March 30

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban (2013)

By Mala Yousafzai (with Christine Lamb)

In 2012, Taliban gunmen shot a 15-year-old Pakistani girl for advocating education for girls.

During a period from about 2000-2014, the Taliban intermittently controlled Pakistan's swat Valley and some adjacent areas.  They (wrongly) asserted that Islam forbade girls' education and that women should observe strict purdah, remaining at home and venturing outside only when covered in the restrictive burka.

Malala Yousafzai was raised in Pakistan's verdant and somewhat remote Swat Valley.  Her father had opened several schools schools there and was himself a strong voice for education for all.  In her own voice, Malala shares her father's efforts to bring schools to the community and her own experience as a schoolgirl.  She is smart and competitive, with a keen interest in politics.  She has two younger brothers, lots of extended family, and her home houses frequent overnight guests in this land where extending hospitality is considered a duty, not an option.

As Malala moves into her teen years, the Taliban becomes more powerful, trying to exert sharia law and conflicting with a government that seems weak.  She recalls her reaction to 9/11, Benazir Bhutto's assassination, and the capture of Osama Bin Ladn.  The Taliban kill anyone who challenge their outrageous beliefs, including government officials and family friends of the Yousafzai family.

But it's still shocking - and heartbreaking - that they'd attack a child.  Malala is on a school bus with friends when a man boards the bus and shoots her in the head.  While she survives and initially receives good care in a Peshawar hospital, her brain begins to swell and it's clear that she will need more care than her local hospital can provide.  Incredibly, a pair of doctors from Birmingham, UK "happen" to be visiting that hospital to help treat wounded soldiers while Malala is there.  Through secretive and complicated efforts (largely due to help Pakistan save face), Malala in flown (on a UAE jet) to Birmingham, where she slowly recovers.

While Malala longs for her beloved Swat Valley, she still resides in the UK and is currently studying at Oxford.  She has garnered numerous awards on behalf of her activism for education, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

March 27

Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein (2018)

By Jamie Bernstein

When my father worked in Manhattan and we lived in a nearby suburb from 1961-70, there was no more prominent New Yorker than Leonard Bernstein, charismatic conductor of the New York Philharmonic and composer of "West Side Story", everyone's favorite film during my teen years.

Jamie Bernstein has written this affection, no-holds-barred memoir of her famous father on the 100th anniversary of his birth (2018).  Bernstein married the beautiful Costa Rican actress Felicia Montealegre and had three children, Jamie , Alexander and Nina.  Jamie recalls the family's life in several NYC locations (including the Dakota) but especially warmly remembers the family's weekend and summer homes in Fairfield, CT.  The memoir is a literal who's who of Jamie's generation, including close friends especially in entertainment (Steve Sondheim, Lillian Hellman, Lauren Bacall, Mike Nichols) and government (JFK and Jackie).  Benazir Bhutto was a college friend at Harvard.  Jamie recalls her father's appearances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, including his famous concerts for young people*, his inaugural performance at the Kennedy Center - but also the parties, the constant smoking and drinking, she and her brother's drug use, her mother's early death from cancer, witnessing the aftermath of John Lennon's death from a window of the Dakota.

Jamie's relationship with her father was close, but also complicated.  When she tries to become a pop singer, the shadow of her famous father is both a blessing and a curse.  His names opens doors, but also invites expectations and comparison.  She labors for years to make a name for herself, singing and accompanying herself on guitar, but ultimately fails.  It is only after Leonard Bernstein's death from lung cancer at age 72 that Jamie finds her stride as a filmmaker and lecturer on the music her father made, but also an educator, helping young people around the world find pleasure and healing in music.  Today, all three Bernstein children maintain the archives and rights to their father's music, working to bring music education to young people around the world.

*My family attended one of Leonard Bernstein's young people's concerts, shortly after President Kennedy was shot.  I'll never forget the brilliant young harpist who was featured.  This youtube selection may be that program.

March 25

Jane Eyre (1847)

By Charlotte Bronte

This classic novel opens as ten-year-old Jane is fighting off her bullying cousin John Reed.  Jane was orphaned at one year old, and is the ward of John's mother, Jane's aunt by marriage.  Although Jane is bleeding and much smaller, her aunt opts to punish her by casting her into the "Red Room", where Jane's uncle had died ears earlier.  The frightened Jane is made to stay till dark and is only released after suffering a panic attack.  Her aunt resolves to put Jane away, on the advice of a hypocritical clergyman; Mr Brocklehurst is the headmaster of Lowood, a school for orphan girls.  At Lowood, the girls' station in life is reinforced by homely uniforms, unheated wards, forced outdoor exercise in all weather, and meager rations.  Corporal punishment and ridicule are rampant.  The two bright spots are kindly Miss Temple, the superintendent, and Helen Byrnes, a student who befriends and encourages Jane.  In Jane's first year, a tuberculosis epidemic spreads through Lowood, and about half the girls die, including Helen.  The neighbors are aghast; they remove Mr Brocklehurst from his post and a new school is built.  Healthier conditions ensue, and Jane thrives in her studies, excelling especially in French, drawing and painting.  She spends 8 years total at Lowood, the last two as a teacher, before seeking employment outside the school.  She is hired to tutor the French-speaking ward of a Mr Rochester at Thornfield Hall in the north of England.  Jane and Adele are a good match, and the estate's housekeeper, Mrs Fairfax, welcomes Jane's company.  Occasionally she hears odd noises at night, which she attributes to a crazy servant.  When Jane finally meets Mr Rochester a few weeks into her tenure, she finds him cryptic and fascinating.  He appears to be romantically involved with a beautiful high-born neighbor whom Jane finds to be shallow.  But, unexpectedly, it appears to be Jane whom Mr Rochester grows to care for, and she reciprocates his affection.  Yet there will be huge impediments to their future happiness, including another suitor for Jane.

While written 175 years ago, this story is still fresh and appealing.  I could hardly put it down and eagerly raced through to the story's satisfying conclusion.

March 16

The Only Woman in the Room: A Novel (2019)

By Marie Benedict

This novel is one of those imagined biographies (eg, American Heiress, The Paris Wife) that incorporates imagined thoughts and conversations consistent with the actual known facts of the subject's life, in this instance the actress Hedy Lamarr.

Hedwig Kiesler grew up as the only child of a wealthy couple in Dobling, Austria.  While she is smart and musical, it is her beauty that singles her out.  As a 19-year-old aspiring actress she catches the eye of Fritz Mandl, a wealthy older man in solved in weapons manufacture.  While she is attracted to him as well, it is her parents who push Hedy to accept his marriage proposal, assuming he'll keep them all safe through the turbulent days they anticipate, as the aggressive German chancellor seeks alliances with Italy and seems on the brink of invading other countries.  Hedy serves as Fritz's trophy wife, shown off at the many dinners he hosts in his 3 ostentatious residences for powerful and wealthy guests, including those in the highest levels of government.  Hedy starts to chafe under her new life and is eventually kept under lock and key, but she becomes an astute listener who overhears military and weapons secrets.  She goes off to visit her father, who is dying, and she manages to escape, eventually to America.  In a storybook moment, she meets Louis B Mayer, who signs her to a lucrative contract with MGM.  She goes on to make some very successful films (and another unsuccessful marriage), but her most cherished contribution is a device (partly based on overheard conversations among Fritz's associates) designed to make radio waves skip frequencies (with applications for torpedo launches) that would avoid detection by enemy radar.  Although this invention, developed with the aid of composer George Antheil, was not explained with any complexity (and is probably beyond the understanding of many readers, anyway), it was registered with the US patent office and paved the way for more effective remote control/wifi technology.  Unfortunately, the US Navy is not interested in an invention by a beautiful actress and encourages her to instead use her fame to sell war bonds, which she does.

It is only long after Hedy and George's patent expires that the government actually adopts their technology, which will one day pave the way for the internet.

March 6

1000 Books to Read Before You Die (2018)
By James Mustich

All book reviewers have different perspectives, and it's helpful to read the suggestions of a variety of "experts" to get a handle on the kinds of books that have influenced history or inspired good works.  In this case the reviewer is someone who'd been in the book business for decades.  Mustich's list contains works of fiction, non-fiction, ancient works like those of Homer and Sophocles, plays (by Shakespeare and others), and children's literature.  For each listing, he includes other works (if any) by the author and comparable works by other writers.  I read every title, though I did not read the description of every single entry, - but I developed my own list of several new titles to try (and was surprised to find so many titles I'd already read).

About 20 years ago, various reviewers compiled "best 100 books of the 20th century" lists.  But "of the writing of many books there is no end..." wrote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, so these lists are bound to change and grow.

March 4

Richard III (1593)
By William Shakespeare

"Now is the winter of our discontent
made glorious summer by this son of York,"

declares Richard, Duke of Gloucester, before lamenting the physical deformities that he believes hinder him from taking advantage of the opportunities around him.  Instead he'll become a villain and remove everything that stands in his way which eventually includes his brother Edward (the king), his brother the Duke of Clarence (next in line for the throne), their allies, and most memorably, the princes whom he imprisons in the tower.

Some scholars consider this work a tragedy, rather than a history play.  It's really both, based on the historical notes of Thomas More, yet containing the elements of tragically turning against one's own family and friends.

We saw this play performed at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC last week.  It's a good illustration of the harm that ensues when leaders abandon their principles, putting their own ambitions above the laws of the land.

March 2

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (2004)
By Alexander McCall Smith

Though I'd previously read this book, it was delightful to rediscover Precious Ramotswe and the circumstances that led to the founding of her detective agency in Botswana.  Her detective's intuition is reliable, though it is more the relationships we read about that give the book its charm.  Precious has recently lost her beloved father to illness and it is his bequest that has allowed her to start her company.  The characters treat one another with courtesy and respect (even if they are crime suspects) and seem to have a love for their country.  It is fun to follow Precious's line of thought and see how her cases play out, whether she is trying to locate a missing object or a wayward husband.

The author has now completed his 19th book, The Colours of All the Cattle, in this popular series!