In the Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord The author of this book has a pseudonym to protect herself and the experiences that she relates. She worked at an NGO in Afghanistan, providing service to poor Afghan women. She was there for five years. As I read this book,…
Donna Everhart has written a novel about the Civil War with a unique perspective. When the Jessamine Grows is set in North Carolina (1860s), in an area where there were subsistence farmers. They didn’t own slaves. North Carolina was drawn into the war, expecting residents to support secession. What would…
Throughout history there have been women who have made a difference. The Bible records the story of the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who stood up to Pharaoh in the first book of Exodus. And there is Hannah (mother of Samuel), Ruth from Moab and Queen Esther. Recently I read a…
Some novels published in recent years have a new pattern. Instead of telling a story chronologically, chapters can go back and forth in time. It is helpful that a date is placed at the beginning of a chapter. Still, sometimes I am confused. I have also read books with several…
When I saw that our library was having a book discussion for The First Ladies, written by Marie Benedict and Victoria C. Murray, I signed up. The historical fiction novel is a story of the friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Bethune. The book describes the work they accomplished together…
In 2015 I wrote about vaccines developed from developing babies that were aborted. This type of research has been going on for as long as abortion was legal, as I learned. I came across a link to a Finnish research article that detailed experimentation with live fetuses during abortions. This research…
Tracy Enerson Wood takes us back to 1915 in her novel, the President’s Wife. The book tells the story of Edith Galt’s marriage to President Woodrow Wilson. The wedding takes place during his first term in office. It was a bit of a scandal for the President to remarry so…
Over the past week I encountered Israel in a documentary movie and a book. Our small group went to see Route 60: The Biblical Highway. Although my husband and I have been to Israel and visited places from the southern tip of Israel to the northern edge, we saw some…
The years between World War I and World War II offer thought provoking events and perspectives. Marie Benedict has written a historical novel, The Mitford Affair, published in 2023. The book looks at one family’s views and alignments during a confusing political time period. The Mitford family had six daughters…
My grandfather was a copper miner in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He worked in the mines until he retired. Copper hidden deep in the earth was contained in rock that was blasted, brought to the surface and then processed to remove the copper concentrate. What was it like for…