Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross

Started: June 20, 2026
Completed: July 21, 2026
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: My niece

Media: Collector's Edition Hardback

Review:

I have enjoyed Ross' work for the character development and for the fun of the read.  The mystery rarely is challenging.  In this book, the mystery gets a little better, but the character development falls flat.  The ending was quite surprising.  In general, though, I enjoyed the book.
 

Mark Twain, Ron Chernow

 Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

Started: January 26, 2026
Completed: July 9, 2026
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Review:

It took a while to get through this book as it is so huge that I had to cycle through the library several times in order to listen to the whole thing.  I have a lot of respect for Chernow, but only the broadest of understandings of Twain.  My brother visited a Twain exhibit and brought back a book of his works which I have not yet read (though I had read Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Connecticut Yankee in my youth as well as other short stories like, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County").  What a knew of Twain you could fit in a thimble in comparison to this book.  I knew his era, but did not realize how many celebrities he knew all over the world--for that matter I was only vaguely aware that he had moved from Missouri to New York City.  I knew nothing of his wife or family (oddly, the last surviving member of which died only a few years before I was born) and had only heard peripherally about his interest in young girls (which seemed platonic from Chernow's perspective or at least only fantasy without any desire to actually act on his interest)--though disturbing in concept.  I was also completely unaware of his personal struggles and perspectives on religion.  I was aware of his role as a publisher from Chernow's Grant.  This book was so insightful and shed light on so much of Twain's life that I found it fascinating.