colophon: a statement at the end of a book, typically with a printer's emblem, giving information about its authorship and printing.

I don't have a printer's emblem, unless you count my gecko, but otherwise colophon seems to fit our monthly wrap ups pretty well.

I read 24 books this month, mostly in a the-game-is-almost-over rush to squeeze as much in as possible.  It's no longer practicable, sadly, to easily keep up with the number of pages read, because of at least two anthologies I only dipped into, rather than reading completely.

I had a great quality reading month with 2 Five-star reads and 7 four-and-a-half star reads. Far and away my favourite was Please Mr. Einstein by Jean-Claude Carrière.  

I had just one 1-star read, Assault and Beret by Jenn McKinlay  and it's already in the black box and a distant memory.

How was everyone else's reading month?

My problem with history books, generally speaking, until recently, was the most of them tended to focus on statistics in one form or another (dates, battles, treaties, laws, etc) and very rarely about the people, the culture.  One without the other is history without context and as such either put me to sleep or went in one ear and out the other.

But I've always had more than a bit of hero worship for Abraham Lincoln.  Just looking at his portraits, there is something compelling to his visage, something that implies the hidden depths are deep indeed.

So when I heard about this book, it sounded like just the thing I was looking for: mostly contemporaneous anecdotes of Lincoln, told by those that loved him, worked with him, or worked for him - and a few by those that worked against him.  Short of asking Lincoln's cat what he thought of him, I can think of no better way of really learning the true quality of the man himself than from what his friends and opponents thought of him.

Holzer puts together a slim but comprehensive volume of such anecdotes, groups by relationship to Lincoln: family, friends, press, etc.  In the introduction and at the end in the author's notes he is clear that the collection is but a drop in the bucket, but is representative of the whole, and that he has left each alone save for editing for readability (i.e. swapping em dashes for periods to comply with modern grammar).

By far the most eloquent of the pieces, and likely my favourites on first reflection, are those written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass.  Beecher Stowe for her beautiful writing, Truth for her passion and grace, and Douglass for his honesty.  My least favourite, although Holzer gets credit for avoiding bias, are two excerpts from John Wilkes Booth; it brings balance to the work, but feels blasphemous somehow, to include his assassin's memories.

The number one thing in common amongst all these anecdotes - whether the writer admired or reviled Lincoln: that he was honest, kind and moral.   How many historical figures have the respect of their detractors?  

I read this for the Optional 4th of July Main Street Read for space #13.  Pages: 262

EDITED to reflect the books I plan on reading after correcting the error I made on the game board that Ani's Book Abyss thankfully pointed out to me.

I have options.  I get angsty if I don't have a wide choice of books when I travel, so I've chosen more than one for each category, allowing me to pick according to my mood.

For the first square, A book set in Africa or Asia, or a book with an exotic animal on the cover I have three options:

I'm not sure animals get more exotic than the Platypus and after getting to swim and play with one last year, I'm besotted with them.  This book might be the driest of the bunch though, so if it fails to hold my holiday brain's attention I also have Darjeeling: A History of the World's Greatest Tea which is set in India and fits for Asia.  But just in case I'm feeling the need for something else again, I have My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs; dinosaurs certainly qualify as exotic animals don't you think?  And it's supposed to be a humorous as well as educational, read.

To offset the non-fiction spree I have going on above, for my free space I've chosen two chick-lit type reads

This is where I went wrong on the board - I should have rolled the dice to determine where I go from the Free Space: Water Works, Electric Company or Luxury Tax.  I rolled an even number so I'm on Electric company.  Finally!  And one of my book selections for the Space space (which no longer applies) fits here, so I'm keeping it, but I'm also adding Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life by Helen Czerski  in case the first doesn't hold my attention.

After adjusting my rolls to compensate for the Electric Company space, I ended up needing a book about Lincoln and a book set on an island or with the ocean on the cover.  My Lincoln read was easy as I've been waiting to land on this space so I could start Lincoln as I Knew Him: Gossip, Tributes, and Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemies.  The book set on an island stumped me momentarily until I spied This Rough Magic, which takes place on the island of Corfu (and has an ocean or sea on the cover).

I'm doing the buddy read with Moonlight Reader that starts on the Wednesday (June 14th) but I'll do it outside of BookLikes-opoly.  If anyone would like to join us in a read of The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart, I hope will; it's a classic mystery with a surprising amount of humour.  I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm not, however, looking forward to the weight of my carry on luggage.  Luckily for MT, it has wheels.  :)

So after all that cleaning and tidying of the library last weekend I felt the need to undo all my good work, and went on a small binge.  Ok, medium sized binge.  The first batch arrived today, which was pretty good timing because a trip to the city centre of Melbourne had me pretty cranky with humanity.

Normally, I'd include a pic of the books, but, while my library might be tidy, my coffee table is absolutely not and I'm not letting y'all see my mess.  

A bit of everything in this box, including Living With Books, which is probably what I'm looking forward to most, and the title that will surprise everyone the least. 

Here's hoping everyone has a lovely weekend!

I have to admit, I'm not as interested in the US Civil War as I ought to be, both as an American and as a "Southerner".  Perhaps it's too far removed from my reality.  I certainly haven't ever bought into the inanity that is "The South Shall Rise Again", so perhaps a measure of my apathy comes from living in a place that had its share of rednecked gits (multicultural insults anyone?).  

Doesn't really matter - I wanted to start filling in the gaps of my ignorance about this era and I thought this book might be the way to do it.  I found the British Museum's History of the World in 100 Objects to be brilliant, and I bought 50 Objects with enthusiasm.

Overall, my expectations were met; I learned a lot and I have a much better mind for the time frame and timeline of the Civil War.  Through the objects and their descriptions, I gained a bit more connection to this part of America's history.  I'm less apathetic than I was, although I'm safe from Civil War re-enactments for the foreseeable future.  The majority of the objects chosen were slavery and emancipation related, which makes sense given it was the defining issue of the Civil War, but I think the single entry I found most fascinating was the newspaper published on the back of wallpaper.  The story of paper and ink shortages, and how people 'made do' was compelling.

I found the writing a bit dry.  Mr. Holzer did his research and overall the text is very readable, but his passion for the times (if he has any) wasn't evident in his narratives.  What was very obvious was his passion for the New York Historical Society.  I will go so far as to say that at times he was downright boastful about the Society and it's collections - pointing out that the object was very rare, but the society had multiple copies.  I also noticed that every single object selected was in absolutely pristine condition.  I don't know if that's just a coincidence, or if objects were chosen based on both historical significance and condition, in order to make them more appealing to the reader.  It was a small thing, and makes no difference, but it did strike me as curious.

So, 4 stars with 1 star going by the wayside because the writing could have been - less dry?  Moister???  Overall, I'd recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn more about the Civil War in America but would prefer to do it in small, manageable portions and with a minimum of battle statistics.  I'm happy to have bought the hardcover edition and I imagine it's a book I'll pull of the shelves from time-to-time.