Total Books: 5 Total Pages: 1563 Longest: 443 Shortest: 118
Genres: 5 (Fiction – 1, History – 1, Historical Fiction – 1, Mystery – 1, Science – 1)
Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson
Living near the Texas Gulf Coast all my life, I grew up with a healthy respect for tropical storms and hurricanes. Any trip to Galveston and its sea wall was a reminder of what happened that fateful summer of 1900 before the sea wall was built and the elevation of the island raised. Every hurricane season and especially around the anniversary of the 1900 storm for the past few years, this book has been mentioned by local weather forecasters, and I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to reading it as it was published in 1999!
It is both a history book and a science book. Understanding the perspectives of the known science, the theorized science, and how much was unknown about tropical storms was fascinating to me. Over the past 125 years, of course much has been learned, but every season it seems, there is a storm that surprises the modelers in its behavior, so there is still much to be discovered. The human story in the wrath and destruction of the “Great Storm of 1900” is heartbreaking, the loss of thousands of lives unimaginable. The “politics” within the National Weather Service (only 30 years old at the time) resonate today. Unfortunately, human nature does not seem to change.
This book is on my favorites list for this year’s reading.
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
The follow-up book to Stevenson’s Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, the narrator/protagonist, author/detective Ernest Cunningham, is enjoying his newfound celebrity as one of several notable authors invited to a crime-writers festival aboard Australia’s famous cross-country train between Darwin and Adelaide, known as The Ghan.
If you are already thinking about Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, then you are on the right track (pun intended!). Like the first book, Cunningham promises to follow the rules of the Golden Age of Crime writers, in telling the tale.
I found myself looking up The Ghan, its route, and price list – the luxury market indeed! It was also featured on the “Mighty Trains” TV series, Season 1 Episode 6, which can be found on YouTube and other platforms.
It was another engaging read and I’m looking forward to #3 – Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret.
The Etruscans: A Captivating Guide to the Etruscan Civilization of Ancient Italy That Preceded the Roman Republic
Earlier this year, I read Captivating History’s The Balkans in preparation for our Eastern European river cruise. It was a quick, short historical overview of that region. This fall we are planning a Mediterranean cruise with a stop at Civitavecchia (port for Rome). Instead of making the long day-trip from the port into Rome to only see one or two of its magnificent sites, we have opted for a private tour to see some of the nearby Etruscan sites. We will get to see Rome in more detail on a future trip.
We (Dave and I) first heard about the Etruscans watching a 2022 episode of Expedition Unknown which featured a Baylor-led Archeological dig focused on the Etruscans near San Giuliano. This Spring, they made a fascinating discovery of an intact tomb from the 7th Century BCE!
Thus, I went back to Captivating History for another quick study of the Etruscans with this book. It seems that knowledge of this group of people who controlled much of central Italy is still being developed, but what is generally accepted is that they were dominant between the 7th Century BCE until the 3rd Century BCE or so. Over the next couple of hundred years, they were defeated by the Romans who absorbed and assimilated them into their own culture. Therefore, many Etruscan influences can be found in various aspects of the Roman Empire and still today.
The Women of Arlington Hall by Jane Healey
Last month, I read Kate Quinn’s The Briar Club and noted that I hadn’t read many books set in the McCarthyism/Cold War era and should read some more! I didn’t realize when I wrote that, that this book on my list fit that bill!
While I was well familiar with England’s Bletchley Park and the code-breaking work done there, I had not heard about our own Arlington Hall code-breaking site in Virginia. A failing girls’ school taken over by the US Army Signals Intelligence Service during WWII, its primary focus turned to the Russian Section, which is where the protagonist, Cat, goes to work in 1947 to decipher Soviet messages from the war in an attempt to root out Soviet spies. Healey intertwines real historical figures with her fictional ones to create an intriguing peek inside the world of espionage in the late 1940s to early 1950s. Like all good historical novels, this one sent me chasing a few historical rabbits on the side while I read.
Summers at The Saint by Mary Kay Andrews
From the title, I expected another light-hearted beach read from Andrews, but similar to the last one I read in January, it also had a dark underside to it. I did not read the synopsis before digging into it or I would have been fully prepared! Still, I enjoy her writing-style, characters, and plot lines – even if I slightly misjudged this book by its cover – it’s still a good beach read!
The Saint, officially called St. Cecilia, is “a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper…”. That should be enough to hook you!
Until next time, read what pleases you!
Notes By Nancy 
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