The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day

 The Mona Lisa is perhaps the most famous painting in the world, but back in 1910, it was just one of many great artworks in the Louvre Museum in Paris. What catapulted it to world wide fame? It was stolen. This is a children's nonfiction book about the 1911 heist of the Mona Lisa and how it affected the popularity of DaVinci's masterpiece.  It also gives a decent summary of DaVinci's life, and the place of the Mona Lisa in his career. The books ends with the surprising capture of the Mona Lisa thief, and the consequences that befell him. 

When I checked this out I thought it was a children's mystery fiction, but it turned out to be a really well written and entertaining nonfiction.  The tone of the narrative is snappy and informal. Day includes a lot of interesting facts about Paris, the Louvre, and the state of the world in the early 20th Century. He also talks about DaVinci in a not-too-flattering way, that is also engaging and amusing. The reader should beware that Day includes a lot of subjective social commentary in his narrative. This would be a great book for teachers of homeschoolers who want to mix literature with other subjects, like humanities or history, and also have a lot of interesting social questions to discuss. I am not surprised it won the Siebert Medal for children's nonfiction when it came out. (2023, 288 p) 

The JFK Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

 Between the time that J.F. Kennedy was elected, and when he took office, a unhinged anti-Catholic extremist plotted a suicide bombing of the president elect. This sensationalized account reconstructs the plot and also goes into depth about Kennedy's life, his relationship with Jackie Kennedy, and what made Kennedy so successful and controversial. 

Here is another Brad Meltzer/Josh Mensch pseudo history. I think I liked it a little bit more than the Lincoln book, mostly because it was better edited. Although this one had some of the same kind of problem rehashing the same facts over and over, it was much better than the Lincoln one, as the page count suggests.  In modern society JFK is generally revered as one of the great presidents, but in this book Meltzer and Mensch portray him as a thoughtless womanizer who just happened to have a lot of charisma. They focus a lot on Jackie Kennedy and highlight JFK's neglect of her needs and feelings. In full disclosure, I accidentally returned it to Libby with 45 minutes left on the recording so they may have ended the book with a more upbeat assessment of JFK.  I am debating with myself whether I am going to put it on hold again just to listen to the last 45 minutes.  Maybe not. (2025, 304 p)

To Love a Beast by Karen Witemeyer

Here is another of Witemeyer's Texan retellings of fairytales.  Everett Griffin's face is horribly disfigured by a crazy woman, so he leaves the life of a New York socialite, and becomes a recluse in Texas. Calista Rosenfeld and her father have risked all their capital to fill an order for a book rebinding project, but the week before it is to start, Calista's father has and accident and isn't able to go and fulfill the contract.  Calista decides to go alone, and finds herself in the gothic home of the reclusive Mr. Griffin.  Desperate to fulfill the contract and save her family business, Calista resists all Mr. Griffin's attempts to intimidate her. Their initial mistrust turns into respect and then friendship, but there is one in town who doesn't approve of Calista's new friend. His need for revenge threatens to destroy Everett and Calista's new hope for happiness. 

Again Karen Witemeyer.  The story and writing for this one( isn't bad. Calista is maybe a bit too perfect, but it is in keeping with the Fairytale motif.  Witemeyer takes her storyline and characters as much or more from the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast as from the original fairytale.  There are some shameless illusions to the Disney version, for example the housekeeper/cook's name is Mrs. Potter, and the butler likes to assemble clocks.  I am a little surprised that Disney doesn't go after her for it.  The one thing that was really disappointing about the recording was the reader.  Her voices were way exaggerated and as a result all the men sound like idiots.  I added her to my narrators to avoid list.  Fortunately, others in the series have different narrators. (2025, 542 p)

The Lincoln Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

Everyone has heard about Abraham's Lincoln's assassination in Ford's Theater soon after his second inauguration, but few know that there was an earlier plot to assassinate him right before his first inauguration. In this book, Meltzer and Mensch give a highly sensationalized account of the first attempt on Lincoln's life.  They posit that a group of white supremacist southern sympathizers planned to have Lincoln killed as he passed through Baltimore Maryland. Lincoln supporters heard rumors of the plot and hired the Pinkerton Agency to investigate. Not only did they find details about the perpetrators and their plans, but also devised a way to sneak Lincoln through Maryland in disguise earlier than he had been expected. Meltzer and Mensch also include a lot of history about Lincoln, his run for the presidency, and the state of the union at the time of his election. 

I read another in this series about George Washington a number of years ago, and I have a John F. Kennedy one in my cue right now.  This one is very much in the same style as the George Washington one.  It is pretty amazing how Meltzer is able to take ordinary facts and make them sound super dramatic. For example, in one part of the book he talks about how Lincoln was invited to a dinner during his train trip to the capital, and his son, who had been tasked to keep track of his attaché case with his inaugural speech in it, gave the case to the porter to hold during the dinner.  Lincoln became alarmed when he found out that his son no longer had the case, and went to the main desk and searched through the checked bags until he found it. This is a pretty small event. Lincoln had a few moments of panic, but then found his documents and all was well, but the authors made it sound like it was this huge deal that threatened the future of the nation. Still, I enjoyed the book. Although overwritten, it has a lot of interesting facts told in an engaging way. At the end of the book the authors admit that not all historians agree that there was actually a plot to kill Lincoln and that much of the evidence is inconclusive. Of course, they are making the case that there was, and doing it in a way that appeals to a broad audience. (2020, 428p)

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Tolle's The Power of Now is one of the most influential books in the mindfulness trend that has swept the US in the last 20 years.  The book is written as a series of questions and answers, much like the dialogs of Plato.  His main assertion is that thinking about the past or future brings suffering and that pure enlightenment is only possible by staying fully present.  He asserts that there is no suffering in the present because in the present there are no problems, just situations.  You can choose to respond to resolve the situation, or accept the situation.  He also talks about the difference between your mind and your true self.  The mind seeks things that bring pain, like glory, temporary pleasure, or numbing of emotions. To achieve enlightenment one must escape the tyranny of the mind. At a few places in the book Tolle leads the reader through a guided meditation or some other exercise to help them achieve a focus on the present. 

I found this book very interesting and pretty accessible.  I don't agree with all his assertions. For example, he seems to be of the opinion that almost all human relations are bound to fail because for them to succeed both members of the couple must be enlightened, and that almost never happens. I am guessing this pessimistic view of relationships reflects his own experience more than it reflects general human experience.  I do think there are nuggets of truth to be gleaned from his ideas, and plan to apply some of his principles to my personal struggle with excessive worrying. One useful thought about worry from the book is that there is no use spending emotional effort worrying about something you can do nothing about in this moment. Tolle narrates the answers in the book himself, and has a very pleasant calm voice. I think the book is worth the read if only to understand better the  ideas behind meditation and presentism. (2004, 256 p.)

Calling on the Matchmaker by Jody Helund

 In late 1800's St Louis, Finola Shanahan has committed to sabotaging all of her parent's attempts at matchmaking so that she can achieve her life goal of becoming a nun. In a last act of desperation, her parents hire the new matchmaker, Bellamy McKenna to find Finola a match she can't resist.  His choice is Riley Rafferty, an up and coming politician who has already shown an interest in Finola.  Finola pulls out all of her tricks to put Riley off, but it seems the more she tries, the more he seems to like her. As the two grow closer, they discover that each have issues in their past that will need to be resolved for the match to work.  Do they have the courage to take the steps they need to make the match work, and what is Bellamy willing to do to bring about a happy ending?

This books was categorized as "Christian Fiction" and there is a Christian element in the story, but it is pretty steamy compared to most historical Christian fiction I have ever read.  There is a lot of mention of rippling muscles and pulsing internal organs. Even though the couple don't have sex, there is way to much time spent on descriptions of their passionate make-out sessions. I wasn't ever really convinced that their attraction for each other wasn't purely physical. The characters are clever , the dialog snappy, and Helund puts them in a bunch of humorous situations.  Still, I don't think I will be reading any more of the series. (2023, 304 p.)

Confessions of a Junior Spy by Rosaria Munda

 Bea has lived her whole life in a sanctuary hotel for a spy organization call the Pangean. Her father is a cook there, but her mother is one of their top spies. Bea idolizes her mother and wants to be just like her, but her mother is determined to keep Bea out of the dangerous and violent spy lifestyle. When Bea's mother decides that Bea will go to boarding school, Bea and her new friend, Chantal, come up with strategies to both avoid school and get Bea the training she needs to fulfill her dream to become a top spy. Then a shadowy figure from Chantal's past forces Bea to discover what the life of a spy is really like, and why her own mother is often so distant.  Does Bea really want to hold onto her dream? 

I was a little wary about reading another mystery/spy book after reading several Enola Holmes books.  I mean, who can compete with Nancy Springer?  Still, I ended up liking this one. Unlike the Enola Holmes series, this one really is aimed at middle grade, but that doesn't mean that the conflicts that Bea is dealing with are not complex. Munda does a good job of exploring her relationships with both her parents, and with her friends. I admired that Munda didn't shy away from  difficult ethical questions, like, when, if ever, is it okay to use weapons to threaten or kill someone. Some of Bea's decision made me, as an adult reader, cringe, but bring up important ideas for kids to explore. Munda left the door open for a sequel, and I plan to keep my eye out for it. (2025, 224 p)