Goodwill Tour

Title: Goodwill Tour: Paying It Forward
Author: Keith Maginn
Source: from author for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: This book was a ton of fun with its well-written story of adventure and compassion. I found it both very moving and very relatable.

While many of us dream of taking an unscheduled road trip and many of us dream of making the world a better place, author Keith Maginn did both. With his friend Emily, he traveled through the Southeastern US with stops to volunteer and give away money to deserving strangers. In Goodwill Tour, Keith tells their story and the stories of those they helped.

Frozen In Time

Title: Frozen In Time
Author: Mitchell Zuckoff
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Fun Fact: The Greenland coastline is longer than the distance around the equator.
Review Summary: Another awesome example of narrative non-fiction from Zuckoff, packed with adventure, drama, and a personal touch that makes the reader feel like the know the people involved.

During WWII, planes routinely used Greenland as a staging point to get from the US to Europe. From this story, it seems as though planes almost as routinely ended up crashing due to the wind and poor visibility! In Frozen In Time,  a B-17 participating in a search and rescue mission crash lands with all men on board miraculously surviving the crash. A Gruman Duck amphibious plane which is part of a daring rescue mission crashes as well and since none of the men on board survived, the plane is never retrieved. Frozen In Time tells both the story of the many daring rescue attempts necessary to retrieve the men aboard the B-17 and the modern day story of the hunt for the lost Duck.

Project: Fairy Tale – Ivanhoe

Title: Ivanhoe
Author: Sir Walter Scott
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: The writing style takes some getting used to, but it’s well worth it for this story of romanticized adventure and chivalry.

As part of Alison at The Cheap Reader’s Project: Fairy Tale, I will be reviewing one original and three re-tellings of Robin Hood this month. Ivanhoe is the best I’ve been able to find as an original, since (at least according to Wikipedia), Ivanhoe is the first story in which Robin Hood appears in his modern incarnation. In this version of the story, Ivanhoe is the central hero fighting to preserve England for Richard the Lion-Hearted, an endeavor which leads to his alliance with Robin Hood. Fortunately for our purposes, Robin Hood gets at least as much spotlight as Ivanhoe. This book also has the same over-the-top chivalry and sense of adventure that I’ve always found so enjoyable in modern re-tellings of the story of Robin Hood.

Bookends About Soulless

Title: Soulless
Author: Gail Carriger
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: It was everything I hoped for – awesome integration of a steampunk society with supernatural elements plus hilarious characters.

“First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.” Alexia is afflicted with these and a variety of other social stigmas which she bravely soldiers through, all while dealing with suspicion that she is responsible for recent vampire disappearances. She handles even the most uncouth behavior with remarkable poise, a sharp wit, and a sense of humor. And somehow, in the midst of it all, she manages to begin a startlingly wonderful romance.