"Important book to read in light of recent TB outbreaks! The history of TB, the catastrophic effects from racist systems, even delves into consumption being a fashionable disease that women tried to emulate as a sign of beauty. Really interesting. Concise, but jam packed with information. "

"There are many reasons why True Grit is a classic of American literature. It has memorable characters that will stick with you. There’s its tight storytelling. Then there are its flashes of underplayed humor. And, of course, there are the tense and wild action sequences, the book’s climax in particular.

But above all else, the reason to read this book is The Voice. Mattie Ross’s voice. This is her story from beginning to end, and she tells it in a flowing, no nonsense monologue that is one of the greatest, most distinctive first person accounts in all of American literature. Her story recounts young Mattie’s adventure as a fourteen year old girl on an indomitable quest to bring her father’s murderer to justice. But she is relating the story as remembrance from her late middle age, and there is a question as to how reliable a narrator she is � not so much to the facts of her story, but to how many of the thoughts and attitudes are actually those of the young protagonist, and how much is shaded by the formidable, independent, and prim older woman who is telling her tale. Whatever the truth, Mattie’s voice is brilliantly spellbinding.

This book inspired not one, but two classic movies, each brilliant, and both surprisingly faithful to the book’s narrative. If you loved these movies, I promise you will love the book. Also note, this is not a book to read and be done with. This is a book that you will want to return to and reread periodically, just for the pleasure of listening once again to Mattie spinning her tale. And speaking of listening, I highly recommend the excellent audiobook expertly narrated by Donna Tartt � you’ll believe Mattie is telling you the story herself. "

"I hope my ninth-great-grandson writes a book about me! In the meantime, we get Captain Kidd's ninth-great-grandson, Samuel Marquis, who wants to settle a few scores with his book, Captain Kidd. And boy does he settle some scores. Down with Earl Bellomont!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Captain Kidd (and I am absolutely astounded that anyone can be) he was a "pirate" in the late 1600s. I put pirate in quotes because their is a pretty strong case to be made that he was not the pirate he was convicted of being. I am not saying he wasn't a pirate (and even Marquis hedges his bets), but there is definitely evidence the crimes he was hung for (spoiler?) were not actual crimes.

Marquis writes a very comprehensive story about Kidd's life. This is not a short, action-packed narrative to make money off the pirate craze. It's a thorough look at the known evidence and what we can glean from the facts. This story can never be told, but there is a lot to look at and arrive at the conclusion that Kidd was a political martyr. If you want more than just the well-worn highlights of pirate stories, then this book will scratch that itch.

My nitpicks are pretty minor. Marquis will shove some modern vernacular into the book at times. This wouldn't be a problem if it was throughout and sounded like the rest of the book. Here, it is too infrequent to be considered the tone, but it is frequent enough to be distracting. For the most part, Marquis is even-handed, but he does get a bit repetitious about things he wants to highlight certain things (e.g., Kidd and his wife's love match, Bellomont's treachery). I think the main takeaway is that if you are a descendant of Earl Bellomont, don't go near Samuel Marquis. He's still pretty ticked off. Rightfully so!

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by the publisher.)"