Play Book Tag discussion

PBT'S WALK DOWN HISTORY LANE

Each year members say they would like a nonfiction challenge and each year the admins offer some variation of this challenge. It finally happened! This challenge was selected as our members' first choice.

Members will sign up to play this challenge and the admins will randomly put them into groups of equal size (as close to 6 as we can).

The first person on each team will read a book to start off this challenge. The book must either be nonfiction or fiction that is based on a real life person or event. Which means that both the fiction and nonfiction should be based on a real life person or event. Once that person completes their read and posts their review, then the next person will read a book that links to the previous one. Then, the third reader must link their book to the second, etc.

The links between the books do not all have to be the same and we encourage you to get creative! A link could be any other person or topic referenced in the first book. Or it could be a book by the same author or with the same word in the title or written in the same year or winner of the same prize or narrated by the same person—you get the idea. Groups can be as creative as they want with identifying the links, but they need to specify how each connects to the next.
Each group will determine the order of members reading and the order of fiction and non-fiction. In the end their needs to be 6 fiction and 6 nonfiction books. Each loop should contain both fiction and nonfiction.
Books should be read relay race style when the first member to read has posted a review, the next member may start reading the next book.
When making reading plans consider creativity of links, possible cohesion and themes, diversity and range of events .

The ultimate goal for each group is to:
1. Complete two loops of the group with each member completing one book in each loop. The second link will begin with the member reading a book of which ever this member hasn't read of fiction or nonfiction and connecting it with the last book of the first loop.
2. Each group member reads at least one nonfiction and one fiction book.

When the book matches the PBT tag, you will be given an extra 3 points. Just remember to post the link which shows at least 5 people have used the same tag.

Members should expect some surprises along the way.
Prizes will be awarded for linking creativity (as voted by the Admins), completion of the two loops, and total pages read.

When posting review, we need :
Name of Book
Fiction or Nonfiction
Person or Event represented
Page number
Link with previous book(1st excluded)
Review

Extra Points< link to proof of tag

BnB, I'm presuming you need the reports in this thread, but if that isn't right, let me know and I'll delete it!

GROUP D: Loop 1, book 1
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Non-fiction
Biography of Henrietta Lacks
358 pages (excluding index)
No link - first book
Review: here

Extra points: Tagged 'science' on page 1 column 1 here: https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

BnB, if I'm reading this correctly, we do not have to alternate between non-fiction and fiction. We could read two non-fiction books in a row? And we don't necessarily need to read 3 of each in a six month loop. We could read 4 non-fiction in one loop, and 2 non-fiction in the second loop? Is that correct?

Also, does the second person need to wait until February? If the second person wants to read a book with a science tag, they could do that as long as they wait until the first person posted their review? Correct?

Since you designed the game with two loops, can we begin our second loop before the first one has completed? Some of us might have very long books, work delays, or unforeseen crises that could delay finishing a loop.

NancyJ wrote: "We could read two non-fiction books in a row? And we don't necessarily need to read 3 of each in a six month loop. We could read 4 non-fiction in one loop, and 2 non-fiction in the second loop? Is that correct?"

That is correct.

Also, does the second person need to wait until February? If the second person wants to read a book with a science tag, they could do that as long as they wait until the first person posted their review? Correct?

That is correct. The second person should not start reading until the first person has posted the review. Honor system here of course.

Since you designed the game with two loops, can we begin our second loop before the first one has completed? Some of us might have very long books, work delays, or unforeseen crises that could delay finishing a loop. .

The first loop does need to be completed before the second is started.

To clarify, the second loop cannot be started until the first is completed.

If time allows, is a third loop ok to start? What if we do start and don't finish it?

Joanne wrote: "If time allows, is a third loop ok to start? What if we do start and don't finish it?"

The third loop would be an unofficial loop, which would be ok , fun and there is no reason not to continue if members so choose, but it wouldn't be part of the challenge.

"The book must either be nonfiction or fiction that is based on a real life person or event."

We just discovered that some of us are interpreting this sentence differently.

Are you saying

A. Every book (whether non-fiction or fiction) must be based on a real-life person or event?

OR

B. Every book must be
1) nonfiction,
or
2) fiction based on a real-life person or event.

Can you clarify this? Thanks!

We’ve interpreted it as A, because of the ‘history’ theme, Nancy, if that helps

KateNZ wrote: "We’ve interpreted it as A, because of the ‘history’ theme, Nancy, if that helps"

As have we in team E

Karin wrote: "NancyJ wrote: ""The book must either be nonfiction or fiction that is based on a real life person or event."

We just discovered that some of us are interpreting this sentence differently.

Are you..."

Real person or event-book does not have to contain real-life person. That's the meaning I got from BnB's descriptions.

KateNZ wrote: "We’ve interpreted it as A, because of the ‘history’ theme, Nancy, if that helps"

As have we in Team Autodidacts.

To be clear all books, both fiction and non-fiction should include significantly a real-life person or event.

I think someone asked if the person it is based on is renamed to keep it "fictional" if that was acceptable and it is.

Someone was asking about climate change, and I would consider it an event as it is significantly impacting all of our lives and affecting policy world wide.

Thanks! I have a lot of climate change books on my tbr, both fiction and non-fiction.

I'm noticing that many science books have some historical perspective, even if it's the history of the development of that field, people who made discoveries, etc.

I'm not playing this game, but I would not consider climate change as a HISTORY book.

Booknblues wrote: "To be clear all books, both fiction and non-fiction should include significantly a real-life person or event.

I think someone asked if the person it is based on is renamed to keep it "fictional" i..."

I think by your definition, I would consider climate change more science and public policy.

That said, as an historian, I would say that climate change is considered historical because significant scientific events affect the flow of history. A great example of this is plague. I cannot think of a single historian who would argue that this scientific event altered, time and again, history by affecting trade, population trends, passage of hereditary titles, etc. The same could be argued about climate change and its affect on food supply, population trends, trade, etc. -- in short, many of the same impacts that the plague had.

NancyJ wrote: ""The book must either be nonfiction or fiction that is based on a real life person or event."

We just discovered that some of us are interpreting this sentence differently.

Are you saying

A. Eve..."

Color me literal, but are A and B not saying the same thing, just in a different way? Since this is a history based challenge, would not nonfiction (in scenario B) also be based on either a person or event of some kind? Even if the book is art, music, science, etc., a person or event would come into play somewhere.

Group C Book 1 Loop 1

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobol
3 stars
Nonfiction
John Harrison
184 pages
no link - book #1
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Extra points (science tag): https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Does the book need to be specifically tagged “history?” I’m looking at a title tagged both anthropology and archaeology but not history specifically. I know on Shelfari, where tags got very specific, our rules for challenges were that the book must be specifically tagged. Does that still hold true? Or are rules a bit looser here on Goodreads where tags are not as abundant?

Care wrote: "Does the book need to be specifically tagged “history?” I’m looking at a title tagged both anthropology and archaeology but not history specifically. I know on Shelfari, where tags got very specifi..."

It doesn't have to be tagged history, but if you are working for extra points to match the PBT tag of the month, it needs at least 5 people who have tagged it science or whatever tag of the month we are currently in.

Care wrote: "Does the book need to be specifically tagged “history?” I’m looking at a title tagged both anthropology and archaeology but not history specifically. I know on Shelfari, where tags got very specifi..."

Tag only matters for bonus points, that is to get the bonus points, book has to be tagged at least 5 times with the monthly tag. In January, that tag would be 'science'.

The "history' part is the book being about, or include in a reasonably significant and recognizable way, an historical event or an historical person. No tag needed. The entire book does not have to be about the historic event or the historical person. You could read a contemporary romance where the character went back in time and became an aide to George Washington during the American Revolution for a few chapters - historical person. Or read an historical fiction set in part with a character at the Battle of Waterloo - historical event.

Theresa wrote: "Care wrote: "Does the book need to be specifically tagged “history?” I’m looking at a title tagged both anthropology and archaeology but not history specifically. I know on Shelfari, where tags got..."

Oh, that's cool. So His Majesty's Dragon would qualify because of the Napoleonic war. I wonder how many books on my TBR I've overlooked because I think of them as Fantasy not historical fiction.

I was planning to read Throne of Jade for another challenge this year. It should fit here too.

Thanks Theresa

Group A, Loop 1, Book 1

Name of Book: Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
Fiction or Nonfiction: nonfiction
Person or Event represented: The Eruption of Krakatoa in 1883
Page number: 464 (I listened to the audiobook, this is the page number from the default edition in Goodreads)
Link with previous book(1st excluded): n/a, 1st book
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Extra Points: Tagged Science 454 times
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Group B, Loop 1, Book 1

Name of Book: The Other Einstein - Marie Benedict
Fiction or Nonfiction: fiction
Person or Event represented: Mileva Maric Einstein - first wife of Albert Einstein
Page number: 304 (I read the kindle edition, page number from the default edition and kindle in Goodreads were the same)
Link with previous book (1st excluded): n/a, 1st book
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Extra Points: Tagged Science 124 times
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve... - p1c1

Group C, Book 2, Loop 1
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Nonfiction
Person or Event represented: The Big Bang of our universe; and various astrophysicists that invented telescopes & experiments which have led to the historical and continuing discoveries about our universe
Page number: 208 pages
Link with previous book: adventure into the unknown – whether sea or space – requires tools and knowledge which are necessary for that travel. There is a specific link to seafarers, since Tyson’s book tells that the ship’s log from Magellan’s adventures identified cosmic objects in 1519, which are now known to be the galaxies thus named the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Another link to our book 1 Longitude… is the measurement of distance/location using mathematics based on speed and time.
Link to My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Extra Points: Tagged Science 5,367 times - https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Group D- The Dazzling Divas
Loop 1
Name of Book: Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette by Carolyn James
Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction
Person or Event represented: Queen Henrietta Maria of England and Queen Marie Antoinette of France
Page number: 288
Link with previous book(1st excluded): Same first name (Henrietta)
Review: 3 stars
This book compares the experiences of Queens Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette during the English Civil War and the French Revolution, respectively. It analyzes the strategies these queens implemented based on their education and upbringing in their roles as wives and mothers. Additionally, it places a spotlight on both the impeachment of Henrietta Maria in 1643 and the trial of Marie Antoinette in 1793, emphasizing that the queen's domestic role is highly politicized and their perceived failure to shun their foreignness and conform entirely to their married realm. For Henrietta, it was her Catholicism that was at issue in Protestant England. For Marie, it was her continued correspondence with her natal Holy Roman Empire. This is a very interesting comparison of two queens who ruled more than a century apart, and sheds important light on the political influence of queens consort.

UAT (Unofficial Administrator Team)
Book 1 (Nonfiction, Jack the Ripper)
Page number: Listened to the audio, but main GR page says 333 p.


The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper / Hallie Rubenhold
4 stars

This book looks at the five (cannonical) women who were murdered by Jack the Ripper. It doesn’t look at the murders, but it is a biography of each of the women.

So, they weren’t all prostitutes. In fact, most of them weren’t. They were all, however, poor and had trouble finding money to pay for a place to sleep on many nights. Most of them were also alcoholics (well, my perception is that they were – I’m not sure the book actually says that).

In any case, I’m surprised the author was able to find as much information about them as she was. A number of years ago, I read another book that focused on the Ripper victims, but it was thin. I don’t remember it well (only the cover), and I thought I kept it, but it doesn’t look like I did, or I would have checked, but my assumption was that there just wasn’t a lot of information about five very poor girls who grew into women in the mid to late 19th century. But Rubenhold was able to find quite a bit. I was extra surprised to read about Mary Jane Kelly, but I won’t spoil it!

I listened to the audio book and my mind wandered occasionally, but not much. I was interested enough a few times to rewind, as well, so as to not miss what was just said.

Group A, Loop 1, Book 2

Name of Book: The Children's Blizzard
Fiction
Person or Event represented: The Children's Blizzard of January 1888
Page number: 368
Link with previous book(1st excluded): Mother Nature is on full display in both Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 and The Children's Blizzard. The eruption on Krakatoa in 1883 influenced weather for several years, and was still influencing weather and climate on the Great Plains of North America in 1888, throwing that part of the world into what is known as the Little Ice Age. 1887 and 1888 were especially harsh years, and the blizzard in January 1888 was devastating. Both these natural disasters resulted in hundreds of deaths, and the impacts of both events were felt for years.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Group E Pearls of The Past

Loop # 1, Book # 1

Name of Book: Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone
Fiction
Person or Event represented: The American Revolution
Page number 902 pages
Link with previous book(1st excluded)
Review https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Unofficial Administrators Group
Loop #1, Book 2#

Name of Book: Mr. Churchill's Secretary
Fiction or Nonfiction Fiction
Person or Event represented: Churchill/World War II
Page number: 380
Link with previous book: Murder in London
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Group E Pearls of the Past

Loop #1 Book #2

Book: Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
Nonfiction
Person or event represented: Kitchen gardens during the American Revolution
Page number: 384
Link with previous book: Kitchen gardens
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Bonus: Tagged science 14 times, first column. https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Quotes to link the kitchen garden theme:

From Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone: Page 342 - He found Moira in the kitchen garden, pulling onions. She was talking to Amranthus. Who evidently had been gathering as well.

From Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation: page 116 - Behind the house, where the land gently dipped, they [The Adams'] had established a kitchen garden with potatoes, large asparagus beds, lettuces and strawberries.

Autodidacts Walk History Lane - Group A
Loop 1, Book 3

Name of Book: Becoming by Michelle Obama
Fiction or Nonfiction: Non-Fiction
Person or Event represented: First African American First Lady
Page number: 426
Link with previous book: Key characters went to Chicago after completing education.
My Review

No bonus points.

Unofficial Administrators Group
Loop #1, Book #3

Name of Book: The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Non-Fiction
Person or Event represented: World War I & II (and other wars)
Page number: 72-87
Link with previous book: World War II
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Autodidacts Walk History Lane - Group A
Loop 1, Book 4

Name of Book: Hope Rides Again by Andrew Shaffer
Fiction or Non-Fiction: Fiction
Person Represented: Barack Obama-Joe Biden-Michelle Obama
Pages: 288
Link: Joe Biden considers buying Becoming by Michelle Obama (previous book) for people at his dentist office.

Review: This is a fictional story of Joe Biden and Barack Obama. It takes place on St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, 2019. After a long book tour, Biden makes a stop in Chicago to see Michelle and Barack and attend a conference with Barack. Obama’s Blackberry goes missing during the conference and Joe Biden decides he will find the phone for his friend.

They think a teenage boy who is a member of the Obama’s Rising Stars program took the phone. He ends up getting shot at work on the South Side of Chicago before they can find the phone. Biden and Obama have to deal with the political and law enforcement agencies in Chicago to find the person who shot their suspect.

This is just a fun read. I can picture this happening and could hear the characters in my head as I read the book.

No bonus points

Group C - UnCut Diamonds
Loop 1, Book 3

Name of Book: First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong - James R. Hansen - 4 Stars
Pages - 784
Fiction or Non Fiction - Non Fiction
Person or Event Represented - First Man to Walk on the Moon
Connection to Book 2 - Neil - Book 2 was written by Neil deGrasse Tyson and this book features Neil Armstrong who is also the author of The Book of Bok: One Moon Rock's Journey Through Time and Space.

Extra Points - Tagged Science by 71 Readers

Link to Review

Group B - The B-eatles, The Long and Winding Road
Loop 1, Book 2

Name of book: Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson - 5 stars
Pages - 675
Fiction or Non Fiction - Non Fiction
Person or Event Represented - Albert Einstein

Extra Points for Tag of the Month: Tagged Science by 1,096 people: https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Connection to Book 1 - Relativity. Book 1 was The Other Einstein. The connecting link is Relativity because:
(1) the primary subject of the book was his first wife, Mileva. His second wife - also discussed in that book - was an actual blood Relative (his first cousin).
(2) one of the controversies discussed by the book is how much Mileva contributed to the development of the Special Theory of Relativity (but didn't get any credit for it).


Link to Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

shelving updated, Feb 5/22

GROUP D(ivas): Loop 1, book 3

Title: Matrix by Lauren Groff
Fiction
Pages: 260 (Unless this is meant to mean the page where the person appears? In which case Eleanor appears many times but first enters on page 4)
Person represented: Eleanor of Aquitaine
Link to previous book: Eleanor, Henrietta and Marie Antoinette are all queens.

Review is here!

No bonus points

Group E Pearls of the Past

Loop #1 Book #3

Book: The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer
Nonfiction
Person or event represented: World history, including the development of agriculture and civilization, religion, politics, political figures (such as Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV aka Akhenaten
Page number: 896
Link with previous book: agriculture- (linking to the kitchen gardens since it is a subset)

Review:

I have had this book on my self almost since it was published. This is the first time I have read the entire book from start go finish.

This is history as in it primarily relies on written records rather than archaeology or anthropology. Different areas start at different times, but the primary areas covered (and I am not looking this up in the table of contents to see their order of entry) are in the middle east starting with Sumer (and including things such as Babylon, Parthians and various other nations,) Northern Africa (primarily Egypt), China, India, Greece plus Macedonia and Rome, but as kingdoms/empires spread, other areas are mentioned. In a number of areas, the development or possibility of agriculture is key to a civilization developing. For example, in Sumer it was key--once it was developed. During the time the Sahara was green with plant life, the Nile flooding was far too violent for anyone to settle there, but once it dried out it became possible to irrigate and do agriculture. In fact, there were a few times where climate change interfered with Egyptian people.

Bauer looks primarily at the political and religious/philosophical aspects of societies, the latter because they affect the peoples discussed. She starts with things that have been heavily mythologized on up to lesser-so, etc, and is clear on which is what.

In Egypt, for example, it starts with the first pharaoh being a god, to the gradual change of descended from a god to a representative of one, in addition to politics, wars and succession, etc. In addition, she covers sudden changes in beliefs. For example, in Chapters 32 and 33. Chapter 32, "Struggle of the Gods" covers Amenhotep III and IV. Unlike Pharaohs before him, Amenhotep III chose to worship Ra, the sun god, primarily. His son deviated from all other Pharaohs in that he worshipped the sun directly with a non-anthropomorphical representation and discarded all of the others until he was basically a monotheist. He even changed his name to Akenhaten. After his death, his records and inscriptions were, as was common, destroyed by a later pharaoh not that many years later.

I found it interesting to see the different qualities considered important in rulers in China as compared with some of the other areas, although that didn't always last. Also, that in both Rome and China, when a popular ruler opted to choose a non-family heir with similar qualities this often worked better in keeping a nation/kingdom/empire together barring successful attacks from outside, coups, etc.

This is well written, but for me the political/war parts sometimes got to be too much since that's not the sort of history I prefer to study. I'm glad I have finally read this, though.

Group B - The B-eatles, The Long and Winding Road
Loop 1, Book 3

Name of Book - The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu
Pages - 399
Fiction or Non Fiction - Fiction
Person or Event Represented - The Chinese Cultural Revolution
Extra Points for Tag of the Month: Tagged Thought Provoking by 19 people
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Connection to Previous book: Einstein and the Theory of Relativity. Einstein and his theories are referenced several times in this science-fiction/historical fiction book. He even has a humorous cameo appearance as a character in the 'story within the story.'

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Autodidacts Walk History Lane - Group A
Loop 1, Book 5

Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors by Andrew Shaffer
Non-fiction
Person/Event Represented: multiple authors, several representing literary groups or eras
297 pages
Link: same author, living in "a magical land of horses and bourbon" where presidential buddy capers and roguish literary criticism can be written

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The B-eatles: Long and Winding Road
Loop 1, Book 4

Name of Book - The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining WomenT
Pages - 404
Fiction or Non Fiction - Non-Fiction
Person or Event Represented - The use of radium-based luminescent paint by several companies to paint clock and instrument dials beginning in the 1920's and the subsequent development of radiation poisoning by the women employed by these companies.

Extra Points for Tag of the Month: Tagged Thought Provoking by 10 people
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Connection to Previous book: There is a battle in Three Body Problem that leaves a key character with Radiation poisoning (though he seems to recover quickly).
Also, the Three Body problem occurs during the Cultural Revolution, when the intent was to save communism by purging capitalism. Radium girls is the opposite, what happens when capitalism is totally untethered and corporate greed reigns. Neither scenario seemed to work out well.

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Group D(ivas)
Loop 1, Book 4

Name of the Book: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Pages: 440

Fiction or Non-Fiction: Fiction

Person or Event Represented: In the Nightingale, the author captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war.
The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion, and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France.

Extra Points for Tag of the Month: Tagged Thought Provoking by 18 people. It can be located on page 6, in the 3rd column, 11th from the top.

Connection to previous book: Both books, the Matrix and the Nightingale, feature independent women doing the unexpected in France.

Review:
I absolutely love Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale. Thought provoking? Yes! It still resonates in me four days after finishing it.
Massive in scope, but intimate in details.

Although it is 95% about WWII in France, the story begins April 9, 1995 along the Oregon Coast. We are first introduced to the anonymous narrator of our story. She is dying of cancer. Rather than look forward she looks back and via her memory, we are transported to France, August 1939.

The Nightingale goes on to tell the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion, and circumstance. Each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France. The older sister, Vianne has started a family with her husband Antoine. He is leaving for the Front any day. Together they have a daughter, Sophie. Isabelle, the younger sister, unmanageable and rebellious choses a different path. She joins the Resistance.

The plot gets complicated, but doesn't bog down. It is well-paced and moves along.

The writing is exquisite filled with beautiful imagery.

shelf updated, Mar 5/22

Group D(ivas)
Loop 1, Book 5
Name of book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Pages: 530
Fiction or nonfiction: fiction
Person or event represented- WWII
Connection to previous book: hidden messages

Review-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Group C, Uncut Diamonds
Loop 1, Book 4

Name of book: Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
Nonfiction
Pages: 253
Person or event - Ona Judge, slave in household of George Washington, also the Washington family
Connection to previous book: "firsts" in American history - from First Man on Moon to First President

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

UAT (Unofficial Admin Team)
Loop 1, Book 4

Name of Book: Prayers for Sale (Fiction)
Person or Event represented: Great Depression
Pages: 308
Link with previous book: previous book was about elements, including a chapter on gold; this book was set in a gold mining town

Prayers for Sale / Sandra Dallas
3.5 stars

It’s 1936 in a small gold mining town in the Colorado Rockies. 86-year old Hennie has lived here for 70 years. When a new young woman moves to town, Hennie befriends her, as she knows it will take time for most people to accept the newcomer to town, especially when they think her husband has taken a job away from a local. Hennie is one for telling stories, so she keeps Nit entertained with stories of her background when and why she moved from the South (as did Nit and her husband), and more about Hennie’s own life and stories about some of the happenings around town over the years. Unfortunately, Hennie’s daughter wants Hennie to move “down” (off the mountain), as she worries with Hennie living alone in a dangerous place.

I enjoyed this. There was a lot about quilting, which is something I have never done, but I bet people who do quilt would appreciate that in this book. Leaned a bit about gold mining, as well (one thing - I’d never heard of dredging; I guess I’ve read more about the gold rush and panning for gold). There was one unexpected turn at the end (I see other reviews tell me there was lots of (too much!) foreshadowing about something, but somehow I managed to miss that!). Overall, this was enjoyable.

Pearls of the Past: Loop 1, Book 4 (the team formerly known as Group E)

Name of Book:
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari - 4* - My Review

Fiction

Person or Event represented: Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (who changed his name to Akhnaton)

Page number: 514 pages

Link with previous book: The previous book was non-fiction world history about this region (The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer) and mentions the reigns of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV. It also covers the change in religion from worship of Ammon and the traditional Egyptian gods to Aton and back again.

Extra Points - tagged "classics" by 230 people:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Review:

“My name was once inscribed in Pharaoh’s golden book, and I dwelt at his right hand. My words outweighed those of the mighty in the land of Kem; nobles sent me gifts, and chains of gold were hung about my neck. I possessed all that a man can desire, but like a man I desired more—therefore, I am what I am. I was driven from Thebes in the sixth year of the reign of Pharaoh Horemheb, to be beaten to death like a cur if I returned—to be crushed like a frog between the stones if I took one step beyond the area prescribed for my dwelling place. This is by command of the King, of Pharaoh who was once my friend.”

First published in Finland in 1945, this novel is a sweeping classic historical saga that tells the story of Sinuhe, an Egyptian physician. He is writing his life story from an older age while living in exile. He starts at the beginning of his life, as an orphan adopted by a doctor and his wife. He tells of his family, adventures, journeys, wars, friendships, and relationships. He ends with how he became exiled. His story features real Egyptian leaders, such as Amenhotep III, Nefertiti, Horemheb, Eie, and Tutankhamun.

In addition to following Sinhue’s journeys, it depicts the rise and fall of Pharoah Akhnaton (Amenhotep IV). Akhnaton changed the primary Egyptian religion from Amon and the traditional gods, to Aton, the sun god and only god. This change to monotheism created much disruption, upheaval, and violence. It is ironic since Aton was supposed to be a god of peace. It reflects the ways in which wars tend to surface despite peaceful intentions.

It is an engaging story with deeply drawn characters, expressive writing, and emotional ups and downs. The first half reminds me a bit of The Odyssey, where the main character travels by ship and surmounts many obstacles, though The Egyptian is fully set in the real world and does not employ actions by mythological creatures. A bit of humor is introduced through the antics of Sinuhe’s slave, Kaptah. Over the course of the story, they form a close friendship.

Through Sinuhe’s adventures, the reader feels immersed in the customs, culture, religious beliefs, medical practices, politics, and society of ancient Egypt and the surrounding regions. He encounters people from Syria, Mitanni, Hattusa, Babylon, and Crete. It would have been even more enjoyable if it were shorter (the war scenes become a bit much after a while) but is definitely worth reading and highly recommended. This book was made into a Hollywood film in 1954.

4.5

WHL-related quotes:

“I was born in the reign of the great King Amenhotep III and in the same year as that one who desired to live by truth and whose name may no longer be named because it is accursed—though at the time nothing of this was known. There was great rejoicing at the palace when he was born, and the King brought many sacrifices to the great temple of Ammon that he had built; the people also were glad, not knowing what was to come.” (at 1% of e-book)

“I heard now for the first time that the heir had come to the throne as Amenhotep IV and liberated all slaves and prisoners so that the mines and quarries in the east by the coast were deserted, also those in Sinai. For there was none in Egypt so mad as to work in the mines of his own free will. The royal consort was the Princess of Mitanni, who still played with dolls, and Pharaoh served a new god.” (at 20% of e-book)

Link to PBT discussion thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Autodidacts Walk History Lane - Group A
Loop 1, Book 6

Name of Book: Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
Fiction or Non-Fiction: Fiction
Person/Event Represented: Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, Spanish Civil War, World War Two – lots of different events
Number of Pages: 389 pages
Link with previous book: Ernest Hemingway was one of the authors written about in the previous book

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Unofficial Administrators Group
Loop 1, Book 5

Name of the Book: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction
Person/Event Represented: 1936 Berlin Olympics
Number of pages: 460
Link with previous book: Gold (the gold medal in this one) & The Great Depression

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Group B - The B-eatles, The Long and Winding Road
Loop 1, Book 5

Name: The Book Thief
Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction
Person or Event represented: World War 2 and the historical events leading up to it, and some WW1.
Page number: My copy is 566 pages
Extra Points: Tagged Classics 3579 times https://www.goodreads.com/work/shelve...

Link with previous book (1st excluded):
Death. Death is a character and the narrator in The Book Thief, and a very real presence in Radium Girls (previous book). On a more ideological level they also connect by showing how sometimes humans exploit and generally disregard other human lives in the pursuit of greater, questionable, goals.

Review:
I gave it 5 stars. I loved it. It was hard to read. It is not told in a sad way exactly, but it makes you feel sad for human kind.

Many of you have probably read this book before, but this is my first time.
It's about Liesel, a young girl who comes to live with foster parents in a town outside Munich in the years prior to WW2. On the train on the way, her little brother dies, and this is the first time Death meets Liesel. They bury him and here she "steals" her first book: "Handbook for grave diggers", dropped on the ground by a young apprentice.
When she arrives in her new home her new papa helps her learn to read, and they develop a special bond, where reading and the magic of books is central. A harmonica and an old friendship, a Jew in a basement, playing football on the streets, stealing apples and the tragedy of war are also central.
One could write a lot about this book, but in its essence, it tells a universal story about life and death, love, friendship despite the odds, and loss, in a very specific, and horrific, time in history.