June. Is It Summer Yet?

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Author of one of my all-time favorite books -- People of the Book -- Geraldine does it up in fair fashion again; writing about the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Although the book is based on fact, Brooks takes huge literary license when Caleb, the Wampanoag chief’s son, befriends the pastor’s daughter Bethia Mayfield. The two grow up exploring Martha’s Vineyard which is a nice romantic tale, even though Bethia is an entirely fictional character. Caleb eventually lands in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek. That’s the truth. ♥♥

In The Garden of Beasts:
Love, Terror and An American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson
When Professor William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in 1933 he is (along with the rest of the world) naive about Hitler’s true mission. As time goes by he cannot ignore the Third Reich and their quest to restore Germany to a position of world prominence. His flamboyant daughter, Martha is the most interesting character in this historical fiction book, as she has one affair after another, including first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison
Willa Jackson’s family should have been wealthy and living in the town’s finest home, The Blue Ridge Madam – built by Will’s great-great-grandfather. Instead the Madam has stood empty for years as a derelict monument to misfortune and scandal. Willa has returned and unwillingly unlocks the mystery of the peace tree on the property. Yawn.

The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
by Slavomir Rawicz
OMG this is a good book. In 1941, Rawicz and six fellow prisoners of war escaped a Soviet labor camp in Siberia. Their trek is over thousands of miles by foot -- out of Siberia, through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India. Holy crap it’s amazing. ♥♥