Catharsis

Finished Reading:

• Charles W Calhoun – Benjamin Harrison
• Charles Peters – Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing “We Want Willkie!” Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World

Currently Reading:

• Herman Melville – Moby-Dick
• Frank Van Der Linden – The Turning Point: Jefferson’s Battle for the Presidency
• Wayne Caldwell – Cataloochie
• Tony Zeiss – Build Your Own Ladder

For some reason, this week’s reading adventures seem like a catharsis, as if I’m finally getting around to some things that I’ve put off for a while and clearing away some of the clutter so to speak. Certainly, the Peters book is one which I’ve had for a while but just on a lark got around to reading. Overall, I enjoyed Peters’s narrative style in describing the 1940 election, but there were some slight factual issues that hopefully were corrected in later editions. Still, I did enjoy the spotlight that Peters placed on Willkie’s role in the lead up to the American entry into World War II.

Likewise, Calhoun’s Benjamin Harrison highlighted the important role of an often forgotten president in leading the US towards the 20^th century. Calhoun’s book was actually one of the best ones that I’ve read in the Times Books’ American Presidents series. He balanced a discussion of Harrison’s policies and governance style with an examination of Harrison’s personality and personal life. I would hold this book up as an example of what a short biography should be.

Two other books that I’m working on currently which have been on my to-read list for a while are Wayne Caldwell’s Cataloochie and Tony Zeiss’s Build Your Own Ladder. Both have been good reads thus far, and I will likely have them read by next weekend. Moby-Dick and The Turning Point, I expect will take me longer. Still, things are moving forward. As my reading list has been non-fiction heavy for a bit, I have a couple of fiction and poetry titles lined up to pick up once I make some headway in my list. Until then, I hope the rest of the weekend is filled with good reads for all!

Quick Update in the Midst of a Busy Season

Finished Reading:

• John S D Eisenhower – Zachary Taylor
• Ngaio Marsh – Death at the Bar

Currently Reading:

• Herman Melville – Moby-Dick
• Frank Van Der Linden – The Turning Point: Jefferson’s Battle for the Presidency
• Charles Peters – Five Days in Philadelphia: The Amazing “We Want Willkie!” Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World
• Charles W Calhoun – Benjamin Harrison
• Wayne Caldwell – Cataloochie

Setting Aside:

• Griffith John McRee – Life and Correspondence of James Iredell Vol. I

I managed to finish up two books this week and started up numerous more. Eisenhower’s Zachary Taylor was a well-balanced look at our unfortunate 12^th president. Though not a well-educated man, Old Rough and Ready attempted to lead the nation with an admirable sense of determination and dedication. However, he met an untimely end which led to Fillmore taking the reins of power. I would recommend this book as a quick look at the simple man who led America during a complicated time in our nation’s history.

Ngaio Marsh’s Death at the Bar was a fascinating mystery novel. While it took some adjustment to get myself in the mindset of the late 1930s British countryside, the twists and turns of the mystery kept me intrigued up to the last page. The main character, Chief Inspector Alleyn, was very enjoyable, though I wish that I had been able to begin with the first Alleyn novel, A Man Lay Dead, instead of jumping in at the middle of the series. However, now that I know how enjoyable Marsh’s writing is, I can go back and try to get a copy to begin Alleyn’s adventures at the beginning.

For the time being, I’ve had to put aside McRee’s Iredell. The last couple of weeks leading up to the next few weeks, I’ve found that I do not have the time to devote to in-depth research as I would like. Hopefully in the fall I’ll be able to return to my work. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m giving up my reading. Indeed, I’ve begun a few books, including the next in the presidential reads list. I’ll try to update regularly on the progress of my reading, but should I have to miss a post, rest assured that I will keep reading and hope that everyone else does the same!

Mysteries Solved

Finished Reading:

• Paul F Boller, Jr. – Presidential Campaigns
• Julia Stuart – The Pigeon Pie Mystery: A Novel

Currently Reading:

• Herman Melville – Moby-Dick
• Griffith John McRee – Life and Correspondence of James Iredell Vol. I
• Frank Van Der Linden – The Turning Point: Jefferson’s Battle for the Presidency
• John S D Eisenhower – Zachary Taylor

I finished up two books this week, including one which I had been working on for a while. Boller’s Presidential Campaigns was a good synopsis of the presidential campaigns up to 1980 and had some fun tidbits and interesting quotes. My main complaint, though, is that I often found inaccurate dates in the work. Typically, each chapter had at least one date wrong, some by a good many days. For me, it takes away from a work when I can’t intrinsically trust that the information being presented is accurate. Still, I did enjoy the experience of examining the elections that led up to the present day, just in time for the revelation this morning that Rep. Paul Ryan will be Romney’s running mate. I’ll reserve my judgment of this move but merely state my relief at having this one mystery solved so that journalists no longer have to speculate what Romney’s every move says about who he’s going to choose.

Speaking of mysteries, Julia Stuart’s The Pigeon Pie Mystery is one of the best mysteries I’ve read this year. Though there is a feeling of getting oriented to the setting and characters in the first couple of chapters, once the plot picks up and the reader starts learning more about the quirky characters at the grace and favour house as well as the main character Mink and her servant Pooki, one can’t help but be entranced. The mystery becomes a race against time to find the murderer, and Stuart has the reader in her grip up until the very end. With an air of dignity and more than a dash of gossip, the mystery unfolds in a delightful way. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading novels set in Victorian England or who enjoys a good mystery.

My other books are progressing. I haven’t read much in Moby-Dick or the Iredell book this week. I’m planning on devoting more time to The Turning Point now that I’m done with Boller’s campaign book, and I began reading Eisenhower’s Zachary Taylor as it will be a quick read and will be another Times Books presidential book I can check off my list. Speaking of, I’m waiting for Calhoun’s Benjamin Harrison to come in via Interlibrary Loan. Also, I have a book to read for professional development that I’ll likely start sometime this weekend. Plus, there’s a fiction book that’s been sitting on my nightstand for a bit waiting for me to cull through my reading list so that I could get around to it. I seem to be cycling through books at a good pace now so I can get to it in the next week or so. After that, who knows? The summer’s not gone yet, and I plan on enjoying the last vestiges of it with some good reads. I hope you do the same!

The End of a Busy Week

Finished Reading:

• Laura Childs – Shades of Earl Grey
• Philip Levine – The Simple Truth
• Allan Nevins – Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage

Currently Reading:

• Paul F Boller, Jr. – Presidential Campaigns
• Herman Melville – Moby-Dick
• Griffith John McRee – Life and Correspondence of James Iredell Vol. I
• Julia Stuart – The Pigeon Pie Mystery: A Novel
• Frank Van Der Linden – The Turning Point: Jefferson’s Battle for the Presidency

So I’m a day late in making my weekly post mainly because I was trying to finish up the Grover Cleveland biography. It also didn’t help that it was a much-needed lazy day around our household due to a quite busy week. However, a day later, I am happy to report that I finished the Cleveland biography and was quite pleased with it. Since it was written in the 1930s, the author, Allan Nevins, was able to interview numerous people who actually knew Cleveland, both professionally and personally, which adds a nice dimension beyond the cut and dry facts of his life. Nevins did have a tendency at times to get too wrapped up in minute details and at times stepped out of an air of objectivity that I believe is important for a biographer to maintain. Overall, though, it was a good read with a great deal of informative insight into our 22^nd and 24^th president.

Also this week, I finished a book of fiction and a book of poetry. Childs’s Shades of Earl Grey was a fun read like the others in the Tea Shop Mysteries series. I have to admit that I didn’t like the plot quite as much as I have the other books in the series, but the characters and setting were delightful to romp around in for a bit. Philip Levine’s Pulitzer Prize winning book of poetry, The Simple Truth, takes the reader on a journey through the ins and outs of life, death and everything in between. Some of the poems had such a haunting lyricism that one at times felt entangled within the words.

As can be seen, I have numerous other works that I’m making my way through now. Thus, now that I’ve gotten chores done around the house, I’m going to get around to enjoying this lazy Sunday afternoon while moving forward with my list. Hope your Sunday has good times and good reads in store for you!