NetGalley ARC | Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins

I received a free digital ARC from the publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book would definitely best be enjoyed as a giant coffee table book, where you can peruse at your own discretion, even jumping around from one topic to another if you would like. You can of course also read it straight through, it is not as though it is a drag. I just have a soft spot in my heart for books that are meant to be perfectly lovely and large and demand attention. This book is one of those. It also happens to be the guide that was to accompany the Mesopotamia exhibit on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum that was to run from mid-March through July 27th. The pieces were on loan from the Louvre, though I have not yet looked up whether the exhibition will be extended, or not due to COVID-19 storming on up in here and ruining everyone's year.

Mesopotamia was home to easily some of the greatest civilizations ever - namely Babylon and Ninevah. Though they, and many others, have long since vanished from our world, we never stop wondering about them, never stop looking for them, never stop imagining what it would have been like to live there, in that time. Archaeologists continue searching for whatever lost pieces of these mighty civilizations they can find, and as a result we end up with amazing collections. Though, truly, the collections should be returned to the places they came from. But that is a whole different conversation, meant for a different kind of book. This simply could have been a beautiful catalog of amazing objects that have survived for thousands of years. The problem is, the idea of French colonialism is never actually addressed, yet the archaeologists who discovered and stole these priceless artifacts to begin are presented as some kind of saviors and that does not sit well with me. You can not present one side of the story, but not the other. Just think of how many artifacts were lost in those years where pretty much anyone could be an archaeologist and go tramping around wherever they pleased, digging up what they wanted, taking what they found most valuable, and throwing away things they thought they didn't need. So much history has been lost by simple incompetence and arrogance. It makes me sick.

The book begins with those very first civilizations, and onto a fair amount of what it was like at the time Alexander the Great showed up. There exists here such a variety of objects that tell so many stories, and I am insanely jealous that the Louvre has such a stunning collection. Everything you could possibly imagine is showcased here - seals, jewelry, and of course the cuneiform tablets that fascinated me endlessly as a child. Though, to be fair, I can still stare at them for a good long minute as an adult.

In addition to beautiful photos, there are several essays on a wide range of topics - history, religion, economy, and yes, cuneiform writing, plus so much more. I appreciated the attention to detail given in the essays, while also being concise and realizing that the reader was likely just as much here for the photos as the essays. Again, addressing the  theft of these artifacts and objects would have been a great idea, but you will find no such thing within these pages.

The photos are absolutely stunning and as a reminder, this book is 100% meant to be a physical book - digital did it no justice. Seeing as how I will not be able to visit the Getty any time soon, and the Louvre is a ways off until Eleanor is older (fun fact: the only known object still in existence that belonged to Eleanor of Aquitaine is there so yes, we are going to France in the future to see one item and one alone: the Eleanor rock crystal vase. I know I will cry and I won't even be embarrassed.)

The book is well-designed, the layout is perfect, and it serves it purpose well. Recommended, as long as you remember that archaeologists stole massive amounts of priceless treasures that did not belong to them, and colonialism is a bad, bad thing.

The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Counterpoint Press, in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 Stars

There is so much to love about this book. SO. MUCH.

First, the cover. *Sigh*. AND to make this one even better, this wasn't just a digital ARC that I had to make do with on my Kindle when admiring the cover, because I received a PHYSICAL ARC. I know this is not a big deal to most people, but I live in the US. A lot of what I read is published in the UK. I love any ARCs I can get, but there is something special about a physical copy and now this one is situated quite cozily on my over-flowing shelf.

Secondly, the title should also give away my giddiness. BECAUSE, not only do I love books, but I love books about books, and I love libraries and books about libraries. That makes me some kind of weirdo times four, right? Oh well, don't care. As such, you may not be surprised that this face:

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

is similar to the one I make every time I hear the words 'library' and 'Alexandria' together and I think about all the knowledge lost. Who knows what we are missing, once the library was destroyed and it contents along with it, or carried off to where it was lost over time.

So, in all seriousness now, this book is wonderful. I have the fondest memories of a variety of libraries from my youth, one of my most favorite being the library where my grandparents lived while I was growing up. It has been remodeled in the last twenty years, so the long narrow stairs up to the children's section is long gone, but what a great image that still is in my mind. I spent countless hours at my grandparents' house in the summer, going on all kinds of adventures and the library was always a favorite stop. I have instilled that same library-love in my daughter, and from her earliest (think fetus) existence, she has known the sounds of the library. Being in a library, or surrounded by books in general, is her natural environment. Perhaps my most favorite library in the whole world is the library at Trinity College in Dublin, so you can imagine my delight when I first looked at the book cover - voila! It's the long room at Trinity College. If you've not seen it, I highly recommend visiting if you're ever in Dublin. The Book of Kells isn't too shabby either.

There is so much information packed into this slim volume, I am almost at a loss for where to actually start, not that I have gotten my craziness out of the way. Perhaps that really is the best place - there is so much information, so many libraries, so many volumes, so many hoarders book collectors to discuss. There were several individuals highlighted throughout the text who had more books than anyone could possibly hope to read in a lifetime or even five lifetimes. They owned additional homes just to store books - can you imagine? It makes my own little personal library look a little sparse (though, to be fair, I am a big proponent of passing books on when I am done with them, someone else should have the chance to enjoy it), but what a sight those stacks and stacks and stacks must have been. Hopefully today hoarders collectors take better care of their books and have them properly shelved and cataloged.

While for the most part this book was exactly what I thought it would be - a "love letter to libraries" as it is billed in the summary - it was also so much more. The presentation of the information was somewhat chaotic, in that it did not follow a linear path as one might expect when delving into a massive history such as this. The journey starts centuries back, and the book ends with a look at the future, but the whole way in between is a hodge-podge wonder, dedicated to hilarious and terrifying anecdotes - I was absolutely horrified to think that an actual copy of Magna Carta was nearly destroyed, only to find out later the incident probably did not happen. I am hanging tightly onto that probably. The chapters were a mix, longer chapters dedicated to specific libraries, interspersed with short anecdotes about a certain person, book, or idea.

While I was reading, I spent a good deal of time Googling as I was reading, to look at the various books and libraries that the author was discussing. I kind of go back and forth on the idea of including photos. I knew about more than a few of the subjects mentioned, but still there were many more I knew of, but did not know what they looked liked. It did not bother me, but I could see how it would be frustrating for some. I also would have appreciated a bibliography, or at least a suggestion of further readings.

So much research went into the book, it is almost mind-boggling - especially if you are not someone who spends a whole lot of time thinking about books and reading books about books. The author is clearly very well-educated on his subject matter and no lie, I am kind of jealous of his life. There is so much that he touches on - how the earliest stories were handed down from generation to generation through oral tradition, then the infancy of book production and the various materials first used, such as clay tablets, papyrus, and animal skins. From there the text weaves around to today, and the mass-market production that monks a thousand years ago couldn't have even dreamed of.

Like any good bibliophile, I worry about the future of libraries. So often, especially in the US today, under this "administration", it seems like knowledge is a bad thing. Funding is constantly cut to these beautiful facilities and we can not allow it to keep happening. Often the arguments are made that libraries do so much more than provide reading material, they provide Internet access, social programs, etc. I am guilty of making those exact statements, even though they are true, and I feel a twinge of guilt because even if the only thing libraries did was offer books, that would be amazing. Looking at these grand and small places, we should be in awe of the fact that so much knowledge is contained in one place - with the added benefits of Internet, story times, research assistance, etc. We need libraries, now more than ever. Books need to be valued for what they are and I do mean print and digital, though I am always partial to a physical copy. It is convenient to have a Kindle, and I wavered for months about even getting one. I felt like a traitor. But over time I have grown to love it, and can not imagine where I would put the 705 physical books that would be in my possession were they not digital.

This book will most certainly appeal to those who love history and love books/libraries. I know that seems like an odd statement to make, but in truth, this book will not appeal to everyone, even those who love to read. I certainly don't mean it will only appeal to us weirdo book-sniffers, but in skimming other reviews before I accepted the ARC, I came across some comments who felt the book was too academic or "high brow". I don't feel that way at all, I think it was a fantastic, lively jump around in the history of one of the most important institutions that exists today.

Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture

I received this ARC free via NetGalley from Proud Legacy Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5 Stars

This is yet another ARC that I had put aside in 2017 when life was crazy hectic and I wish I had not. This book is so important to our nation's history and the specific struggle that our African American brothers and sisters have endured in fighting to be recognized as citizens in their own country. This book needs to be taught in all high school history classes.

In this text Robert L. Wilkins tells the story of how the National Museum of African American History and Culture finally came into being, after decades of starts and stops, permeated by the latent and outright racism of several players in this saga. Judge Wilkins writes not of the museum itself and the numerous artifacts, oral histories, and exhibits, or the celebrities who lent their time to its creation, but of what it took to actually get the museum built in the first place. He has exhaustively searched archives and all possible repositories of knowledge to find every single instance of attempts to create a museum of African American history and the multiple reasons those plans were halted. This became a kind of obsession for Judge Wilkins, first leading him to cut back on his time as a public defender to devote time to his goal of seeing a museum dedicated to the sacrifice and struggle of African Americans and their place in US history. I think Wilkins job as a public defender really helped him realize his greater purpose and it is something the author touches on at various points. He mentions that the majority of his clients are young black and Hispanic men, many of whom he says don't see a future for themselves when he asks where they see themselves in five years. The heartbreaking answer is that some do not even see themselves as being alive in five years. These young men, many still teenage boys, did not care much to know the history of the Civil Rights Movement, how people died for their right to attend proper schools and get the education they deserved. But, Wilkins also discovered something else: when many of these same boys and young men were incarcerated, they started reading because they had nothing else to do. When they truly learned about all that it took to get the access to that education, it opened their eyes to opportunities they had wasted. Wilkins saw the museum as an opportunity not only to showcase the achievements and contributions of African Americans, but to be an inspiration to the young men and women who saw only a bleak future for themselves.

Through this book Judge Wilkins chronicles the attempts by various groups to create a space to honor African American history. it begins with the exclusion of black troops being honored after the Civil War ended. Various excuses were made as to why the troops were not invited, and none were acceptable. To rectify this, on the 50th anniversary of the original Review, again when African American units were excluded, supporters first attempted to create a monument to these men who fought for the Union and were all but erased from history. Through the era of Jim Crow, which saw lynchings become a disgusting sport, these advocates sought to create a national museum. Decades of obstacles followed, including the back and forth on whether the Smithsonian should be involved, should it be located on the Mall, and so on. I was so very disappointed to read of the specific lack of interest from the Smithsonian in the creation of a national museum. As I was reading I did not understand the hesitation, as I hoped that surely such a bastion of culture and knowledge could not also be so deeply entrenched in systematic racism. I was disheartened to see an institution I held in such high esteem could be on the wrong side of history. Yet, it was.

In his quest to see this vision come to fruition, Wilkins was named as a member of the Presidential Commission. The commission was tasked with writing the plan to create the museum, the space to be used, and so on. Wilkins poured over every single document related to the attempts to create a museum in the past, also taking note of what the reasons were for the project not moving forward. All of this culminated in a report that was finally accepted and 100 years after this journey first began, Congress finally authorized the museum. The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in September of 2016.

As I wrote earlier, this is a book that must be taught in high school history classes. Until we as a nation confront the fact that so much of our history is steeped in the horrors of  slavery and discrimination, from the rise of the KKK to Birth of a Nation, and everything beyond, this is a very real part of shaping our nation even today. It took so long for this museum to become a reality, far longer than it should have. Not until a bipartisan effort of both Democrats and Republicans, an effort also supported by George W. Bush, did this happen. This is something important to consider, and is worth reflecting on. Why did it take so long? I think the answer is a hard truth that we don't want to see.

While the text itself is not terribly long, there are extensive notes (12% of the ARC) that highlight the numerous sources the author drew on in his quest to see this project through to the end. I highly recommend this to all.

Local Glories: Opera Houses on Main Street, Where Art and Community Meet

Rating:  3 Stars

I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

...And man, did it take forever to struggle through.

In the end, I am kind of confused still about the author's intent for this publication. Overall I found the book disorganized and all over the place. As such, my review might be the same.

At its heart, the book is meant to be about the development of opera houses across America and how they grew to become a hub of cultural activity in the cities where they were located. The author focused on a few specific states and tracked how they grew, changed, fell into disrepair, and ultimately how some were saved, but more still are merely shells of their once-great selves.

It took me a long time to get into this one. And this happened over and over. My interest would be piqued, then it would meander around and kind of lose its way, then I would stumble on an interesting part again. This went on for a while. That's not to say I didn't learn anything about opera houses or their uses. Quite the opposite, I can readily admit. For example, I learned that most of Andrew Carnegie's libraries also had music halls, because he considered those to be just as important to the cultural well-being of the city.

I was really interested as the author began tying in theatre to the opera houses. There was a comparison of how theatre developed in the north vs. the south. With the north being ruled by New England, the Puritans, and the Quakers, theatre was outlawed for a long time, but this was not so in the south, where it flourished. The issue here is that while the author discusses traveling theatre troupes at length, yet theatres and opera houses were often separate venues. It felt to me like the focus in these sections was more on the cultural and societal opportunities, and not the opera houses. A lot of the time, it did not make a lot of sense to included the information about the activities that took place out of the opera houses. From there the author jumped to riverboats, also called "entertainment boats" and it was again confusing.

At this point I was not sure I could finished the book because it was just so over the place and was about so much more than what the title implied. In reading the title, I thought the book would focus on opera houses as hubs of activity, as implied by the subtitle of art and community coming together.

One of many examples of how the text seemed to jump around: at about 32% there was a very specific section about the adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin from the book, then to a random paragraph about opera houses burning down. The book skipped around in time as well, not just from topic to topic. Then we get information about indoor bicycling in another section that was all over the map and it was almost too much. It became literally just paragraphs of all the activities held at the opera houses, by town - bands, roller skating, school debates and graduations, boxing matches, etc. While this information was exactly what I was expecting from this text, I feel like a different way of organizing the facts would have helped the book immensely.

As I look back on my notes, I see time and again places that I marked as being very scattered and almost mishmash. In addition, the text got very repetitive. Around 50%, there was a point where within a few paragraphs the author stated three different times that many opera houses were destroyed by fires, natural disasters, etc.

There are some positives here that I would like to point out. First and foremost, I am always a fan of using contemporary sources not just a research of course, but as visuals or direct quotes. The author did this; for example, at 14% there was an article from a Kentucky newspaper from 1890 in relation to the topic.

Another positive that I personally found of interest was that the author spent considerable time talking about Nebraska. It was interesting to see how the population of the state changed and as people immigrated here, how they used the opera houses. If the book did anything, it at least got me interested in seeing the opera houses that still exist here and learning more about their specific histories.

The text itself ended at 85%, and was followed by an appendix of opera houses that still exist, state by state. As I had an ARC, this was kind of jumbled. Hopefully that problem was sorted out for the final print copy. Some states also simply said "no data", and the author pointed out the list was not an exhaustive one. It would be good if she had been able to locate at least some information on opera houses still in existence in those states. The notes section ran from 90% to 94%. The bibliography takes up the remaining 6%. As I said before, there is substantial research, it just did not always fit together in a way that made sense.

In the end though, what it feels like happened is that the author had too much information and did not know how to organize it. There are so many chapters, but it feels like she makes the same statements and tells the same stories over and over. She might have been better served to have organized the chapters by the specific opera houses she was looking at, with perhaps a more 'general information' chapter at the beginning. The book was so all-over-the-place that it ended up taking me sixth months to get through - and even longer to get the review written. I think I would still recommend it, but with some reservation. The history itself of these beautiful buildings, and the conservation going on today to save many, is worth the read. You will, however, have to meander your way along with the text to get to that history.

Part of Our Lives: A People's History of the American Public Library

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I received this book (an embarrassing amount of months ago) as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I know what you're thinking - how on earth could a book about LIBRARIES, one of Sarah's most FAVORITE PLACES IN THE WORLD, take her almost 8 months to read??!! I've asked myself that same question many times over, both as I was reading and after I finished the book. There is no good reason why this book took me so long, and I really can't explain it. Perhaps it is because the beginning was kind of dry? I don't know; once I got to the 1900s, I breezed through the book and could not put it down. I can't say for sure what it was that took me so long, but there's something, and for that reason - whatever it may be - I can only give 3.5 stars. It's not a terrible book, it's a very good book and if you love libraries you MUST read it. it just took me a while, and I LOVE libraries. I will forever be an advocate for libraries, yelling down those who claim that now that we can get eBooks, we don't need the real thing. If you truly believe that, or that books don't need to be physical, I honestly do not know if we can be friends. I prefer the real thing, but have my Kindle which is just more practical when out and about. But libraries are such a wonderful resource for the communities they serve and provide a plethora of services that are vital. If we do not provide adequate funding for our libraries, I truly believe society will collapse. I don't even care if you think I am crazy for that statement. it's true. Libraries are mandatory for an educated, well-functioning society. Okay, so I guess maybe the US is not exactly 'educated' or 'well-functioning' right now, but I have faith we can get back there again.

Rant over. On to the book. 

The author clearly knows what he is talking about. The research is all here, he uses multiple libraries as examples when discussing the evolution of what we have come to know as a public library, but there really are some sections that are not written in a very engaging way. As I mentioned earlier, I can't quite put my finger on what made some parts this way. This is, after all, a history of a vital cultural institution that has shaped our country in many ways. Still, I appreciate the amount of work that went into writing this text. As I read it on my Kindle, I made a note that 81% of the book was the actual text and the last 19% was devoted to notes and bibliography. That's not a small amount, that's quite a bit of research and numerous resources.

I really loved all the facts about early libraries and the system of checking out books. There's something so quaint about the idea that you gave a librarian your slip with the name(s) of the book(s) you wanted, and they would retrieve them for you. Then, your name would be copied down in a giant ledger with the titles you'd selected. What simple days. And time-consuming! I can't imagine anyone today in our impatient world suffering through any of that for a book and it is probably for the best that we can now get our books ourselves and use self-checkout together - though I adore my librarians at my favorite branch and will always opt for the check out counter over the automated service. In early days also, it amuses me that patrons could only check out 2 to 5 books at a time. When I was pregnant with my daughter over the summer, I would walk out with the max limit of 40 books at a time and it never felt like enough!

I also found the crusade against fiction earlier in the life of the public library to be highly amusing. I never really knew that fiction was considered to be such garbage. Librarians went to great lengths to make sure people did not read ONLY fiction and in some libraries if you were checking out a fiction book, you also had to check out a nonfiction one as well. I myself am partial to nonfiction, so this would not have bothered me much, but I certainly know quite a few people who would have had quite a difficult time getting books had they lived in that period. I also had no idea that Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and the Hardy Boys were considered unsuitable for children and librarians recommended children NOT read them. I can't imagine a childhood without Nancy Drew! I read those books over and over in elementary school and loved them. I was never as into the Hardy Boys, though I read a few, but Nancy was my girl and I fondly recall wanting to be friends with her and solve mysteries.

There are a lot of other interesting and sometimes little-known facts about the growth and change of libraries over the decades. For example, during WWII when there was a major lack of gas and tires, Baltimore kept its bookmobiles going around the city by purchasing a horse-drawn wagon to be able to bring books to people. This little fact made me love libraries even more.

I was also highly amused by a rule imposed by Chicago's public libraries in the '60s: "In 1969 the Chicago Public Library forbade patrons from exposing their toes while reading. 'Can't have toes all over the place,' one official commented. 'Feet disturb some people,' said another." I really cracked up over that one because while yes, I think feet are weird and kind of gross (I mean really, they sweat inside socks and shoes all day, yuck), silly rules like this are obviously targets for rule-breakers. My flip-flops and I certainly would not have been welcome in those libraries in the 1960s!

Unfortunately, it also seems that through the years libraries have also attracted what I can only describe as total a-holes who ruin the experience for everyone else. The author tells of teenagers in the 1950s harassing patrons, riding their bikes through the reading rooms and throwing bricks and PIPE BOMBS through the front doors. Who are these idiots and where are their parents?! Guess the 50s weren't as wonderful as everyone likes to remember. Similar things happened in the late 60s in New York, and some branches even had to close because of the gangs of a-holes terrorizing the libraries. The most disturbing story to me though came from librarians in Minneapolis (though no doubt this occurred in libraries across the country and is not just local to my home city). In the early 2000s with the rise of the Internet, librarians reported male computer users looking at porn in the library and several were masturbating. IN PUBLIC. Seriously? I don't even. Who are these idiots trying to ruin it for everyone else?!

My main issue with the book and another reason I could not rate it above a 3-3.5, relates to the following. I really hope it was not the author's intention to compare gay people and pedophiles but that is how it came across to me and as an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, I can not abide this. However, if my interpretation is incorrect, I'd be all the more happy for it. At 73% the author discusses the San Francisco Public Library "affirming its right" to display a rainbow flag over one of its branches, but then goes on to say that the community showed its limit of tolerance when the citizens protested when the library was going to allow NAMBLA to rent a library meeting room. Now, if you do not know what NAMBLA is, don't Google it at work, because that could land you in some hot water for being A PEDOPHILE and disgusting human being. Now, due to my long-running obsession with a certain yummy former NYPD SVU detective (Oh Elliott Stabler, I love you still, even though you have not been on the show in years - and not ironically, it has been the same amount of years since I have watched the show), I know that NAMBLA stands for the North American Man/Boy Love Association. Gross, right? Sorry, but no, there is no way you will ever convince anyone that this is 'normal' or justify your crimes of raping children. There's no comparison, it is not even close. If the intent is what I originally thought, I am quite bothered. If I misinterpreted, I apologize. There is so much more I want to say about this topic, but then this post will turn into a political rant and not a book review and I am trying very hard to keep this blog and my Twitter as politics-free as possible. it creeps in sometimes, I just can't help it.

Ever since these fancy schmancy new devices called eReaders came into being - and even before - people, especially those who have more authority than they should, have questioned the relevance of libraries in our communities anymore. To those people who would suggest that we no longer need them, I challenge them to step foot in a library, small town or large city alike, and see the wide variety of services offered to the community. The library is not just about checking out books (though that is MY favorite part). There are so many small groups offered by libraries throughout the year, from reading times for little ones, teen lock-ins, adults doing geneology research. It is a place where a homeless person might come to use the computers to look for a job or other assistance they desperately need - or often yes, to sit in the warmth on a wintry day. The Internet can never replace our librarians, nor should we even try. And as for the "Many authorities (who) still have questions about the value of public libraries," (75%), be quiet. Yes we need them and we always will.