This is a classic case of a continuing issue I have with my BT listmates:
They mention a book. Over and over again. I finally get around to reading it. I adore said book, and then I kick myself for not picking it up years ago.

This is one of those children's books I wish I had discovered when I was still a kid. Little me would have been in absoolute heaven. I know this because big me was pretty much in heaven. Quirky grownups! Abandoned Victorian treasures! Attics full of antiques and trunks full of ball gowns! (from Worth, no less. Insert drool here.) And the ultimate wish fulfillment--parents that plan to buy one of the old mansions. Sigh.

It's like the perfect fantasy novel for folks that love antique and junk hunting. Plus, it's just funny. Silly me for waiting so long to finally pick it up.

Shhh. . .birthday present for dad. About to read and drink a Shiner at the same time--this thrills the nerd in me!

Probably of limited interest to non-Texans or non-beer drinkers but. . .
This is a wonderful, chatty history of one company, one small town, and some very interesting people. Read most of it on the bus back from Thurber (another Texas industrial history place) and finished it with a Shiner in hand.
I've only been a beer drinker for a few years, but Shiner has become my beer of choice. And now that I've read the book, I love the stuff even more. Did you know that it was the first (and for many years, only) brewery run by a woman in the US? Or that two immigrants, generations apart, essentially saved the company? Good, tasty stuff!

I had really high hopes for this book. . .
I loved his earlier book, The Professor and the Madman
Generally speaking, I enjoy disaster history (Isaac's Storm, The Children's Blizzard, etc).
But the science bits, explaining plate tetonics and exactly what kind of earthquake hit San Francisco in 1906 too far too long. I ended up skimming quite a bit of it, something I rarely do. His trip across the US, checking out fault lines, also got skimmed.
The stuff about the actual disaster was good--there just wasn't enough of it. Not near enough about the aftermath and the human stories and the rebuilding.
And then more pondering on other earthquakes and future earthquakes and. . .
When I read in his bio that the author was trained as a geologist, it all made a lot more sense. It just wasn't what I was expecting, and I still don't feel like I have a good grip of the San Francisco disaster--unlike the masterful Isaac's Storm--where there's plenty of science, but also plenty of history.

A wonderful character study of a family and its end. The female characters,in particular, provided a great snapshot of this era of women's history.
Part of my could not get over how truly horrible and selfish Louise was, though I've known people very similiar to her.
Of course, I have yet to be disappointed by a Persephone book, so my liking it is no real surprise.

While it will never replace my love for Rilla, this is a great look at WWI from the eyes of those that were the enemy. Not as much detail about how the war effected daily life as I would have liked, but some great imagery and a wonderful complement to other WWI books.
I'll be talking more about this on the blog soon.

I went through many different emotions whie I was reading this book. Several things I had read about it previously mentioned the main character's, Henriette Desportes', involvement in a famous murder in 19th century France. Said murder occurs almost halway through the book and then doesn't take much to resolve. This all annoyed me, and I kept wondering if should just give up.
But even as I kept flipping forward, trying to figure out when someone was going to die (you can see where my priorities are), I became completely charmed by this book, and the annoyance vanished. This is not a book about a murder, but about a woman making her own way in the mid-19th century. Henriette is a wonderful character--a smart, single woman who doesn't have many options in 1840s Europe. She comes to the Praslin household, one where the marriage is rocky at best. But she is governess extraordinaire (Mary Poppins has nothing on her!), charming the children, much to the mother's anger.
After the scandal, she finds her way to the US, eventually finding love. And her husband is part of a fascinating family--friends with the movers and shakers and thinkers of the mid-19th century.
Through it all, Henriette is just fascinating, made all the more intriguing because this book has its roots in history. Though the book is long (my copy was 600 pages), it reads quickly. This is a wonderful glimpse into women's history--the limited options single women had and what a bit of gossip could do to a womann's reputation. I am completely in love with Henriette.
This book also left me wanting more--more information on 19th century French politics (there's something I'm rarely interested in!) and a biography of the Field family.

Highly recommended

PS Fans of fashion will love all the period details about clothing--Henriette was quite the reserved (well, she was a governess!) fashion plate.

PPS If you like this book, highly recommend Love is a Wild Assault by Elithe Hamilton Kirkland. Roughly the same time period, more scandalous women ultimately finding love, but with a Texas twist.

Almost all that a history book should be:
Well-written. Relevant. Told a lesser-known story. Filled with startling facts, memorable people, and some unanswered questions. Jaw-dropping.

It is a truly terrifying book--the story of the Dust Bowl from the perspective of those who lived through it. For some reason, I hadn't realized how Texas was affected by this natural disaster. As the land blew away, the people tried everything to stay. It was an environmental disaster--caused by man and some really bad luck. I was completely overwhelmed at times just thinking about the volume of dirt--someone on the phone, letting a town down the road know that a duster was on its way, but unable to see the phone. People caught in a duster that went blind. The lives lost to dust pneumonia.

Not an easy read, but well worth it. Highly recommended. Puts our current economy in perspective, as well as reiterate why our current focus on being "green" is a very good idea.

Absolutely delightful memoir. However, perhaps not the best bed time reaading, since I always wanted a snack. . .

Far from the most riveting book I've ever read, I still liked learning more about Burton and the context of her classic children's books. It's a very straightforward biography, but is full of some wonderful nuggets of information (she started a design collective and the speciality was fabric--serious lust!) and fabulous illustrations. Fans of Virginia Lee Burton should definitely take a look.

Though I rarely spend more than $15 on a bottle of wine (which would be complete and utter swill to these guys), I really enjoyed this look into the world of rare and old wines. The story centers around a cache of bottles found somewhere (exact origins are rather vague) in Europe that have the initials Th.J on them. Eureka! Bottles owned by Thomas Jefferson. Doubt is almost immediately raised, and yet, no one can prove definitively one way or the other, and it seems that folks are attracted more to the could be side than the definitely not. The book that follows is a character study of the man who discovered the bottles, the people that buy them, and those that continue to question if they're real. It's also an exploration of the old/rare wine market and how common forgery is. But no one wants to know for sure, since for years, any scientific testing would destroy the wine.

I did get tired of the many lists of wines, since these aren't exactly wines I'm familiar with. And how am I supposed to remember that one of these old wines is considered terrible and the other great? I honestly kept thinking of Sark in Alias ordering a Chateau Petrus and giggling a little. The ending is less than satisfying, but I think much of that is because the master con man in all of this has still not really confessed and people are still defending him. Definitely not a neat little package, but then real life rarely is.

Highly recommended, especially for people who like wine or crazy collectors.