Tell It to the World: an Indigenous Memoir

Tell It to the World: an Indigenous Memoir by Stan Grant

Pages: 255 pages

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A CNN correspondent shares the story of how he grew up in Australia and how even though he is now successful, growing up an Aboriginal Australian effected him. Grant shares his personal experiences with racism as a child through his adulthood. He found a route to self-worth through reading the writings of James Baldwin. He compares Australia's treatment of the Aborigines to America's treatment of Native Americans and blacks. 

I was unaware of this part of Australia's history. I knew that there were several Aboriginal tribes already living in Australia when Great Britain first sent settlers and then prisoners to live there. However, I did not know how the Aboriginals had been treated from the very beginning and how they are viewed as other, still today. 

He shares how the ongoing racism in Australia and the world continues to cause hardship, anger, and shame for him as an indigenous man. He argues that the effects of early colonialism and oppression are now everyday realties that have shaped countries and governments and we all have to realize this to change it. 

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Finest, Darkest Hour by Lynne Olson

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Finest, Darkest Hour by Lynne Olson

Author Lynne Olson details the story of how the U.S.'s "special relationship" with Britain came to be, told from the perspective of three American men who featured prominently in Britain during World War II: Edward R. Murrow, the head of CBS in Europe; Averell Harriman, who ran FDR's Lend-Lease program from its London base; and John Gilbert Winant, the U.S. ambassador to Britain.   

496 pages.

Leaving Everything Most Loved: Maisie Dobbs Book 10, by Jacqueline Winspear

Only a few months has elapsed since Maisie investigated the gruesome death of costermonger Eddie Petit, in 1933.  Her trustworthy assistant Billy Boggs was badly beaten during that investigation, leaving all of the investigative work to Maisie. She is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to England in the hopes of finding out who killed his sister two months previous. Scotland Yard failed to make any arrest in the case, and there is reason to believe they failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
The case becomes even more challenging when another Indian woman is murdered just hours before a scheduled interview. Meanwhile, unfinished business from a previous case becomes a distraction, as does a new development in Maisie's personal life.These novels have always considered the class stratification that is British life; Maisie has transcended both gender and class rules, but race enters the picture in this novel.  The British are clearly prejudiced against the Indians despite their colonization of the subcontinent.  Maisie does a brilliant job of putting the class and race hatred in its place as she solves this difficult crime.
Bringing a crucial chapter in the life and times of Maisie Dobbs to a close, Leaving Everything Most Loved marks a pivotal moment in this outstanding mystery series.
368 pages

Elegy for Eddie: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, Book 9, by Jacqueline Winspear

The time is early April 1933: To the costermongers of Covent Garden -- sellers of fruits and vegetables with horse-drawn carts on the streets of London - Eddie Pettit was a gentle soul with a near-magical gift for working with horses. When Eddie is killed in an especially violent accident, the grieving costers are deeply skeptical about the cause of his death. Who would want to kill Eddie -- and why?
Maisie Dobbs' father, Frankie, had been a costermonger, so she had known the men since childhood. She remembers Eddie fondly and is determined to offer her help. But it soon becomes clear that powerful political and financial forces are equally determined to prevent her from learning the truth behind Eddie's death. Plunging into the investigation, Maisie begins her search for answers on the working-class streets of Lambeth where Eddie had lived and where she had grown up.
The inquiry quickly leads her to a callous press baron; a has-been politician named Winston Churchill, lingering in the hinterlands of power; and, most surprisingly, to Douglas Partridge, the husband of her dearest friend, Priscilla. As Maisie uncovers lies and manipulation on a national scale, she must decide whether to risk it all to see justice done.
368 pages

Messenger of Truth: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

London, 1931. The night before an exhibition of his artwork opens at a famed Mayfair gallery, the controversial artist Nick Bassington-Hope somehow falls to his death. The police rule it an accident, but Nick's twin sister, Georgina, isn't so sure, so she calls on Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. It isn't long before the evidence surrounding Nick's death leads Maisie to the beaches of Dungeness in Kent and the underbelly of London's art world, in another confrontation with the perilous legacy of the Great War.
319 Pages

Among the Mad: Maisie Dobbs Novel, book 6, by Jacqueline Winspear

It's Christmas Eve 1931. On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. The following day, the prime minister's office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met - and the writer mentions Maisie by name. After being questioned and cleared by Detective Chief Superintendent Robert MacFarlane of Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch, she is drawn into MacFarlane's personal fiefdom as a special adviser on the case.
Meanwhile, Billy Beale, Maisie's trusted assistant, is once again facing tragedy as his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their young daughter, slips further into melancholia's abyss. Soon Maisie becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge and will to inflict death and destruction on thousands of innocent people.
303 pages

Pardonable Lies: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

A deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world. In accepting the assignment, Maisie finds her spiritual strength tested, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission also brings her together once again with her college friend Priscilla Evernden, who served in France and who lost three brothers to the war, one of whom, it turns out, had an intriguing connection to the missing Ralph Lawton.
359 pages

Birds of a Feather: A Maisie Dobbs Novel, by Jacqueline Winspear

Somehow I began this series with the second book, but one of the best features of the series is each book's ability to stand on its own.  Maisie is an intelligent, clever woman working as a private investigator and psychologist in and around London, during the period between the world wars. Her background makes her uniquely suited for the work; she began life under the stairs as a serving girl in a great house in London.  However, starved for knowledge, she would sneak up into the grand library and spend her nights reading, which came to the attention of her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton. She became Maisie's patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan's friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to complete her education. But when the first World War broke out, she lied about her age and went to the front as a nurse.  The station where she worked was destroyed by artillery fire leaving her injured and the doctor she had fallen in love with, a shell of a man.  The writer is vague about his injuries, but he remains in hospital the rest of his life, unable to speak.  Maisie returned to her studies and an apprenticeship with Maurice Blanche, which explains how she came to her career as an investigator with profiling skills.
In Birds of a Feather, it is spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. But what seems a simple case at the outset soon becomes increasingly complicated when three of the heiress’s old friends are found dead. Is there a connection between the woman’s mysterious disappearance and the murders? Who would want to kill three seemingly respectable young women? As Maisie investigates, she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.
320 pages

"Cold Feet" by Jay Northcote

Cute story about two college friends who get stuck in a cottage in the countryside of Wales over Christmas due to a snowstorm.  They find a kitty outside whose caretaker is the nearest neighbor, an elderly lady also alone for the holidays due to the weather, so they celebrate together.  But when Sam and Ryan return to school, will they still be friends or something more?  132 pages (Kindle edition).

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, narrated by Jim Broadbent

I loved this book!

Harold's been retired for six months when he gets a letter from a woman he used to work with.  Queenie is dying from cancer and just wrote to say goodbye.  Harold dashes off a quick reply but when he walks to the post office to mail the card, he suddenly decides to keep on walking.  I didn't have any idea how this journey would end but I wasn't disappointed.  I laughed; I cried; I was engrossed.. Jim Broadbent is Harold. 336 pages. 9 hours 57 minutes, unabridged.

Twopence to Cross the Mersey by Helen Forrester

Helen Forrester was the oldest daughter of a family living above its means.  When the Great Depression hit England, her family lost their home and everything they owned. Her father decided that a move to Liverpool would improved their circumstances. Twopence to Cross the Mersey, is Helen Forrester's account of the consequences to the family, and especially to her, of that fateful decision. After reading her story, you will never take hot water and soap for granted again. 405 pages.

The Facility, by Simon Lelic

Set in Britain in the near future, Arthur, a rather ordinary dentist, is suddenly picked up by Security forces and whisked away to a secret holding facility.  As he tries to puzzle out the reason for his detention, his estranged wife makes contact with a young journalist, and together they begin to search for Arthur.  The Facility is an old estate, hastily furnished and converted to a combined detention and hospital facility.  In the parallel stories, we find out that the detainees have a new, fatal, disease, for which there is no cure.  The government has taken advantage of new anti-terrorism laws that allow them to hold prisoners without explanation to prevent the spread of the disease; supposedly while they try to find a cure. All does not come out well in the end.  Well-plotted, with good sub-characters and dialogue and a good level of mystery and cynicism.  Read from an advance proof, scheduled for publication in September. Penguin, 340 pages.

The Art Detective Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures, by Philip Mould

Art is not generally a subject on which I would willingly spend time. This book, however, had just enough mystery, irreverence, adventure, and an element of Sherlock Holmes about it to hook and keep my interest. Mould, of Antiques Roadshow fame, outlines some of his more spectacular finds (and failures), and gives us some insight into how art discovery and dealing is done. I particularly liked how he included some of the specific details of how paintings can be verified, restored and faked.
audio: 7 hours
text: 261 pages

Caveat emptor, by Ruth Downie

This is book 4 of Downie's series featuring Ruso, the Roman doctor that has a knack for solving mysteries. This time, he's stationed called out to a smaller city outside Londinium to investigate the death of a tax collector. He has more to manage than in his adventure in Medicus. This time, he's married, and his wife accompanies him on the investigation. As a bonus, the author - who is also a librarian - helpfully provides additional resources to consult, should you want to read into the factual details of the history of the area.
audio: 11 hours
text: 338 pages

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

(Posted for Ann Roberts)

This book is a filled with humor and heart, which makes it a great feel-good story for the holidays.  The story is told entirely in the form of letters to and from a writer, her friend, her publisher, and a group of people that she comes to meet and love called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  The society is formed during the Nazi occupation of Guernsey, as a foil for regular social interaction between neighbors and friends, and although the group does read and discuss literature, it remains mainly a close network of friends dedicated to the care and well-being of each other.  London writer, Juliet Ashton, is drawn into the group by a chance communication from one of its members regarding a favorite author, Charles Lamb.  As Juliet learns more about the group through letters, she becomes interested a book about their story and decides to go and stay among them on Guernsey. There she finds not only true friendship, but the love of her life.  Great fun!  278 pages, paperback