Category: History

Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe Book Review

Heroism requires bravery above all. We may not know the outcome of our heroic acts, but we know that it is the right thing to do.

Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe, by Matti Friedman, was published in March. Friedman’s book tells the story of a group of young Jewish men and women who left Europe while there was still time. Instead of being comfortable in British Mandate Palestine, they returned to Nazi-occupied Europe. Though the mission was not fulfilled, and all gave their lives, they became heroes and legends in their own right. The most famous among them is Hannah Senesh.

I enjoyed this title. It reminds me that selflessness is the most important part of being a hero. The subjects of this book did not know what would await them. But they knew that they could not sit by and let their loved ones be slaughtered.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe is available wherever books are sold.

P.S. May is JAHM (Jewish American History Month). Am Yisrael Chai.

97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement Book Review

The story of a city can be told by its residents and the food they consume.

97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement, by Jane Ziegelman was published in 2010. The book follows the personal and culinary history of five immigrant families who once called 97 Orchard Street in New York City home. The clans are as follows: one Irish, one German, one Italian, and two Jewish.

This book is not just the story of the lives of the subjects. It is the food they eat, the traditions they carry with them, and the values that guide their lives. It is a fascinating look at the past that I find refreshing.

Some of the recipes look pretty good too.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement is available wherever books are sold.

Judy Blume: A Life Book Review

Some people are born to be creative.

Judy Blume: A Life, by Mark Oppenheimer, was published last month. Born to a middle-class Jewish family in New Jersey, her writing career started at an unlikely place. As a married housewife with two young children and a husband who was at work all day, Blume (a lifelong bookworm) started to fill up her day with writing. This led to a decades-long career as an author writing about subjects that are still deemed controversial by some.

What I find remarkable about Blume’s life and work is that she dared to be honest. Her stories (specifically about young women coming of age) are sometimes brutal and speaks to the difficult experience of going through puberty and adolescence.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Judy Blume: A Life is available wherever books are sold.

A Deal with a Debutante Book Review

For most of history, marriage was about status or who one was connected to. Love, or even compatibility, was not even an option.

A Deal with a Debutante, by Chelsea Bobulski, was published earlier this month. It is the first book in the London’s Most Eligible series. American heiress Calliope Hart is originally from New York City. She has been dragged across the pond by her mother to find an aristocratic husband. To say that the experience so far is neither happy nor fruitful is an understatement.

Edward Chase, the Earl of Hayward, has a title, but not the fortune to maintain the properties and the land. Therefore, he must marry well. His first proposal to Calliope goes over like a lead balloon. The last thing she wants or needs is a marriage of convenience.

Hoping to encourage her to change her mind, Edward plays tour guide around London and invites her and her mother to his country estate. As their week together begins to wind down, each has to face their own anxiety. Edward needs to convince Calliope that he is not a fortune hunter, and Calliope has to believe that she can trust him with her love.

A Deal with a Debutante is one of my favorite books of the year so far. It has all of the hallmarks of the genre and then some. If the other books in the series are this good, then this author has a fan for life.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

A Deal with a Debutante is available wherever books are sold.

Miss Scarlet Character Review: Barnabeus Potts

I apologize for the lack of posting as of late. There is only so much energy in a day.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the TV series Miss Scarlet (formerly Miss Scarlet and the Duke). Read at your own risk if you have not watched the program. There is something to be said about a well-written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right before us, as flesh-and-blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

Part of being human is, unfortunately, stereotyping people we don’t know or like. Another part of being human is meeting that person and hopefully overturning that pre-conceived notion of who they are or aren’t. On Miss Scarlet, Barnabeus Potts (Simon Ludders) works at the city coroner’s office. Like many men of his time, he is not thrilled when private detective Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) comes calling. Eventually, he comes not only to appreciate Eliza, but he also respects her and becomes an ally in her work.

This change also opens the door to unexpected romance. A connection with Eliza’s housekeeper/mother figure, Ivy Woods (Cathy Belton), turns into a relationship, which turns into a marriage. He also has a change in careers, attempting to become a novelist.

To sum it up: Though Barnbeus is a man of his era, he is wise enough to understand when he is wrong. By doing so, he represents the slow change toward equality and respect towards women.

Which is why he is a memorable character.

Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life Book Review

The mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart has fascinated America for nearly a century. Did she die in a plane crash? Or did they land and then die of starvation or in a Japanese POW camp?

Author Rachel Hartigan addresses this question in the new non-fiction book, Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life. It was published earlier this year. Hartigan, a reporter for National Geographic, tells a dual tale. The first is Earhart’s biography. The second details the explorations to finally answer the question of her fate, and the hope of finding either the remains of her plane and/or the bodies of those aboard.

I truly enjoyed this book. The author shows her as more than an American icon. She talks about her tumultuous childhood, her unconventional adulthood, and the choices she made to become Amelia Earhart.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life is available wherever books are sold.

Heiresses: The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies Book Review

Money can buy a lot of things. But can it buy happiness? Not always.

Heiresses: The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies, by Laura Thompson, was published in 2022. The book follows the lives of six women. They were born into wealth that many of us can only imagine. Materially, they wanted for nothing. But their lives were difficult. Several were forced into unhappy marriages, or later discovered that their husbands were not always on the up and up. Others broke out of their golden cages and found a life outside of what was expected.

I enjoyed this book. The author allows each subject to go beyond the “poor little rich girl” stereotype. What I took away from it is that in the end, their status was actually a hindrance and not a help.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Heiresses: The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies is available wherever books are sold.

Throwback Thursday: After Armageddon (2010)

The idea of Armageddon has been preached since the beginning of humanity. But what would happen if it were reality and not just an abstract concept?

The History Channel docudrama After Armageddon was released in 2010. A COVID-19-like virus has spread all over the world. The Johnsons, an average middle-class family from Los Angeles, have to find a way to survive in a world that they no longer recognize. Interspersed in the fictionalized drama are experts who explain the breakdown of the government and the infrastructure that we don’t think twice about.

When it originally aired 16 years ago, it was just a “what if”. But, after going through the pandemic, the “what ifs” feel real and scarier than any fiction writer could create.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment Book Review

For better or worse, the entertainment of a period reflects the culture and values of the audience, the team behind the scenes, and the performers.

Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment was published earlier this year. Written by Rhae Lynn Barnes, the book explores the history of blackface in America. It is a comprehensive exploration of this character type and how it became part of the pop culture landscape for several generations. She also talks about the slow fade from acceptance to general disapproval in the last half of the 20th century.

The most interesting fact (which makes a lot of sense) is that both Jewish Americans and Japanese Americans (specifically in the internment camps) both put on blackface. Looking back, it is easy to see how they were trying to show how “American” they were while discrediting their darker-skinned neighbors.

Do I recommend it? Yes. It is a must read.

Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment is available wherever books are sold.

Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria Book Review

Rebelling against one’s community is a common experience. Doing the same as a female in a male-led religious theocracy can be empowering. But it can also be dangerous.

Journalist Loubna Mrie tells her story in the new memoir Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria. It was published earlier this year. Born into a Syrian Alawite family, she was raised to revere then-President Hafez al-Assad. Mrie also grew up in a home where her father played hot and cold, and a mother who tried to keep her husband happy.

Joining the Arab Spring in 2011, she believed in the right of the Syrian people to participate in a democracy and have their rights respected as citizens. Ultimately rejected by her family and heartbroken by the murder of her maternal parent, Mrie chose to leave the nation of her birth and seek a new life in the West.

I enjoyed this book. The chances that Mrie took could have ended in jail, or worse. She could have remained silent in an attempt to just get through it all. Instead, she spoke up and did what she felt was right. Even when that required hard sacrifices.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria is available wherever books are sold.

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