EmilyEm
Hennepin County Library
EmilyEm's Completed Shelf
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One Person, No VoteOne Person, No Vote, BookHow Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy
by Anderson, CarolBook - 2018Book, 2018
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Oct 07, 2019
Black SeaBlack Sea, BookDispatches and Recipes, Through Darkness and Light
by Eden, CarolineBook - 2018Book, 2018
Added Oct 05, 2019
Comment:
An English travel writer explores the Black Sea, its history, foodways and literature in all the countries it touches. I was most interested to read about Odessa and the region known as Bessarabia, between Ukraine and Moldova, where my mother’s German ancestors once lived. Wine growing was written about, what some in the family were known to have done. Then, I stopped this one. Would be a wonderful travelogue for people who might really travel there. Lots of recipes and color photographs.An English travel writer explores the Black Sea, its history, foodways and literature in all the countries it touches. I was most interested to read about Odessa and the region known as Bessarabia, between Ukraine and Moldova, where my mother’s…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Oct 03, 2019
Comment:
Four young vagabonds venture on an odyssey through Minnesota by river, ending in Saint Louis, in 1932.
Krueger tells a page-turning story of four young orphans' search for ‘home’ in the midst of the Great Depression with historical references that add meat to this story’s bones. Loved it. Two Minnesota historical events he includes I’d read in other books might be of interest to others. Consider reading Mary Relindes Ellis’s 'The Bohemian Flats' and Diane Wilson’s 'Spirit Car: Journey into a Dakota Past.'Four young vagabonds venture on an odyssey through Minnesota by river, ending in Saint Louis, in 1932.
Krueger tells a page-turning story of four young orphans' search for ‘home’ in the midst of the Great Depression with historical references…
Furious HoursFurious Hours, BookMurder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
by Cep, Casey N.Book - 2019Book, 2019
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Sep 29, 2019
Comment:
This fascinating book follows Reverend Willie Maxwell, an Alabama man suspected of murder and insurance fraud, his lawyer ‘Big Tom’ Radney, and Harper Lee who thought this story of small town crime had the makings of a book along the lines of Truman Capote’s 'In Cold Blood' that Lee had helped research.
Author Cep follows the threads of the story through the lives of the three protagonists, fleshing out their lives and exploring why Maxwell and Radney might have failed Lee’s search for truth. Very interesting to me in light of some of the discussions about her own father that emerged when her book 'Go Set a Watchman' came out. And, Lee seems to have struggled with the fiction/nonfiction aspect of storytelling for which Capote was criticized, at least among those most central to the events in Holcomb, KS. Page-turner for me. Readers who liked David Grann’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI' will find this book just as intriguing.This fascinating book follows Reverend Willie Maxwell, an Alabama man suspected of murder and insurance fraud, his lawyer ‘Big Tom’ Radney, and Harper Lee who thought this story of small town crime had the makings of a book along the lines of Truman…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Sep 24, 2019
Comment:
As spring flooding endangers Quebec, a young woman in a seemingly abusive relationship is reported missing and then found in the flooded waters at Three Pines. Gamache has returned to the force; it’s Jean Guy’s last case. Quite an investigation; pay attention. One of the best yet.As spring flooding endangers Quebec, a young woman in a seemingly abusive relationship is reported missing and then found in the flooded waters at Three Pines. Gamache has returned to the force; it’s Jean Guy’s last case. Quite an investigation;…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Sep 24, 2019
Comment:
When Pete Hautman’s book won the Edgar Award for best mystery fiction for young readers, I got it to read before passing it on to grandnephew Charlie for his birthday this month. I’d wanted to read this Minnesota author as his books always get notice and praise. I loved the family secrets aspects of the story, puzzled over what would bring the kids’ worlds back together and cheered when they were. Loved it.When Pete Hautman’s book won the Edgar Award for best mystery fiction for young readers, I got it to read before passing it on to grandnephew Charlie for his birthday this month. I’d wanted to read this Minnesota author as his books always get…
Added Sep 14, 2019
Comment:
After 60 pages, I had two great character studies of the protagonists’ hardscrabble beginnings, but a very thin thread of plot. I counted her previous 'The Tiger’s Wife' one of my year’s best in 2011. Her writing this one set in 1890s Arizona Territory is quite a departure. After seeing good comments I may need to return to it sometime when I can be more contemplative!After 60 pages, I had two great character studies of the protagonists’ hardscrabble beginnings, but a very thin thread of plot. I counted her previous 'The Tiger’s Wife' one of my year’s best in 2011. Her writing this one set in 1890s Arizona…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Sep 07, 2019
Comment:
From book back cover, from writer Jessica Shattuck: "I loved 'The Guest Book.' Sarah Blake has managed the extraordinary feat of writing both an intimate family saga and an ambitious excavation of the subterranean currents of race, class, and politics that have shaped America. This is a vivid, transporting novel, written by a master conjuror of time and place."
Hauntingly beautiful as is its setting on an island off Maine’s coast, this story of three generations of Miltons will be long remembered. Highly recommended. Quite a story.From book back cover, from writer Jessica Shattuck: "I loved 'The Guest Book.' Sarah Blake has managed the extraordinary feat of writing both an intimate family saga and an ambitious excavation of the subterranean currents of race, class, and…
InheritanceInheritance, BookA Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
by Shapiro, DaniBook - 2019Book, 2019
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Sep 01, 2019
Comment:
From book back cover, from writer Jennifer Egan: ‘"Inheritance" is Dani Shapiro’s at her best: a gripping genetic detective story and a meditation on the meaning of parenthood and family. It raises profound questions about the quandaries and responsibilities engendered by our newfound ability to know what—and whom—we are made of.’
Shapiro’s book appealed to me as, I, too, have ‘met’ cousins unknown to our family as a result of DNA testing and know of lesbian couples who are part of donor-conceived ‘family’ circles. In Shapiro’s case the culture shock and family secrets—especially those of her mother with whom she had a fraught relationship—reverberate. Not surprising. Still, I wanted to empathize more than I did. She mentions her Meyer-Briggs profile as INFJ; I’m INTJ—always had trouble as a ‘thinker’ with the ‘feelers’ in my life. Maybe that’s why!From book back cover, from writer Jennifer Egan: ‘"Inheritance" is Dani Shapiro’s at her best: a gripping genetic detective story and a meditation on the meaning of parenthood and family. It raises profound questions about the quandaries and…
When Books Went to WarWhen Books Went to War, BookThe Stories That Helped Us Win World War II
by Manning, Molly Guptill, 1980-Book - 2014Book, 2014
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Aug 29, 2019
Comment:
Manning writes about a group of specially published books, Armed Services Editions—known as ASEs—that were light weight and sized right for servicemen in the field. Appendix lists all 1200 published; publishing that renewed interest in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby,' making it and titles like Betty Smith’s 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' and Katherine Anne Porter’s 'Selected Short Stories' enduring American classics. Book lovers will find this fascinating. Who knew!Manning writes about a group of specially published books, Armed Services Editions—known as ASEs—that were light weight and sized right for servicemen in the field. Appendix lists all 1200 published; publishing that renewed interest in F. Scott…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Aug 23, 2019
Comment:
Georgia newlyweds honeymoon at an uncle’s cottage on Cape May, NJ, in 1957 in the offseason.
Author’s debut that was on many summer reading lists. What started as a sweet love story got a little sordid to me. Felt these Bright Young Things could have been in Hemingway’s 'A Movable Feast,' just another place and time. Lots of drinking, lots of sex. Skimmed at end.Georgia newlyweds honeymoon at an uncle’s cottage on Cape May, NJ, in 1957 in the offseason.
Author’s debut that was on many summer reading lists. What started as a sweet love story got a little sordid to me. Felt these Bright Young Things could…
Jane and DorothyJane and Dorothy, BookA True Tale of Sense and Sensibility : the Lives of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth
by Veevers, Marian, 1956-Book - 2018Book, 2018
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Aug 18, 2019
Comment:
A biography that looks at the lives of Jane Austen and poet William Wordsworth’s sister Dorothy, two women living in Georgian times, immensely talented and utterly reliant on families for support much like the Dashwood sisters in Austen’s 'Sense and Sensibility.'
I’ve read deeply into Jane Austen’s life, but knew nothing of Dorothy Wordsworth. So interesting to learn the evolution of English Romantic poetry and how the author shows its influence on Austen’s 'Mansfield Park' and 'Persuasion.'A biography that looks at the lives of Jane Austen and poet William Wordsworth’s sister Dorothy, two women living in Georgian times, immensely talented and utterly reliant on families for support much like the Dashwood sisters in Austen’s 'Sense and…
So We Read onSo We Read on, BookHow The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
by Corrigan, MaureenBook - 2014Book, 2014
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Aug 07, 2019
Comment:
College professor and NPR contributor Corrigan takes readers on an excursion of many aspects to reading this Great American Novel.
Book appeared in our community Little Free Library. I’d thought about reading 'The Great Gatsby' again after voting for it day-after-day last winter during the PBS Great American Read. Was #15/100. Now I will along with this one: Molly Guptill Manning's 'When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II,' something I learned about in Corrigan's book and one of those segues in reading I so enjoy!College professor and NPR contributor Corrigan takes readers on an excursion of many aspects to reading this Great American Novel.
Book appeared in our community Little Free Library. I’d thought about reading 'The Great Gatsby' again after voting…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 31, 2019
Comment:
The life of Ántonia Shimerda and other Bohemian immigrant girls in homesteader Nebraska is told through the eyes of Jim Burden, a slightly younger neighbor, friend and admirer.
Wanting to read some books set on the prairie I thought I was reading this classic again. Now, I wonder. Nothing came back to me after all these years. I’ve loved many of her books, including 'Oh Pioneers!' and 'The Song of the Lark,' and always recommended 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' to friends spending time in Santa Fe. Loved this, too. Lovingly told. Maybe I was confused by the Norwegian immigrant must-read, Ole Rølvaag’s 'Giants in the Earth' and its tragic heroine Beret Hansa. Wrong.The life of Ántonia Shimerda and other Bohemian immigrant girls in homesteader Nebraska is told through the eyes of Jim Burden, a slightly younger neighbor, friend and admirer.
Wanting to read some books set on the prairie I thought I was reading…
Reckless DaughterReckless Daughter, BookA Portrait of Joni Mitchell
by Yaffe, David, 1973-Book - 2017Book, 2017
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 28, 2019
Comment:
An account album by album, song by song, lover by lover, collaborator by collaborator of Joni Mitchell’s career as a singer-songwriter. Writer is deep in the weeds in this exhaustive telling although his writing is as lyrical as her songs. More interested in her earlier years when her music was more central to my listening. Then, my own life got in the way!An account album by album, song by song, lover by lover, collaborator by collaborator of Joni Mitchell’s career as a singer-songwriter. Writer is deep in the weeds in this exhaustive telling although his writing is as lyrical as her songs. More…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 20, 2019
Comment:
Author writes of her life-long love of libraries and all they represent while also telling the tale of the 1986 fire in the Los Angeles Central Library and the man believed by many to be the arsonist.
An engaging well-told tale. Amazing how author seamlessly takes us on a journey of mystery, history, people and places having to do with libraries. Impressive.Author writes of her life-long love of libraries and all they represent while also telling the tale of the 1986 fire in the Los Angeles Central Library and the man believed by many to be the arsonist.
An engaging well-told tale. Amazing how…
We Fed An IslandWe Fed An Island, BookThe True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at A Time
by Andrés, José, 1969-Book - 2018Book, 2018
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 15, 2019
Comment:
José Andrés writes the account of his weeks managing a staff of restaurateurs and volunteers cooking and delivering food to communities in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. It’s also a scathing rebuke of FEMA, NGOs like the Red Cross and Salvation Army, opportunistic contractors and ‘charities.’
This is a tale of his group’s efforts to cook familiar food and use local suppliers where possible with the dual purpose of nurturing broken spirits and helping local businesses return to some kind of normal. Most people would be happy with a long magazine article rather than this day-by-day telling as a book. Found myself skimming. José Andrés is a hero though.José Andrés writes the account of his weeks managing a staff of restaurateurs and volunteers cooking and delivering food to communities in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. It’s also a scathing rebuke of FEMA, NGOs like the Red Cross and…
A Long Walk to WaterA Long Walk to Water, BookBased on A True Story
by Park, Linda SueBook - 2010Book, 2010
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 11, 2019
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The story of two young people in Sudan, one among the many ‘lost boys’ and another a young girl in more recent times. Amazing story; all need to read.
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 09, 2019
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Two University of Iowa sorority girls head to New York City in 1945 for a summer working in the fashion industry, landing at Tiffany. Author’s own memoir, lovingly told.
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 09, 2019
Comment:
The long-awaited return of PI Jackson Brodie has him involved in events that involve webs of wrongdoing, including sex trafficking. Despite the seamy subject, Brodie’s investigations always make me smile.
Atkinson amazes telling Brodie’s story mixing incidents and characters from previous adventures as well as linking all the many storylines in this one. I’m always so impressed. So, so glad Jackson Brodie’s back.The long-awaited return of PI Jackson Brodie has him involved in events that involve webs of wrongdoing, including sex trafficking. Despite the seamy subject, Brodie’s investigations always make me smile.
Atkinson amazes telling Brodie’s story…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 05, 2019
Comment:
Maisie and Billy take on a case of the death of an aspiring American woman journalist during the Blitz, while Maisie waits for her own court date to adopt Anna. American Mark Scott makes a re-appearance, providing an interesting Joseph Kennedy family side story. One of Winspear’s better outings.Maisie and Billy take on a case of the death of an aspiring American woman journalist during the Blitz, while Maisie waits for her own court date to adopt Anna. American Mark Scott makes a re-appearance, providing an interesting Joseph Kennedy…
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jul 01, 2019
Comment:
American history researcher Hannah travels to Paris as does Moroccan teenager Tariq. Hannah is writing a book chapter about women during the German occupation during WW II; Tariq is looking for evidence of his French-born mother who he barely remembers. Their paths cross in memorable ways.
Faulks’s writing is always also memorable with many literary references and unexpected storylines. My disadvantage was that I’m only an armchair French traveler, having only 'seen' Paris in books, and recognize little French language. I still really enjoyed reading this story, but would have been wonderful to know the sounds and smells of Tariq and Hannah's Métro journeys firsthand .American history researcher Hannah travels to Paris as does Moroccan teenager Tariq. Hannah is writing a book chapter about women during the German occupation during WW II; Tariq is looking for evidence of his French-born mother who he barely…
Saving Private RyanSaving Private Ryan, BookThe Men, the Mission, the Movie
Book - 1998Book, 1998
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jun 24, 2019
Comment:
Companion book to the movie. Book helped me remember this award-winning movie when it made news again this month for its realistic D-Day portrayal.
A Woman of No ImportanceA Woman of No Importance, BookThe Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
by Purnell, SoniaBook - 2019Book, 2019
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jun 24, 2019
Comment:
Shut out of more than typist-type jobs in the State Department, adventurous Virginia Hall manages her own path in the fledgling world of spying and resistance in WW II France. Just amazing. Reads like a thriller. Highly recommended.
How to Be A Good CreatureHow to Be A Good Creature, BookA Memoir in Thirteen Animals
by Montgomery, SyBook - 2018Book, 2018
EmilyEm's rating:
Added Jun 18, 2019
Comment:
Naturalist Montgomery creates her own memoir by telling readers about other animal creatures whose behaviors and ‘feelings’ may match ours. Lovely writing and illustrations; engrossing story. Cover alone is reason to check this book out, although noticed the tarantula is missing!Naturalist Montgomery creates her own memoir by telling readers about other animal creatures whose behaviors and ‘feelings’ may match ours. Lovely writing and illustrations; engrossing story. Cover alone is reason to check this book out, although…
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