Monthly Book Feature--
January 2014
Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Booth Luce
by Syliva Jukes Morris
When I was in high school, I participated in a speech contest and the topic of my speech was Clare Booth Luce. Coming across this book so many years later, I was motivated to re-acquaint myself with Luce. I am certainly glad I did. This book provides rich insight into Luce's personality, which borders on narcissistic. Her drive to rise from her beginnings as an illegitimate child to a political force is a fascinating read. The book ends in 1942 as Luce is elected to Congress from Connecticut. In addition to telling the story of Luce's life, this book provides an engaging look at life in the first half of the 20th century in the US. A book about the second half of her life is due out in July 2014.
January 2014
Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Booth Luce
by Syliva Jukes Morris
When I was in high school, I participated in a speech contest and the topic of my speech was Clare Booth Luce. Coming across this book so many years later, I was motivated to re-acquaint myself with Luce. I am certainly glad I did. This book provides rich insight into Luce's personality, which borders on narcissistic. Her drive to rise from her beginnings as an illegitimate child to a political force is a fascinating read. The book ends in 1942 as Luce is elected to Congress from Connecticut. In addition to telling the story of Luce's life, this book provides an engaging look at life in the first half of the 20th century in the US. A book about the second half of her life is due out in July 2014.
Monthly Book Feature--
February 2014
Shocked: My Mother, Schiaparelli, and Me
by Patricia Volk
Although I read memoirs, I don't usually select them as monthly book features as I find other genres more appealing. However, reading Shocked made me change my mind. Volk provides for her readers an original and stylish memoir using two women to compare and contrast how they lived their lives as a woman in the 20th century and how they both influenced her own life. The author is a gifted story teller, a bit of a philosopher and has an eye for detail. As a reader, it was easy to vicariously re-live the lives of the three women gracing the pages of the book--sometimes those are the best reasons to read!
February 2014
Shocked: My Mother, Schiaparelli, and Me
by Patricia Volk
Although I read memoirs, I don't usually select them as monthly book features as I find other genres more appealing. However, reading Shocked made me change my mind. Volk provides for her readers an original and stylish memoir using two women to compare and contrast how they lived their lives as a woman in the 20th century and how they both influenced her own life. The author is a gifted story teller, a bit of a philosopher and has an eye for detail. As a reader, it was easy to vicariously re-live the lives of the three women gracing the pages of the book--sometimes those are the best reasons to read!
Monthly Book Feature--
March 2014
Un-Remarried Widow
by Artis Henderson
Much has been written about the lost warriors from our ten plus year wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the stories of those who were left behind are not as numerous. This book by Artis Henderson attempts to fill that void. Her husband, Miles, is killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq only five months after they are married. Henderson explores how the pain of losing her husband transforms into strength and courage. But it's the fact she admits feeling lost and alone, and doesn't always write about herself in a positive light, that makes her story so real. Beautifully written and poignantly told, Henderson helps us to appreciate the sacrifices that all the loved ones of our fallen warriors have experienced, many, many of them women.
March 2014
Un-Remarried Widow
by Artis Henderson
Much has been written about the lost warriors from our ten plus year wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the stories of those who were left behind are not as numerous. This book by Artis Henderson attempts to fill that void. Her husband, Miles, is killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq only five months after they are married. Henderson explores how the pain of losing her husband transforms into strength and courage. But it's the fact she admits feeling lost and alone, and doesn't always write about herself in a positive light, that makes her story so real. Beautifully written and poignantly told, Henderson helps us to appreciate the sacrifices that all the loved ones of our fallen warriors have experienced, many, many of them women.
Monthly Book Feature--
April 2014
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina
by Misty Copeland
The chances of anyone becoming a soloist in the American Ballet Company are infinitesimally small. To do so as an African-American girl who grew up in an unstable home in which her mother was married four times makes the chances even smaller. Yet, this is what Misty Copeland did. She tells her story of starting ballet lessons at the Boys and Girls Club at the "old" age of 13. Her natural talent allows her to move quickly through the ranks, but her perseverance and commitment are equally as important in her rise. Overcoming the challenges of an unstable family situation and having numerous benefactors to help her along the way, Copeland tells a riveting story of her journey to the top of the ballet world.
April 2014
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina
by Misty Copeland
The chances of anyone becoming a soloist in the American Ballet Company are infinitesimally small. To do so as an African-American girl who grew up in an unstable home in which her mother was married four times makes the chances even smaller. Yet, this is what Misty Copeland did. She tells her story of starting ballet lessons at the Boys and Girls Club at the "old" age of 13. Her natural talent allows her to move quickly through the ranks, but her perseverance and commitment are equally as important in her rise. Overcoming the challenges of an unstable family situation and having numerous benefactors to help her along the way, Copeland tells a riveting story of her journey to the top of the ballet world.
Monthly Book Feature--
May 2014
The Girls of Atomic City
by Denise Kiernan
If you know anything about the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb, you will certainly have heard about the men who brought this project to fruition--Einstein, Oppenheimer, and Fermi, to name a few. But what about the women? Who were they and what contributions did they make? For this book, Denise Kiernan interviews women who worked at the Oak Ridge Tenn. site. From these interviews she weaves the story of the contributions and sacrifices that these women made, A chemist, a secretary and a cleaning woman are the three main voices who speak for the many women whose stories were not told in the aftermath of the project.Just like Rosie the Riveter, they faded into post WWII life as if their contributions did not exist. Thanks to Ms. Kiernan, their stories are now told in an engaging and vivid manner.
May 2014
The Girls of Atomic City
by Denise Kiernan
If you know anything about the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb, you will certainly have heard about the men who brought this project to fruition--Einstein, Oppenheimer, and Fermi, to name a few. But what about the women? Who were they and what contributions did they make? For this book, Denise Kiernan interviews women who worked at the Oak Ridge Tenn. site. From these interviews she weaves the story of the contributions and sacrifices that these women made, A chemist, a secretary and a cleaning woman are the three main voices who speak for the many women whose stories were not told in the aftermath of the project.Just like Rosie the Riveter, they faded into post WWII life as if their contributions did not exist. Thanks to Ms. Kiernan, their stories are now told in an engaging and vivid manner.
Monthly Book Feature--
June 2014
The Still Point of the Turning World
by Emily Rapp
Loosing a child in any circumstance is a parent's worst nightmare. To have your child diagnosed with an uncurable and untreatable disease magnifies this in an unmeasurable way. This is the experience that Emily Rapp writes about. Her son at nine months is diagnosed with Tay-Sachs. She shares her grief with philosophical and literary references, trying to make sense of her world. This is not a place any of us would choose to be, but reading Emily Rapp's book provides us with insight into how one mother loved her son for the short time she had him. Although not a happy topic, this well-written book engages the reader pulling us in with her luminous prose.
June 2014
The Still Point of the Turning World
by Emily Rapp
Loosing a child in any circumstance is a parent's worst nightmare. To have your child diagnosed with an uncurable and untreatable disease magnifies this in an unmeasurable way. This is the experience that Emily Rapp writes about. Her son at nine months is diagnosed with Tay-Sachs. She shares her grief with philosophical and literary references, trying to make sense of her world. This is not a place any of us would choose to be, but reading Emily Rapp's book provides us with insight into how one mother loved her son for the short time she had him. Although not a happy topic, this well-written book engages the reader pulling us in with her luminous prose.
Monthly Book Feature--
July 2014
Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles.
by Raymond Arroyo
Whether you think that Mother Angelica and the EWTN are spot-on or way off-base, you can't help but admire the woman who started it all. With just $200 and a lot of nerve and faith in God's providence, Mother Angelica built a powerful network that today reaches a worldwide audience. This book begins with her life as a young girl, Rita Rizzo, who was abandoned by her father and raised by a very needy mother. In a reversal of roles, her mother eventually joins Mother Anglica's order and becomes a nun herself. Reading about Mother Angelica's challenges with the Catholic Church hierarchy, I often found myself saying, "You go Girl!" An entertaining and engaging story captures the reader and pulls you in and you can't help but admire all that Mother Angelica has accomplished.
July 2014
Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles.
by Raymond Arroyo
Whether you think that Mother Angelica and the EWTN are spot-on or way off-base, you can't help but admire the woman who started it all. With just $200 and a lot of nerve and faith in God's providence, Mother Angelica built a powerful network that today reaches a worldwide audience. This book begins with her life as a young girl, Rita Rizzo, who was abandoned by her father and raised by a very needy mother. In a reversal of roles, her mother eventually joins Mother Anglica's order and becomes a nun herself. Reading about Mother Angelica's challenges with the Catholic Church hierarchy, I often found myself saying, "You go Girl!" An entertaining and engaging story captures the reader and pulls you in and you can't help but admire all that Mother Angelica has accomplished.
Monthly Book Feature--
August 2014
Emma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman who Saved the Appalachian Trial
by Ben Montgomery
Today there are thousands of people every year who walk the entire Appalachian Trail, but in 1955 there were very few courageous and adventurous enough to do so. One of those people was Emma Gatewood. Emma told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 65-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. After surviving a rattlesnake strike, two hurricanes, and a run-in with gangsters from Harlem, she stood atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin. There she sang the first verse of “America, the Beautiful” and proclaimed, “I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it.”And the amazing thing is she did it again twice more!!! If you think you are too old to start something new, Emma Gatewood's story will inspire you to change your mind.
August 2014
Emma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman who Saved the Appalachian Trial
by Ben Montgomery
Today there are thousands of people every year who walk the entire Appalachian Trail, but in 1955 there were very few courageous and adventurous enough to do so. One of those people was Emma Gatewood. Emma told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 65-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. After surviving a rattlesnake strike, two hurricanes, and a run-in with gangsters from Harlem, she stood atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin. There she sang the first verse of “America, the Beautiful” and proclaimed, “I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it.”And the amazing thing is she did it again twice more!!! If you think you are too old to start something new, Emma Gatewood's story will inspire you to change your mind.
Monthly Book Feature--
September 2014
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
by Barbara Brown Taylor
My brother suggested this book to me and his recommendation turned out to be a gift. Barbara Taylor Brown is one of the first woman ordained as an Episcopal priest who after 20 years in the ministry decides to leave and teach religion at Piedmont College. She reveals her journey to the priesthood and her decision to leave the active ministry in an elegant writing style. Her gift of story telling allows us to understand that ultimately ministry isn't about us--it's about what God does through us.
September 2014
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
by Barbara Brown Taylor
My brother suggested this book to me and his recommendation turned out to be a gift. Barbara Taylor Brown is one of the first woman ordained as an Episcopal priest who after 20 years in the ministry decides to leave and teach religion at Piedmont College. She reveals her journey to the priesthood and her decision to leave the active ministry in an elegant writing style. Her gift of story telling allows us to understand that ultimately ministry isn't about us--it's about what God does through us.
Monthly Book Feature--
October 2014
A House in the Sky
by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
The recent beheading of two American journalists by ISIS has brought the attention of the world to those being held hostage by terrorists. Amanda Lindhout, a young Canadian woman, was one of those held captive for 15 months in Somalia in 2009. Four days into her visit she was taken hostage by Somali bandits. The kidnappers demanded an outrageous ransom and when they did not receive it, they treated her with increasing brutality. Her story is told in crisp, frank and evocative prose that leaves you wondering how she managed to survive her ordeal. With the financial assistance of many and the help of professional go-betweens, she is ultimately set free and since then has founded the Global Enrichment Foundation dedicated to empowering women in developing and conflict-ridden countries
October 2014
A House in the Sky
by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
The recent beheading of two American journalists by ISIS has brought the attention of the world to those being held hostage by terrorists. Amanda Lindhout, a young Canadian woman, was one of those held captive for 15 months in Somalia in 2009. Four days into her visit she was taken hostage by Somali bandits. The kidnappers demanded an outrageous ransom and when they did not receive it, they treated her with increasing brutality. Her story is told in crisp, frank and evocative prose that leaves you wondering how she managed to survive her ordeal. With the financial assistance of many and the help of professional go-betweens, she is ultimately set free and since then has founded the Global Enrichment Foundation dedicated to empowering women in developing and conflict-ridden countries
Monthly Book Feature--
November 2014
A World Elsewhere: An American Woman in Wartime Germany
by Sigrid MacRae
This book begins with the gift of a carved wooden box from mother to daughter. “Your father’s letters,” Sigrid MacRae’s 85-year-old mother tells her. Too moved for words, MacRae takes the locked box, but can’t bring herself to open it immediately. When she finally does, after her mother’s death, she meets the father she never knew.Through intimate letters and diaries, we learn the story of two passionate lovers, the author’s parents, whose romance was doomed by time and place: Germany on the brink of, and during, World War II. A beautifully told dramatic story as readable as a suspenseful novel offers a rare perspective in WW II literature in its revealing portrait of “a good Nazi." MacRae certainly does her mother's legacy justice by telling of how she courageously survived as an American with six children living in Germany during WWII
November 2014
A World Elsewhere: An American Woman in Wartime Germany
by Sigrid MacRae
This book begins with the gift of a carved wooden box from mother to daughter. “Your father’s letters,” Sigrid MacRae’s 85-year-old mother tells her. Too moved for words, MacRae takes the locked box, but can’t bring herself to open it immediately. When she finally does, after her mother’s death, she meets the father she never knew.Through intimate letters and diaries, we learn the story of two passionate lovers, the author’s parents, whose romance was doomed by time and place: Germany on the brink of, and during, World War II. A beautifully told dramatic story as readable as a suspenseful novel offers a rare perspective in WW II literature in its revealing portrait of “a good Nazi." MacRae certainly does her mother's legacy justice by telling of how she courageously survived as an American with six children living in Germany during WWII
Monthly Book Feature--
December 2014
Something Other Than God
by Jennifer Fulwiler
Fulwiler begins her story telling of the time when she was a young girl at a Christian youth camp and how she was pressured to accept Jesus as her savior and how she resisted. The journey she takes from this moment to embracing Catholicism is a rich and robust one. This book has been justifiably been compared to the writings of St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis.
December 2014
Something Other Than God
by Jennifer Fulwiler
Fulwiler begins her story telling of the time when she was a young girl at a Christian youth camp and how she was pressured to accept Jesus as her savior and how she resisted. The journey she takes from this moment to embracing Catholicism is a rich and robust one. This book has been justifiably been compared to the writings of St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis.