I found this on one of the blogs I follow, Books are the New Black who found it at One Book More. It was originally created by Reviews from the Stacks, and the idea is to spell the month using the first letter of book titles.
FEBRUARY
It's always fun to look back on books I read, especially if you have such a nice prompt to bring back your memories.
F
Bradbury, Ray "Fahrenheit 451" - 1953
Shouldn't this be called Celsius 232? 😉 This story was written in the fifties, in the United States, at the height of the McCarthy era, when the fear of the communists during the Cold War was leading to almost witch-huntlike attacks on citizens. So, the society wants to banish books, wants to banish knowledge. Very significant even now.
E
George, Margaret "Elizabeth I" - 2011
The story of Elizabeth I. Told by "herself and her cousin Lettice", the granddaughter of her mother's sister. So we can see various sides of the Queen's life.
B
Faulks, Sebastian "Birdsong" - 1993
This book shows the tragedies of losing friends and loved ones in a war. This is still as true today as a hundred years ago. There are few war books that describe the feelings of the soldiers during their fights as good as this one.
R
Rutherfurd, Edward "Russka" - 1991
Like all the books by this author, an epic historical story. Edward Rutherfurd did a lot of research which resulted in a superb telling of one country's life and history.
U
Hanks, Tom "Uncommon Type" - 2017
Short stories by a famous author. All they have in common, in every single one of them, there is a typewriter, mostly an older one, not an electric one, not a computer, no, one of those nice old mechanical ones.
A
McCourt, Frank "Angela's Ashes" - 1996
A wonderful autobiography, so vivid. And miserable. What a miserable life. But there is also hope in this story.
R
Tademy, Lalita "Red River" - 2007
The author tells the story of her father's ancestors, the family that came all the way from Egypt as free men only to be turned into slaves in the States. The story begins after the Civil War when the slaves have officially been freed but white supremacists don't want to accept that, so there is still a long struggle ahead of them.
Y
Singer, Isaac Bashevis "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy" - 1983
A fantastic (too short) story about a girl who has to disguise herself as a boy in order to learn something. Sounds familiar? These girls still exist today. Also made into a great movie.
Great books you found for this month. Birdsong is a wonderful book. I have had Russka on my shelves for many years, but still not read it. I think I dread the small text in the thick book.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisbeth. I try to find the best books that fit a challenge. Doesn't always work but since the year is fresh, I haven't used up all those good books with "E" or "R". LOL
DeleteI totally understand your apprehension to start "Russka". My print was really small because I got it from a friend who didn't want to read it herself. But since I love anything by Edward Rutherfurd and didn't want to by a book I already have because of a larger print, I had to read it at some point.
I will get to it one day.
DeleteMaybe on one of your long holidays, Lisbeth, when you're in the middle of nowhere having nothing else to do? LOL
Delete