The Book Worm's Library

About the Book: “David McCullough tells the story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence – when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.” “Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.” “Here also is the Revolution as experienced by American Loyalists, Hessian mercenaries, politicians, preachers, traitors, spies, men and women of all kinds caught in the paths of war.” “At the center of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, who, at first, knew no more of war than what they had read in books – Nathanael Greene, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three,…

About the Book: “Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings,” declared German poet Heinrich Heine. This book identifies the regime-sponsored, ideologically driven, and systemic destruction of books and libraries in the 20th century that often served as a prelude or accompaniment to the massive human tragedies that have characterized a most violent century. Using case studies of libricide committed by Nazis, Serbs in Bosnia, Iraqis in Kuwait, Maoists during the Cultural Revolution in China, and Chinese Communists in Tibet, Knuth argues that the destruction of books and libraries by authoritarian regimes was sparked by the same impulses toward negation that provoked acts of genocide or ethnocide. Readers will learn why some people–even those not subject to authoritarian regimes–consider the destruction of books a positive process. Knuth promotes understanding of the reasons behind extremism and patterns of cultural terrorism, and concludes that what is at stake with libricide is nothing less than the preservation and continuation of the common cultural heritage of the world. Anyone committed to freedom of expression and humanistic values will embrace this passionate and valuable book. Book Review: ★★★★★★ This is a great book, for those interested in the subject of censorship….

About the Book: The surgeon-as-rock-star mystique seems like it must have come straight out of Hollywood, but the myth had to begin more concretely. A good candidate is Minnesota’s Dr. Walt Lillehei, the hard-working, hard-playing father of open-heart surgery, whose life is told in garish color in King of Hearts by journalist G. Wayne Miller. From his early brilliance, recovery from deadly lymphatic cancer, and dramatic repair of seemingly hopeless heart cases to the disintegration of his career at its peak thanks to an army of personal enemies and conviction on tax evasion counts, his story is consistently surprising and engaging. Fast cars, hard drinking, and plenty of women filled his time when he wasn’t turning lives around with a few strokes of his scalpel, and the reader will find the surgeon’s actions almost unbelievable–rarely endearing, but occasionally saintly. Combining this melodramatic biography with the fascinating story of the struggle for open-heart surgery, considered impossible little more than a generation ago, Miller makes a compelling case that the daring scientist was simply another side of the arrogant, absent-minded playboy. No ordinary biography, King of Hearts is breathless reading–you’ll find yourself surfacing every few chapters to remind yourself its nonfiction. –Rob…

Title: The Sleeping Dictionary Series: Daughters of Bengal Author: Sujata Massey Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Gallery Books Release Date: August, 2013 Format: Softcover Pages: 528 Source: Goodreads YOU ASK FOR MY NAME, THE REAL ONE, AND I CANNOT TELL. IT IS NOT FOR LACK OF EFFORT. In 1930, a great ocean wave blots out a Bengali village, leaving only one survivor, a young girl. As a maidservant in a British boarding school, Pom is renamed Sarah and discovers her gift for languages. Her private dreams almost die when she arrives in Kharagpur and is recruited into a secretive, decadent world. Eventually, she lands in Calcutta, renames herself Kamala, and creates a new life rich in books and friends. But although success and even love seem within reach, she remains trapped by what she is . . . and is not. As India struggles to throw off imperial rule, Kamala uses her hard-won skills for secrecy, languages, and reading the unspoken gestures of those around her to fight for her country’s freedom and her own happiness. Buy from Amazon.com Review: Most readers can explain why they did or did not like a book. And while on the surface those reasons may…

This is a book that has been recommended to me, I can’t count how many times. And I admit I was a societylittle surprised at the excitement that seemed to exist around it. And, if the truth be told, I have actually started this book at least six times, and every time I have never been able to get past the first half of the book. The format is what I was finding difficult to follow, and frustrating to try and make sense out of. The story is about an author that is seeking a new book subject, when she is contacted by a man that had obtained one of her books, and wrote her to get more information about the author. She ends up finding her new book to write through the history of the occupation of the island of Guernsey, during World War II. The story is developed completely through letters, and journal entries, and this is what I was struggling with. I had a hard time tracking the story because it was hard to follow all of the different characters. The character development through letters of strangers is sometimes difficult to grasp. I have a hard time…

Title: The Lost Sisterhood Author: Anne Fortier Genre: Mystery Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: March, 2014 Format: E-Book Pages: 585 Source: Goodreads The Lost Sisterhood tells the story of Diana, a young and aspiring–but somewhat aimless–professor at Oxford. Her fascination with the history of the Amazons, the legendary warrior women of ancient Greece, is deeply connected with her own family’s history; her grandmother in particular. When Diana is invited to consult on an archeological excavation, she quickly realizes that here, finally, may be the proof that the Amazons were real. The Amazons’ “true” story–and Diana’s history–is threaded along with this modern day hunt. This historical back-story focuses on a group of women, and more specifically on two sisters, whose fight to survive takes us through ancient Athens and to Troy, where the novel reinvents our perspective on the famous Trojan War. The Lost Sisterhood features another group of iconic, legendary characters, another grand adventure–you’ll see in these pages that Fortier understands the kind of audience she has built with Juliet, but also she’s delivering a fresh new story to keep that audience coming back for more. Buy from Amazon.com Review: OK — I admit it. I don’t always adhere to…

I actually enjoyed this book better than I did the other work by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code. This book seems to offer more of a tangible mystery than I felt the The Da Vinci Code did.  Also, I felt that the main character — Robert Langdon — was much more developed in this book. This book delves into the background and history of the Catholic church.  Set in the Vatican, during Enclave — the story is much more in depth, and more involved than the follow up novel.  I found the mystery to be truly interesting to try and figure out.  And it still offered all the subjects that made The Da Vinci Code a hit.  Symbols, murders, a serial killer and the very obscure elements of history that really get the reader involved. In this particular book not only does Mr. Brown cover the Enclave of the Catholic church, but there is also the Illuminati, Cearn, the development of the Internet, and even the debate of the merging of science and religion — and so many other obscure facts that the reader finds themselves challenging their knowledge of history, while trying to solve the mystery. Pitted against time, as priests are dying on a…

About the Book: This is James Clavell’s tour-de-force; an epic saga of one Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, and his integration into the struggles and strife of feudal Japan. Both entertaining and incisive, “Shogun” is a stunningly dramatic re-creation of a very different world. Starting with his shipwreck on this most alien of shores, the novel charts Blackthorne’s rise from the status of reviled foreigner up to the heights of trusted adviser and eventually, Samurai. All as civil war looms over the fragile country. Book Review:  ★★★★★★ This is a book I really had mixed responses to.  I have been sitting on the fence about reading it for years — for several reasons.  I remember when the movie version came out when I was young; my parents loved it.  And I have always had an interest in the history and culture of Japan.  The Samurai, and the cultural uniqueness of the Japanese people is fascinating to read.  The concept and commitment to honor, and politeness is particularly interesting, especially in the area of warfare and political intrigue.  But on the down side, every time I would look at the size of this book I just somehow began to feel overwhelmed before even opening…

About the Book: Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski’s ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell. Jacob was there because his luck had run out – orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive ‘ship of fools’. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only…

About the Book: “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow…. When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.” Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus–three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up. Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the…