The View From Pompey's Head by Hamilton Basso - written in 1954, this is a story about Anson Page, a lawyer who left Pompey's Head fifteen years ago and didn't plan on returning. He thought he had escaped the small town gossip and ancestor worship that bothered him about the Southern town. Lots of talking and going back in time. And a bit of a mystery.
4 stars
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50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany by Steven Pressman - the title pretty much says it all, although I wonder about the ordinariness of the couple - they were wealthy during the 30's and had some prestige. Even though I knew the outcome, I found myself nervous as the children were leaving Germany. The author is the grandson by marriage of the couple. The afterword I found especially interesting.
4.5 stars
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The Woman Who Married a Bear by John Straley - Sitka PI Cecil Younger is asked to look into a murder that has already been solved and the accused is in prison. I didn't like any of the people in this book, most are alcoholics, including Cecil, and only finished because I had to know what happened.
1 star
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The Map Thief by Michael Blanding - the true story of E. Forbes Smiley, a respected map dealer who was at the same time stealing maps from libraries around the country. The book is also an interesting look at the history of map making.
4 stars
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Take This Man by Brando Skyhorse - abandoned by his father at age 3 and raised to believe he was Native American, the author has spent most of his life looking for a father figure.
4 stars
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Six Days of the Condor by James Grady - a CIA agent in an obscure dept. comes back from lunch to find his colleagues dead. He spends the next six days playing hide and seek from foes and friendlies. Somewhat dated because of technology. Still fairly suspenseful. Sex and violence.
3 stars
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Shopping, Seduction, and Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead - the story of Harold Selfridge who brought the first American type of dept store to London. He was brilliant at promoting his store but not very wise in his spending. A little too much detail about other characters I wasn't interested in.
3 stars
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Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman by Robert L. O'Connell - the author uses a different approach than the usual straight line biography and instead focuses on three aspects of Sherman's life: his success as a military strategist, his rapport with the men under his command, and his family. The military portion takes up the largest part of the book and it did bog down a little. Overall I enjoyed it.
3 stars
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Maids of Misfortune by M. Louisa Locke - the first in the Victorian San Francisco mysteries. Annie Fuller, a young widow, goes undercover as a maid to find out what happened to her friend, Mr. Voss. The author had me considering almost everyone as a suspect until the very end.
3 stars
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Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by Michelle Knight - Michelle had already endured a horrific childhood when she was kidnapped by Ariel Castro. Yet she has a message of hope at the end. Read the jacket blurb before deciding if you can read this book.
3 stars
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Top Secret Twenty-one by Janet Evanovich - after the previous book I was ready for some fluff and the Stephanie Plum series usually provides it. However, I thought this was a very weak effort and the author seems more and more willing to fall back on sex talk to fill out the story. The plot was thin. The saving grace for me was the pack of killer chihuahuas. I think I might be done with this series.
2 stars
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