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Showing posts from April, 2017

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: The Lake House by Kate Morton

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When another member in my book club recommended The Lake House by Kate Morton, I immediately asked if the movie of the same name starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock was based on this book. Fortunately, they had nothing to do with each other and when opening up the Goodreads.com app on my phone to look the book up, I saw that I already had it on my to read list. Not your typical thriller, I had some trouble getting into the book but forced myself to continue since it was a book club pick. By the time I finished, I was glad I read it. The Lake House alternates between the present day Cornwall, England and various years of the past, mainly the year 1933.  Normally, switching between time periods within a book doesn't bother me, but it did with this one. It was frustrating because when it switched to the past, it didn't do it chronologically. For example, it would jump back to June 1933, then to August 1932, and so on. Unfamiliar with Kate Morton, I was surpri...