Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: The Best Advice I Ever Got

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Katie Couric, award-winning journalist and TV personality, has compiled a fascinating collection of insights from well-known personalities, The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives. Some of the contributors were well-known to me, many others important people with whom I might have been somewhat familiar, and many totally unknown to me, but whose enriching words I could appreciate.

Couric tells her own story, her childhood, the tragedy of her husband’s death and how she gathered the strength to carry on, and her victory in being the first female anchor of the CBS Evening News. Sandwiched between more than one hundred gems of wisdom written by others, Couric adds little sections of inspiration.

Many memorable quotes are shared. Among my favorites is one from John Wayne:
“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” Here’s another, this from Franklin D. Roosevelt: “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

In this amazing book we learn how some of the greats got that way. It’s about hanging on, having faith in yourself, not giving up, and following your passions. From well-known personalities—actors, CEO’s, television personalities, directors, elected presidents, writers, chefs, comedians, athletes, musicians—we learn the value in having goals and working to achieve them. We learn to do what’s right, not what’s easy.

The Best Advice I Ever Got is a delightful book, empowering, and moving. What may seem impossible becomes possible through hard work, dedication, loving what you’re doing, and following through no matter what. As Morgan Freeman says, “You quit, you fail.” I highly recommend this book for yourself, or possibly as a gift to someone who is struggling to achieve a seemingly impossible dream.

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Book Review: The Cactus Plot

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Vicky Ramakka’s intriguing contemporary mystery novel, The Cactus Plot: Murder in the High Desert, takes place in northwest New Mexico.

Fresh from college, Millie Whitehall accepts a summer position as a biologist with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Millie’s job consists of plotting and categorizing high desert plant life in an area some consider barren wasteland. As Millie works in the field, she encounters some interesting characters: a cowboy supposedly looking for stray cattle, a German photographer, an oil rig worker, an eccentric environmentalist, and an Apache wildlife biologist.

Along the way, we learn the purpose and value of BLM land. The National Forest Service was awarded places rich with timber, the National Park Service the scenic areas, and BLM got the left-over land that nobody wanted. But now, BLM land is in high demand. The bureau is charged with managing public land for multiple use to include recreation, range, timber, minerals, watersheds, and the protection of historical and cultural areas. These facts set the stage with what would become a puzzling chain of events.

Two mysterious deaths occur that autopsies reveal involve plants. Millie is suddenly drawn into the murder investigations and it’s a race against time before she becomes the next victim. She learns that the people she has met aren’t necessarily what they first appeared to be.

The author vividly describes the high desert and its flowers, including rare cactus much sought after by poachers. The Cactus Plot is an intriguing mystery with an intricate plot.

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Book Review: In Pieces

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Sally Field’s memoir, In Pieces, is a fun, funny and sometimes tragically revealing look at one of Hollywood’s most successful actors. Born in 1946 to an actress, Field’s step-father was also a stunt-man and later an actor.

Sally Field shares honest appraisals of the often unglamourous side of acting. When she starred in her first television series, Gidget, at the age of eighteen, the shallowness of the storyline troubled her, but the series did last for two seasons. Another popular series, The Flying Nun followed for three seasons. Although the costuming as a flying nun was uncomfortable with wires poking her, the series had favorable reviews and firmly launched her career. Soon to come were widely popular movies such as Smokey and the Bandit, Sybil, Norma Rae, Places in the Heart, and a TV series, Brothers & Sisters, to name only a few big-screen and television productions. She has won numerous awards including the Academy Award, Emmy, and Golden Globe. Along the way, Field shares fun tidbits about her fellow actors and the incongruous side of movie-making.

The memoir delves into Field’s rocky childhood with an abusive step-father, her early marriage to her childhood sweetheart, and later, a long-standing and revealing relationship with actor Burt Reynolds.

I found Field’s writing unflinchingly honest and courageous, both in discussing her personal life and as an actor. She has the ability to laugh at herself, though her dedication to her craft is serious business. Sally Field has long been one of my favorite actors, and In Pieces has cemented my opinion.

 

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Book Review: Heart of Passion

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Heart of Passion, the third book in Carmen Peone’s True to Heart Trilogy, takes place by the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. Now in her late teens, Spupaleena has built a stable of powerful race horses. Her team of relay racers are consistent winners, much to the chagrin of a vengeful boy.

Spupaleena is passionate about her vocation. She overcomes many obstacles–both human and horse injuries and the intentional and mysterious poisoning of her horses. She turns to God for direction in how to handle her enemy, this boy who is determined to see her fail.

As in the previous two novels, Spulaleena’s faithful white friends, the Gardners and Jack Dalley, play important roles in the Native girl’s life, giving her emotional support and furthering her schooling and religious education. Her father and brother are also loyal advocates.

Spupaleena is clearly a dedicated leader. But will she be able to conquer her own feelings of hate toward the one who seeks to conquer her?

Carmen Peone has written an engaging trilogy, steeped in Native American and religious culture. She lives on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation and has studied the language and customs of her husband’s people, the Sinyekst. She also works with her American Paint horses and has competed in local Extreme Trail Challenges with her horses. It is no wonder her books ring true with knowledge and authority.

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Book Review: Girl with a Gun

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Author Kari Bovee has fictionalized true characters in her lively mystery, Girl with a Gun. The story begins in St. Louis, Missouri, 1885.

Fifteen year-old Annie Oakley is the sole supporter of her mother and two younger siblings. Annie is an excellent marksman and sells game to the local markets to make ends meet. While in town one day, she competes in a shooting contest and is invited to become a part of the renowned Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.

Annie meets her assistant, Kimi, a fictionalized teenage Indian girl whose murder begins the story. Thus begins a string of events which could not only endanger Annie, but could also ruin the Wild West Show. True characters, which the author portrays with their known characteristics, include Frank Butler, Buffalo Bill, and Sitting Bull.

As the mystery thickens, Anne’s shooting and riding skills catapult her to fame. When a scandal erupts that could bring her career to a crashing end, she enlists the assistance of a newspaper reporter who has the resources to help unravel the mystery.

I enjoyed Girl with a Gun and learning more about Annie Oakley and her strong Quaker background. I appreciated author Bovee’s attention to detail and her obviously solid research, particularly of period clothing, guns used in that era, and horse behavior. The mystery novel also touches on Annie’s later interest in women’s suffrage and in teaching women how to use guns for self-defense.

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Book Review: The Moment of Lift

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Melinda Gates, philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls, shares her heart and beliefs in the The Moment of Lift. The title refers to the moment of liftoff of a rocket or airplane, or even an emotional moment of awe. This is a book about the moment of lift for women, that they may be a full partner in their own lives.

Bill and Melinda Gates met at a Microsoft dinner, married and have three children. They founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and as co-chair, Melinda sets the direction and priorities of the world’s largest philanthropy. It would be easy to say, “Well, sure, Melinda is married to one of the most well-known billionaires and philanthropists in the world, she can afford to do all that traveling.” But Melinda does more than just travel, she seeks ways to make changes for a better life in places of abject poverty and inequality. She visits villages, sits with women to exchange ideas, and strives to learn how their lives could be improved.

The Moment of Lift delves into some of the reasons that poverty exists, and explains how it could be eradicated, or at least reduced. She cites that if a plane crashes and 300 people die, it makes headlines around the world. Yet on the same day 30,000 children die from malnutrition, or lack of proper medical care, just because they are poor. Those facts never seem to make the headlines.

One of the reasons for poverty is that many women in developing countries have babies too early, too late, or too often for their bodies to handle. If contraceptives were readily available to them, they could space births, each baby would be more likely to survive his first year, and live to see his fifth birthday. Family planning is a smart, sensible, and vital component of global health and development. It paves the way for empowerment, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights, and to be recognized as equal, not subservient.

Gates explains that poverty means not being able to protect your family. She suggests ways in which life standards could be raised by offering tools and information to make life-changing decisions. Educating girls leads to empowerment by giving them an awareness of choices available to them, putting them on the path to equality.

Every page in this amazing book offers information, ideas and possible solutions to eliminate extreme world poverty through equality and awareness. I could give many worthwhile quotes from this inspirational book, but I’ll settle for one: “…equality can empower women, empowered women will change the world.”

I heartily recommend The Moment of Lift for its enlightenment on fighting world poverty, and the power women have to achieve this goal.

On a personal note: Having served for two years in West Africa with the Peace Corps (The Gambia, 1979-1981) I saw first-hand the many truths Melinda Gates refers to regarding the treatment of women. I also witnessed how powerful a group of women can be when sharing information to make changes. In my memoir, Tubob: Two Years in West Africa with the Peace Corps, I’ve written about this experience.

Further reading: Several years ago, in 2015, I wrote about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation after I had toured their Visitor Center in Seattle. If you’re interested in reading that blog, please visit: http://www.marytrimblebooks.com/arrive-curious-leave-inspired-the-bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-visitor-center/

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Book Review: So Wild the Wind

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Historical fiction novel So Wild the Wind by Bonnie Hobbs takes place on the Texas Gulf coast, 1866.

A ship crashes on the rocks of the rugged Texas coast and widow Alida Garrison is washed ashore. Lost at sea is her son, along with other family members. Rafe Bishop, a crippled Union soldier, rescues her during the raging storm and carries her to a healer for care.

Alida slowly recovers, both from her near-drowning and also from the loss and guilt of losing her son. She meets William, a little boy starving for love and attention. William’s father, hardhearted former Confederate officer Martin Cooper, cannot let go of the South’s surrender.

As Alida gains strength she befriends little William, and becomes acquainted with the man who saved her. In the meantime, Rafe is trying to piece together the circumstances leading to that shipwreck, plus others that have foundered on the rocks. Had the ships been misled by guiding, or misguiding, lights?

Alida becomes Williams’s governess, but is soon entangled in the mysterious and dangerous undercurrents in Cooper’s castle-like house.

So Wild the Wind is the story of loss, greed and love. The author’s knowledge and research of the area and era is apparent. I enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it.

 

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Book Review: Empire of the Summer Moon

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Quanah Parker has been a fascinating historical figure to me for many years. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, has finally sated my curiosity. S. C. Gwynne has written a scholarly, unbiased chronicle of the Plains Indians, particularly the Comanches.

Gwynne traces the rise of the Comanche people, their fierceness in battle and their mastery of the horse. In fact, the Comanches were the first plainsmen to use horses in battle. When they encountered other tribes, or the U.S. Army, they did so on horseback, while their opponents rode to battle, then dismounted for the fight. Those afoot with the early single-shot rifles were no match for mounted Indians skilled with arrows and lances. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Comanches were often referred to as “Lords of the Plains.”

In 1836, a fierce band of Comanches, the Quahadis, raided Fort Parker, capturing nine-year old Cynthia Ann Parker together with four of her relatives. Cynthia Ann eventually became a full member of the tribe and married a war chief. In 1860, when her oldest child, Quanah, was twelve, the Texas Rangers attacked the Indian encampment, killing Cynthia Ann’s husband, and “rescuing” Cynthia Ann and her baby daughter. Her two oldest children, Quanah and his brother, escaped. Afterward, Cynthia Ann was miserable with her white relatives and begged to return to the tribe and her other children.

Quanah Parker grew to became a brilliant, feared war chief. When it was obvious that the nomadic free life of the Indian was no longer a reality, Quanah guided his people in adapting to their inevitable new way of life. He became a spokesman and even traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for his people.

I found Empire of the Summer Moon an enlightening source of history of both the Plains Indians and the early frontier settlers. I highly recommend this book for an honest appraisal of clashing cultures. The book is written by a master story-teller, an author who fairly presents both sides of our often violent history.

 

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Book Review–Widow 1881: Flats Junction Series

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Sara Dahmen’s novel, Widow 1881, captures the time and period of a woman beset with heartache and loss, yet brave enough to find a new life on her own terms.

Recently widowed Jane Weber answers a help-wanted ad for a housekeeping position in Flats Junction, Dakota Territories. She leaves Massachusetts and all that is familiar, despite her family’s misgivings.

Jane carries a secret and with it, feelings of desperation. She keeps house for the town’s doctor, yet as a single woman must live elsewhere. The doctor arranges for her to room with a Blackfoot Sioux, a woman, barely tolerated in town.

In the course of daily living, Jane finds her way in a harsh and sometimes unforgiving land. She meets the townspeople, some of whom don’t hold the doctor’s profession in high esteem, nor are many people friendly toward her. But she manages to find friendship and loyalty in surprising places, and the doctor shows satisfaction in her housekeeping and light nursing skills. Jane works hard, learning as she goes along. She finds inspiration and pleasure in acquiring new skills, yet feels apprehension about her future.

Author Sara Dahmen skillfully shows us the time period and the heart of a woman intent on making her way despite the odds against her. I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing novel.

 

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Book Review–The Removes: A Novel

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Tatjana Soli has written a vivid historical novel, The Removes. The main storyline centers around the life and career of George Armstrong Custer, a Union Civil War hero who, by age twenty-five attained the rank of brigadier general. Often called the Boy General, Custer was happiest when soldiering, so after the war re-enlisted in the Army to go West to fight the Indian Wars. The novel takes us up to Custer’s Last Stand, the battle of the Little Big Horn, 1881.

The story rotates to Libbie Bacon, a pampered young woman who is encouraged to find a husband and continue the social life to which she is accustomed. She shows no real interest in any of the eligible suitors. Years before she met a local boy, George Custer, but although he seemed nice, he was, after all, only the son of a farmer. Then, years later at a party, Libbie is re-acquainted with the famous General George Custer and they immediately fall in love. Libbie takes her responsibilities as a dedicated Army wife seriously. She becomes a camp follower and learns to endure the frontier hardships. Libbie is loved and pampered by George and she maintains her loyalty to him, despite his frequent infidelities.

During the period of Custer’s Indian campaigns, Anne Cummins, fifteen, is abducted by the Cheyenne after her entire family is slain during a raid on their homestead. Her captivity is defined by near starvation, endless traveling, and sexual assaults. During the many years held captive, she continues to be treated roughly, a slave to the chief and his wives. She dreams of being rescued, but once she has children of her own, she is uncertain as to which destiny she belongs. The question is answered for her, and is not what she imagined.

The Removes is a thoroughly engrossing novel of depth. The Indian Wars are portrayed through the lives of the three main characters as the story toggles among them. The novel shows a realistic view of the unimaginable hardships of the western frontier from the immigrants point of view. Also realistically shown is the plight of the indigenous people of North America whose land was forcibly confiscated by those who broke promises and treaties time and again. I highly recommend The Removes.

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