Another month down means it’s time for another monthly reading wrap-up! I read seven books during the month of March!

I don’t do monthly TBRs because I’m ridiculously spontaneous when it comes to picking which books to read next. Sometimes it takes me three or four tries to settle on one book versus another. So my monthly wrap-ups should be as much of a surprise to my readers as they are to me!

My ratings are on a five-star scale with one being the worst and five being the best.

⭐: Basically this means I didn’t finish it

⭐⭐: I finished it, but wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to others

⭐⭐⭐: It was ok and I would consider recommending it to others under certain circumstances

⭐⭐⭐⭐: I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to others

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: I loved it and it has become a favorite book, or at least one I think everyone should read. I would consider reading it more than once.

---

Title: Washington’s General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution

Author: Terry Golway

Genre: Biography, historical non-fiction

Published: 2004

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love me some Nathanael Greene. There’s something about him that’s always drawn me to him. Born and raised a Quaker in Rhode Island, he eschewed his rigid religious upbringing to join the Rhode Island militia. Despite a limp and asthma, at the ripe old age of 33, he found himself a brigadier general in the Continental Army, going from private to general overnight. Literally. (Such was the state of the Continental Army.) Highly esteemed and trusted by General Washington, Greene was part of almost every major battle of the Revolution. He was sent south in 1780 as the third commander of the southern army after the Americans were thrashed at Camden. Though all his southern engagements were either tied or lost, he managed to beat the British back to Charleston and was at least partially responsible for Cornwallis eventually seeking refuge in the ill-fated Yorktown. Nathanael Greene and his literal ragtag army saved the south during the American Revolution and thus, the Revolution itself.

Edit: Imagine my shock when two weeks after reading the book and writing the above review, I discovered I am in fact related to Nathanael Greene. He’s basically a cousin. That explains so much…🤦🏼‍♀️

Title: Rise to Rebellion

Author: Jeff Shaara

Genre: Historical fiction

Published: 2001

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s rare that I give a historical fiction novel five stars, but this one earned it. The book primarily follows the lives of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, British General Thomas Gage, and eventually George Washington from the day of the Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) to the approval of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. With appearances of others, such as Sons of Liberty Sam Adams, Joseph Warren, and John Hancock, as well Massachusetts royal governor Thomas Hutchinson, the novel covers the events that led to the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Port Bill, and the fiery orations of the Sons of Liberty that contributed to the inevitable clash between British troops and rebel militia at Lexington and Concord. It was no decisive, obvious, or easy road to the Declaration, as two Continental Congresses spent months agonizing over how to move forward. Once the men in Philadelphia had effectively signed their own death warrants by signing the declaration, it was then up to the Continental Army, this ragtag group of farmers, merchants, and fisherman to learn to fight for independence as one army representing one nation.

Title: My Mother’s Secret: A Novel Based on a True Holocaust Story

Author: J.L. Witterick

Genre: Historical fiction

Published: 2013

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I managed to devour this little gem in a few hours. Don’t be fooled by its 195 pages; it’s written with a very YA look and feel, but reads like a collection of short stories that happen to intertwine. It’s based on the true story of Franciszka Halamajowa and her daughter Helena, who saved the lives of fifteen Jews in Poland during WWII. While hiding multiple Jewish families in different parts of her house, she additionally hid a young German soldier in her attic! None of these people knew about the presence of the other families in hiding until Russia liberated their town of Sokal in Poland in July 1944. This was a beautiful, poignant, and simply written story of what it might have been like for those in hiding, as well as for those hiding them. “I think it simply came down to not being able to turn away people who would have otherwise faced a certain death. Does that make us exceptional? Or is it only exceptional because so many others chose not to do the same thing? The standard defines the exception. We did not think of ourselves as extraordinary. All we knew was that we needed to be strong to see it through, and thankfully we did.”

Title: A Lucky Child: A Memoir Of Surviving Auschwitz As A Young Boy

Author: Thomas Buergenthal

Genre: Memoir

Published: 2010

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This didn’t quite turn out as I was expecting it to, but I suppose that made it better. Tommy Buergenthal was not even six years old when he and his parents were forced into a Jewish ghetto in Poland. By the time he was ten, his family was transported to Auschwitz and he was separated from his parents. When Auschwitz was evacuated ahead of the Russian army advance, Tommy marched on what became known as the Auschwitz Death Transport, eventually arriving at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which was later liberated by the Russians. Unsurprisingly, there aren’t too many details about the time Tommy spent in the camps, as he was so young at the time. But the story of his survival, and the eventual triumph of his career (I won’t spoil it) made this a touching and effective read.

Title: The Tattooist Of Auschwitz 

Author: Heather Morris

Genre: Historical fiction

Published: 2018

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

This new novel, based on a true story, was originally written in screenplay format. I think it would have been better served had it remained that way, as least in the hands of this author. Don’t get me wrong, I admire Heather Morris for all those precious hours she spent with Lale Sokolov, trying to piece together what fit where in the overall story of history. This story needed to be told, and thank goodness someone was able to do that. But as it doesn’t seem the author is comfortable writing prose, the characterizations were nearly nonexistent. (I understand in some ways they had to be because the fate or even the names of certain individuals were not known). But couldn’t we have been told more about Lale and his background in the beginning? Instead, all those relevant details were found after the epilogue, after the author’s note, stuck in a sectional entitled Additional Information. I feel like I didn’t get to know the characters at all and wasn’t invested in them fighting for their survival. I know Auschwitz-Birkenau were terrible places, but I got little sense of what dangers awaited the prisoners each day. I love what this story could have been had it been told in a more engaging way.

Title: Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe In Women’s Pain

Author: Abby Norman

Genre: Memoir

Published: 2018

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

You can read my full review here. I wrote a separate post about this book because March was Endometriosis Awareness Month and the book has to do with the author’s diagnosis of endometriosis. Despite my three stars, I really recommend this book. Its analysis of the history of women’s pain and the ridiculous treatments associated with it is fascinating. I did find the book lacking in its recommendations for proper treatment of endometriosis, which for me was enough to knock it down a star. But I would like to add that after I posted my separate review, the author of the book, Abby Norman, found it on Twitter and responded very graciously to my criticisms. That is truly the mark of a mature and down-to-earth author.

Title: Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

Author: Jennifer Wright

Genre: Medical history

Published: 2017

Rating: ⭐⭐

I struggled to make it through this book. The premise was very interesting and I love books about medical history. But this book was truly awful. Now, it did offer a general overview of plagues ranging from the bubonic plague to smallpox to the Spanish flu to polio. (Never mind the chapter about lobotomies.) But the writing was so juvenile, it was painful to read. And she seemed to have a strange affinity for short, declarative statements! Several! In a row! Followed by exclamation points! There was nothing in-depth or profound in this book. One can only read so many statements along the lines of, “So plagues are totally, like, not cool, guys. Like, seriously. They’re not. If you don’t believe me, go ask the people who died from them. Oh wait, you can’t. Because they’re dead.” The entire book was written in this vein. If you value your sanity, don’t read this book.

💛ribbonrx