Showing posts with label History Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History Books. Show all posts

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Three Book Reviews Posted!

Within the past week or so, I just finished writing and posting the last three book reviews of books I read for the Summer Reading Challenge. These three reviews are shorter than the other reviews because I just wanted to get the reviews posted, so here are the links for these reviews:
I hope you enjoy reading this books as much as I did. Enjoy!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 4

I have finished reading another book, and like the previous three books I read, this book was also on my reading list for my fall history class. This time, I read Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty In The Civil War Era by Nicole Etcheson (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2004).

As you can tell from the book's title, this book is about Kansas' struggle to become a state before and during the American Civil War, and the civil war-like fighting that led to Kansas being called "Bleeding Kansas." The author argues that the fighting in Kansas was originally concerned with the rights of white people but that the fighting eventually resulted in concerns for the rights of African-Americans as well. She also argues that Kansas would led the way in the nation in granting rights to African-Americans during the Civil War. The author also ties in the fighting in Kansas with other events that occurred elsewhere in the United States during this time period.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would. The book was fairly easy to read, and I think the average person would be able to read and enjoy the book. Before I read this book, I only had a basic understanding of Bleeding Kansas from reading textbooks, but after reading this book, I have a better understanding of what occurred in Kansas in the mid-to-late-1850s. (I should note that although I will be working with the author in the fall, she did not ask me to read her book. I am reading this book ahead of time for my fall history class. I will be writing reviews of the other history books that I still have to read for the class.)

(As a side note, this post happens to be the 1,000th post since I started this blog!)

Monday, January 26, 2009

15th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

The fifteenth edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has finally arrived! For this edition, the submitters were asked to submit articles on history books they read or are reading that deal with Central and Eastern European history. This edition is a bit longer than the last edition, but it contains articles on history books from different countries. So, let's take a look at the books!

First off, we have an article from Diane Rogers of CanadaGenealogy. In Ukraine: An Illustrated History -Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - 15th Edition, she writes about an illustrated book on an overview of the history of Ukraine, and she also recommends other history and genealogy books that deal with Ukraine and Ukrainian emigration to Canada.

Next, we have an article from Lisa of 100 Years in America. In A lot can happen in 100 years, she writes about a book that depicts images of places around the world from 100 years ago to the present day, and some of the pictures she highlights were taken in Central and Eastern Europe.

Next, we have an article from Miriam of AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors. In The Zion Covenant Series, she writes about a series of historical fiction books that are mostly set in Central and Eastern Europe during the Holocaust and World War Two.

Last, but not least, we have two articles from Jessica of Jessica's Genejournal. In The Byzantine Empire: A History Book, she writes about a history book she is reading that gives an overview of the history of the Byzantine Empire. In A History of Hungary, she resubmits a previous submission on a book that gives an overview of the history of Hungary.

Well, that is it for this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope a history book that you might be interested in reading. The topic for the next edition will be a carousel, so all articles that focus on genealogy and Central and Eastern Europe will be accepted. Submissions are due on February 22, and the edition will be published on the 24th. You can submit your article here. Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Submissions Are Due Friday!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due Friday. If you need more time, please let me know.

Also, I am still looking for a host for February, but if you want to host that month's edition, please contact me by Friday. You can contact me at my e-mail: jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks.

Friday, January 16, 2009

One More Week!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the next edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due in a week! The topic is on a history book on the area, but do not need to finish reading the book to submit an article. If anyone needs more time, please let me know.

Also, I am still looking for hosts for future editions of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. The months still open are:
  • February
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December

If anyone is interested in hosting the February edition, please let me know by next Friday, the 23rd. Thanks!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

14th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy - Christmas and Hanukkah Edition!

The fourteenth edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is now here, and this edition is the Christmas/Hanukkah edition! Originally, I was supposed to post this edition on Tuesday, but I have been busy helping my family prepare for Christmas, so until now I have not had a chance to put this edition to together. For this carnival, we have articles from a couple of different countries, so please sit back and enjoy the carnival. Here are the articles:

First off, we have a few articles from Lisa of 100 Years in America. In Keeping Watch on Badnjak: Christmas Eve (Revisited), she shares Croatian traditions associated with Christmas Eve. In Not the Partridge, but the Falcon: a Little Hungarian Christmas History, she shares the origin of the word for Christmas in Hungarian and pre-Christian Hungarian traditions during the winter season. In Advent: "... the faith of our forefathers makes itself heard in our age ..." and As we approach the beautiful feast of Christmas, she defines the meaning of advent, and shares a list of posts on Croatian and Hungarian Christmas traditions that she wrote last year.
Last but not least, we have an article from Jessica of Jessica's Genejournal. In German Christmas Traditions That I'm Familiar With, she writes about two German Christmas traditions that she is familiar with.
Well, that ends this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. For the next edition, the topic will be on history books. Write about a history book that you have read or are reading that deals with the history of a Central or Eastern European country or the regions of Central and Eastern Europe. You do not have to have Central or Eastern European ancestors to participate in this edition. Submissions for the next edition will be due on January 23, and the edition will be posted on the 25th. You can submit your article here. Also, if you are interested in hosting a future edition of this carnival, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks! Enjoy!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Military History Reading Challenge: A List of the Books I Read

I have finally completed the Military History reading challenge! For those who might be interested, here is a list of the books I read with links to the reviews of each book I read

Well, those are the three books I read for this challenge. I enjoyed reading each of the books, and I would recommend them to others as well.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Another Reading Challenge!

I just learned about a another reading challenge from Lori's post. This time, the reading challenge is to read 3 military history books by November 11th, and you can read more about it here.

I think I have three military history books that I have not read yet that will work just fine for this reading challenge. Oh, and by the way, I am still reading my fifth book for the summer reading challenge.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Non-fiction Meme ...

Over the past few days, many genealogy bloggers have posted their responses to this meme. I wasn't directly tagged by any blogger but by reading Terry's post, I have become tagged. So, here is my response:

What issues/topic interests you most--non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels?

Well, I mostly read history books, but I also read a few genealogy books. Most of the genealogy books I read are how-to-do books. I also enjoy reading books about current events, different cultures and about different religions from my own. Most of the reading that I do is on non-fiction topics. I don't read as many works of fiction as I use to when I was younger.

Would you like to review books concerning those?

I already write mini-reviews of history books that I have read on this blog. I haven't posted a review lately, but eventually I'll get around to doing so.

Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose.

I'm not paid now to do the reviews that I do. I have never thought about being paid, and I really do not feel like being paid for them. I don't believe my book reviews are very good to make money, anyhow.

Would you recommend those to your friends and how?

Only if I knew that they were interested in the subjects of books that I read.

If you have already done something like this, link it to your post.

Here are a few posts where I have reviewed a few history books:

I have only included the first three reviews. I don't believe these reviews garnered very much attention as they were posted very early on on my blog.

And now, I am supposed to tag ten other people. So, here are the ten I am tagging:

Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Speaking of the Lost Colony ...

In light of GenLady's post about the Lost Colony, I thought I would recommend two history books that I read on the Lost Colony.

The first book that I want to recommend is Big Chief Elizabeth: The Adventures and Fate of the First English Colonists in America by Giles Milton (New York: Picador, 2000). This book is written in the style of popular history books. In other words, it is easier to read than many other history books would be. The history of the colony and world events are mentioned in the book, and the author also gives his speculation on the fate of the lost colonists.

The other book is Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony by Lee Miller (New York: Penguin Books, 2000). Unlike the other book, this book is written more in the style of an investigative report, only with a historical analysis twist. This book also explores the events and history of the colony and world, but this book also speculates on who was most likely responsible for the failure of the colony. The author also gives her opinion as to the fate of the colonists.

I can't say which book I like more as I enjoyed both of these books. To me, they were both very interesting. In addition to these books, you might want to check out the blog, Searching for the Lost Colony DNA Blog for further information.