Women in Space by Karen Bush Gibson

December 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Women in Space by Karen Bush Gibson
23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Genre: Contemporary, Non-Fiction, YA
Length: Full Length (240 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

When Valentina Tereshkova blasted off aboard Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963, she became the first woman to rocket into space. It would be 19 years before another woman got a chance—cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982—followed by American astronaut Sally Ride a year later. By breaking the stratospheric ceiling, these women forged a path for many female astronauts, cosmonauts, and mission specialists to follow.

Women in Space profiles 23 pioneers, including Eileen Collins, the first woman to command the space shuttle; Peggy Whitson, who logged more than a year in orbit aboard the International Space Station; and Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space; as well as astronauts from Japan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, France, and more. Readers will also learn about the Mercury 13, American women selected by NASA in the late 1950s to train for spaceflight. Though they matched and sometimes surpassed their male counterparts in performance, they were ultimately denied the opportunity to head out to the launching pad. Their story, and the stories of the pilots, physicists, and doctors who followed them, demonstrate the vital role women have played in the quest for scientific understanding.

Everything I thought I knew about the space program went out the window when I read this book.

This is a YA book, but it’s easily enjoyable by readers of all ages. The writing flows well and hooked me right away. I learned a lot about the women who’ve been to space. Not just that the US sent women, but the first women in Russia and across the globe. Sure, there is a large portion on US astronauts, but it’s balanced by plenty of stories about other female astronauts.

Each chapter is easily understood and well-written. I liked how the author made the women interesting and understandable. It’s not just a story where there is information and it’s presented blandly. Instead, it’s told in a bouncy way that drew me in.

I’m glad I read this book. I’ve wanted to know more about female astronauts and the space program, so this was a perfect piece to add to that puzzle. If you’re interested in the full story of space, this is one book you won’t want to miss.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Mercury 13 by Martha Ackmann

December 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Mercury 13 by Martha Ackmann
The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Non-Fiction, Historical
Length: Full Length (288 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America’s first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the boys’ club at NASA and on Capitol Hill. The USSR sent its first woman into space in 1963; the United States did not follow suit for another twenty years.

For the first time, Martha Ackmann tells the story of the dramatic events surrounding these thirteen remarkable women, all crackerjack pilots and patriots who sometimes sacrificed jobs and marriages for a chance to participate in America’s space race against the Soviet Union. In addition to talking extensively to these women, Ackmann interviewed Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, and others at NASA and in the White House with firsthand knowledge of the program, and includes here never-before-seen photographs of the Mercury 13 passing their Lovelace tests.

Despite the crushing disappointment of watching their dreams being derailed, the Mercury 13 went on to extraordinary achievement in their lives: Jerrie Cobb, who began flying when she was so small she had to sit on pillows to see out of the cockpit, dedicated her life to flying solo missions to the Amazon rain forest; Wally Funk, who talked her way into the Lovelace trials, went on to become one of the first female FAA investigators; Janey Hart, mother of eight and, at age forty, the oldest astronaut candidate, had the political savvy to steer the women through congressional hearings and later helped found the National Organization for Women.

A provocative tribute to these extraordinary women, The Mercury 13 is an unforgettable story of determination, resilience, and inextinguishable hope.

Thirteen women who wanted to go to space and the trials surrounding them. I never knew the full story. I know more of it now.

I’ve been on a space bender. I really have. I want to know as much as I can, even though I’m scared of heights and have no chance of ever going to space. Silly, right? Me, a girl who isn’t thrilled by heights wants to know about space. I do.

This book is interesting from the first page. I read it in an afternoon. The writing is such that I was sucked in right away and felt like I knew the women involved. I felt for Ruth Nichols, who wanted to go to space, but would never be able to and died affected by her lack of chances. Jerrie Cobb, the woman who showed women were perfectly suited for space and could be better than the men without being showy about it. I got emotionally involved in their stories.

If you’re looking for a book that reads like a novel and touches on the lives of the women who could’ve gone to space if the chances had come through, then this might be the book you’re looking for. Check it out!

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Chasing Shadows by Ken Hughes

November 22, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Chasing Shadows by Ken Hughes
The Nixon Tapes, the Chennault Affair, and the Origins of Watergate
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Genre: Non-Fiction, Historical, Politics
Length: Full Length (240 pgs)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

The break-in at Watergate and the cover-up that followed brought about the resignation of Richard Nixon, creating a political shockwave that reverberates to this day. But as Ken Hughes reveals in his powerful new book, in all the thousands of hours of declassified White House tapes, the president orders a single break-in–and it is not at the Watergate complex. Hughes’s examination of this earlier break-in, plans for which the White House ultimately scrapped, provides a shocking new perspective on a long history of illegal activity that prolonged the Vietnam War and was only partly exposed by the Watergate scandal.

As a key player in the University of Virginia’s Miller Center Presidential Recordings Program, Hughes has spent more than a decade developing and mining the largest extant collection of transcribed tapes from the Johnson and Nixon White Houses. Hughes’s unparalleled investigation has allowed him to unearth a pattern of actions by Nixon going back long before 1972, to the final months of the Johnson administration. Hughes identified a clear narrative line that begins during the 1968 campaign, when Nixon, concerned about the impact on his presidential bid of the Paris peace talks with the Vietnamese, secretly undermined the negotiations through a Republican fundraiser named Anna Chennault. Three years after the election, in an atmosphere of paranoia brought on by the explosive appearance of the Pentagon Papers, Nixon feared that his treasonous–and politically damaging–manipulation of the Vietnam talks would be exposed. Hughes shows how this fear led to the creation of the Secret Investigations Unit, the “White House Plumbers,” and Nixon’s initiation of illegal covert operations guided by the Oval Office. Hughes’s unrivaled command of the White House tapes has allowed him to build an argument about Nixon that goes far beyond what we think we know about Watergate.

Chasing Shadows is also available as a special e-book that links to the massive collection of White House tapes published by the Miller Center through Rotunda, the electronic imprint of the University of Virginia Press. This unique edition allows the reader to move seamlessly from the book to the recordings’ expertly rendered transcripts and to listen to audio files of the remarkable–and occasionally shocking–conversations on which this dark chapter in American history would ultimately turn.

A break-in, a botch job and a president.

Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn’t it? For Richard Nixon, this was part of his life. I picked up this book because I wanted to know more about the Anna Chennault connection to Nixon and his downfall. I’d seen a story on television and wanted to know more.

This book is unique. There are sections, but not really chapters. Fine, but it might be jarring to some readers. Still, the writing is crisp and easy to follow. There are the actual conversations, as per recordings, in the text. I liked that it wasn’t just someone’s opinion, but there were facts to back them up.

I learned a lot from this book. The connection to Chennault was strong–she helped as a go-between with the Vietnam War and the Vietnamese. Nixon was paranoid people were listening in, while he was doing the thing he didn’t want someone to do to him. Oh, and there was a lot of covering up going on.

If you want a book that reads a little like a text book, but gives a lot of information, then this might be the book for you. Gripping.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Near A Thousand Tables: A History of Food by Felipe Fernández-Armesto

November 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Near A Thousand Tables: A History of Food by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Publisher: The Free Press
Genre: Non-Fiction, Historical
Length: Full length (224 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

In Near a Thousand Tables, acclaimed food historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto tells the fascinating story of food as cultural as well as culinary history — a window on the history of mankind.

In this “appetizingly provocative” (Los Angeles Times) book, he guides readers through the eight great revolutions in the world history of food: the origins of cooking, which set humankind on a course apart from other species; the ritualization of eating, which brought magic and meaning into people’s relationship with what they ate; the inception of herding and the invention of agriculture, perhaps the two greatest revolutions of all; the rise of inequality, which led to the development of haute cuisine; the long-range trade in food which, practically alone, broke down cultural barriers; the ecological exchanges, which revolutionized the global distribution of plants and livestock; and, finally, the industrialization and globalization of mass-produced food.

From prehistoric snail “herding” to Roman banquets to Big Macs to genetically modified tomatoes, Near a Thousand Tables is a full-course meal of extraordinary narrative, brilliant insight, and fascinating explorations that will satisfy the hungriest of readers.

History is a wide-ranging topic, stretching around the globe and across all time, but what kind of history can anyone, from any time relate to? The history of food, of course.

Near A Thousand Tables: A History of Food is not a thick encyclopedia of all foods in all countries. It offers an overview and is a manageable and useful read. The book has the theme of Revolutions in food. For example, it starts out discussing the “The invention of cooking.” Other revolutions include “The meaning of eating,” “Breeding to eat” (herding animals), “The edible earth” (managing plants), and other fascinating insights such as how food played out socially (“Food and Rank”). There is something in this book to surely please a diverse audience.

The style is geared toward a general, adult audience and is intelligent. There are parts that are admittedly disturbing, such as the section on cannibalism. For those with Western food sensibilities, some of the descriptions are cringe-worthy.

This presentation is also chronologically-based. We go from the early eating of our ancient ancestors all the way through time to high cuisine. People will be able to find things throughout the book that they could relate to, but there are many revelations that will be new to almost anyone.

This is a good book, and those who love history or food should give this one a try.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Write It Down, Make It Happen by Henriette Anne Klauser

November 14, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Write It Down, Make It Happen by Henriette Anne Klauser
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Contemporary, Non-Fiction
Length: Full Length (247 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Ginger

A simple and effective guide to turning your dreams into reality by taking matters into your own hands, filled with down-to-earth tips and easy exercises.

In Write It Down, Make It Happen, Henriette Anne Klauser, PhD, explains how simply writing down your goals in life is the first step toward achieving them. Writing can even help you understand what you want. In this book, you will read stories about ordinary people who witnessed miracles large and small unfold in their lives after they performed the basic act of putting their dreams on paper. Klauser’s down-to-earth tips and easy exercises are sure to get your creative juices flowing. Before you know it, you’ll be writing your own ticket to success.

With Write It Down, Make It Happen you can find the perfect mate, buy your dream house, get a great new job, wake up happier, travel the world, or even have a better relationship with your teenager.

I’m not sure where I received the inclination to pick this book but I’m glad I did. The author’s writing was so welcoming and the way she structured the book I was able to complete the book on a lazy cold day. It seems such a simple thing to write down our thoughts and our goals but to put this simple task into action seems to be my biggest challenge. With the many notes that I wrote down for quick future reference and the wise advice I received from reading this book I felt energized and excited about putting the author’s teaching to good use. While reading I wasn’t only thinking about myself but my daughter who’s currently in nursing school, my son who’s a senior in high school and a friend of mine who’s been procrastinating on starting real estate school. I can’t wait to share the quotes and shared experiences that will surely be encouraging to those that I love and that perhaps need a positive push to keep going or to just start something getting out of their comfort zone.

I felt inspired and uplifted after reading this book. This is a book for anyone who is willing to see change in their life or circumstances. There is no set formality. The author’s simple requests are to date your writings and to keep writing. I like that the author didn’t only write a book on writing things down, she covered all aspects that someone interested in writing their own life script will be able to carry the task out successfully. The book includes stories and the outcome from ordinary people who have performed the basic act of putting their goals on paper. The book included questions that readers may have, and the author included answers and true personal examples that may help the readers see how an individual may be encouraged to clear their mind, identifying what they want and also know what to do when obstacles or fears may deter us.

Writing down your goals in life is the second step towards achieving them, reading this book should be the first step.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

November Book of the Month Poll ~ Siren’s Call: Cursed Seas by Amy McKinley

October 31, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Siren’s Call: Cursed Seas by Amy McKinley
Publisher: Champagne Books
Genre: Action/Adventure, Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
Length: Full length (223 pages)
Age Recommendation: 16+
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Chamomile

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Fate will not be denied.

Nerissa thinks she’s safe from the gods and elders that rule her village. She’s wrong. It’s only a matter of time before she is chosen to pay the ultimate price—her life.

For decades, the gods have protected the small seaside village where she lives. That’s about to end. Fishermen return with empty nets, trees cease to bear fruit, and the winds whisper of an ancient curse. There’s still hope that the offering of an unmarried woman will return the god’s favor.

As the maiden sacrifice nears Nerissa takes matters into her hands. All she needs is a husband to escape the terms of the offering. When she meets Zeer, a visiting fisherman, he sweeps her off her feet.

Are her prayers truly answered?

Everyone around her is keeping secrets, and there is no one left to rely on but herself. As the night ushers in a violent storm that echoes the god’s anger, she realizes the worst is yet to come. When the first rays of dawn arrive, a knock sounds at her door and she knows her entire world is about to turn upside down.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE!

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Horror, Mainstream Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Non-Fiction, Other, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: ,

Moonwalk: The Story of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing by David Jenkins

October 30, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Moonwalk: The Story of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing by David Jenkins
Publisher: Circa Press
Genre: Non-Fiction, Middle Grade
Length: Short Story (48 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 8+
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Written for children, but with parents very much in mind, this book tells the Apollo 11 story through the medium of artist Adrian Buckley’s atmospheric imagery. From President Kennedy’s call to put a man on the moon to the celebratory ticker tape parade in Manhattan, this is a story of three extraordinary men and their incredible achievement: Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Buzz Aldrin and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. On 21 July 1969, when Neil Armstrong opened the hatch in the Lunar Module and descended the ladder to set foot on the surface of the Moon, he became in an instant the greatest traveler in human history. Full of period detail and fascinating insights, this is a book to be explored and enjoyed.

The moonwalk aimed for children and explained in such a way anyone can understand. It works!

I’m not usually one for reading books for children, but that didn’t stop me from picking up this picture book. There are tidbits on each page that flow well and nicely explain the images. I learned more than a few things while reading this book. It’s explained and put in language a kid can understand, but doesn’t talk down to the younger reader.

One thing that is a tiny bit distracting–it was to me, but might not be for other readers–is the photos. Some are more like drawings and others actual photos. I didn’t mind the hybrid, but the thing that was odd was how the photos were edited, like editing Neil Armstrong out of the reflection on Buzz Aldrin’s helmet. Or the hyper realism on the Saturn V rocket, but the surrounding area is drawn. It’s a quibble that bothered me, but might be perfectly fine for other readers and isn’t something that should make you pass this book by.

I really enjoyed the snippets on the last couple of pages. The author included interesting facts about the mission, about the astronauts and NASA. The little tidbits are great points for discussion, even with smaller children.

If you’re looking for a book to introduce your younger reader to the space mission, Apollo 11, then this might be the book you’re looking for. Give it a try.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlyn Doughty

October 30, 2019 By 1 Comment


Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlyn Doughty
Publisher: WW Norton & Co.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (240 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Best-selling author and mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition.

Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. The best questions come from kids. What would happen to an astronaut’s body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral?

In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, Doughty blends her mortician’s knowledge of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five distinctive questions posed by her youngest fans. In her inimitable voice, Doughty details lore and science of what happens to, and inside, our bodies after we die. Why do corpses groan? What causes bodies to turn colors during decomposition? And why do hair and nails appear longer after death? Readers will learn the best soil for mummifying your body, whether you can preserve your best friend’s skull as a keepsake, and what happens when you die on a plane.

Beautifully illustrated by Dianné Ruz, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? shows us that death is science and art, and only by asking questions can we begin to embrace it.

I never thought a book about death would make me laugh out loud. This one did.

I picked up this book because it had the words cat, eat and eyeballs. It grabbed my attention, needless to say. I haven’t read anything else by this author, but this was funny and if this is her style for every book, then she’s worth checking out. The writing flowed well and reminded me of talking to a friend. The questions asked were worthy ones. What happens if you die on a plane? What about if you want to take Fido with you when you move and he’s been buried a while? Will you turn colors when you’re dead? Why was Grandma wearing a plastic sheet under her clothes in the casket? They’re valid questions.

I don’t know that I’d let a kid read this as it’s a little above their age range, but a teen would get a lot out of this book. Someone interested in learning about what happens when we die would get a lot out of it, too. It still can make death seem scary, but not as scary as it could’ve been.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The League of Wives by Heath Hardage Lee

October 22, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The League of Wives by Heath Hardage Lee
The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Genre: Historical Non-Fiction
Length: Full Length (336 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

The true story of the fierce band of women who battled Washington―and Hanoi―to bring their husbands home from the jungles of Vietnam.

On February 12, 1973, one hundred and sixteen men who, just six years earlier, had been high flying Navy and Air Force pilots, shuffled, limped, or were carried off a huge military transport plane at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. These American servicemen had endured years of brutal torture, kept shackled and starving in solitary confinement, in rat-infested, mosquito-laden prisons, the worst of which was The Hanoi Hilton.

Months later, the first Vietnam POWs to return home would learn that their rescuers were their wives, a group of women that included Jane Denton, Sybil Stockdale, Louise Mulligan, Andrea Rander, Phyllis Galanti, and Helene Knapp. These women, who formed The National League of Families, would never have called themselves “feminists,” but they had become the POW and MIAs most fervent advocates, going to extraordinary lengths to facilitate their husbands’ freedom―and to account for missing military men―by relentlessly lobbying government leaders, conducting a savvy media campaign, conducting covert meetings with antiwar activists, and most astonishingly, helping to code secret letters to their imprisoned husbands.

In a page-turning work of narrative non-fiction, Heath Hardage Lee tells the story of these remarkable women for the first time. The League of Wives is certain to be on everyone’s must-read list.

These women had guts. Period.

I can’t imagine being in the shoes of the League of Wives. Each woman’s husband has been captured in Vietnam and the wives don’t know what happened to them. Talk about stress. Like I said, I can’t imagine how they handled it.

The author handles this topic, the POWs and MIA soldiers in Vietnam with a special touch. The writing flows well and I got caught up in the struggle of each woman profiled. I had no idea how much Ross Perot or Bob Dole did for these soldiers and their family. I learned a lot through the reading of this book. A reader who lived through this era might not learn as much, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent.

This isn’t an easy read. Now I know that sounds strange. I just said the writing flows well, but then I said it’s not an easy read? The author shows how these women went through the wringer and how they did (or sometimes didn’t) handle the stress of their situation. It’s hard to read about women struggling to cope. They’ve got kids, family and their determination to get their husbands home. It’s a lot to handle. Some did. Some didn’t.

Give this book a try. It’s worth the read. Recommended.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien

October 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien
How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
Publisher: Eamon Dolan/Mariner Books
Genre: Historical, Non-Fiction
Length: Full length (382 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. While male pilots were lauded as heroes, the few women who dared to fly were more often ridiculed—until a cadre of women pilots banded together to break through the entrenched prejudice.

Fly Girls weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout from Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcée; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at her blue blood family’s expectations; and Louise Thaden, the young mother of two who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to fly and race airplanes—and in 1936, one of them would triumph, beating the men in the toughest air race of them all.

Five women wanting to own the sky.

I’ve been on a bender reading historical non-fiction books. I’m in awe of the space program, but this book shows where things all began–flight. When I saw the name Amelia Earhart, I thought, okay, this is about her big flight. But it’s really not. It’s about the women who wanted to learn to fly and were part of the twenty-nine who originally got pilots licenses when it wasn’t considered something women should do. I loved the pioneering spirit of these women and the “never give up” attitude.

The writing flowed well, but there were times when I wasn’t sure who I was reading about. The lead-up to the reveal about which woman was being spotlighted in any given chapter was a tad long. At times it read a bit like a textbook, but I wanted to know about these women, so I kept going.

I’ve heard of Earhart, but have you ever heard of Ruth Nichols? Louise Thaden? Ruth Elder? They were giants in airplane racing. Yeah, racing. Never heard of them? You should. If you read Fly Girls, you will. If you’re a fan of flight and pioneers in flight, then this might be the book for you.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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