Jan 8 - 14, 2017

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell - how Lafayette and the French won the Revolutionary War. Well, they were quite helpful. It took me awhile to get used to the author's style - the book isn't divided into chapters and I though it meandered some. But I found her asides humorous and a bit acidic.
3.5 stars
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Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan - part fable/fantasy and historical, this is a story of how music can lift us out of our circumstances. The story moves from Germany to Philadelphia and California, connecting the lives of four children, all through a harmonica. My dad had a harmonica from the factory in the book so I thought of him often when I read this. Written for 5-9th grades.

4.5 stars
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Call the Nurse: True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle by Mary J. McLleod - in 1970, Mary and her husband decided to leave London to lead a simpler life. They settled on an island in the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland where Mary would be the district nurse. The book is really a collection of stories about the locals and their way of life at a time when electricity had just come into common usage. There's lots of talk about the weather and the scenery. This was written when Mary was 80 so I suppose a little disjointedness can be overlooked.

2 stars