Gift of Rain

 Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits.

In 1939, sixteen-year-old Philip Hutton-the half-Chinese, half-English youngest child of the head of one of Penang's great trading families-feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities. He at last discovers a sense of belonging in his unexpected friendship with Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat. 

Mary just sent me an e-mail that she had read this book because of my recommendation.  It reminded me of how much I liked the book when I read it.  I actually read this book in paper format.  I would be happy to loan it out if someone wants to read it.....unless I gave it to Mary.

Follow the River

It is hard to believe that I have never read this book before!  I have owned it for many years and the subject is of great interest to me!  However, I finally bought it via audible and it is the book of the month for me.  Great book!  Well written!  I sometimes wish to not spend quite so much time on the trail in the beginning of the book.  However, the author has a story to tell and many details to include.

For sites that give more information on this book:

The author's site:
http://www.jamesalexanderthom.com/river.html

Wikipedia about the event in Draper's meadows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draper's_Meadow_massacre

Information on Wikipedia about Mary Engles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Draper_Ingles

WV Archives information:
http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/ingles1.html

Mary Engles Trail Blazers site:
http://maryinglestrailblazers.homestead.com

                              Information from the National Park Association
                              http://www.nps.gov/neri/historyculture/mary-draper-ingles.htm

                              WV Scenic Trails information:
                              http://gis.wvdot.com/gti/Trails/images/Mary%20Ingles%20Trail%20proposed.pdf

                              Information from a descendant of Mary Engles:
                              http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/draper.html

                           
An account by Luther Addington for the Historical Society of Southwestern VA
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vahsswv/historicalsketches/captivityinglesmary.html

The account written by her son, John, born after her return from captivity:
http://boonecountykyhistory.org/pages/--the-story-of-mary-draper-ingles-by-john-ingles-son.php

On some of these pages is found the photo of the cabin in which Mary was living when the Massacre happened in Drapers Meadows:

and several of the sites show the map of Mary's trip home:

I had to turn the book off yesterday when the Indians were sorting out the prisoners in the big meeting place.  My imagination was too vivid in worrying what might happen to some of them.  But when I finally turned it back on and finished hearing about the ceremony, understanding the finality of the sorting made it easy to know how Mary would try to escape.  When I was researching the Clendenin event, I found it hard to believe that Ms. Clendenin would leave her children and escape on the trail.  It is said that Ms. Clendenin had heard the stories told about Mary's escape and trip home.  If that was true, I can see how one might leave one's children.  Mary was separated from her boys and her daughter had been practically adopted by a squaw.  She realized how hopeless her situation was in the Indian towns.
   

I am Livia

I liked this book a lot even though I found the end of it a bit tedious.  Ms. Smith has a wonderful imagination and is able to make Livia come to life.  At the end of the book, one knows that the author has chosen a viewpoint of Livia's life to depict that might or might not be true.  But I like the fact that Phyllis Smith chose to depict Livia as she believed she REALLY was.  And I have an understanding of an era of history that I knew absolutely nothing about before I read this book.  I am happy to share this book with anyone who would want to read it.

For my own benefit I will add a few reviews of the book below that explain the historic setting.

 A Misunderstood Villainess?, April 1, 2014

By 

C.R. Hurst

...

This review is from: I Am Livia (Kindle Edition)

 Having been a fan of the TV series and book, I Claudius, I recognized Livia as the wife of Augustus Caesar and mother to Tiberius Caesar who reportedly poisoned anyone who stood in the way of her ambition. The book does not disappoint, though the author, Phyllis T. Smith, takes a decidedly more understanding look at Livia than other historical accounts. In this historical fiction we hear the story of Livia through her own voice, from her early years as the precocious daughter of a prominent Roman family who learns not to utter "foolish truths" but instead to take "perverse pleasure in pretense". We see her rapid rise to power by marrying Octavian, who, after defeating Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, becomes "First Citizen" of Rome. Through it all, Smith reveals Livia as intelligent, scheming, and ruthless but curiously sympathetic, thanks in large part to the author's vivid first person narration. We can better understand Livia's methods, even though we should disapprove of them. I found I Am Livia an intelligent and engaging look at one of history's most notorious and perhaps most misunderstood women.

Now my own comments.  The author explains the ridiculous notion that Livia poisoned her opponents in a way that makes so much sense that one can not even begin to believe that the poison allegations could have been true.  I just plain like the character that Ms. Smith has drawn.  I would have trouble ever making her a villain in my thoughts.  And I had a lot of fun spending a bit of time in this era of Rome.

Ender's Game

Below is a review taken from another site:

Ender's Game (1985) is a military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the "Buggers", an insectoid alien species. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including the novel's protagonist, Ender Wiggin, are trained at a very young age through increasingly difficult games including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.

The book has become suggested reading for many military organizations, including the United States Marine Corps.^[4] Ender's Game won the 1985 Nebula Award for best novel^[5] and the 1986 Hugo Award for best novel.^[6] Its sequels, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind and Ender in Exile, follow Ender's subsequent travels to many different worlds in the galaxy. In addition, the later novella A War of Gifts and novel Ender's Shadow take place during the same time period as the original.  

My own review:

I read this book via audible.com in April 2014.  I have always liked Science Fiction and I enjoyed reading it very much.  Very entertaining.  Didn't like the last chapters as much as the earlier part of the book.

Carminow

 Nancy Magnuson and I worked together on a slideshow of the Great Wagon Road for the Homecoming at Bush River several years ago.  We discovered that although we did not have Bush River ancestors in common, we did share Coffin ancestors.  Nancy contacted me via e-mail this week to recommend the book Carminow by Elsie Balme.   I have not yet quite figured out the relationship of our mutual Coffin family to this line for myself, but I'll add that information as I get my head together on it.

I decided to put the information about my relationship to this family in a different blog post that can be found at:

http://www.marshamoses.blogspot.com/2014/06/coffin-family-of-nantucket.html

 I was disappointed that audible did not have this book available.  However, I bought it for Kindle for $4.99....quite the bargain!  The book is very well written and engaging.  I found myself reading in bed until late last night.  I'll add to this post as I read and finish the book.

Another e-mail that I sent to Nancy:

I am just beginning the book tonight.  Couldn't help but tell you that after even just a few pages, I read that there is a possible connection to the Ferrer family with Carminow.  I descend from Farrar in Virginia.....I am sure that it is connected.  I'll take a look when I get a chance and get back with you.  marsha  (anyone else reading this, remember that this is VERY iffy!....have done absolutely no research on this.....just didn't want to loose the thought)

http://patp.us/reading/cornish2.aspx

Finally finished the book in Nov 2014.  I liked the book.  I wish that I had taken the time to figure more of the history out as I went along.  Some of the main themes of the book from my perspective are:  The craziness of having to marry in one's own social strata vs. the craziness of willing sexual partners close to home who were not marriage material because of not being in the social class of the partner....too many illegitimate children because of this problem.

Roger de Carminow was the heir to his father's estate.  His brother was better at managing the estate because he was on the grounds and paying attention while Roger was off to the Crusades or fighting beside his English king, Edward.

The prologue was very appealing....the effigies made at the death of Roger and Joanna were being carted to a more suitable place after having rested in the Chapel on their property for 300 years.  It appealed to me that someone cared enough to move them to a proper chapel when their own resting place had become a home for cattle....It is what we are supposed to do....revere the dead even when we don't really remember who they were...

One more thought that I don't want to loose....need to check my understanding.  Near the end of the book Roger and his two sons go to fight with Edward against the Scots John Balliol....this would have been late 1200's.....and the author has Roger thinking in Chapter 22 about the the battle that had just taken place:

This was no knightly, chivalrous joust; this was blood for blood; slaughter for slaughter; a war of revenge upon the innocent for the acts of the guilty.  But who were the guilty?  The Scottish lords, for usurping John Balliolo?  Or Balliol himself, for being weak?  Was Edward to blame, for interfering in Scottish affairs?  Yet if he did not do so, what anarchy might not ensue?  An what of the French King, Philip, sitting a safe distance and urging his new-found Scottish allies to perpetrate what atrocities they would, in order that Edward's position in Europe might be weakened?  Guilt, Roger told himself lay not upon one, but upon all.  ....."All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God."  Surely this was never more true than in this war, where revenge seemed heaped upon revenge, and thousands of innocent people were losing their lives in the achievement of so little.

The Firebird

I am reading the Firebird by Susanna Kearsley via audible in my car.  As I have said before, Romance is not my favorite genre.  However, the Jacobite uprising ARE one of my favorite subjects.  And I like having history poured into my head with sugar coating.....that is understanding what was going on by looking at someone's life in the time period.  Susanna Kearsley does that very well.  I would never have known that the Scots were in so many places  in the time period just after 1712.  I would never have known the facts that I now know about the building of St Petersburg in Russia.  So I will repeat, while I do not love the Romance genre, I am enjoying this book!


*Starred Review* Authentic historic detail, a touch of the paranormal, and romance come together with a synergistic effect in versatile Kearsley’s (The Rose Garden, 2011) lovely and memorable novel. Nicola Marter works for a London gallery. She not only holds master’s degrees in Russian studies and art history; she also has the secret ability to hold an object and see past events. When a woman comes in with a small carved bird, Nicola has a vision of the Empress Catherine giving it to a young woman named Anna. With no documented provenance, the carving is worthless to collectors, and Nicola feels impelled to authenticate it. Impulsively, she heads to Scotland and enlists the assistance of Rob McMorran, to whom she was attracted when she met him in a psychic study. Even though Nicola can practice psychometry, she knows that Rob’s much stronger psychic powers will be invaluable. Together they embark on a journey that takes them to Ypres and Saint Petersburg and opens a window onto the early eighteenth century and the plight of Jacobites as they unravel Anna’s story. --Diana Tixier Herald

Abundance

By Peter H. Diamanis and Steven Kotler

We will soon be able to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp. This bold, contrarian view, backed up by exhaustive research, introduces our near-term future, where exponentially growing technologies and three other powerful forces are conspiring to better the lives of billions. An antidote to pessimism by tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler. 

Since the dawn of humanity, a privileged few have lived in stark contrast to the hardscrabble majority. Conventional wisdom says this gap cannot be closed. But it is closing—fast. The authors document how four forces—exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion—are conspiring to solve our biggest problems. Abundance establishes hard targets for change and lays out a strategic roadmap for governments, industry and entrepreneurs, giving us plenty of reason for optimism.

Examining human need by category—water, food, energy, healthcare, education, freedom—Diamandis and Kotler introduce dozens of innovators making great strides in each area: Larry Page, Steven Hawking, Dean Kamen, Daniel Kahneman, Elon Musk, Bill Joy, Stewart Brand, Jeff Skoll, Ray Kurzweil, Ratan Tata, Craig Venter, among many, many others. 

This book also held my attention for the entire drive home from JAX in March 2014.  I liked it and was never enticed to turn it off and "listen to the music".  Some of my favorite ideas:  The photo above reminds one of the story that the authors told about aluminum.  Once more precious than gold....now it is "throw away".  Abundance.  

I also liked the story about the fact that if everyone gave up TV for one weekend and did something to make the planet better, the new ideas and progress made would be stupendous in scope.

Another story I liked was about the two shoe salesmen who fly into a undeveloped part of the world.  One looks around and says:  "No one wears shoes here.  I am out of here!  This is not a place I am likely to be successful"  The other one sends message home:  "No one wears shoes here.   This is an amazing market opportunity!  I may never come home!"

Some of the farming ideas made me think that perhaps I am too old to change some of my habits, but many of the ideas were amazing.  Can I really eat cultured meat?  Hmmmmmm.....we'll see.