A Couple Books

I found the book dovey coe (not capitalized on my copy, but is are others) on the free rack at the my local NYPL library. This is a good resource. People can donate books and it amounts to a book trading system. For some reason, the system doesn't want them to have book sales. People also at times leave DVDs and music CDs.  A few VCR tapes too.

The Wikipedia summary works: "Dovey Coe is a children's historical novel by Frances O'Roark Dowell, published in 2000. Set in 1920s North Carolina, it is a first person narrative from the viewpoint of a mountain girl who wants to clear up confusion about a recent murder."

The book is basically a YA book (it's told through the first person perspective of 12 year old girl), but it is not so simplistic that adults will not enjoy it.  The time period is not really focused upon much, except things like television and the like aren't around.  For instance, a key character abuses alcohol.  This being the Prohibition, this is more notable than the book really suggests.  

The book focuses on Dovey Coe's life in the first part of the book, including her relationship with a deaf brother and an older sister.  The murder trial stuff comes in about the last third.  There is a pretty scary scene involving Dovey and the person who winds up dead.  The book also provides a bit of a message about playing with people's emotions, that is, her sister's use of her beauty to manipulate others.  

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and think many others would as well. She is a down to earth character with a good set of values (reflecting those of her parents).  I'm not really so excited about it that I plan to go out and read more of the author (the book was from around twenty years ago).  

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I don't recall -- probably something on C-SPAN or maybe online -- when I first saw Kristen Ghodsee.  But, she has written around ten books, mainly focused on her specialty of examining East European socialism, particularly Bulgaria.  One catchy title suggests women have better sex under socialist regimes, with the better welfare programs and equality.  

I read several of her books, several available in the libraries I have access to these days.  So, I was glad to see a new book was coming out, and now it is available. Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons from Five Revolutionary Women covers three (including Lenin's wife) women involved in the Russian Revolution, a WWII sniper, and a later leading Bulgarian socialist, who the author herself got to interview and meet.  

The book is under 200 pages -- Ghodsee's books tend not to be long -- and approachable for the general reader.  The Bulgarian woman was also addressed in a previous book, with details on her experiences as a teenage partisan during WWII.  Ghodsee's books provide some respect for socialism. I'm reminded some of Goodbye, Lenin. I'm writing a longer book review for the book review website.  

The book ends with a a chapter providing nine lessons (comradeship, coalition building, self-education, relaxing etc.) to be learned from them.  That seems a bit like shoehorning a separate thing in, but it's a good chapter.  She also has a touching/amusing discussion of why she dedicated the book to her dog.  Good addition to her works.