Book Reviews for Enforced Isolation Reading

Since my 2020 Holiday Plans are traveling from the teapot in the kitchen to my reading chair in the living room, I am going to start posting book reviews. Although I am a dedicated child's storybook and cozy mystery reader, I have jumped into biographies.

Truevine by Beth Macy. True story of two brothers, a kidnapping and a mother's love. This book reads like a documentary. Two albino brothers in the Jim Crow South are kidnapped or sold by family into the traveling circuses of the era. The book is full of history and interviews. I kept flipping to the many referenced photos to familiarize myself with the people, the location and the conditions. I found the book very thought provoking and fascinating which made me spend much more time carefully reading every word than I normally do when I am reading light fiction. This will go on my reference shelf to read again.

Shopgirls by Ellee Seymour is a much lighter read. Ms. Seymour introduces us to several young women who leave school as young teens following WW2 to work in a posh upscale department store. We learn the workings and history of the store and follow each of their lives through family life, dating, marriage, children, sorrows and later life. No deep thinking required. I would call it cute and feel good and I am keeping it on my book shelf. This book includes some photos, too.

Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of the First Lady of Food by Susan Marks. I am waiting for this book to be delivered. It is the biography of a fictional character created in the 1920's by General Mills and traces the culinary and marketing history of the women of the home service department who signed her name. I am looking forward to reading this one.

While I am waiting for it to come, I am reading this "Noir Mystery" which is a little more gritty than I usually read. I found the author at the Zoom "Noir at the (Virtual) Bar: Mystery Writers of America, part of LitQuake, San Francisco's Literary Festival that went virtual last month. 

I have a feeling the story is not going to end well and I might be wondering about it for a while. I think it might be part of a series and I will have to decide whether to continue to see what else happens or move on to something happier. It is riveting.