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Wednesday Reading Meme
Jul. 12th, 2023 08:09 amWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
Claire Huchet Bishop’s Twenty and Ten, a 1952 children’s book set in 1944 France. An evacuated fifth grade class agrees to hide ten Jewish children, only for the Nazis to show up hot in their trail. The title page says “by Claire Huchet Bishop, as told by Janet Joly,” and the narrator is named Janet, so this is perhaps based on a true story? A quick google search yielded no more information, but if anyone does know more I’d be interested.
This is a quick short read. I particularly liked the ending, when it turns out ( spoilers )
Onward in the Newbery project! Jeanette Eaton’s Lone Journey: The Life of Roger Williams is a novelized biography, fast-paced and exciting, slightly less hagiographic than Eaton’s biography of Gandhi, although still definitely written in the tradition of exemplary biographies describing lives that provide a pattern for all to follow. In the final chapter, Eaton spells out the messages we should all take from Williams’ life, not least “the duty of every individual to work actively against race prejudice wherever it blazes out,” a bold stand for an author to take in the mid-1940s.
What I’m Reading Now
Almost done with James Herriot’s The Lord God Made Them All! Pleased by the success of his visit to the USSR, Herriot has agreed to escort some cows to Istanbul, which is not going at all well. As I’ve been to Istanbul myself, I’ve very much enjoyed this sojourn, although of course some changes did occur during the fifty years that elapsed between our trips… but the traffic is still terrifying, and the bread still magically delicious!
What I Plan to Read Next
Onward and upward in Betsy-Tacy! Next up, we have one of my favorite books: Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown.
Claire Huchet Bishop’s Twenty and Ten, a 1952 children’s book set in 1944 France. An evacuated fifth grade class agrees to hide ten Jewish children, only for the Nazis to show up hot in their trail. The title page says “by Claire Huchet Bishop, as told by Janet Joly,” and the narrator is named Janet, so this is perhaps based on a true story? A quick google search yielded no more information, but if anyone does know more I’d be interested.
This is a quick short read. I particularly liked the ending, when it turns out ( spoilers )
Onward in the Newbery project! Jeanette Eaton’s Lone Journey: The Life of Roger Williams is a novelized biography, fast-paced and exciting, slightly less hagiographic than Eaton’s biography of Gandhi, although still definitely written in the tradition of exemplary biographies describing lives that provide a pattern for all to follow. In the final chapter, Eaton spells out the messages we should all take from Williams’ life, not least “the duty of every individual to work actively against race prejudice wherever it blazes out,” a bold stand for an author to take in the mid-1940s.
What I’m Reading Now
Almost done with James Herriot’s The Lord God Made Them All! Pleased by the success of his visit to the USSR, Herriot has agreed to escort some cows to Istanbul, which is not going at all well. As I’ve been to Istanbul myself, I’ve very much enjoyed this sojourn, although of course some changes did occur during the fifty years that elapsed between our trips… but the traffic is still terrifying, and the bread still magically delicious!
What I Plan to Read Next
Onward and upward in Betsy-Tacy! Next up, we have one of my favorite books: Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown.
