Book: Black Coal and Red Bandanas - West Virginia Mine Wars

 Book: Black Coal and Red Bandanas - West Virginia Mine Wars

Author: Raymond Tyler

Pages: 136

This is my 201st read for the year

Amazon says:

Our illustrated history begins with Mary Harris "Mother" Jone's arrival at the turn of the century.  White-haired, matronly, and fiercely socialist, Jones became known as the "miners' angel", and helped turn the fledglind United Mine Workers into the nation's most powerful labor union.  In 1912, miners led by stubborn Frank Keeney struck against harsh conditions in the work camps of Paint and Cabin Creeks.  Coal operators responded by elisting violent Baldwin-Felts guards.  The ensuing battles and murderous events caused the governor to declare and execute martial law on a scale unprecedented in the US.  On May 19, 1920 in response to evictions by coal company agents, the "Matewan Massacre" event occured.  This graphic interpretation of people's history features unforgettable main characters while also displaying the diverse rank nd file workers who stood in solidarity during this struggle.

This was a good graphic novel.  It is short, but it covers a lot of material and does it well.  I did not know anything about this story, and learned a lot about the unions that were formed for mine workers and the cost.  My husband got it for me as a present knowing I am a fan of non-fiction and graphic novels, and it was a good one.

Stars: 4

Book: Small Pleasures

 Book: Small Pleasures

Author: Clare Chambers

Pages: 368

This is my 200th read for the year

This is the story of Jean.  She is a single woman who works for a newspaper and cares for her ailing mother.  One day a story comes across her desk where a woman claims she had a virgin birth.  Jean asks if she can follow up on the story and meets Gretchen who has a 10 year old daughter.  She was never with a man, but became pregnant while convalescing from rheumatoid arthritis in a convent.  Gretchen is now married to a man named Howard who has accepted Margaret - her daughter - as his own.  Jean starts to spend time with the whole family and quickly becomes intertwined in their daily lives as the story unfolds.  

This book was just okay.  I found a lot of the story "convenient" as it went along to pull Jean and Howard together.  It just went off the rails just to further their story together and I found it dumb.  I could see it coming and it was more than half of the story which was a shame.  And don't get me started on the ending - just awful.  

Stars: 2

Book: The Sign of the Four

 Book: The Sign of the Four

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Pages: 162

This is my 199th read for the year

From Amazon:

When Mary Morstan presents Sherlock Holmes with the mystery of a missing father and a cryptic message sent from an anonymous benefactor, the great detective is propelled into a complex case of treasure, intrigue, and betrayal.  Alonside his trusted friend Dr. John Watson, Holmes embarks on a thrilling chase that takes them from the fog-shrouded streets of London to the bustling docks of the River Thames.  As the mystery deepens, the danger intensifies, leading to a confrontation that will test not only Holmes's brilliance but the very bonds of friendship and trust between the detective and his devoted chronicler.  This second novel in the Sherlock Holmes series is a masterpiece of mystery and adventure that stirs the mind and quickens the pulse.

This was a pretty good book.  I have not read that many Sherlock Holmes books, and I should.  I enjoy them and they are well written.  My favorite part is that he borrowed a dog to help him with the case saying that the dog could out play the police any day.  The story moves along nicely even in this very short book, and it wraps up well.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Balloons Over Broadway

 Book: Balloons Over Broadway

Author: Melissa Sweet

Pages: 40

This is my 198th read for the year

Amazon:

Meet the master puppeteer who invented the first balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Melissa Sweet brings to life the inspirational story of the puppeteer who invened the giant balloons floating in the sky during the annual parade celebrating Thanksgving.  

This book was really cute.  I read it for a reading challenge, and I actually learned a lot about how the balloons of the parade came to be in this short book.  It is always fun to learn something knew - even through a children's book.

Stars: 4

Book: When God Became White

 Book: When God Became White

Author: Grace Ji-Sun Kim

Pages: 200

This is my 197th read for the year

Amazon says:

Christianity is rooted in the ancient Near East among people of darker skin.  But over time, European Christians cast Jesus in their own image, with art that imagined a fair-skinned Savior in the style of imperial rulers.  Grace Ji-Sun Kim explores the historical origins and theological implications of how Jesus became white and God became a white male.  The myth of the white male God has had a devastating effect as it enabled Christianity to have a profoundly colonialist posture across the globe.  Kim examines the roots of the distortion, its harmful impact on the world, and shows what it looks like to recover the biblical reality of a nonwhite, nongendered God.  Rediscovering God as Spirit leads us to a more just faither and a better church and world.

This book was excellent.  I had picked this book up at a bookstore in Boston and decided I wanted to check it out.  The author talks about the history of God and Jesus becoming white over the course of time and how that has affected not only her life but other people of color.  She weaves personal memoir among theology and paints a picture of how we got here and where we go from here.  She invisions a church that is inclusive and representative of all people and how we get there.  I can think of a lot of people who should read this book. Glad I found this one. 

Stars: 4.5

Book: Everything is Illuminated

 Book: Everything is Illuminated

Author: Jonathan Safran

Pages: 288

This is my 196th read for the year

Amazon says: (sorry - I am super behind with reviews)

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man - also named Jonathan Safran Foer - sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis.  Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.  As their adventure unfolds, Jonathan imagines the history of his grandfather's village, conjuring a magical fable of startling symmetries that unite generations across time.  As his search moves back in time, the fantastical history moves forward, until reality collides with fiction in a heart-stopping scene of extraordinary power.

I really liked this book.  I have been putting it off on my Gilmore challenge, but finally picked it up on a whim from the library.  It took a bit to get into, and the ending could have been held together a bit better, but overall, I enjoyed the story.  It was amusing and serious, and told a good story.  Glad I tried this one.

Stars: 4

Book: The Extinction Trials

 Book: The Extinction Trials

Author: A.G. Riddle

Pages: 432

This is my 195th book for the year

What Amazon says:

After a mysterious event, six strangers wake up in an underground bunker.  They don't know where they are.  Or how much time has passed.  They soon learn that they're part of an experiment to restart the human race.  What they don't know is that this experiment hides a secret.  And so does the world outside.

This book was fine.  Apparently it is the first book in a triology.  It was slow moving as if it was setting up relationships and characters.  But then a lot of the characters from the beginning die, so I am not sure I would want to continue with the triology.  I didn't love the characters - didn't hate them but didn't really feel connected to any of them.  It was a little dry and a little convoluded.  The twists filled out the plot some.

Stars: 3