Category: 200 Word Book Reviews

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5 Things Book Review: The Indigo Girl

I’ve read over 800 books in the last ten years, taking the time to write review notes on very few of them. In an effort to take more notes, here are five things I liked about a book I read recently.

Title: The Indigo Girl
Author: Natasha Boyd
Publication Year: 2017

  1. It’s based on a true story.
    The book is based on events in the life of the amazing Eliza Lucas.
  2. It features my hometown.
    Eliza was born almost 300 years ago in Antigua in 1722, and spent her formative years there before attending finishing school in London and then moving to South Carolina with her family. Antigua is mentioned 15 times or more in the book.
  3. It’s a love story.
    The author crafted a story that demonstrates that the love that comes to us in the most unexpected and unconventional ways may be the best kind.
  4. It’s about following your interests and passions, and setting audacious goals.
    In the book – as in real life – Eliza strives to achieve something regarded as nearly impossible by those around her. Against current wisdom and the odds, she works to find a way to get indigo to thrive as a cash crop in a temperate climate, and eventually succeeds, making her contribution to the founding story of America. President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral, and in 1989, she became the first woman to be inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame.
  5. It celebrates the benefits of writing.
    Eliza’s audacity and feminism are almost unbelievable in someone so young an in that era. Her words are quoted throughout the book, sourced from her meticulously maintained records of her letters and conversations in her “Letter Book”. Not only did recording her thoughts on paper probably help her to solidify her own goals and ambitions, but it allows us deep insight into her thoughts and personality hundreds of years later.

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‘The Second Coming of Steve Jobs’ Book Review

Dated, and lacking the magic of a truly insightful biography.

‘The Second Coming of Steve Jobs‘ is an interesting and well-researched account of Steve Jobs’ life through his “wilderness years” after being ousted from Apple in 1985, the failure of Next, almost accidental redemption through Pixar and triumphant return to Apple.

The book presents the good Steve/bad Steve dichotomy that represent this fascinating man’s maniacal genius. This account, while full of interesting anecdotes and little-remembered facts lacks the magic of a truly insightful biography. There’s a certain snidely vindictive tone throughout that smacks of envy and a lack of understanding. The author appears to not much like Steve Jobs, but he remains fascinated with him nonetheless. The story-telling has a journalistic quality that reads like a tabloid gossip column with drama, dirt and lots of juicy details.

Published in 2000, the book is dated. None of the details of the runaway success of the iPod and iPhone are included, so the reader will be left hungry for more. I read this book before Walter Isaacson’s definitive biography was published. I recommend ‘The Second Coming‘ only for readers who either want a quick snapshot into the darker side of Steve Jobs or those willing to read more than one biography.

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‘Infidel’ Book Review

A courageous, highly important and unavoidably incendiary contemporary work. ]

In ‘Infidel‘, Ayaan Hirsi Ali takes us on an unforgettable journey of personal transformation. Her 1970’s childhood was a traditional Muslim upbringing requiring submission and obedience.  She grew up in war-torn Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya with an absentee father and abusive mother to come of age as a member of parliament in Holland, and outspoken internationally renown activist.

Her brave and deeply personal memoir is arrestingly provocative because she is our contemporary. She tells of the realities of female subjugation, genital mutilation and arranged marriage because she lived it.  Her overwhelming pain and naturally rebellious spirit fed her passion, leading her first to seek political asylum, and now to ongoing work in human rights. That pain captures your imagination on every page of her matter-of-fact retelling of a remarkable life. As a woman only six years her junior, I couldn’t help thinking “this could have been me.” She leaves her readers with a sense of raw numbness, unsure of whether to feel offended or ashamed.

‘Infidel‘ is seen by some as an anti-Islamic polemic. Ayaan, who must still live with armed guard protection even in the United States, is seen as being an enemy of the Muslim faith. Does she have a right to be angry? Does this autobiography have a political agenda? Has she been too critical of Islam? I will leave you to answer these questions when you read ‘Infidel‘ for yourself.

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‘Call Me Ted’ Book Review

A visionary entrepreneur tells his extraordinary story.

In 1984 – when my parents were one of the first cable subscribers on a tiny Caribbean island – I had no idea that CNN was a fledgling cable network. It is easy to assume that rich, powerful, outspoken Southern billionaires such as Ted Turner have always been so. Not quite.

Ted Turner was once a rambunctious, badly behaved boy who was chucked off to boarding schools at a very tender age, expelled  several times, and repeatedly physically abused by a controlling alcoholic father. Despite his harsh childhood, there is no pity party in his autobiography ‘Call Me Ted‘. He tells the story of his challenging younger days with brevity and a matter of fact quality.

And then come the details of his staggering accomplishments. The trajectory goes like this: troubled child – college dropout – multi-billionaire. He was forced to eat humble pie by joining his father’s billboard business, but then went on to win the America’s Cup, start a cable network and eventually CNN, own the Atlanta Braves, become an exceedingly wealthy person and the largest single landowner in the United States. He even gave a billion dollars to the United Nations.

The story is so astounding, like a work of pop fiction, it is almost unbelievable. He is passionate, outspoken and in many ways a stubborn brat. How did he do it? Vision, belief in his dream and hard work. It makes your head spin, but the failures and frailties are candidly presented too.

An important part of the book is the space given to key persons in his life, including ex-wife Jane Fonda and arch-enemies to share their uncensored thoughts on him and their experiences with him. The book is so much richer for it.

I now have both a healthy respect and deep admiration for this extraordinary man – entrepreneur, visionary, humanitarian: a living legend.

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‘Night’ Book Review

 

[easyreview cat1title=”Quick Rating” cat1detail=”A haunting tribute to the power and beauty of the human spirit. ” cat1rating=”5.0″]


Night is Elie Wiesel’s autobiographical account of holocaust survival. Summon your courage and brace yourself emotionally for the coming onslaught of cruelty inflicted by Hitler on European Jews through an incredibly dark moment in human history.

The first thing that struck me was the purity of autobiographical account being told by Eliezer, a 14-year old Jewish boy living in Transylvanian town of Sighet. As the war raged and the Nazi atrocities mounted, the Jews in that town lived ignorantly contented lives – optimistic that war would soon be over and with a feeling of blissful insulation from its terrors.

Elie Wiesel’s language is plain, devoid of embellishment and his voice throughout the book is matter-of-fact. There is no colorful language to make the pungent odors or the heat emanating from the crematoriums of Auschwitz any more real. His retelling is haunting nonetheless.

This memoir of the daily fight for survival, the personal inner battles to preserve compassion, conscience and religion is a hopeful one. It is no surprise that the author, Elie Wiesel, went on to win the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize. The power and beauty of human spirit in the face of the dehumanizing brutality of a monstrous regime is deeply inspiring.

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‘The Good Earth’ Book Review

An worthwhile foray into the agrarian world of pre-Revolution China”

Published in 1931, “The Good Earth” is the first in “The House of Earth” trilogy. The book was awarded the Pulitzer prize in 1932, and its author, Pearl S. Buck went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

This is the beautifully written story of Wang Lung, a Chinese farmer with a deep and enduring love for his land. The story spans his lifetime from young adulthood until his old age near his death. The setting is rural pre-Revolution China. The language is simple and dispassionate. The characters are flawed but richly presented. The themes are universal, timeless and filled with irony. It is a story of the passions that drive all human beings to achievement and often to tragedy and destruction. The author takes us on an emotional journey of ambition, survival, the attainment of wealth, self-sacrifice, family, the abandonment of traditional values and of lust.

The contrast between modern Western culture and the Chinese agrarian culture at that time is striking, and I perceived that the story contained a faint thread of disdain for that society’s treatment of women. I found the author’s subtle superiority slightly unsettling. I thoroughly enjoyed the book but found that while the author presents the characters and customs with affection, she remains firmly an outsider with a voice tainted, almost imperceptibly, common to Western writers who find themselves immersed in an alien culture.

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‘Tuck Everlasting’ Book Review

“A gem of a book for younger readers. ”
A ten-year old girl, a toad and a family who stumbles upon everlasting life.

‘Tuck Everlasting‘ is a magical book that grapples with that age-old topic of human fascination – immortality. Winnie Foster meets the Tuck family who have drunk from a spring that gives eternal life – and Winnie has the chance to drink from that spring too – and live forever.

There are also other themes explored in a remarkably mature way: greed, deception, temptation, murder, loneliness, the perfect cycle of life and the true meaning of friendship. This is the kind of story that will allow younger readers to reflect upon life and to develop their ability to reason by taking the consequences of their actions into full consideration. The choices we make are the ones we may have to live with forever.

The story continues at a good pace and is engaging throughout. Natalie Babbitt does a wonderful job of developing the key characters such that we develop a true fondness for them. This is a profound gem of a book, not just for kids.

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‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Book Review

A masterpiece. Alexandre Dumas was a genius.

Published in 1846 as a serial novel, ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ is truly an epic tale – 117 chapters and 1,200 pages long. Translated from the original French, and set primarily in post-Napoleonic France, it tells the story of Edmond Dantes.

We witness Edmond’s transformation from wide-eyed 19-year old sailor, about to become captain of his own ship and marry beautiful Mercedes, the girl of his dreams, to a prisoner, a victim of treachery forgotten in a dungeons of the infamous Chateau d’If, to one of the most enigmatic and multi-layered characters ever written – fabulously wealthy, awesomely powerful and patiently bent on the cleverest, darkest revenge.

Spanning the course of 24 years, this is a saga so rich, so intricate and so enveloping, it makes movies’ attempts to capture masterpieces in the space of a few hours laughable. The reader is mesmerized from the very first chapter. We are sickened by the plots of Edmond’s jealous friends and colleagues plotting his demise. We sense the imminent danger that our guilelessly lovable protagonist is in, but we read on, because we know things will not end well for those who have done wrong as they are steered unknowingly along the inexorable course of fate. With brilliantly rich characters and surprisingly interconnected events, the masterful plot develops seamlessly and with great eloquence and beauty.

Dumas weaves a timelessly brilliant work that captures every facet of human nature and life; it is a story of intrigue, greed and revenge, but also of generosity and determination, self-examination and forgiveness, restoration, redemption and love.

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200 Words or Less – Einstein: His Life and Universe

“For it’s engaging style, and endearing story-line, highly recommended!”

Walter Isaacson’s biography of Albert Einstein is an awesome book!

In this exploration of the most important scientist of the 20th century, Isaacson presents us with a wonderfully engaging introduction to the intriguing world of quantum mechanics.

We are taken on an entertaining journey through Einstein’s life from his earliest years until his death. The shroud of mystery is removed and the reader is left awestruck at his genius, but also his humanity.

This book is a must read for anyone who loves science or is a fan of the biography genre. It is one of my all-time favorite books.