Stuart Little

This book was very thought-provoking. It really makes you think about what it would be like to be  two inches tall. Stuart, a mouse, but the child of a normal-sized human lives just like a normal man,  but he would fit in your pocket.  He has a car, drinks sarsaparilla, and goes to town. His one love, a small bird named Margalo, gets a note from a pigeon that cats are out to get her. She flies north, and Stuart follows her, helping people along the way. I thought that, although this book was great, the real adventure starts three quarters of the way into the book, when Stuart sets off to find Margalo and bring her back.

Once Upon the Tiber

Once Upon the Tiber

By Rose Williams

Once Upon the Tiber is the best history book I have ever read. As Rose Williams says, “Facts are like good bread. They need a bit of yeast and maybe a mite of salt to be digestible.” Well, Williams’ book does exactly that. It accurately recounts Roman history, while at the same time adding a bit of wry humor to make it digestible. For example, during a war with Greece (there were many of them) Williams shows a cartoon that shows a Roman with blood on his tunic glaring at a Grecian. The caption? “ Tarquinian inspects Roman laundry technique”.

Franklin and Eleanor

Hazel Rowley is an amazing author. This book thoroughly covers the depth of the relationship between FDR and Eleanor. The details were amazing: diary entries and oversea letters made me feel like I was right there beside them. The book also clearly illustrated FDR’s close relationship to his secretaries, helpers and even the head of the secret service. I found it quite interesting that until almost the day he died most Americans didn’t even realize that their President– the one that had helped them through the great Depression and World War II– wore ten pound steel braces on his legs.