl who came to the United States with a dream. When she arrived she found a job in a tailor shop and waited. One day, she saw a man ride past the shop on a bicycle and knew she wanted to ride one too. But women didn't ride bikes back then (the 1890s), it wasn't considered a ladylike thing to do. She persisted and began racing, and winning races too.
This is the story of the sudden expansion in popularity of bicycling at the time, and of women's rights, and of the history-making behaviour of Tillie. The drawing are simple, colourful and fun and fit the story well. A good one.

A Little History of Science

Finished May 29
A Little History of Science by William Bynum

This book consists of short chapters (around 6 pages each) taking us from the beginnings of science to the present. Bynum shows how science and religion often went together in the past, with the first people doing science being priests. He shows that science can be both simple observation and complex laboratory work or complicated formulas. He shows the development over time and how each new advance built on work done earlier. The writing assumes no prior knowledge of the different aspects of science, with all technical terms explained in words even a child can understand. Bynum makes science both interesting and approachable and shows how science has influenced humans and the world we live in over time. From astronomy to zoology, chemistry to physics, medicine to technology, genetics to geology, he shows the progress over time and the interrelationships between different branches of science. A great introduction to the subject that leaves the reader with many avenues for future investigation.

Original Letters from India

Finished March 23
Original Letters from India by Eliza Fay

This collection of letters dates from the late 1700s, and describes two visits to India by Eliza Fay, her return to England from the first visit, and her trip to America from the second visit. She later returned to India and died there in 1816.
The first voyage took more than a year and involved many trials. Her husband, a Barrister, was going out to India to practice, and she accompanied him. They left England in the spring of 1779 and went over to France by ship and overland across France to Italy. This despite the fact that England and France were at war at the time. From Italy they travelled by ship to Alexandria and then on to Cairo. The situation in Egypt was not a good one, and they lost some of their belongings due to the unrest.
From here they sailed to Calicut, where the local Governor, Hyder Ali, took them and other Europeans prisoner. They were imprisoned there for three months, and with assistance from others managed to get off to Cochin, but had lost all their belongings save those they had concealed on their persons. From there, they went first to Madras, and then on to Calcutta.
In Calcutta Mr. Fay was admitted to the Bar and began to do business with the courts while Eliza made friends in society. Mr. Fay, however proved a bad judge of things and made some bad choices professionally and personally and by 1782 the couple formally separated. Eliza stayed with a friend until she made her way back to England later that year.
She returned to India in 1794, and set up a millinery business, but had setbacks and ended up leaving again, by 1795. The book ends with her arrival in New York City, with no record of her subsequent experiences there, her trip back to England, or her final return to Calcutta.
As a record of the times it is very interesting, to see the dangers of travel, the interactions of society, and the politics of the times. Included in this edition, is the original preface from 1817, the introductory notes from the 1925 edition by E.M Forster, which give historical context and commentary, and the new introduction by Simon Winchester which added positively to the reading experience.

The Inconvenient Indian

Finished January 2
The Inconvenient Indian: a curious account of native people in North America by Thomas King

I had to take a break from reading this book at one point because I was getting too angry at the way natives have been treated. There are elements here from King`s Massey lectures, The Truth about Stories, but he has taken things further and given more examples.
King is careful to indicate in his introduction that this isn`t a history, although it contains many references to historical facts. He includes personal anecdotes, but not footnotes and references. As he says, it isn`t an academic work. But it is full of real accounts, of references to real treaties, real laws, and real legal decisions. It is full of passion, humour, and insight.
This account of how native peoples have been treated in the United States and Canada, will make you squirm and generally be uncomfortable, but that`s okay, because that is how we should feel. The real question is, will it make any difference.
I`ve loved King`s writing from my first taste of it, and continue to be astonished by his work.
This is an amazing book that will leave you feeling strongly and add to your knowledge of our continent`s sad history. Highly recommended.