Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

A Piece of the World

I usually dislike fictional memoirs, but this was our April choice. I did the barest amount of research into the painting before starting it...I thought it would help me like it more if I at least saw the painting, but I didn't want to know the true stories or people behind the book. I wanted the book to tell me. Wow. I loved this book. There was a real sense of place I felt, and the characters were all so real. Now that I am finished this book, I will read more about the painter and his muse. I devoured it in a day!

I just finished The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd and it was really good! It's based on the life of Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Southern-born gentry to went on to become abolitionists and some of the first advocates of women's rights. It's split between Sarah and the slave given to her at age 11, Handful.

What are you reading for this category?
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann



Which event is your story based on?
The serial killings of a number of Osage Native people during the 1920s, and the subsequent investigation by a fledgling section of the Department of Justice - the Bureau of Investigation.

- What are you reading for this category?
I read Trauma Room Two
- Which event is your story based on?
This story was not based on any one big event in history, but based on the author's experiences as an emergency room doctor.

- What are you reading for this category?
A Farewell to Arms

- Which event is your story based on?
The Italian campaign of WWI

Optional questions:
- What are you reading for this category?

Rilla of Ingleside by L M Montgomery

- Which event is your story based on?
The events in this novel take place during World War 2

I read The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz for Week 5. I loved the raw emotion that this book brought. It was truly a feat of strength to have endured what this man has endured.

This book was about Slavomir's escape from a Russian prisoner of war camp and his journey to safety in India.

What are you reading for this category?


- Which event is your story based on?
The murders of the Osage people and the investigation of the FBI.

I'm reading True History of the Kelly Gang and I'm loving it so far!

It's based on Ned Kelly, the famous Australian outlaw.

What are you reading for this category?
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

Which event is your story based on?
The author was inspired by accounts in a 19th century newspaper of sightings of a serpent in the waters off Essex.

What are you reading for this category?

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

- Which event is your story based on?

It's a series of essays and commentary about Obama's election and presidency, and how it lead to the election of Trump. It's not really a story, it's essays, but it's a book about real events so I figure it counts.

- What are you reading for this category? Psycho by Robert Bloch

- Which event is your story based on? Real life murderer Ed Gein

What are you reading for this category? For my 2nd challenge, I am reading Latin American Writers.
- Which event is your story based on? Not an event but, rather, a collection of short biographies of several famous Latin American authors.

- What are you reading for this category?
Silent Song by Jaci Wheeler

- Which event is your story based on?
I may have stretched the topic a little, but I'm okay with that. Silent Song is a fiction story written about deaf boy Barrett, written by a deaf author Jaci Wheeler. It is her first book about the deaf community, and is inspired by her life, living as a deaf person around the hearing. There is one part in there which happened to her (in a slightly different way). Parts of the book were written in ASL (American sign language), which is different to English.

I've just read The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. I have read several of her non-fiction historical books but this is a novel based on what could have happened to Queen Elizabeth I as a teenager. I enjoyed it, adds a different twist to the known facts.

- What are you reading for this category?
I read The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. It is historical fiction, so it isn't strictly the retelling of events, but since Ms. Kearsley's research is impeccable and she uses actual people who lived during the time, I think you can say it was "inspired" by the real events.

- Which event is your story based on?
The failed attempt in 1708 to put James Stewart back on the throne of Scotland.

This is one where I read my original but swapped it to the murder category. In place, I read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, which I had originally planned for the hardship prompt.

This book is about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the effects of the fooding on the hospitals in the 9th ward in New Orleans. The hospital's lost generator power since the power supplies were located in the lower levels, and the rescue efforts were not organized for a disaster of this magnitude. It took days to coordinate and carry out rescue efforts. Scary stuff indeed, but what was worse is that this particular hospital actually euthanized some of the critically ill ( or too difficult to move) patients. I was sick to my stomach reading this. Just ..There. Are. No. Words.

I recommend this to any of you non fiction readers. Sad and scary, but super important and fascinating. I learned things about hospital disaster planning that in my 16 years of ICU nursing I was never told about. And that is is the problem :-(

For our picture book we read Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau and learned about ...Jaques Cousteau's life and conservation efforts. I thought my environmentalist minded older daughter would appreciate this but she really didn't, and my little one just really like the pull out page in the center with the underwater scene because.... animals. Personally I'm all about ocean conservation and saving the reefs so I would love to read a grown up version of this type of story.

What are you reading for this category? The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X with Alex Haley

Which event is your story based on? Considered a spiritual conversion narrative and coauthored by Alex Haley, it's the life story of human rights activist Malcolm Little (Malcolm X) published after his assassination in 1965.

Pam wrote: "I've been wanting to read True History of the Kelly Gang for awhile so I'm slotting it here! It's a classic outlaw tale of an Australian criminal, whom I've never heard of. It sounds ..."

I loved this book!