REVIEW Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

 

I've always liked Nathaniel Philbrick's books on American History - and I picked this book up because of the recent celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States. This one didn't disappoint. Philbrick generally paints a picture of pre-revolutionary Boston and is focused on the siege and battle of the area in Boston that occurred until the British left about a year later. 

For a history book, this is a very quick read.  Philbrick obviously did a tremendous amount of research on this area of US history and relies heavily on primary sources (letters, journals etc), as he should.  I distinctly remember learning about and loving learning about the Revolutionary period in American History (superseded only by the Civil War and Reconstruction era - I know, I'm weird), but never in as much detail as Philbrick gives us.  Simply because it is chock full of details doesn't mean, however, that it is bogged down or slow - Philbrick has the unique ability to create a non-fiction history book that reads almost like a novel. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the actors - it was as if they came to life and I was experiencing their bombastic personalities in real time. I learned a lot about people like Phyllis Wheatly and Dr. Joseph Warren (who was one of THE leaders at Bunker Hill) that I never knew before. This, in and of itself, made the book worth it and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history.

Links I love

 

It has been a really hot week here. I finally was able to use the pool in our condo complex for the first time this summer and it was delightful.  I hope that everyone is staying cool!

• How we celebrated the Fourth!
• The best books on the United States. 
• From Lead Belly to Tupac: How Prison has shaped American music. 
• Here's how quickly the heat can dehydrate you.
• 8 microhabits that can help you lead a happier life. 
• 10 facts about Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera's relationship.
• The Founding Father that refused to celebrate Independence Day.
• This was good news, but with a cloud over it.
• Why small domestic details make historical fiction feel more real.
• Books that explore power dynamics in relationships with a large age gap.
• 6 things that people do differently in Finland, the happiest country in the world.
• 5 works of classical music that were written (relatively) quickly. 
• 7 Blockbusters from the 80's that still hold up. 
• The Disney animatronics heist of 2018.
• Mysteries set in grand residences.
• The best new books to read this summer, according to the millions. 
• The 2026 Harvey awards have been announced. 
• Best historical fiction books of the year (so far). And the best mystery, thriller and true crime books of the year so far. 
• Were officials biased in Argentina's win against Egypt at the World Cup?
• I'm looking forward to some of these books.
• The Saudi woman who is reimagining filmmaking.
• Is the end of reading here?
• I love that our governor did this.
• The true story of Laura Ingalls is WILD.
• How and why to cull your book collection.
• Celebrity book club picks for July, 2026. 
• 2026 Australian Jewish writers Award Shortlist.

I hope that everyone has a good week. I'm currently reading Marilyn and Her Books by Gail Crowther and listening to We Are All Guilty Here by Karen Slaughter, both of which are so good.

Please be sure to visit my PangoBooks store and to add me on Goodreads!

REVIEW Ours is a Tale of Murder by Nora Murphy

 

I picked up this book after reading a memoir - I wanted something quick, fresh and intriguing and I wasn't disappointed.  This novel takes place in a quiet suburban town in Maryland. It's a town that feels familiar with all of us, but there's an undercurrent of tension that raises the hair on the back of your neck but you're not sure why. In one home is Klara and Troy.  There's something off about Troy and Klara never wanted the white picket fence that she has.  Mary lives across the street and is preparing her home to be sold as she can't stand to live in the home that has bad memories of her son and mistakes. Henry lives with his parents and watches people way too closely for comfort.

What I really enjoyed was the unique way that Murphy structures her novel. I didn't expect it to circle back on itself the way that it did but I ended up really loving it. The novel explores relationships, it's true, but specifically it focuses on mothers and motherhood. It asks the question: what influence do mothers have on the people that their boys eventually become? Can they truly change or significantly influence them? The mothers in this novel are constantly present, some would say overbearing or enabling, while the fathers are absent either physically or emotionally. The pacing of the novel is brilliant and is best described as a slow burn.  It is anything but boring, however. I also really enjoyed how things eventually came together - it was a satisfying conclusion. 

Definitely worth the read. 

REVIEW Truce Crime, a Memoir by Patricia Cornwell

 

Patricia Cornwell is best known, perhaps, for her mystery series featuring Kay Scarpetta, a gritty, forensic medical examiner who also solves crimes. This is a candid and forthright memoir about the author of those novels, starting with her seemingly Southern Gothic childhood and moving through childhood, college and her eventual success as an author.

I was very surprised about how much trauma she had suffered.  Her childhood involved trauma related to, among other things, her parents' acrimonious divorce (including a kidnapping by her father), sexual abuse at the hands of a local police officer and her mother's mental health.  In her adolescence, she suffered from depression and a severe eating disorder.  In detailing these events, Cornwell's prose is sparse and unsentimental. Her sentences seemed particularly short and detached (although I imagine it was because she was writing about and consciously bringing up some awful, awful things). Cornwell was tremendously and remarkably resilient and had a big supporter in, of all people, Ruth Graham (the wife of evangelist Billy Graham). 

Cornwell details her writing process, which involves a tremendous about of hands on research (such as going to a morgue or learning how to shoot a particular gun).  I enjoyed gaining insight into this author, but the writing and detail were no where like Margaret Atwood's memoir, Book of Lives.  

Links I love

 

Last week (the week before this one) was particularly rough for me. I was admitted to the hospital overnight for observation and all this other stuff due to a severe allergic reaction to the pneumonia vaccine. NEVER AGAIN will I get that vaccine.

This is a big holiday for our country!  Happy Fourth!

• I used to walk this easement all the time. 
• The most anticipated books by women of color being released this fall. 
• The New Yorker has an email newsletter: What We're Reading. 
• Archaeologists discover a wooden model of Stonehenge that seems to line up with the summer solstice.
• The must read biographies and memoirs of summer 2026. I'm always down for a good memoir. 
• Some Australian memoirs that look good.
• 5 classics that are also good beach reads. 
• The Star Wars movies, ranked. 
• Why does the country Turkey have a different spelling at the World Cup?
• The best American novels according to Barnes and Noble.
• The shortlist for the Ursula K. LeGuin Prize
• Inside the wild world of Roman Romance Novels. 
• 5 things that Princess Diana loved that might surprise you (may she rest in peace).
• 7 books that blur the line between reality and fiction.
• Margaret Atwood novels in order. 
• A new study shows that your brain prefers to read on paper.  Mine certainly does. 
• The US ghost town that occasionally rises out of a lake.
• 20 great US History books.
• The missing piece of the menopause discussion. 
• 7 common misconceptions about the Fourth of July. And some misconceptions about the Founding Fathers. 
• The Star Spangled Banner had four verses, actually.

Please do not forget to visit my Pangobooks store! I hope everyone has a good week!

REVIEW This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

 

I had listened to Isola, which was also by this author, and when I read the description of this novel, I thought I would give it a try.  I'm always drawn to stories about families and relationships and this book falls squarely in that genre.

This is the story of an extended Jewish-American family, headed by three matriarchs that are sisters.  The book begins with the death of the youngest of the three sisters. The remaining two sisters become split not only by her death but also by a feud about, of all things, a cake (hence the cover) and which threatens to extend until the both of them die. Goodman tells the story from different viewpoints as each chapter focuses on a member of the extended family as they are navigating their own personal dramas. The power in this novel is in the small moments - the conversations between the characters, the setup - as opposed to the overarching novel (which I guess is what makes it literary fiction). She did a magnificent job of getting us into the weeds in their relationships and made her characters believable, although not always likeable. 

I DID, however, find myself often trying to remember who was who and what their intricate relationships were.  It was often confusing and disjointed in transitions, but once I got a page or so into each chapter it quickly smoothed out.  There were so many characters it was almost too hard to keep track. In spite of this, Goodman does a masterful job in capturing messy and intricate relationships. Definitely worth the read~!

REVIEW London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

 

Go out and get this book. Now.  This book is a meticulously researched non-fiction book that reads like a novel. It is, in a nutshell, about the grim, seedy, scary Russian oligarch world of London and the 19 year old that gets sucked into it, ultimately perishing. 

Zac Brettler was 19 when he died. His parents were grieving and didn't understand why or how he died - he wasn't suicidal although everyone chalked this up to a suicide.  But then they learned that he was posing as the son of a Russian oligarch who meets these really sketchy guys that now want something from him (but what, question his parents) and why haven't the police truly, deeply and carefully investigated his death?  This book is Keefe's attempt to assist the parents try to figure all this out.

I loved this book. It's obviously meticulous in its research and the pacing is perfect, especially given the scope of what it is trying to cover. It drew me in so quickly that I read it at any moment that I could - waiting to pick my kid up, at lunch, waiting at the doctor's office - because I simply had to know what happened. A lot of the book has us in the seedy underbelly of London's financial world, and yet, I didn't shy away from it.  This made the book and the story all the more compelling to me. I had no idea such a world existed. And of course there is Zac's parents, who are absolutely, and rightfully, devastated by the loss of their son. It was hard to not feel terribly for them. They carried themselves with dignity and were treated the same way by the author.  

Such a good read. I look forward to reading Say Nothing.