Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...

Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

book review gone girl gillian flynn
After reading the last few words of the novel, I set it face down on the bed beside me and asked, "Did that really just end like that?"

Never in my life has a book made me as angry as Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. So much so that after finishing it, I had to sit there for a minute thinking about what I had just read before picking it back up off the bed and throwing across the room.

Of course, after throwing it across the room, I jumped off the bed to pick it up the floor . . . worried that I had damaged the book. Yes, I know you're probably thinking I'm neurotic, but I like to keep the books I buy looking nice.

Gone Girl as a whole didn't make me angry . . . just the ending. I hated the fact that Nick decided to stay with Amy after all she put him through but understand his need to protect.

For this reason alone, this made Nick a strong character in my mind because he was willing to go to extremes to protect the ones he loved. On the other hand, it made me so angry that he didn't have the strength to stand up to her and leave. Unlike many of the women I know who read the book, I liked the character Nick Dunne. Was he a weak man? To a certain degree . . . yes, but at least he had a few redeeming qualities.

On the other hand, I absolutely hated the character Amy Dunne. What an evil, psychotic, bitch! The lengths she went through to frame her husband is really messed up. This character had absolutely no redeeming qualities about her.

new york times bestseller
Gone Girl was well written although a bit disturbing. Alternating the points of views of the characters every other chapter was the perfect way to present the story line. This helped keep the book interesting and made it harder to put down. All anger aside, Gone Girl is a must read.

Synopsis of Gone Girl:  On the summer morning of Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne arrives home to find the house trashed and Amy missing. As the cops investigate, Nick finds himself as the key suspect in his wife's disappearance and isn't helping himself when it comes to being questioned. If he didn't do it, then who did? Gillian Flynn weaves an extremely disturbing story in Gone Girl.

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