3. Cherokee America , I forget the author.  

This is for one of my book clubs, and it is set close to one of my family history places I've been studying.  She is really a fine writer in many ways, particularly sensitive to the subject of grief, and paints a good picture of the place and time.  One thing I feel is a weakness is the author's seeming obsession with young men's longings, for lack of a better word. On historical fiction, I prefer a totally fictitious main character over one like this that is based on a real person. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.  Four out of five stars from me. I read a library copy. If it hadn't been for all the private expressions, I would have bought it and passed it on to some younger readers with family history in the area.

4.  Big Bone Lick: The Cradle of American Paleontology, by Stanley Hedeen 

Again, this touches on my family history research, and I wonder what my Kentucky ancestors knew of this spot. One family settled west of it and another east. I visited several years ago near here, and if I'd known more about it then, would have tried to visit. It's kind of like the La Brea Tar Pits, in that there is evidence of ancient life on this continent. In this case, animals came to salt licks here. Some time back, I read a book about salt that was pretty good and was nice for background. This book goes into who was interested in the place early on. Jefferson stands out. It is easy to forget that the notion of extinct creatures was controversial, and maybe still is among some groups.  I enjoyed reading this and would like to go to Big Bone Lick some day. 

5.  Acqua Alta, by Donna Leon

I read these three books for entirely different reasons, and it would not be fair to compare them.  The Donna Leon series is a nice little escape. I have a stack of them, and am not committed to reading the series of more than two dozen, but likely will read the next one sometime.  They are a lot like the Louise Penney books. The main character is a family man with virtuous intent.  The rest of the world is questionable.  Both series paint quite a picture of place. Leon's series is set in Venice.  After reading this one, I think I will remember never to go in January, not that I would have anyway. 

So far in 2021, that's a book a week.  As spring comes, though, we will see.

2021

I'm still keeping track of books finished, and starting over with #1 for the new year.  I found it interesting that I had read almost exactly the same number of books the last two years, even though I feel like I've been reading more while hunkering down.

1.  Good Habits, Bad Habits:  The Science of Making Positive Changes that Stick, by Wendy Wood. 

It seemed like a good idea for January, but this book says surprisingly little. Repetition helps form habits, if you didn't know.  Probably it is a good idea to examine one's habits and improve them.  When you get old, it will be easier to find your glasses if you always leave them in the same place.  What?!  A nearsighted person who has had to wake up her husband to help her look for them might have already been aware.  It was a disappointing read.

2.  A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World, by Tony Horowitz.

This book was in my overflow bookshelf, and I chose to read it now because I had recently enjoyed another book by the same author. It turns out, my copy had belonged to my mother, and she and my older sister had read and discussed it. I don't know when. The copyright date is 2008.  I found a passage marked near the end that I wonder if my mother used for some church discussion. Abraham Lincoln had called for national repentance as well as thanksgiving after the Civil War. We should have some national repentance now.

Voyage is about the time between explorers here before Columbus 1492 and the Mayflower, and the author's own journey over the "discovered" lands. The violence was shocking to me, even though I knew some of this. At first I didn't care for this book as much as the one about Frederick Law Olmsted, but the farther in, the more I was committed to it.  Two of my cousins live in one of DeSoto's spots, and after I'd visited them a few years ago, I'd planned to read more about him.  

Today, the idea of disease taking out huge numbers of people has a relevance more than when the book was written. The thought of Horowitz traveling around the country, visiting interesting sites and meeting new people, makes me long for the days when that was safe. It is well-researched, excellent writing, and he has a nice, low-key sense of humor which keeps the reading from being as bleak as it could be.  He shows respect for the people he interviews, without swallowing everything he hears. I think I will keep this book.