Beat the heat with two great reads

Reprinted from auburnpub.com:

Summer is in full swing and this month’s Book Report has two books to beat the heat.

We last heard from Jane L. Rosen with her wonderful novel On Fire Island, which made my list of the Most Compelling Books of 2023. In it, we met young widower Ben grieving the tragic loss of his wife. His older neighbor Shep, a widower himself, helps Ben navigate his new life, and Ben in turn takes a teen neighbor under his wing. (She is one of my all-time favorite characters.)

Rosen returns to the same Fire Island community with Seven Summer Weekends. Addison is poised to become the first female head of the art department at a prestigious Manhattan advertising agency when she accidentally sends a message to everyone in a Zoom that ends her career. 

When an aunt that Addison hasn’t seen in years passes away, she leaves Addison her Fire Island home. Addison goes to Fire Island to regroup, and plans to sell the house to tide her over until she can find a new job.

There’s one catch though- the guest house on the property is booked throughout the summer so Addison can’t sell the home until the fall. And the hot neighbor guy tells Addison that her aunt promised him that he could buy the house for a very reasonable price.

It turns out the neighbor is Ben, the young widower from On Fire Island. Ben and Addison have a push-pull relationship- one moment Addison is very attracted to him, the next he does something that makes her rethink her friendship with him.

Addison discovers that each of the weekly guests have a connection to her aunt, and through them she learns more about the aunt she never knew due to a family feud between her parents and her aunt. As the summer goes on, Addison becomes more involved in the Fire Island community and questions her future- should she stay or sell?

I loved Seven Summer Weekends just as much as On Fire Island, and that is a lot. The characters are interesting (Shep makes an appearance!), and Rosen’s writing is filled humor, heart, and even some steamy heat. I'd like to take the ferry to Fire Island and hang out with Addison, Ben, and the gang. I give it my highest recommendation. 

Francis S. Barry decided to buy a Winnebago during the pandemic and take off with his wife Laurel to follow the Lincoln Highway from New York City to San Francisco. He recounts their adventures in Back Roads and Better Angels- A Journey Into The Heart Of American Democracy. 

Barry, a writer for Bloomberg News, previously served in Michael Bloomberg’s administration as chief speechwriter when Bloomberg was mayor of New York City.  Dismayed by the rancor and political division he sees today in this country, he wanted to discover what people really thought about what was happening.

The fact that neither Barry nor his wife had ever driven a Winnebago didn’t damper their enthusiasm, and they had their fair share of mishaps (including a toilet pedal that continuously malfunctioned).

As they travel the country, they camp in KOAs and Walmart parking lots and meet up with people they know and those they don’t know. They stop at historic sites and find more places named Lincoln than you might think could possibly exist.

One learns a great deal about history that you’d never find in history books, particularly with regards to Native American people. Some of it is incredibly disturbing, and made me gasp at the callous inhumanity people inflicted on each other.

Barry ties the Lincoln Highway sites, as well as the state of the country today, to events and words spoken by Abraham Lincoln himself. He clearly studied our 16th President and gives him his due, showing Lincoln as the politician, man, and leader he truly was.

The one question Barry asks each person he meets is “What binds us together as Americans?”. The answers given are often profound, thought-provoking, and shine a light on where we are today as well as where we'd like to be.

Barry meets a politician in Nebraska who explains how the state legislature has the reputation as “one of the most civil and cooperative in the nation” because political parties are less relevant there. People work together in common cause to make government work better for all. Perhaps that is the most important export Nebraska has to share with the rest of the country.

Anyone who likes to read road trip stories and has an interest in history and Abraham Lincoln will get great pleasure and learn much from Back Roads and Better Angels. It is essential reading for all citizens, I give it my highest recommendation.

Seven Summer Weekends by Jane L. Rosen- A+

Published by Berkley

Trade paperback, $19, 302 pages

Back Roads and Better Angels by Francis S. Barry- A+

Published by SteerForth Press

Hardcover, $35, 552 pages

The Love You Save by Goldie Taylor

The Love You Save by Goldie Taylor

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN9781335449375

Hardcover, $28.99, 298 pages

Goldie Taylor's coming-of-age compelling memoir The Love You Save shares Goldie's story growing up in a tough East St. Louis neighborhood in the 1970s. After Goldie's father was murdered and her brother beaten and robbed, her grieving mother took Goldie and her two older siblings from their home near family in a mostly Black East St. Louis community to a mostly white St. Ann.

Her mom worked long hours at a hotel, and Goldie and her siblings were left alone for long periods of time. When she was eleven years old, Goldie was raped by a neighborhood boy and found little comfort from her mother.

She was sent to live with her Auntie Gerald and Uncle Ross back in East St. Louis. Gerald and Ross' home was filled with all kinds of relatives, many of them younger. The younger children had to scrounge for space to sleep on the floor and food to eat before it was all gone.

Auntie Gerald was a deeply religious woman who kept a clean household, but she had a temper that she frequently took out on Goldie. Ross was kind to all the children, he gave them the love many of them didn't get from their own parents. They did their best to keep everyone on a good path in trying circumstances.

Goldie's saving grace became the gifted classes she was put into at her middle school. The school was falling apart and at times violent, but a few of her teachers took Goldie under their wing and believed that she had a special talent, especially in the area of speech, for which she won many awards.

While the rest of her life was chaotic and sometimes dangerous, Goldie shined in her classes. She taught herself math from her older sister's books, and her refuge was the many books she borrowed (and appropriated) from the library, Jane Austen a favorite.

Eventually Goldie became entranced by James Baldwin. His writings spoke deeply to her, and she hungered to learn about him and others like Toni Morrison and Martin Luther King Jr. 

Taylor's writing is striking and she pulls the reader in from page one with her vivid portraits of Auntie Gerald and Uncle Ross. She makes the city of East St. Louis come alive on the page, and shares its history of how Blacks moved there from the deep South for work in factories and the white flight that followed that. The scourge of crack cocaine in the 1980s left many families and neighborhoods broken.

 Goldie Taylor shows us the resiliency of the human spirit, and how education can be a lifeline for those who reach for it. Readers of such books as Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House, Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped and Tara Westover's Educated should put The Love You Save at the top of the TBR list. I read it in one sitting and found it incredibly moving. It makes a great book for Black History Month.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Goldie Taylor's tour. 

The Desperate Hours by Marie Brenner

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

The Dog Days of Summer are upon us and if you are looking for something a little under-the-radar to read, here is one that is destined to be on my Most Compelling Books of 2022.


Marie Brenner is an award-winning writer for Vanity Fair magazine, and she tackles the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in her brilliant book, The Desperate Hours- One Hospital’s Fight To Save A City On The Pandemic’s Front Lines. 

Brenner received unprecedented access to doctors, nurses, researchers, administrators, and even some patients at the New York-Presbyterian hospital system in New York City as they are faced with the worse pandemic to hit this country in one hundred years.


New York City was the epicenter of the beginning of the pandemic in the United States in early 2020. Elmhurst Hospital in Queens was the hardest hit in early 2020, seeing hundreds of people come through their ER with COVID-19.


No one knew exactly how to treat COVID-19, what treatments would work, and people were dying all around them. As the pandemic spread to the other hospitals in New York, including New York-Presbyterian on the Upper East Side, doctors, nurses, and administrators worked together to completely revamp their hospital practically overnight.


The logistics of converting operating rooms (that were now going unused) into ICU rooms were daunting. There weren’t enough ventilators for the patients who needed them, and the ones supplied by the federal and state governments were missing crucial parts or arrived by the truckload completely broken in pieces.


The limited supply of ventilators brought in questions of medical ethics. Who makes the decision as to who gets the ventilators, what is the criteria? Brenner takes us right into those difficult discussions.


Hospitals were only dealing with COVID patients, one doctor brought up the fact that they hadn’t seen a cardiac patient in weeks. Where did all those people go? There was no testing for the longest time, so they didn’t know for sure who had COVID, and the vaccine was many months away.


So many people stepped up in this crisis- nurses who didn’t know if they could bring this deadly disease home to their young children, doctors who sent their families away to safety while they worked insane hours. Staff accountants were called upon to transport patients. Maintenance staff had to clean the rooms of COVID patients, exposing themselves to the deadly virus multiple times a day.


Surgical residents came up the idea of a surgical SWAT team who “loaded with backpacks of equipment, (they) would roam through the pop-up ICUs and rooms.” The SWAT team ended up doing bedside procedures for four hundred patients in one month.


One thing that struck me about this gripping book is how many smart and capable people work in the medical field. New York City attracts so many brilliant people from all over the world, and they are dedicated to their profession.


Brenner seamless weaves the individual stories of these brave and resourceful people into a cohesive true tale. The nurse who was one of the first medical staff to get COVID and her friends who valiantly worked to keep her alive, the woman who became the first asymptomatic COVID-positive mom in labor, the anesthesiologist whose encyclopedic knowledge and collection of antique ventilators was invaluable, all of their stories are unforgettable.


Finding needed supplies was a big problem, especially the KN95 masks, gloves, and surgical gowns needed to protect nurses and doctors. There were plenty of people ready and willing to steal and scam hospitals and nursing homes with promises of phantom supplies that never showed up.


The topic of inequities in the healthcare system is also addressed. Elmhurst Hospital in Queens was overrun with COVID patients, and yet they did not have the same resources as the better-funded Manhattan hospitals like New York-Presbyterian. Millionaires did not sit on their board of directors. Going forward, this is a national problem that must be tackled.


The Desperate Hours is a riveting story, so incredibly well told. It reminds me of Sheri Fink’s award-winning book, Five Days At Memorial the true story of a hospital in New Orleans ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and cut off from the outside world. Marie Brenner has written a book that will define this pandemic time. I give it my highest recommendation.


Desperate Hours by Marie Brenner- A+

Published by Flatiron Books

Hardcover, $29.99, 482 pages

Trailed by Kathryn Miles

Trailed by Kathyrn Miles

Published by Algonquin Books ISBN 9781616209094

Hardcover, $27.95, 320 pages

Kathryn Miles is an outdoor expert and she combines that with her award-winning journalistic style to investigate the brutal double murders of two women in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park in Trailed- One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders.

Miles began a teaching job at Unity College in Maine in 2001. A small college in central Maine that focused on environmental studies, it had only 500 students and 30 faculty. Lollie Winans was a student at Unity in the 1990s. Lollie was "confident, egoless, gregarious, and fiercely protective". She came from a wealthy Michigan family, and was a sexual abuse survivor at the hands of her mother's new husband.

Julie Williams was from a conservative religious family "a world traveler, quiet, self-assured and big hearted". Julie and Lollie fell in love and overcame struggles to be together. Lollie and Julie led outdoor excursions for other women, sharing their love of the outdoors with others.

In May of 1996, the two women set out to hike and camp in Shenandoah National Park. Their bodies were found at the end of May at their remote campsite when their dog was found wandering alone. The murders shocked the National Park goers and staff, and the investigators on the case were determined to find the culprit.

There were many problems with the investigation. The murder site was an outdoor campsite, and it had rained before the bodies were discovered. Budget cuts at the National Parks meant that resources, including investigators, were spread thin. FBI agents called in clashed with the park police as how to process the crime site.

The nature and location of the heinous crime made capturing the killer a priority. People want to feel safe in national parks, and this could frighten people away. Investigators narrowed in on a suspect, and in 2002 Darrell Rice was arrested.

Rice had been previously arrested for harrassing a female cyclist, and he was at Shenandoah in May. US Attorney General John Ashcroft held a press conference and announced that Darrell Rice would be charged with a newly established hate crime statue for the murders of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans. 

The case against Rice fell apart, and in 2004 it was dismissed. In 2016, twenty years after the murders, the FBI issued a press release asking for any information that may lead to the successful prosecution of the case, implying that they already had a suspect.

It was at this point that Kathryn Miles became involved. She was a writer at Outside magazine at the time, and she pitched her editor on the idea of writing a long form investigative piece on the murders. She would write of the lives of Lollie and Julie and the FBI's renewed interest in the case.

The murders consumed Miles. She became friendly with the park police investigators, and spent months, years even, going over every detail and possible suspect. She learned all about forensic science, getting to know Ann Burgess who worked on the launch of the FBI's Behavorial Science Unit (if you watched Mindhunter on TV, you saw a fictionalized version of her).

Miles comes to the conclusion that Darrell Rice did not kill the two women, and she zeroes in on another likely suspect. 

Fans of true crime TV shows, and books like Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone In The Dark will want to read Trailed, but it appeals to more readers than that. Kathryn Miles gives the readers a look at flaws in the criminal justice system, not always intentional. We get to know police investigators, FBI agents, Darrell Rice, friends of Julie and Lollie, and especially Julie and Lollie. Miles honors the memory of Julie and Lollie by letting us get to know them as real people whose lives were tragically cut short. 

I am not a reader of True Crime, and yet I could not put Trailed down. 

Thanks to Algonquin Books for putting me on Kathryn Miles tour.

Healing- When A Nurse Becomes A Patient by Theresa Brown, RN

Healing- When A Nurse Becomes A Patient by Theresa Brown, RN

Published by Algonquin Books ISBN 9781643750699

Hardcover, $27.95, 272 pages

Theresa Brown, an RN who worked in oncology and hospice, is at a followup scan to her mammogram when a mass is found in her breast. She takes us through her journey as nurse and patient in her moving memoir Healing-When A Nurse Becomes A Patient.

Brown describes in intimate detail being told by the radiologist that she sees "an ugly mass". She writes of calling her college aged twin daughters to pick her up and telling her family what is happening, and it puts every woman in her place. We all have that fear in the pit of our stomach when we go for that mammogram.

Brown also shares her story working as a nurse, what she learned there, and the nurses (good and bad) with whom she worked. As the mother of baby twins and a toddler, Brown felt she knew that speed was most important in her work as a nurse. Her preceptor taught her that it was more important to take time with the patient to truly discover what was going on.

Brown's journey as a cancer patient through the medical system in this country was eye-opening for her. As a nurse who worked in a hospital setting one would think she would know how to get the best care, but she had to transverse many mazes to get the treatment she needed.

Like everyone else, she turned to Google for answers to her questions, but that led to what she called "rabbit holes".  She learned to trust the "safe sites- American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the CDC". She found that some breast cancer blogs and websites sponsored by pharmaceutical companies were untrustworthy.

She shared her experiences choosing a surgeon, having to wait too long for results, and arriving at the outpatient surgical center only to be told brusquely that "she wasn't on the list".  After her surgery, she had to undergo four weeks of radiation threatments, and she takes us along with her.

Theresa Brown has a PhD in English, and her writing is crisp, detailed and informative. She doesn't waste a word in this important and personal memoir. One of Brown's biggest takeaways from this experience is that for-profit health care doesn't work for patients. When the biggest motivator is a profit for health care companies and their shareholders, patient care suffers. 

Her other big takeaway is that "treatment can be imbued with kindness and compassion so that caring for ohers feels like the act of grace that it is." The care that people get should not depend on where they live, their skin color or the amount of money they have. Health care is a basic human right.

Healing is an important book, as most of us will face health care crises either as a patient or as the loved one of a patient. I highly recommend it. Brown is also the author of The Shift, about her work as a nurse.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for putting me on Theresa Brown's book tour.

Penis Politics by Karen Hinton

Penis Politics by Karen Hinton

Published bysartoris Literary Group ISBN 9781736211694

Hardcover, $29.95, 252 pages

Karen Hinton's career in politics began in her small Mississippi town of Soso (population 408) as she recounts in her memoir Penis Politics. She grew up a child of the 70s, with a core group of three best girlfriends (called The Coterie).

 When she was 14 years old, her father, a successful commercial contractor with a 8th grade education died, and that devastated her. When she was 16, one of her best friends was raped by their basketball coach, and swore her friends to secrecy. Those two events shaped her life.

One thing I find interesting is how Title IX, the federal law that banned sex discrimination in sports for schools who received federal funding, was a game-changer for so many young women. If schools offered sports for boys teams, there had to be an equal number of sports teams for girls. Many women who went on to do great things did so because they had sports in their lives, Karen included.

Karen went on to college at Ole Miss, which at that time was filled with mostly rich white kids. Karen came from a small, poor community and had a tough time fitting in. The movie All The President's Men inspired her to join the student newspaper where her tenacity and willingness to question authority led her to a bright future.

At the University of Mississippi, Karen met many literary luminaries. Willie Morris was a professor she bcame close to, and he brought in visiting writers like Winston Groom (Forrest Gump), George Plimpton, and William Styron to speak with students. Hinton has a particularly interesting interaction with a very drunk William Styron.

Following college, Hinton got a job at the Jackson Daily News where she climbed the ladder, looking for any interesting story she could sink her teeth into. I found this section of the book the most fascinating. Hinton's doggedness and search for justice intrigued me. It did not, however, intrigue her editors, one of whom killed an important story about the police chief who shot a Black man in the back at a campus protest years earlier. 

Whenever anyone used the word "can't" with Karen- "you can't write that story, you can't run and gun in the game", it only reinforced her determination to prove them wrong.

Hinton became involved in politics as Press Secretary to Mike Espy, the first Black man since Reconstruction to get elected to Congress from Mississippi. From there, she made connections and got to know people like Ron Brown and Mike McCurry. Eventually she ended up as Press Secretary to Andrew Cuomo when he was Secretary of HUD in the Clinton administration.

Her description of Cuomo's demeanor and actions do not differ much from what we have recently learned about him. He fits her definition of "penis politics"- "a man in a position of authority using gender to control and dominate".  

Hinton goes on to work (briefly) as Press Secretary for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who frequently sparred with then Governor Andrew Cuomo. Hinton was caught in the middle, and often blamed by De Blasio for his own missteps. 

"In politics there's a toxic brew of ego, entitlement, power, testosterone and a "bro culture" that is especially difficult for women to navigate", according to Hinton. Her timely book about her experiences in that arena shines a light on that pervasive culture.

My only real criticism is that I felt she spent too much time in the book on her youth and high school life, and she uses explicit sexual graphic language that some may find offensive. I would recommend the book for anyone who likes a memoir about a woman who defied expectations in a tough business. Her story will inspire other young women.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Karen Hinton's tour.

The 21st Century- Photographs From the Image Collection from National Geographic

The 21st Century- Photographs from the Image Collection of National Geographic

Published by National Geographic ISBN 9781426222375

Hardcover, $50, 430 pages

Each year around this time, National Geographic publishes a few coffee table books that would make wonderful holiday gifts. This year, add The 21st Century- Photographs From The Image Collection  to that list.

With over 11.5 million photos in their photographic archives and more than 50 million photos on their digital servers, National Geographic explores our "shared history through photography" and in this brilliant book they explore the first 21 years of the 21st century. 

Photographer Brent Stirton believes that photography is "bearing witness to the truth". In this book, we bear witness to history, nature, animals and the people of the 21st century through stunning photos. Interspersed throughout the book are pages titled Through the Lens where photographers explain how and why they got the shot.

We see incredible photos of a "glass frog" that looks like it is transparent, a huge polar bear peering through the door of cabin, and orphan elephants playing together. A photo of a mass mosaic created by Korean children is amazing, as is one of the Artic National Park in Alaska. 

There is an incredible overhead shot of 1902 canoes and kayaks trying to break a record for the most boats together. Kindergarteners nestled in their blankets for naptime, and an overhead photo of newborn babies in an Orlando hospital will melt your heart.

Astronaut Scott Kelly's spacewalk shot is brilliant, and a photo of surgeons standing over a face prepared to be transplanted will take your breath away. The photos of the abandoned and destroyed Chernobyl control room 20 years later and three first responders looking up at the scene in New York on 9/11 take you right back to those historic incidents, as does the one of Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman holding off the mob that tried to take over the Capitol building on January 6th.

If you know someone who appreciates photography, or who used to have a subscription to National Geographic magazine, The 21st Century is a book they will treasure for years to come. It will give them hours of enjoyment, and it's something to share with the entire family.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on this tour. The rest of the stops are here:

Tour schedule:

Tuesday, November 2nd: she treads softly
Wednesday, November 3rd: A Bookish Way of Life
Thursday, November 4th: Instagram: @the_booksandwich
Friday, November 5th: Instagram: @nurse_bookie
Monday, November 8th: Laura’s Reviews
Tuesday, November 9th: Instagram: @geronimoreads
Wednesday, November 10th: 5 Minutes For Books
Monday, November 15th: bookchickdi
Tuesday, November 16th: Instagram: @extrovertedforbooks
Wednesday, November 17th: Instagram: @tarheelreader

 

Complete Birds of North America from National Geographic

Complete Birds of North America Edited by Jonathan Alderfer and Jon L. Dunn

Published by National Geographic ISBN 9781426221880

Hardcover, $45, 752 pages

National Geographic calls Complete Birds of North America ''an ideal companion" to their Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Edited by two leading experts on North American birds, this book is not a field guide, rather it is more of an encyclopedia. 

This is a book for serious birders, filled with detailed scientific descriptions and classifications including Plumage, Behavior, Distribution (including maps), Taxonomy, Similiar Species and Conservation. The full-color illustrations of the birds, both at rest and in flight, are simply stunning. You'll see some incredible photos as well, and the one of the vulture is a little scary. (I have no desire to see that bird up close and in person, thank you.) The introduction to this comprehensive book explains all the terms inside and the manner of organization of the book. 

Over 1000 species of birds are described in complete detail. You'll discover there are 33 variations of sparrows and 11 different wrens. I've spent much time in Southern Florida where pelicans are in abundance, and I found it fascinating to learn that they can spend up to 21 hours a day resting, and that they are gregarious birds. You can often them in groups of hundreds and even thousands. 

If you have an orinthologist on your holiday gift list, buy them this book which will give them many hours of not only serious information but entertainment as well. It will look beautiful on the bookshelf as well.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on the tour.

The Agitators by Dorothy Wickenden

Reprinted from the Citizen:

As someone who lived in Auburn most of my life, I was aware of how historic the city is but author Dorothy Wickenden brings the Civil War years in Auburn front and center in her new book, The Agitators that I learned so much more.

“The Agitators- Three Friends Who Fought For Abolition and Women’s Rights” highlights the lives of Frances Seward, Harriet Tubman, and Martha Wright, and how they often defied society’s conventions about women to work for the causes they believed in.

Frances Seward, wife to William Henry Seward, a United States Senator, New York State Governor, and Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, wanted to become more involved in the cause of abolition of slavery.

Seward’s home was a stop on the Underground Railroad, hiding slaves who had escaped from their bondage in the southern states. She also helped found schools for Black children, and sold land to free Blacks.

Martha Wright and Frances became friends because their husbands were both lawyers, and the wives were both considered “outliers”. They grew up as Quakers, had young children, “a passion for reading and an antipathy to pretentiousness, and a burgeoning interest in social reform”.

They met Harriet Tubman after she escaped from slavery and was taking other people on their way to freedom in Canada. Harriet had little money, and Frances sold her land at a reduced cost to build a house, where Harriet eventually brought her parents to live, a place that is now a National Park Historical site on South Street. 

Martha helped organize the first women’s rights meeting in 1848 in Seneca Falls. Wright became active in the suffragette movement along with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. “She rarely encountered an institution she didn’t question, and although convention dictated most of the circumstances of her life, she liked breaking rules.”

While Frances had a fairly large household staff, Martha, mother to six children, did not. Martha did the housework, cooked meals, cared for the children, sewed their clothes, made soap, and canned fruit.

Because Frances’ husband was a prominent political figure, she couldn’t break as many rules as Martha could. Frances felt very strongly that slavery should be abolished everywhere and quickly, but her husband had to be more politic. If he wanted to make changes, he had to compromise. It put a great strain on the marriage.

Frances and Martha each had sons who fought on the front lines of the Civil War. While they were proud of their sons for fighting the evil of slavery, as mothers they worried about their safety and health as many people who died during the war perished due to illnesses like tuberculosis and dysentery.

For Civil War buffs, there is plenty to keep their interest as battles and strategies are related in riveting detail. Wickenden studied under prominent Abraham Lincoln biographer David Herbert Donald, and readers interested in the 16th President will find much to satisfy them here.

Many of us know Harriet Tubman served as spy and nurse for the Union Army, and Wickenden shines a new, more detailed light on her service here. It is shameful that Harriet Tubman, who served her country so bravely, had to fight so hard to get the pay that was due to her.

We learn about the struggles within the Women’s Right movement. During the Civil War, many of the suffragettes turned their attentions to the abolition of slavery, while some of the women felt that if they stopped fighting for women’s suffrage, the movement would lose valuable momentum. It caused a rift between the two closely aligned causes, as they had to decide if they could fight for the right to vote for women and Black men at the same time, or if preference should be given to suffrage for Black men first.

The Agitators is a must-read book for people who enjoy learning about Civil War-era history, the history of the women’s movement, and especially the history of the city of Auburn through these three remarkable women. A tour of the Seward House, Harriet Tubman’s home, Fort Hill Cemetery, the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, and other local historic sites will be on your list of things to do. Dorothy Wickenden brings our small historic city to vivid life here in her fascinating book.

The Agitators by Dorothy Wickenden- A+

Published by Scribner

Hardcover, $30, 384 pages

1000 Perfect Weekends from National Geographic

1000 Perfect Weekends from National Geographic

Published by Hachette ISBN 9781426221453

Hardcover, $40, 703 pages

The good thing about National Geographic's 1000 Perfect Weekends- Great Getaways Around the Globe is that you don't have to be a world traveler to enjoy this gem of a book.

It would take 19 years of weekends to visit every place highlighted in the book, an eye-opening fun fact. The book has nineteen chapters, dividing up the weekends for people who enjoy different types of mini-vacations. 

There are the old standards- Beach Escapes, Mountain Retreats and National Parks among them- as well as unique ideas, like Small-Town Charmers, Enabled Adventures, and Pet-Friendly Vacations for those who like to include Fido in the family fun.

Each chapter has a Top Ten List, and  there are many surprises there. Who would expect to find a beach in Oregon (Cannon Beach) as one of only two United States beaches on the list?  The United States is well represented in Top Ten Golf Courses, but would anyone have thought to find that a course in Idaho (Coeur D'Alene Resort) would be there?

Some other interesting Top Ten Lists are the Best Flea Markets and Must-Stop Antiquing Spots for the shoppers, and Movie Locations and TV Locations for screen fans. (You can visit The Shining Hotel.) History buffs will enjoy the Battlefields, Religious Pilgrimages, and Historical Monuments Lists. It's fun to review the lists and say, "What about this?". (I did think there were a few too many New York City spots on the lists; they must have a good marketing department.)

You could make an itinerary that consists solely of UNESCO sites, like Valparaiso in Chile, Chan Chan in Peru, the Tomb of Kings in Cyprus, and Banff National Park in Canada. And who knew that Norway has an abundance of world-class chefs, or that there is a huge ex-pat enclave of US World War II veterans in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico?

It's enjoyable to peruse the book and find all the places you have been, or make a list of where you want to go when travel picks up again. I did get a thrill seeing my hometown area of the Finger Lakes region in New York State get an entire full-page write-up, as well as the Sarasota, Florida area where I spend a lot of time.

You will find hours of enjoyment in 1000 Perfect Weekends, looking at the beautiful photos and reading all about the amazing places on this planet. It would also make a wonderful holiday gift for the travelers (armchair travelers included) on your list. Just remember to order early this year.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on this tour. 

The Prison Guard's Daughter by Deanne Quinn Miller

Repritned from the Citizen:

September 13th, 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison riot which left 29 inmates and 10 prison guard hostages dead. It was the worse prison riot in US history. Deanne Quinn Miller was just five years old when her father William Quinn was the only corrections officer who was killed by an inmate during the riot. She recounts the search for the truth of what happened to her father, and her fight for justice for the hostages who lived and the widows of the hostages who were killed, when state troopers and corrections officers violently retook the prison in her riveting book, The Prison Guard's Daughter.

Deanne's young mother had two young daughters and another on the way when her husband was held hostage with dozens of other corrections officers as over 1200 inmates at the Attica maximum security prison overtook the guards on September 9th and held 42 guards hostage in the prison yard. On September 9th, Billy Quinn's badly beaten body was brought to the gate, and he was taken to a hospital where where he perished from his injuries on September 11, 1971.

After four days of negotiating with the inmates over their list of demands, many of which were for just and humane treatment, negotiations ended and the inmates were ordered to surrender. Inmates lined up hostages on a catwalks and held knives to the throats of guards. On September 13th, helicopters dropped tear gas into the yard and state troopers and other law enforcement officers charged the yard with guns shooting. The 39 people killed, including 10 guards, were killed by bullets from those guns, although initial reports erroneously stated inmates killed the guards.

After years traumatized by her father's death which caused her physical and emotional ailments, Miller joined the FVOA- Forgotten Victims of Attica. Miller (reluctantly at first) became more involved in the organization, who aimed to get New York State to provide monetary compensation, similar to the $12 million provided to the inmates who were severely beaten and tortured by law enforcement following the disastrous and violent overtaking of the prison.

Widows of the officers killed were tricked into accepting a small worker’s compensation check, without knowing that cashing it meant they could not sue New York State its role in their husbands’ deaths. Only one widow refused to cash the check, and she successfully sued New York State and received a $1 million settlement.

The FVOA spent more than thirty years working with lawyers, reporters, accountants and state legislators trying to get an equitable settlement for the widows and officers before the now elderly widows and guards died. 

Miller became a spokesperson for FVOA, and in that position she became known to legislators and reporters, including Gary Craig from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, who cowrote the book with Miller. Through this position, Miller became good friends with Richard X. Clark, the leader of the Muslim inmates, and Frank “Big Black” Smith, a former Attica inmate who worked to get the inmates their settlement. She wanted justice not just for the officers but also for the inmates. She wanted the truth to come out.

In addition to the monetary settlement, Miller wanted to know the truth about how her father died. Two inmates were convicted in his death, but they didn’t spend much time in prison for their roles when their sentences were commuted by the governor. She had to face one of them at a public hearing, in front of a large audience, an awful situation.

The FVOA had a Five Point Plan for Justice, asking for the state to provide restitution, offer counseling to those who wanted it, open any Attica records closed to the public, ensure an annual FVOA memorial ceremony on prison grounds, and apologize.

Fifty years after the riot, they are still waiting for an apology. The victims received a $12 million settlement. The state wanted the victims to pay for counseling out of their settlement. 

The Prison Guard’s Daughter is an important book, not only for its historical context (many people under the age of 50 don’t know about Attica), but for the emotional journey that Deanne Quinn Miller shares with readers. Her strength and perseverance is inspiring.

The Prison Guard’s Daughter by Deanne Quinn Miller- A

Published by Diversion Books

Trade paperback, $17.99, 268 pages

Ultimate Journeys For Two by Mike & Ann Howard

Ultimate Journeys For Two by Mike & Ann Howard

Published by National Geographic ISBN 9781426218392

Paperback, $26.99, 270 pages

If you know a couple who love to travel to exciting places and do extraordinary things, the new National Geographic book, Ultimate Journeys for Two is a perfect gift. Mike and Ann Howard, along with other travel-adventurous couples, take us along as they travel the world. 

The book is divided into chapters like Mountains, Lakes, Rivers & Falls, On Safari, and seven others. Each location has two pages devoted to it, with tips on the best time of year to visit, places to stay (both inexpensive and luxurious), ideas for romantic rendevous, and "honeytek tips". There are gorgeous photos and ideas for Couples Adventures for each location.

Besides Mike and Ann, who have traveled the world and share their ventures on their blog, HoneyTrek- The World's Longest Honeymoon, other couples share some of their favorite trips and advice. (Most of them also have blogs too.) The advice they share is interesting, and many have recurring items: dividing up responsibilities, communicating clearly, and taking time away for each other came up frequently. When traveling for long periods of time with just one other person, it's important to do that.

Many of them were able to travel by housesitting, an idea I found intriguing. There are communities out there where people look for housesitters, and doing this enables people to see other parts of the world inexpensively.

The couples also enjoyed getting to know people from other parts of the world. Mike and Ann love sports, so they would try to get involved in a volleyball game they ran across. Instead of using public transportation, they would catch a ride with a local who would often show them more interesting sights and invite to dine with the local's family.

I loved learning fun facts from their travels:

• You can cruise the canals in the Mekong Delta in your own floating hotel with a captain, chef, maid, barman and bikes and a rowboat for excursions
• Giant tortoises in the Galápagos nap for 16 hours a day
• The mating rituals of ostriches (the males dance for females' attention)
• There is a resort in Vietnam that is known as "Little Moscow" because Russians can visit visa-free via cheap flights
• You can enjoy a spa session in a rain forest waterfall in Daintree, Australia

If you're not ready to travel just yet, you can still enjoy reading all about the beautiful, exotic places across this planet. And if you are planning on trying out for Jeopardy!, this book is an excellent resource for all the geography questions.  The Howards and company take us to places I have never heard of, and what a journey it is.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Mike and Ann Howard's tour. 

There Will Be Lobster by Sara Arnell

There Will be Lobster by Sara Arnell

Published by Savio Republic ISBN 9781642939262

Hardcover, $27, 164 pages

Sara Arnell's titled her memoir of a midlife crisis There Will Be Lobster after an incident on New Year's Day in 2015 when she awoke on the bathroom floor covered in her own vomit after an evening of drinking way too much.

She had a black eye, cuts on her face, and her cheek burned from passing out on the radiant-heated tiles in the bathroom. She had to pull herself together to cook brunch for her adult children and some of their friends. As she entered the living room, a lobster that was supposed to be sitting in a pot ready to be boiled crawled out from under the couch.

Sara was having a bad day after a bad few years. She shares stories about the 18 pound tumor her daughter had surgically removed, (a tumor that no one knew the young woman had), her paralyzing fear of being an empty nester, and losing her job as the CEO of a once prominent advertising agency when the agency lost nearly all of its clients. She was losing her identity.

When she lost her job, Sara spent her days in bed watching Bravo TV's Housewives reality shows, not showering for days, wearing her son's sweatpants. She drank way too much, including one infamous Thanksgiving at her son's apartment with his friends where she impressed (mortified?) the young men with her ability to play drinking games with them.

Sara felt "old, ugly and useless", like it was the end of the world. She couldn't shake herself out of this funk. She didn't have friends she could call to get a cup of coffee, calling herself "an accidental socializer", incapable of making plans with anyone, only speaking to people she ran into accidentally. 

I discovered that Sara grew up in the small town of Saugerties, where my husband's family is from, and that added an extra layer of interest for me. There Will Be Lobster is a quick read, with most chapters just a few pages and only 164 pages in total, but Sara packs a punch in this slim memoir. The main point to her story is that if she can pull herself out of a really bad time, maybe you can too.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Sara Arnell's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Review Stops

Tuesday, July 27th: Run Wright

Thursday, July 29th: Instagram: @readinggirlreviews

Friday, July 30th: Instagram: @pnwbookworm

Monday, August 2nd: Instagram: @gracereads82

Tuesday, August 3rd: Instagram: @neverthless_she_reads

Wednesday, August 4th: Instagram: @bluntscissorsbookreviews

Thursday, August 5th: Instagram: @babygotbooks4life

Friday, August 6th: Instagram: @booksaremagictoo

Monday, August 9th: Welcome to Nurse Bookie

Tuesday, August 10th: Instagram: @books_and_broadway_

Wednesday, August 11th: Bibliotica

Thursday, August 12th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Friday, August 13th: A Bookish Way of Life

Monday, August 16th: Jathan & Heather

Tuesday, August 17th: The Bookish Dilettante

Wednesday, August 18th: bookchickdi

Thursday, August 19th: Instagram: @mrsboomreads