The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

"[Antonina's] uncanny ability to calm unruly animals earned her the respect of both the keepers and her husband, who, though he believed science could explain it, found her gift nonetheless strange and mysterious."

Zookeeper and scientist Jan Zabinski said of his wife "She's so sensitive, she's almost able to read their minds...She becomes them...She has a precise and very special gift, a way of observing and understanding animals that's rare, a sixth sense...It's been this way since she was little."     

                                               -describing Antonina Zabinski, The Zookeeper's Wife

While very inspiring in some ways, the book is wearisome in others. After Germany invaded and bombed Warsaw, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski, with few animals left, began to take in and hide numerous Jewish refugees. Their efforts put them in grave danger if they were caught. Jan was even a member of the Polish resistance, a group who found ways to sabotage the Nazis in many creative ways. Both Jan and Antonina carried cyanide pills in case they were caught.

Although I have done a great deal of reading about the Holocaust and have visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., I learned things I didn't know from this book. I am always shocked by the tragic things that happened but also impressed by the number of people who helped and gave sanctuary to Jews at great risk to themselves and their families.

I prefer nonfictions that read like fiction, that is with dialogue making people seem more real. The best this author could do was to quote diaries, letters and interviews to personalize the characters. There were pages of description and numerous lists of animals, plants and other things, making the book tedious at times. In fact, I found I couldn't wait to finish it. I'll give it a 3 rating even though I was leaning toward a 2. 

Apparently, there is a film adaptation. I need to see it one of these days to compare. I have a feeling it might be more compelling than the book. 

 

Brainiac by Ken Jennings

"For as long as I can remember, I've had the idea that trivia, despite its name, is elegant, complicated, fascinating, worthy of study----that trivia is, in a word, nontrivial."

           -Ken Jennings, from Brainiac

This book is our Page Turners' August selection. I was disappointed I could not get a digital copy from the library. Fortunately, I got a copy in print from our local library. Before I received it, I heard from a few members of our group that they didn't like it much, so my expectations weren't high, but I actually did enjoy the book for the most part. Maybe you have to be a BIG Jeopardy fan to appreciate it---and that, I am, although not as obsessed as Ken and some other brainiacs!

The subtitle of this book gives a down and dirty summary: Adventure in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs. I would say it is mostly a memoir relating the author's incredible success in trivia competitions, most notably on "Jeopardy!" in 2004 (75 games won---6 months---earning $2.5 million---unprecedented!) but with extensive research into trivia history. He also describes some of the current events in trivia culture, including "The World's Largest Trivia Contest" in Steven's Point, Wisconsin, of all places. Jennings' memories of his experiences were my favorite parts of the book, along with the fact that he embeds many trivia questions in each chapter with answers at the end. Fun to see how many answers I knew---and how many more I did not! Much of the history was far less interesting to me. My rating is 4 (more like 3 1/2).

On two pages I found several brief descriptions of trivia that were intriguing:

"Trivia is the marijuana of knowledge."

"[Trivia] ignites our curiosity about things we didn't think we were interested in."

"[Trivia] is bait on the fishing rod of education."

"The right trivia fact at the right time can do more than answer a Daily Double for you. It can change the way you think. It can change your life."

The First Gentleman by Bill Clinton and James Patterson

 

"My client played NFL football for three years. He had the battle scars to prove it. And I believe he would tell you that it was nothing compared to the blood sport of national politics, where people will do anything and everything to gain advantage over the competition. Like rehashing old rumors. Trolling for coincidences. Playing on sympathies for a beautiful young woman who died too soon. Somebody has to pay, right?"    

         -Tess Hardy, defense attorney

This novel is most definitely a page turner! I read it in 3 days which is unusual for me. In fact, I could barely put it down! 

There is a female U.S. president, Madeline Parson Wright, who is trying to fulfill campaign promises and make a positive difference for Americans when her husband, First Gentleman Cole Wright is arrested for the homicide of a young woman almost 2 decades before. While she is trying to get an important bill passed, dealing with international issues and worrying about her husband, Cole is being defended in court by Tess Hardy, a tough attorney. (quoted above)

Meanwhile investigative journalists/co-writers Garrett Wilson and Brea Cooke are tracking down every lead to try to prove Cole's guilt and gain material for the book they will write. But just as with most thrillers, someone is stealthily working to bring down the First Gentleman and the Wright administration along with him. And several people are killed while the reader is wondering WHO and WHY.

Although there were many characters to keep track of and some political stuff that was beyond my comprehension, I really enjoyed this novel. Rating: 5. The short chapters, many ending with cliffhangers, kept me turning pages rapidly.

Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home by Gregg Olsen

 

"Miss Garner told her boss right after Shasta's life story session that what she heard was so horrendous, so heart-breaking. She said she didn't get paid enough to listen to what happened to the little girl from up north in the Panhandle. It was that bad."

    -from the true crime story

I selected this book from Amazon First Reads not really knowing what I was getting into. I do enjoy an occasional true crime story, but this one was more appalling than most. Eight-year-old Shasta Groene, along with her brother, is kidnapped by serial killer, Joseph Edward Duncan in the spring of 2005. In Idaho, Duncan, nicknamed Jet, has killed 3 Groene family members before abducting the 2 children. 

They are taken to a remote place in the Montana woods and kept for almost 7 weeks. There they were repeatedly raped, beaten, and otherwise brutalized by Jet, a psychopath if ever there was one. Dylan is eventually killed, and Shasta is rescued soon after. However, her life is not the same for many years as she struggles with letting go of the trauma and falls into self-destructive behavior---drug addiction sexual promiscuity, cutting, stealing, and more. She is sent to one rehab institution that does more harm than good. 

The book was a page-turner but not because of enjoyment; more like I just wanted to be done. I have to agree with Miss Garner quoted above that Shasta's story is just too horrifying. (Shannon Garner was a rehabilitation specialist and one of the few who tried to help Shasta.) I am rating the book a 3 partly because of the emotional intensity but also, I found the book disjointed and confusing as the setting changed unexpectedly from the time of the kidnapping to later events.

I have read 3 other books by this author and my favorite was If You Tell, another true crime story. I rated it a 5.

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

 

'Thank you all for this warmest of welcomes. The honor to speak to you today is all mine. But I want to thank Mrs. Bethune for the biggest honor of all---being introduced today by another First Lady. The First Lady of the Struggle.

"We must take whatever steps are necessary---through the New Deal or our own private funding---to make sure that Negro youths receive equal educational and employment opportunities.

"We must begin by working together and supporting one another, no matter our color, religion, or background. This country rises and falls on the strength of all its citizens."

   -from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's speech at the National Conference on the Problems of the Negro and Negro Youth, 1937

This book was recommended by a friend who knows I like history and especially women's history. I had read a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt (Eleanor Roosevelt A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman) several years ago and have researched Mary McLeod Bethune as a part of a lecture series on great women of Florida's past so at first, I thought the book might repeat what I already knew. I was wrong! I actually learned a great deal and enjoyed seeing facts I already knew sometimes in a different light.

As First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was not content to be a figurehead; she was bound to work for causes dear to her heart, including equal rights for all. This brought on criticism from those who thought she was stepping outside the bounds, and even threats from white supremacists.

Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and founder of Bethune-Cookman College, was already a civil rights activist when she met Eleanor Roosevelt. As a woman of color, she intimately knew the power and danger of racism.

When the two women met, they found they shared beliefs in women's rights and the power of education. They soon formed a partnership in working for desegregation, equal rights, and anti-lynching laws. Bethune had a powerful ally in the First Lady since Eleanor had the ear of the president! Over time the two women became close friends, sharing hopes, dreams and even secrets.

This biographical fiction was very interesting. I rate it a 5. Both Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune were women's libbers before there was such a thing, and both are worthy to be celebrated and emulated.