Avidmom's Adventures Come to an End 2013

I probably don't really need to start a new thread but the old one was getting a little dark and depressing, so thought I'd start over here. :)

2013 Books completed:


1. Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3800779
2. Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3805683
3. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3837402
4. Waking Up the Karma Fairy http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3837487
5. A Life of Jesus by Shusako Endo http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3890678
6. The Summons by John Grisham http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3890744
7. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3948245
8. Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church by Philip Yancey http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4048161
9. Man in the Music: The Creative Work of Michael Jackson by Joseph Vogel http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3980374
10. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4063971
11. No! I Don't Want to Join A Book Club: Diary of a Sixtieth Year by Virginia Ironside http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4083200
12. Hick by Andrea Portes http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4096810
13. Maus II by Art Spiegelman http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4101178
14. Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime
15. Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4125007
16. Everything I Know About Life I Learned From My Horse by Gwen Petersen http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4136279
17. True You by Janet Jackson http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4137775
18 The Other Great Depression by Richard Lewis http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#4137943
19. No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4177752
20. Eleanor Roosevelt's My Day: Volume II by Eleanor Roosevelt, David Emblidge, Pamela Harriman http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4193393
21. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4205247
22. Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4228182
23. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4254078
24. Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4268851
25 The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4284463
26. Douglass and Lincoln by Paul Kendrick http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4302802
27. Unclay by T.S. Powys http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4311732
28. One Doctor, Cold Cases, Close Calls and the Mysteries of Medicine by Dr. Brendan Reilly http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4322884
29. The Wounded Spirit by Frank Peretti http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4323695
30. V for Vendetta by Alan Moore http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4335119
31. Misery by Stephen King http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4344010
32. Also Known as Rowan Pohi by Ralph Fletcher http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4349659
33. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert http://www.librarything.com/topic/155950#4360399
34. When the World Ended: The Diary of Emma LeConte edited by Earl Schenck Miers (New York University Press 1957) http://www.librarything.com/topic/161111#4365827
35. Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury http://www.librarything.com/topic/161111#4428230
36. In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story by David McCullough http://www.librarything.com/topic/161111#4396279
37. So Long Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore http://www.librarything.com/topic/161111#4437888

*7. Team of Rivals reading journal: http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3897239; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3902275; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3908888; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3909759; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3914973; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3931241; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3948245; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3960272; http://www.librarything.com/topic/147245#3960296

(My "baby" zinnias 2013. By the end of summer they were much taller.)

Goal #1: Last Year's List
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (F)
White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov(F)
The Making of Modern Medicine by Michael Bliss(NF/Medicine)
Space Chronicles by Neal Degrasse Tyson(NF/Space)
The Price of Inequality by Joseph Stiglitz(NF/Sociology/Politics)
December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World by Craig Shirley(NF/American history)
All My Patients Are Under the Bed by Louis J. Camuti (NF)
Expecting Adam by Martha Beck(NF)
Waking Up the Karma Fairy by Meg Barnhouse(NF)
(These last two were recommended by my aunt.)
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson(NF/American History)
Two Rings: A Story of Love and War by Millie Werber(NF/WWII)
The Orion Nebula by C. Robert O'Dell (My uncle went to high school with this author!)(NF/Space)
Unclay by T.S. Powys (F)

Goal #2: Bible Reading (New Testament)
Matthew ✔
Mark ✔
Luke
John ✔
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation

Goal #3: Christian Fiction and/or Nonfiction
Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore (NF)
A Life of Jesus by Shusako Endo
Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church by Philip Yancey
Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life by Nick Vucijic
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore

Goal #4: Other genres (Sci-Fi, Graphic Novel and pop. authors)
The Summons by John Grisham (Pop. author) (Finished Feb. 3)
Maus II (graphic novel)
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
Misery by Stephen King

Goal #5: Audio Book
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (Playaway audio book, narrated by Christopher Evan Welch)

Goal #6: BOB (Bag of Books)
Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore(Started 12/31/12, finished 1/3/2013)
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff
Finding Moon by Tony Hillerman
The Autobiography of Malcom X
One Fine Day The Rabbi Bought a Cross by Harry Kemelman
The Summons by John Grisham
Vienna Prelude by Bodie Thoene

Other Categories:
American History
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt
Douglass and Lincoln: How a Revolutionary Black Leader & a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery & Save the Union by Paul Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick

Other History
Inside Scientology by Janet Reidtman
Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury

Classics:
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Unclay by T.S. Powys

Medicine
One Doctor: Cold Cases, Close Calls and the Mysteries of Medicine by Dr. Brendan Reilly

Humour
Everything I Know About Life I Learned From My Horse by Gwen Petersen
Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime

Books Acquired in 2013


Somewhere in this huge stack is:
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Favorite Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton (I learned about him in the Yancey book I read a little while ago)
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (read previously)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (read previously)
H.G. Wells: Collectors Book of Science Fiction by H.G. Wells
Everything I Know About Life I Learned From My Horse by Gwen Petersen
Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between The World's Greatest Chocolate Makers by Deborah Cadbury
A Heartbeat and a Gutiar: Johnny Cash and The Making of Bitter Tears by Antonio D'Ambrosio
The Other Great Depression: How I'm Overcoming on a Daily Basis At Least A Million Addictions and Dysfunctions and Finding A Spiritual (sometimes) Life by Richard Lewis
True You by Janet Jackson
In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story by David McCullough
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Some stuff for the kids:
Avenue Q: The Book
I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime: A Book of Zombie Love Songs by Michael P. Spradlin

The book on top is not a book but a journal given to me by my friend. Supposedly I'm supposed to write in it. So far, nothing. It is a pretty book, though.

I like owning my own copy of Les Miserables. It should make for very good reading and if I need to reach something high up on a shelf, I can stand on it. :)

Also bought and brought home this year (but not in the stack):
Douglass and Lincoln: How a Revolutionary Black Leader & a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery & Save the Union by Paul Kendrick
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Silence by Shusaku Endo
I absolutely had to have my own copy of this as it is probably my favorite book.

The Death and Life of American Journalism by McChesney & Nichols
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Wounded Spirit by Frank Peretti

BOOKS ADDED TO TBR/WISHLIST THROUGH LT/CLUB READ/ETC.
Hitty (The Hibernator)
When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy (LT)
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Recommended by EnriqueFreeque (in posts #24)
Faith and Treason: The Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser (Nielsen GW)
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz (LT)
The Favored Daughter by Fawzia Koofi (interview on The Daily Show)
The Black Rose by Tananarive Due(radio)
Seven Days: The Emergence of Robert E. Lee (wildbill)
The Key to Rebecca, The Eye of the Needle by Ken Folet; Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (Ms. Mathews)
Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight by Travis Langley (Murphy-Jacobs)
Economix by Michael Goodwin (bragan)
600 Days of Edward/Edward Adrift by Craig Lancaster (detail-muse)
Surrender on Demand by Varian Fry (rebeccanyc)
How to Like Paul Again (NielsenGW)
Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill (SassyLassy)
Resistance : a woman's journal of struggle and Defiance. by Agnes Humbert (mkboylan)
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Rachbxl/kidzdoc)
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan (mkboylan)
The Man Who Walked Through Walls by Marcel Ayme
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan (The Daily Show 7/17/13)
The Last of the Just (labfs39)
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama (rebeccanyc)
Citizens of London by Lynne Olson
One Doctor: Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine by Brendan Reilly (NielsenGW)
Christian Nation: A Novel by Frederic Rich (richardderus)
The Reason I Jump (The Daily Show)
Girls
When the News Went Live: Dallas 1963 (kidzdoc)

“I have seen little of the light-heartedness and exuberant joy that people talk about as the natural heritage of youth. It is a hard school to be bred up in and I often wonder if I will ever have my share of fun and happiness. If it had not been for my books, it would, indeed, have been hard to bear. But in them I have lived and found my chief source of pleasure. I would take refuge in them from the sadness all around if it were not for other work to be done….” (Columbia, South Carolina, January 28, 1865)


When the World Ended: The Diary of Emma Le Conte edited by Earl Schenck Miers

The other day I was perusing my bookshelves for the next read and found this little book hiding in the stacks. I had never heard of Emma LeConte and wondered why anybody would be interested in reading her diary. Upon opening the book the first thing that caught my eye was my great-grandmother’s name and address stamped on the inside front cover, on the very first page, and in the very back of the book. Either she really liked this book or she really liked stamping her name and address on stuff. The picture of Emma is not the cover; I couldn’t find a picture of the cover I have which is a very simple plain woven cover with the title embossed on it and some green crayon scribbles (which were repeated a few times throughout the book). I wonder if the crayon culprit is also the stamp culprit? Guess I’ll never know. I do know who Emma was, though. She was a Southern girl through and through, dedicated to the Confederacy.

Emma and her family lived on the campus of South Carolina College in Columbia where her father taught chemistry. When South Carolina seceded from the Union, Emma’s father also worked for the Confederate States Nitre & Mining Bureau. She was 17 when Sherman marched to the sea from Atlanta and presented Abraham Lincoln the city of Savannah, Georgia as a “…Christmas gift…” in December of 1864. Emma’s diary starts on December 31, 1864 and ends at the close of summer 1865. It’s interesting to see the world from a dedicated Confederate perspective. The first few months are lived in dreadful anticipation that Sherman and his barbaric hoard of Yankees will come to Columbia, which unfortunately for the residents there, they do. Until then life goes on, maybe not as usual, but it does go on. In January, a bazaar is held at the State House to raise money for the wounded Confederate soldiers. (South Carolina College doubled as a hospital for the wounded.)

January 18, 1865 “…To go in there one would scarce believe it was war times. The tables are loaded with fancy articles – brought through the blockade, or manufactured by the ladies. Everything to eat can be had if one can pay the price – cakes, jellies, creams, candies – every kind of sweets abound. A small slice of cake is two dollars – a spoonful of Charlotte Russe five dollars, and other things in proportion. Some beautiful imported wax dolls, not more than twelve inches high, raffled for five hundred dollars, and one very large doll I heard was to raffle for two thousand. “’Why’,” as Uncle John says, “ ‘one could buy a live negro baby for that. ‘ “ How can people afford to buy toys at such a time as this! However, I suppose speculators can. A small-sized cake at the Tennessee table sold for seventy-five dollars.”

On the afternoon of February 17, the Yankee troops came to Columbia. By the evening of that same day, they had nearly burned the city to the ground.

February 18, 1865: “Fortunately – oh so fortunately for us – the hospital is so strictly guarded that we are unmolested within the walls.
Oh, that long twelve hours! Never surely again will I live through such a night of horrors. The memory of it will haunt me as long as I shall live – it seemed as if the day would never come. The sun arose at last, dim and red through the thick, murky atmosphere. It set last night on a beautiful town full of women and children – it shone dully down this morning on smoking ruins and abject misery.”

Even after such a heavy loss, Emma’s Confederate spirit remained intact:

February 23, 1865 – “Somehow I cannot feel we can be conquered. We have lost everything, but if all this – negroes, property – all could be given back a hundredfold, I would not be willing to go back to them. I would rather endure any poverty than live under Yankee rule. I would rather far have France or any other country for a mistress – anything but live as one nation with Yankees – that word in my my mind is a synonym for all that is mean, despicable and abhorrent.”

{April 22, 1865 } – “Hurrah! Old Abe Lincoln has been assassinated! It may be abstractly wrong to be so jubilant, but I just can’t help it. …the blow to our enemies comes like a gleam of light. … our hated enemy has met the just reward of his life. …”

One of the first things I learned about Americans in the 19th century is how people identified themselves as citizens of their State, not their country. Notice Emma's horror at the Union pledge:

May 28 - “…I saw a copy of the oath yesterday. It requires you to repudiate al allegiance to the so-called Confederate States and only permits loyalty to your own state so long as that state is not opposed to the United States, thus putting allegiance to the U.S. Government above that to the state….Who could take such an oath as that? It is a tyrannical measure to force it upon the Southern people. Ministers are not allowed to preach without taking it …. If we could only leave the country – will we ever have the means to do so?... I would rather work hard for my daily bread than live in luxury under Yankee rule.”

And at having to live under Yankee rule:

June 27 – “Gen. Hartwell is in town again, the vile, miserable tyrant. … The next thing he did was go to Church. After the service he wrote a note to Mr. Shand saying he had observed the omission of the prayer for the President of the United States, and that Mr. Shand would be pleased to use it hereafter or he would be under the unpleasant necessity of closing his Church.”

Between all her talk of the war and her hatred of the Yankees (although, she did find a time or two to find some of the Union troops – and even a Union General who was in charge of the city for a while - could be civilized), Emma had a very rich and happy family life, even in the face of the devastation around her. She adored her father and there were aunts and uncles around. When her younger cousins come back to town in the Spring, there is talk of dances at night and a general lightening of spirit. Months after the burning Emma writes on how even the ruins of the city, under the moonlight, are actually quite beautiful. (!) The family did also have, what Emma called “servants.” A story is told how one of the family’s servants, Henry, is anxious that the Union army would force him to go with them. Most of the family’s servants vow loyalty to the family; but by the end of the book a few have left the LeConte’s.

Emma was a reader, and apparently, very smart, and taught her little sister, Sallie, who was a few years younger than she. Quite a few times in her diary she writes about what she is reading.

June 27, 1865: “In history I am still on old Gibbon but getting through him as fast as I can, as I am anxious to begin “Histoire de France.” I happened to be reading on Mohamet and his doctrine so have dipped into the Koran which I will read through if I can. I am also reading a volume of Carlyle’s Essays – I like Carlyle very much. I am getting back to my books all right as far as reading is concerned – I begin again to find them a blessed resource – to be able to lose myself in their world and forget the world of trouble around me.”

Things did turn out well for Emma and her family. Emma married a veteran of the Confederate army and lived on a 1,000 acre plantation in Georgia. She was widowed when her children were of grade school age but managed to run the plantation quite well on her own and educated her children. Her granddaughter, who gave permission for the diary to be published, stated that even at 82, Emma taught a weekly Bible study class and was just as mentally and physically “alert” as ever. Because of his involvement with the Confederate cause, it seemed that Emma’s father, Joseph LeConte, would not be able to return to the world of academics. Things changed though with the launch of the University of California. Joseph LeConte traveled to California where he chaired the department of geology and became “…especially renowned for his studies of mountain structure and earthquakes …”

For such a small book, this is packed with a lot of history. The most interesting part for me, though, was simply getting a better understanding of the attitudes of someone fervently dedicated to the Civil War South and some of the attitudes in that part of the country that prevailed then. Even though I found Emma to be an incredibly normal and kind person, there were many things she wrote that had me shaking my head in disbelief - celebrating the assassination of Abraham Lincoln being one of them.

That book sounds like an amazing find, Avidmom.

It certainly was Nana! And to think that during my fervent Civil War reading tangent of nearly a decade ago - when I couldn't read enough about the Civil War - that this book was hiding in the stacks. Quite a few times while I read over the last few days I would think how cool it was that I was reading a book my great-grandma had read.

What a fabulous find, not only for the word-of-mouth history, but just knowing it was a treasure of your great-grandmother's must feel wonderful. Thanks for posting the quotes and the story of your find.

Yes, a great review indeed - it really does look like it's crammed with fascinating history from a less expected viewpoint. And what a brilliant find!

Like the montage up top ^^^ in your new thread as well.

Love your reading quilt! May I use it next year?

Fantastic review. Is the book even listed on LT?

It certainly is a fascinating and unusual perspective, and I guess one can be grateful that she used the word "negroes," and I suppose that it is too much to hope that life would have given her some insight into the evil of slavery that was the genesis of the conflict that led to the war.

Nonetheless, it is supercool that you still had your great-grandmother's book and were able to read it.

Fascinating stories, yours and Emma's. I love finding out what people really thought.

Really enjoyed your review of When the world Ended.

>Thanks Vivienne, Polaris and Ridgeway. A reading quilt - so that's what it is! :)

>Rebecca, it was rather unsettling to read some of the things she said! She really did seem to respect and like the family's "servants" (from what I read, at least 3 that were with them in South Carolina and an unmentioned number on the family's plantation in Georgia). To her mind, her family was doing them a favor by taking care of them and was dumbfounded when one left. Like I said, there were a lot of "shake my head" moments.

> Me too Sassy - especially when they're thinking is so very different than my own.

> Thanks baswood.

>14 avidmom: That was how many people felt, that they were taking care of creatures (they certainly didn't consider them people, you couldn't own a person like you!) who couldn't care for themselves, as though they were like the family dog; it would be cruel to just turn them out to try to fend for themselves. Most who owned slaves couldn't fathom why any of them would want to leave when they had "free" food with a roof over their head.

Avid! Ah, the great grandma book! What an excellent review. Amazing find. I'd like to read that. I am from the south and know the confusion of being raised by wonderful people I adored and who were such good people....and yet there it was......just as LeConte described. It was very confusing to a child.

Just caught up on your last thread and have to add to Nickelini's comment about horses in war, I am so sick of seeing "hero" pics of current war dogs and how wonderful they are. They are not volunteers. How is that not animal abuse?

Thanks for stopping by everybody.

> 15 I saw that attitude first in Team of Rivals when William Bates in Missouri was so astonished when one of his slaves left. He thought she was crazy for leaving! It's amazing the mental cartwheels people can do to justify their actions.

>16 mkboylan: It was very confusing to a child.
It was hard for me to comprehend how Emma could be grateful for her family's "servants" help, have respect (at least a degree of) for them and yet still see them as not much more than "property."

>17 mkboylan: Last year I read Soldier Dogs (which was very pro soldier dog) but I can see why some consider it "animal abuse."

Another glorious FB post from my favorite bookstore ....

LOVE it!

I loved your review of When the World Ended. I would encourage you to add your review to the book page, as no one else has posted a review yet. Great book with which to start off your new thread!

Thanks labfs39. That period in history has always fascinated me.

" .... he was convinced there was potential in the new exotic bean, although he was not yet clear what that potential was."

Is that a Coffee tree super-close up? Intrigued!

It's an odd looking little tree isn't it? ;)

Tomorrow is "Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day." Hmmmm ..... if I have two kids, do I get to go twice???
http://takeyourchildtoabookstore.org/

"There are many men and women in America - sincere and faithful men and women - who are asking themselves this Christmas:

How can we light our trees? How can we give our gifts? How can we meet and worship with love and with uplifted spirit and heart in a world at war, a world of fighting and suffering and death?

How can we pause, even for a day, even for Christmas Day ..."
Franklin D. Roosevelt's Christmas Eve Message 1941


In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story by David McCullough

This tiny book has been lurking around in the stacks so long I almost forgot I had it and certainly didn't remember what it was about. The other day I was looking for a Christmas read and pulled it out. It took me about 10 minutes to read. What great timing to pull it out just a few days ago, just in time to commemorate the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

Shortly after the attack, Winston Churchill, under great secrecy (Churchill's visit was so secret that his name did not appear on the Christmas Eve program) and danger to himself crossed the Atlantic to meet with President Roosevelt. Both men addressed the country on Christmas Eve from the White House. Their speeches are reprinted in this little book. Churchill called for the American people to go ahead and celebrate Christmas:

"... we may cast aside this night at least the cares and dangers which beset us, and make for the children an evening of happiness in a world of storm. Here, then, for one night only, each home throughout the English-speaking world should be a brightly-lighted island of happiness and peace." The next day, Christmas Day, Churchill and Roosevelt attended Christmas church where Churchill heard the carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" for the first time.

"Churchill had spoken in his remarks from the White House balcony of every home as a "brightly-lighted island" in the dark. In the first stanza of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is the line, "Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light." I like to think of Churchill and Roosevelt singing that line in particular. And, as would be said of the Prime Minister, he always sang lustily, if not exactly in tune."

Included in the book is a DVD of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" & "I'll Be Home for Christmas" narrated by David McCullough who provides a history lesson for each song. The book has a small collection of WWII era photos. A neat little read for any history buffs out there.

ETA: You can see some of the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Y8uDrvKLU

>27 avidmom: Very interesting, I think I'll look it up. Thank you for reviewing this, today.

Perfect timing on that book Avid. David McCullough is another favorite of mine.

I loved the relationship between FDR and Churchill as described by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I just ordered another of her books from the December monthly Kindle deals. It is her memoir, called Wait Till Next Year.

>28 detailmuse: & 29 The timing was perfect. It was a happy accident.

>29 NanaCC: This is the only McCullough book I've read but I'll need to add more. I'm hoping Santa will bring me my own copies of the Goodwin doorstoppers I read this year; she quickly became one of my favorite writers. Looking forward to what you have to say about her memoir.

I wrote a post earlier, but it seems to have vanished. Just wanted to say it sounds like an interesting book, perfect for this time of year. And I like David McCullough.

ETA: You should post your review, I love the quotes.

Thanks labfs, I did add it to the reviews.

Enjoyed your review of In The Dark Streets Shineth...especially that last sentence in the last quote.

The quotes from Emma Le Conte give me chills. I'll have to get past that before I can appreciate the historical value. But what a terrific history of your particular copy.

Thumbed!

> Thanks, Dan. Merrikay also read and reviewed the LeConte book on her thread - I think she summed up pretty nicely as well. Like she said, it's the matter-of-fact way Emma says certain things that's so shocking.

> Thanks labfs39.

Thanks for that review Avid. What a perfect book for right now! No doubt an interesting insight into those two great men at such a pivotal moment in recent history.

>36 Polaris-: Polaris, I've had that book for quite a while but think I appreciate it so much more now after reading No Ordinary Time. The Americans were looking for permission to celebrate and Roosevelt and Churchill almost made them feel that not only were they allowed, but it was almost their patriotic duty to do so. How can you NOT like people like that?

Another fan of that last review.

Thanks Merrikay.

“Walking around Bournville, George could see the results of his endeavor … The improbable dream that he and his brother shared had been turned into solid bricks and mortar, into something powerful for good. And it was all from chocolate. Chocolate, or rather the humble cocoa bean, had created a little Eden.”

Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World’s Greatest Chocolate Makers by Deborah Cadbury


Say Cadbury to me and my mind immediately goes to “Cadbury Easter eggs” – a must here on Easter. That’s about how much I knew about them until I started reading this book. The Cadbury’s were a family of Quakers in England who incorporated their religious convictions into everything they did. “George Cadbury’s religious convictions shaped his world. It unified every aspect of his life and gave purpose and energy to his philanthropy.” Living out your convictions was not unique to George Cadbury; the Cadbury’s had left a long legacy, even before they built the chocolate factory-city of Bournville, of being activist for change. They were very concerned with all kinds of social ills that they witnessed in their native England: poverty, alcoholism (which they saw as intertwined), education, and, on a global scale, slavery (to name a few). It seems if there was a problem in the world of the Cadbury’s, they set out to try and solve it one way or another. And it was not unique to the Cadbury’s either; many of the other well-known chocolatiers in England (names I was not familiar with till reading this book) – many of them also being Quakers – made it their life’s work to improve the world they lived in. The Quaker faith teaches that prosperity is not for personal gain but for the gain of the whole community. A Quaker was supposed to live a life of help and one of austerity – not of greed and decadence. (The Cadbury's, victims of their own success, had to figure out a way to navigate the Quaker waters - their company became highly profitable and what is more decadent than chocolate?) The Quaker chocolatiers in England may have been rivals in business, but when an issue came about, there was no hesitation to collaborate on a solution. A lot of social reform took place largely due to the Quakers and their sincere efforts to make the world a better place. It had repercussions even here in America. Milton Hershey’s idea for his chocolate-factory of Hershey, Pennsylvania directly sprang from the Cadbury’s Bournville. Cadbury does focus quite a bit on her own family but she doesn’t shortchange other big names in chocolate either: Rowntree, Fry, Nestle, Daniel Peter, Forrest and Frank Mars and Milton Hershey are also written about.

There is a brief history of chocolate itself. Historically, chocolate was used as a drink, but maybe not in ways you would expect (or want to think about): “It is now known that the Aztecs, like the Mayans, used their favorite drink in a number of religious rituals, including human sacrifice.” The strange little cocoa bean eventually found a home in Europe where it was used for a long time simply as a drink. In the early days of the 19th century, chocolate was sold as cocoa powder and thought of mostly as a drink with health benefits and an alternative to alcohol (!). Edible chocolates were a delicacy – usually hand-crafted fruit and nuts covered in the wonderful stuff, not the mass produced candy bars we know of today. Van Houten’s discovery of “Dutching” (i.e. what we now call “Dutch process” cocoa), the Swiss Daniel Peter’s collaboration with Henri Nestle that eventually gave birth to milk chocolate, and the Industrial Revolution all changed the face of chocolate forever. Chocolate went from something you drank to something you ate. The ability to mass produce it made it more available to the masses at an affordable price.

The book is well-written and well researched. I learned so much about chocolate and the big names that made it. Chocoholics who are also trivia fanatics (like yours truly) will enjoy reading about how some of the more iconic candy bars and chocolatey treats were invented and named. (For instance I now know what the “m’s” stand for in “M & M’s.” ) For such a small book, 319 pages in total, Cadbury’s Chocolate Wars covers a lot of ground. I’ve had a lifetime love affair with chocolate but also found myself really falling in love with the Cadbury family. So, when, at the end of the book, the Kraft company buys the Cadbury company in 2009, I took it as a personal affront. It just seemed so wrong. Roger Carr, the chairman of the Cadbury board when the company was sold had this to say: “If you’ve done the right things in terms of the world in which I live, then you can continue to look in the mirror as having done the right thing – even though doing the right thing may leave you feeling sad and hollow.” I think that says a lot about our current world: now the “right thing” is whatever is going to bring the highest profit. To the Cadbury’s, and other like-minded businessmen of their time, the “right thing” may not have brought the highest profit, but had the potential to do the most good. As George Cadbury said, “If you can show that your life is happier by giving" than by hoarding,"you will do more good than by preaching about it.”

It was time very well spent and very highly recommended. I’ll probably read it again in the future.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is high on my list of favorite books. The movie was released in November but it didn't show up at our local theater until December. I could not not see it. The movie was very good and followed the book closely. It did a great job of hitting almost all of the highlights of the book and of bringing the story to life on screen. The acting is superb all around but Geoffrey Rush is the living embodiment of Liesel's adopted and beloved "Papa." (Seriously, I wanted to reach through the screen and hug him!) Sophie Nelisse as Liesel is simply stunning. It is a beautiful movie to watch and listen to. The cinematography and scenery are beautiful. Some people have complained of John William's overbearing score, but I certainly didn't feel that the score ever distracted from the movie at all. Having read the book (more than once) I felt like I had an unfair advantage (or disadvantage). I already knew what was going to happen and already loved the characters. Gauging by the reaction of the audience, though, who laughed at all the right spots and sniffled and cried at others (yes, take some Kleenex with you) it seemed to be a hit. Most telling was that when the movie was over, instead of everyone hurrying to get up and leave, the vast majority of us just sat there while the credits rolled. An elderly man a few rows behind us said "Wow, it really sucks you in emotionally."

The film version is not the book in its entirety on film and it's a little bit "sanitized" perhaps to make it more family friendly. The movie seems a little more "sentimental" than the book itself and the ending is a little different than the one in the book (and the only thing I took issue with). As a big fan of the book I was impressed. It was a very, very good movie, and one that is well worth watching, but not something that needs to be seen on a big screen. I am glad I saw it and will probably buy it when it is released on DVD. I certainly hope the movie will make folks want to search the book out. Like a relative of mine said, someone a little older than me, said, "I just started reading this. Wow!"

Very interesting review of Chocolate Wars there Avid. Thanks!

And yes, my mouth is watering...

I've put Chocolate Wars on my wishlist too. I've always like Cadbury's chocolate best.

I am glad that the movie of The Book Thief was well done. I also loved the book, and gave it to several people as gifts. I was hoping the film would live up to the spirit of the book. i will probably wait for the DVD.

>43 Polaris-: Thanks Polaris. I'm just really glad that we had plenty of left-over Halloween chocolate candy to get me through!

>44 VivienneR: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (you might want to stock up on a few Cadbury's before starting ;)

>45 NanaCC: Nana, I simply ran out of patience and couldn't stand the thought of waiting for another few months to see it!

ETA: My cousin, who I haven't talked to for a few years sent me this as a Christmas gift. (What a coincidence right?!) I'm going to have to go and buy a lot more chocolate to get through this one!

I have The True History of Chocolate too, and I am ashamed to say it has been sitting on my shelves for more than 15 years; I believe my father gave it to me.

Chocolate actually has an incredibly interesting history. I know all about it from having gone to chocolate museums, where they have the history in a chronological order with all sorts of related historical objects. You wouldn't think something so simple like that is worth such an in-depth look, but really there's a lot to it.

I've had The Book Thief sitting on my shelf all year. I'll have to get to it in 2014.

>47 rebeccanyc: I have books like that too, Rebecca.

>48 .Monkey.: I'd love to hear more about your visits to chocolate museums! (And, of course, the chocolate addict in me immediately thinks "ooo ... museums made out of chocolate!" ;)

>49 japaul22: I really love that particular book, japaul. But it took me a bit to warm up to it. It bored me first, then confused me, but once I got to the end that first time through I flipped it back to the cover and then started again.

I can relate to chocolate. Excellent review of Chocolate Wars

Well the one that stands out is Choco Story, this page of their site gives the very basic run-down. The museum is several floors, and there's a little chocolate character who "tells you" the history & processing as you walk through, there's all these large sign things to read where he's explaining stuff, sometimes with little jokes or amusing tidbits, and then there's the exhibits, some Mayan & Aztec stuff, all sorts of different odd cups and devices for making hot chocolate kind of drinks in, various type of molds for the pralinés, etc, you wouldn't really think there could be so much "artifact" kind things for chocolate but there is! And then of course you get a little free sample :P I can't recall if it's in that one or another where there's the room at the end where there's a guy making chocolates that you can watch him do it, I think it was another one. We also have a fancy shop here where you can watch them making it, and see their amazing chocolate sculptures, too. :) The Choco Story place, though, also has a kind of "sister" museum, the Friet Museum, done in the same style, with the potato (or was it a fry? now I forget, it's been a few years! haha) telling you the history and whatnot. It's an amusing concept, so of course we had to check it out. And they give a coupon for buying some freshly made fries at the end. :P

>Thanks baswood. Chocolate Wars will be on my best NF reads of the year.

>Thanks for that & the link, PolymathicMonkey!!! I didn't even know such things as "chocolate museums" even existed. By the way, that little blip about Nesquick chocolate got my attention; I think the first time I read about the history of chocolate was on the back of a Nesquick box.


Maybe it wasn't called "Nesquick" then; this is the box I remember.

Haha, indeed they do. There was an incredibly fancy one in Köln, but the line was huge and its main supporter was Lindt, which I'm not a big fan of anyhow, and since we'd already been to others... so we said meh forget it, and contented ourselves with shopping in their exceedingly large chocolate shop. They literally had carts, as though it were a full grocery store! :P

They literally had carts, as though it were a full grocery store!
Oh, WOW!!! That'd probably be some expensive grocery shopping.

Like that picture of the old Nesquik tin. Something about old packaging ain't there?

Avid, My daughter is also a chocolate lover. I wonder if she's read that book. :)

Happy New Year! I'll be following along in the new year.

Yes there is Polaris! Just makes you happy for some reason. Good old nostalgia!

Thank you Nana, and Happy New Year to you too!

This year started out with my reading of Beth Moore's Get Out of That Pit so I think it's fitting that I finish the year with another one of hers. I hadn't planned it that way. Here's a funny story: I had intended to buy this one for my best friend as a Christmas gift but changed my mind and got her something else. Wouldn't you know it? My cousin, along with the True History of Chocolate, sent me this one for Christmas. (Hmmm ... somebody trying to tell me something?) I had almost sworn off forever on any, what I call, "Christian-ese" literature but found that if you dig long enough and hard enough, there's some stuff out there worth reading. Some stuff that actually does help; not a whole bunch of platitudes and waiting for God to wave his magic finger in your direction and now everything is sunshine and lollipops. This is probably my favorite one so far, simply because it made so much sense!


So Long Insecurity: You've Been A Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore

(From one of the last chapters in the book):My goal in the wake of this journey of heart is to cease being motivated to thought or action in any way by insecurity. .... Insecurity has a certain sick feel to it. A niggling of urgency and desperation. If the feeling gets masked behind a half dozen others, we only have to ask ourselves why we're thinking what we're thinking or doing what we're doing. Insecurity is, above all, an anxious motivator. We can cut straight to the core of our drivenness with these kinds of inquiries: Am I doing this ... or buying this ... or saying this ... or selling this out of any semblance of insecurity?"

Out of all the Christian self-help books I've read, this one really stands out. I think Mrs. Moore does a fantastic (and at times uncomfortable) job of getting to the real nitty gritty of most of our problems: insecurity. And then getting to the roots of that insecurity. I guess some people out there go through life feeling like they're standing on solid ground, but I've often felt the rug was about to be pulled out from underneath me any minute now. Probably because it has. Loss during childhood (divorce, disintegration of the family by any means) - or loss at any time - can make us feel insecure. Abuse of any kind (especially if that person was supposed to protect us) can leave lasting impressions of insecurity. Comparing ourselves to other people (whether we end up feeling inferior or superior) will always fuel the fire of insecurity. Less obvious things like change - even for the better - can feel like the proverbial rug has been pulled out - once again. Once that rug from underneath your feet has been yanked out once or twice (or more), some of us think it's going to happen, like I said, any minute now. Instead of visiting that feeling; we tend to live there. The world we live in, with its instant bad news coming from all corners of the globe doesn't help any either. Basically, chronic insecurity is just living in a constant state of fear: fear of failing, fear of being abandoned, fear of losing somebody close to us, fear of not being good enough, attractive enough (Moore writes a lot about our media-beauty-youth obsessed culture and its effects). Once again, the list goes on and on.

Once Moore's gone through all insecurity's causes, she goes on to list its effects. Nothing turns a smart person into an idiot faster and better than insecurity! Sometimes the behavior is tragic - like addictions, allowing abuse or even being abusive and controlling - to the funny (one lady said she'd never go through the drive through because she thought her voice sounded funny). We let insecurity talk us into stuff that's bad for us and out of things that are good for us. Insecurity can even turn people into liars. People will lie about seeing a particular movie, reading a particular book, or even knowing someone they've never met if they think not knowing something will make them lose face in front of someone. There's more to it, of course, and the book goes deeper into it than what I can here, but trust me on this one. Insecurity turns us into a MESS! So what to do? Well, of course, Moore's approach is Christian & Bible based, but she's so practical and down to Earth here that she comes right out and says "Hey, even if you don't believe the way I believe, there's some help in here for you."

She's right, too. This is probably the only Christian-based book I'd recommend to practically anybody (well, female somebodies, that is her target audience) who struggles with this particular issue (and I don't know too many people who don't) because like I said, it's full of common sense. Moore certainly calls us ladies out on all our stuff (and even the men get a say in here too). She also writes with enough humour to make this book an enjoyable, even if it is at times an uncomfortable, read.

There are only a few hours of 2013 left so I better start picking my faves of the year. This year started with a few definite reading goals; some I met, some I didn't. I also ended up on an American history kick, thanks to Doris Kearns Goodwin.

STATS
Total Books: 37
FICTION: 15
NON-FICTION: 22

Picking out the best fiction books I read this past year isn't so hard; I didn't read that many of them.

MY BEST FICTION PICKS OF 2013
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Unclay by T.S. Powys
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Picking out the best non-fiction books is a bit harder. They were all good. These are the ones that I would recommend without reservation and/or re-read in a heartbeat.

BEST NONFICTION PICKS OF 2013
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin; Team of Rivals was also an excellent book but I found Goodwin's No Ordinary Time infinitely more readable and enjoyable.
Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury
A Life of Jesus by Shusaku Endo
The Diary of Emma LeConte
Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman
One Doctor, Cold Cases, Close Calls and the Mysteries of Medicine by Dr. Brendan Reilly

Books this year that actually made me laugh (or in the case of the Zombie book, sing) out loud while reading them:
Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime & No, I Don't Want to Join a Book Club: Diary of a Sixtieth Year by Virginia Ironside

I can't say there were any disappointments in the list. I didn't expect True You by Janet Jackson to be a prize winning piece of literature, so wasn't disappointed. If anything this year brought (at least in my reading life!) great unexpected surprises - in a good way. I learned a lot through my reading and probably gained 10 pounds nibbling on tiny chocolate bars while getting through Deborah Cadbury's Chocolate Wars!