Book Review: The Book of Lost Names

Heroes in real life don’t wear masks and capes. Sometimes they don’t stand out at all. But real heroes can save a life—or many lives—just by answering the call in their heart. ~Victoria Arlen

Book Review: The Key to Everything

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” ~Albert Einstein

The Key to Everything, a novel by Valerie Fraser Luesse, tells the tale of 15-year-old Peyton Cabot. The only child of well-to-do parents, Peyton must watch helpless as his tender-hearted father, broken by the battlefield, drowns his demons in a bottle of bourbon.

Book Review: Daughter of the Reich

Have you ever read a book that you both loved and loathed? Much like a horror movie that scares you senseless, scene after scene, and yet, you just can’t stop watching: That was how I felt about the book, Daughter of the Reich, written by Louise Fein. I did not want to keep reading, but I could not put it down.

Book Review: Out of the Embers

First, before I delve into my book review, I want to dive into my past for a moment.

Have you ever felt that sickening sensation that someone is watching you?  Growing up, for more than a year, every time I rode my bike down one road not far from my house, I got the weird feeling that someone was watching me. It gave me the heebie-geebies…

On a separate issue, a few days ago, I posted a story about three family members who were adversely impacted by fire…

By now, you are probably asking yourself, why is she bringing up past memories and fires in the family tree in a book review? Here’s why…

Book Review: An Uncommon Woman

The area in purple was claimed by Virginia until 1780. At that time, much of the northern section was ceded to Pennsylvania, while the remainder is now part of West Virginia.

In 1755, Major General Edward Braddock’s was defeated near Fort Duquesne (located at Point State Park, Pittsburgh), which was part of the Virginia wilderness at the time. Afterward, all British forces retreated north and east into the colony of Pennsylvania, leaving the Virginia wilderness unprotected.

In 1756, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed George Washington as head of the Virginia militia and asked that he assess the Crown’s military clout in the Virginia wilderness. Washington determined that forts located 20 miles from each other offered little to no protection to most wilderness settlers, who would be captured or killed before they would make it to a fort.

It wasn’t until the spring of 1774, just prior to Dunmore’s War (also known as the Point Pleasant Campaign, in which my 5th great-grandfather John Kelsay fought), that the actual military defense of Virginia’s western frontier began en masse. Although many more forts were constructed in the Virginian frontier during this time, there were still too few for adequate protection.

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