Quite frankly, after viewing this production, I was shocked we ever became a nation! This 13-part series is very well done. It focuses both on the military history and the political, while trying to reveal the points of view of a variety of people -- famous, infamous, and unknown. I learned many new things about the Revolution while watching it over the span of 2 weeks – one 45-minute episode a night (there’s a much shorter, final “how it was made” section). If you don’t have the time to watch all the episodes, I recommend you watch the last 2 installments (“Road to the Presidency” and “A President and his Revolution”) as they summarize the previous 11 episodes, albeit with a primary focus on Washington. Each episode can stand alone, and you will notice some repetition if you watch them all.
Submitted by Cathy (7/15/10)
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
If you are a Francophile and/or a tarot enthusiast, this is the book for you. However, even though I’m neither, once I got into the book, I was absorbed enough to stay up until 3 a.m. finishing it. This is a tapestry of mysteries interwoven with strands of action and narrative from the late 19th century and those of today. There are romances, murders, and supernatural elements, as well as discussions of Fibonacci numbers, musical scales, and Debussy (to which I listened while reading some of this – it set the mood).
Submitted by Cathy (7/15/10)
Submitted by Cathy (7/15/10)
Manhunt by Janet Evanovich
This is a good summer romance set in the Alaskan winter. As the title suggests, it’s about a woman in her late 20s who has decided to leave the cold corporate world in NYC to find a warm man with whom to start a family in Alaska. She meets a hunky confirmed bachelor and the hunt is on. I don’t think I need to tell you how it ends.
Submitted by Cathy (7/15/10)
Submitted by Cathy (7/15/10)
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui
This is a quick and horrifying read about child marriage in Yemen (although it happens elsewhere, too) and one girl’s decision to rebel against it. Nujood tells her story of rape and servitude, but, unfortunately, she is just one among thousands. While revealing her life’s struggles, Nujood also paints a bleak picture of how women are seen and treated in her culture.
However, lest we feel too self-righteous, we should look at how we treat children and women here. We may not openly discriminate against women, but our society sexualizes children and women in a different way – primarily through advertising and other types of media. Instead of tucking our women away, we bare too much. We, too, have teen mothers, although ours were generally not forced into marriage, but allowed too much freedom and given little protection from predatory older men. While Nujood and other girls shy away from being forced to grow up quickly, teens here are pressured into growing up quickly by the entertainment industry. She had to be a wife; our girls become sexually active agents before they have mentally matured. She was told what she couldn’t do; we let our youth do too much. This would be a good thesis topic, so I’ll stop here; I trust you get the gist.
This book gives us a glimpse of how the girls feel and the pressures they and their families have to face. I wondered a bit how much of the narrative was directly from Nujood and how much was filled in by the writer. It would seem that Nujood is a very mature young lady in her observations and thoughts. Still and all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking read.
Cathy (7/15/10)
However, lest we feel too self-righteous, we should look at how we treat children and women here. We may not openly discriminate against women, but our society sexualizes children and women in a different way – primarily through advertising and other types of media. Instead of tucking our women away, we bare too much. We, too, have teen mothers, although ours were generally not forced into marriage, but allowed too much freedom and given little protection from predatory older men. While Nujood and other girls shy away from being forced to grow up quickly, teens here are pressured into growing up quickly by the entertainment industry. She had to be a wife; our girls become sexually active agents before they have mentally matured. She was told what she couldn’t do; we let our youth do too much. This would be a good thesis topic, so I’ll stop here; I trust you get the gist.
This book gives us a glimpse of how the girls feel and the pressures they and their families have to face. I wondered a bit how much of the narrative was directly from Nujood and how much was filled in by the writer. It would seem that Nujood is a very mature young lady in her observations and thoughts. Still and all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking read.
Cathy (7/15/10)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde
The book Stolen begins with a young girl later called Isabelle running through the woods with no memory of who she is or why she's running. When she realizes that she can't remember she stops and ends up treed by a pack of dogs and gets hurt. The man who owns the dogs calls them off and decides to take her home and care for her. Throughout the book Isabelle tries to find out who she is, all the while dealing with a woman who believes Isabelle to be her daughter, tales of a witch who might have stolen her when she was but a baby, and a could-be sister who wants nothing to do with her. Stolen is a book that any age can enjoy although it is primarily focused on young teens.
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