Title: 

I think objectively this book is very well done. The author includes a lot of very detailed statistics but mixes them in with fun facts, first-hand anecdotes, and fascinating stories. However, for me, this was just more detail than I needed on the topic. I felt the story got bogged down by details of exact numbers and dates. There were a number of people mentioned, but I couldn’t keep them straight because we were never given any personal information about any them and they all blurred together. The timeline was hard to follow because (at least in my ARC) dates usually didn’t include the year and in chapters that spanned multiple years, this could be confusing. I think had I finished this, I’d have given it three stars because I didn’t enjoy it, but I think someone very interested in the topic would. I made it through about a third of the book before deciding that it just wasn’t for me.

Amazon|Goodreads

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This week is the last week of The Monuments Men read-along I’m co-hosting with Jennifer at Bookalicious Mama. If you’ve been reading along or have already finished the book and would like to join in, you can leave your answers to the discussion questions or a link to a post with your answers in the comments below.

1. If you were in Germany at the end of the war, do you think you would visit the liberated concentration camps to bear witness like Eisenhower or avoid them to avoid hating the German people like monuments man Hancock?
2. What do you think of this statement from page 332, beginning of chapter 43, about Adolf Hitler – “perhaps the one thing that made hum human and therefore truly terrifying – was his love of art”?
3. How did you like the book? Is there anything you particularly loved or hated about it?

Thank everyone for joining us in this fun read-along! I really enjoyed the book and am excited for more book-to-movie read-a-longs in the future. If you’re looking for another read-along, be sure to check out the Divergent read-along Jennifer is hosting next month. The first discussion isn’t until February 10th, so there’s still plenty of time to get the book.

The post Monuments Men Part IV Questions appeared first on Doing Dewey.

1) Hitler wanted to gain ownership of art in order to place it in the Third Reich’s museums —ones that already existed, and then in the Führermuseum that he planned on building in his hometown of Linz, Austria. Why did he want art that was from all over Europe? Why did he think that appropriating art from other people and countries would glorify the Third Reich?
I think in lot of cases he felt Germany had a right to art from other countries, because it was from countries he blamed for Germany’s economic situation. Despite being a horrible person, it also seems as though he simply had an appreciation for the value of art. Property rights, not so much.

2) Who owns art? Why is art important to the culture in which it is created?
The artist and then who ever they give or sell it to. Although art is valuable to society, I don’t believe that artists have an obligation to exhibit their work. Art is important because it can cultivate a national identity and sense of pride in your country. It’s also often a valuable record of a country’s history.

3) The Monuments Men’s directive was to preserve cultural properties in war zones, provided that they did not interfere with any military operations. At what points did these two directives conflict with each other, and how was that handled?
If protecting art could cost lives, the soldiers’ lives came first with the exception of a few volunteers, mostly the monuments men. In cases where the protection of art simply required some discomfort or inconvenience, protection of the art typically came first.

The post Monuments Men Part III Questions appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Hi guys! Today it’s my turn to host our discussion of Part II of The Monuments Men and I’m excited to get started. Next week be sure to visit Jennifer at Bookalicious Mama for our discussion of part III.

1. “To most soldiers, war was circumstance. But to someone like James Rorimer, it was a mission of a lifetime.” – page 74. What do you think these sentences mean? Do you agree with the author?

2. What do you think of men volunteering for the army to be in the MFAA? Especially men with families?

3. What scene so far are you most excited to see in the movie?

4.  As Taper asks on page 107, is art worth a life? Is it worth smaller things, like making the troops sleep outside to avoid damaging historic buildings?

Any other thoughts on the book so far?

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Title: 

Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford has always thought fondly of her bother’s friend Robert since as a child he encouraged her to pursue her dreams. A surprise meeting years later reveals him to still be equally supportive and their mutual attraction is obvious. However, Elizabeth’s mother disapproves of Robert almost as much as she disapproves of Elizabeth’s career aspirations. The war and encouragement from friends give Elizabeth the courage to break with her parents. As an ambulance driver she is eventually sent to the front, where she is reunited with Robert (a surgeon). Although they are reunited, his fear for her safety is a strain their relationship might not survive.

Even in historical fiction, I feel like most readers want female characters to behave like modern women. I personally find it unpleasant to read a book like Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival which doesn’t at least condemn the sexism of the time period. In many time periods though, I suspect it was unusual for a woman to successfully resist seixst social pressures. That is one reason why Jennifer Robson’s choice of setting is so perfect. It is clear that many women are beginning to have the freedom to attend school, have careers, and marry who they like. A woman from an old fashioned family might have to fight for those privileges. She also might believably succeed. Watching Elizabeth do so was inspiring and a ton of fun.

The romance, like Elizabeth’s personal story, was perfectly suited to the time period. Having to deal with the war and the social issues that might separate them made every happy moment of the relationship feel precious. The letters the characters exchanged were enjoyable and an integral part of the story’s success. In particular, they allow you to see Elizabeth and Robert’s relationship forming. At the end, you know why these characters love each other. In any genre, I think that’s a critical component of a well written romance.

Descriptions of the war were also very well done. It was clear how horrible the war was. It was clear what a devastating  effect it was having on the mental health of everyone involved. And both these things were accomplished without rubbing your face in gory details.  This backdrop made the romance all the more moving. I think that makes this a spectacular example of a historical fiction romance. The romance personalized the time period and the romance couldn’t have happened at any other time. It was beautiful, poignant, and fit the time period perfectly.

For some other perspectives, check out the other stops on the tour, Amazon, or Goodreads.

The post Somewhere In France appeared first on Doing Dewey.

This is the final discussion post for Non-Fiction November, an exciting event celebrating non-fiction hosted by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness and Leslie at Regular Ruminations. Every Monday this month, a discussion question will be posted. Then each Friday there will be a link-up for discussion posts and non-fiction reviews, with each linky entry entered in a prize drawing at the end of the month! Today’s topic is…

New to My TBR: What nonfiction have you added to your toppling TBR pile this month? Be sure to credit which bloggers you heard about titles from (if you can remember)!

Here are the ones I can remember:

• Granny is my Wingman from Doing It the Open Way
• The Distraction Addiction from Sophisticated Dorkiness
• Losing My Faculties from Musings From a Book Mammal
• All of the books on France from The Everyday Reader
• also, Paris My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) from Estella’s Revenge
• The Unwinding: The Inner History of the New America from River City Reading
• and finally another complete list – books on wine from Nonfictionado

What exciting books have you added to your TBR lately?

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This is my third discussion post for Non-Fiction November, an exciting event celebrating non-fiction hosted by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness and Leslie at Regular Ruminations. Every Monday this month, a discussion question will be posted. Then each Friday there will be a link-up for discussion posts and non-fiction reviews, with each linky entry entered in a prize drawing at the end of the month! Today’s topic is…

Book Pairing: Match a fiction book with a nonfiction book that you would recommend.

I’ve actually been considering adding occasional posts pairing fiction and non-fiction, so I was especially excited for this topic. I enjoy pairing fiction with non-fiction because it’s a lot of fun to see how accurately the fiction stuck to the facts and to completely immerse yourself in one topic. It’s also a great way for people who prefer fiction to find non-fiction that might interest them and vice-versa.

And Then She Fell is a fun, light regency romance. If you haven’t tried reading a regency romance before, I’d recommend it, if only to stretch yourself as a reader by trying a new genre. Although I don’t think regency romances are going to become a genre I read obsessively, this book was enjoyable and an exciting change of pace. It also had a lot more adventure than I expected. If you already love regency romances, I probably don’t have to sell you on this one. What I would like to convince you to read then is An Elegant Madness. The writing style was a bit dry, which might be off-putting even to someone who loves non-fiction, but the material inside was so fascinating, this was still a four star book for me. If you love regency romances or non-fiction that gives you a feel for a particular era, I think you could really enjoy this book. It might also be a good read for someone just starting reading regency romances, since it explains what society was like at the time and the lingo you need to know to get everything in a book set in that time period.

Do you have any non-fiction/fiction pairings you’d suggest?

The post Non-fiction November: Book Pairings appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Writing on the Wall is about all of the ingenious and fascinating ways that information has been transmitted over the centuries. The author is able to draw surprising parallels between ancient media and the social media of today. These comparisons inform discussions of issues still relevant today, such as the question of whether communication at a distance makes us feel more or less connected to other people, and raises the question of how we’ll choose to use social media in the future.

Writing on the Wall is very well organized, moving forward chronologically with each chapter devoted to an era dominated by a particular form of communication. These focused chapters allowed the author to share a ton of fascinating details about each era. For those of us who love fun facts, this is perfect. In addition to being enjoyable for their own sake, these little details really brought each era to life for me. For instance, did you know that lower class Romans often communicated via graffiti? And, thanks to the preservation of Pompeii, the author is able to actually share bits of that graffiti! I was amazed at how similar that graffiti was to things people might write today. For me, that feeling of “wow, they were just like us” is one of the best ways to bring history to life.

The title of that chapter on graffiti in Pompeii? “Gnaeus Alleius Wrote on Your Wall.” Although these silly, fun, explicit comparisons to social media of today could have been too much, I enjoyed them a lot. They each made me smile and enhanced that feeling of being connected to the past. However, more even than just being enjoyable and amusing, these comparisons to the past gave the author a way to talk about issues raised by social media that are still relevant today. I particularly enjoyed the direct quotes from luminaries such as Thomas Paine and Cicero on social media in their time. This combination of fun facts and insightful ideas made for an interesting and thought provoking read.

Amazon|Goodreads

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Title: 

The publication of the Pentagon Papers, top secret documents leaked to a reporter, was contentious from the beginning. First, there was internal debate at The New York Times over whether or not to publish. Then publication led to one of the most important first amendment cases ever, as the government sought an injunction to keep The Times from continuing to publish more of the Pentagon Papers. As the chief legal counsel for The Times, James Goodale is able to share his first hand experience  and his thoughts on the personalities involved in this momentous historical case.

Although Fighting for the Press was occasionally hard to follow or a little repetitive as the case moved through the appeals process, it was mostly just exciting. And if James Goodale occasionally seemed a little too self-congratulatory, I can’t blame him too much given the role he played in winning this famous first amendment victory. Overall, the story was very well written. Precise language was used to explain legal concepts so clearly that they were extremely exciting even to someone with my lack of prior knowledge.

From the beginning, I felt as though I’d been given a priceless opportunity to interview someone who’d lived through a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. In many cases, I like for a non-fiction author to be unbiased, but this was clearly a memoir as well as a history. As such, the author’s personal recollections and impressions of the people involved in the case added some depth and intrigue to what could otherwise have been a dry legal story. There were actually moments when, despite knowing the final outcome, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how the details played out. This was an engaging read that I’d recommend to fans of history books and memoirs.

Amazon|Goodreads

The post Fighting for the Press appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

This book takes a fascinating approach to civil war history, progressing generally chronologically but with each chapter focused on a particular artifact. As the goodreads description states, the objects include everything “from a soldier’s diary with the pencil still attached to John Brown’s pike, the Emancipation Proclamation, a Confederate Palmetto flag, and the leaves from Abraham Lincoln’s bier”. Each chapter talks about both broader themes and personal stories that the artifacts connect to.

At first, I was hesitant to pick this up for fear it would be a dry cataloguing of objects, but I heard about it from several people and decided it was worth a try. As you can tell from my rating, I was very glad I gave it a chance! I could tell from the moment I opened the book that it was going to be good. First of all, this is just a beautiful book. The paper felt and smelled nice; the pictures were gorgeous; and the font was large and easy to read. As I read my way to a deeper analysis, I was also impressed by the organization. Although broad themes relating to the entirety of the war were discussed for most objects, the flow still felt chronological. While a timeline of battles wasn’t the point of this book, I did end the book with a better feel for the order of the events of the civil war.

My favorite thing about this book was the combination of looking at the big picture and at individual stories. I’ve recently read some books that really capture the feel of an era (The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England, An Elegant Madness: High Society in Regency England) and I love that. It’s amazing to feel (correctly or not!) that you’ve begun to understand what it would have been like to live in a particualr time period. This book gave me that feeling. I especially liked the revelation of the issues that would have been on people’s minds at the time. I also love non-fiction that focuses on the human element, since this is almost universily interesting no matter the official topic of a book. The stories attached to each object in this collection were touching and contributed a personal side to this story. Highly recommended.

Amazon|Goodreads

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