This week, we feature a naval ferry pilot’s captivating chronicle of flying aircraft during World War II and a fascinating biography of an early American patriot who turned traitor.
Memoir
‘80 Percent Luck, 20 Percent Skill: My Life as a WWII Navy Ferry Pilot’
By Ralph Alshouse
Ralph Alshouse trained as a naval aviator during World War II, and, after earning his wings, he spent the rest of the war as a ferry pilot in VFR-2 Squadron. Now 99, he relates his experiences in this memoir. While he never saw combat, he had adventure aplenty flying Navy aircraft from the Naval Air Facility in Port Columbus, Ohio, to both coasts. Over the course of two years, he delivered 149 aircraft, and made 13 forced landings. Readers will be charmed by this adventurous “I was there” account.
Black Rose Writing, 2023, 153 pages
Nonfiction
‘Bringing Up Bébé’
By Pamela Druckerman
Living in Paris, this American journalist and new mom—now a mother of three—encounters French parenting. Babies sleep through the night just months after birth. Toddlers and the pre-K gang eat what Americans might consider gourmet meals and explore the world within strict boundaries while parents keep a bit of distance. The author’s keen eye, her sense of humor, and her love for children make this book a winner. This latest edition includes Ms. Druckerman’s sequel, “Bébé Day by Day: 100 Keys to French Parenting.”
Penguin Books, 2014, 432 pages
American History
‘Turncoat: Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty’
By Stephen Brumwell
How did Benedict Arnold come to betray his friends, comrades, and newly declared independent country? Stephen Brumwell takes the reader on a journey into the life, military actions, and belief system of the man known as America’s greatest traitor. Meticulously researched and finely written, it is an important read for those wanting to know more about the American Revolution, even its darkest moments. Not only is the book a fine historical read, but it is also a study in personal character.
Yale University Press, 2018, 384 pages
Nature
‘Of Time and Turtles’
By Sy Montgomery
Naturalist Sy Montgomery has written dozens of books advocating our connection with earth’s varied creatures. She and wildlife artist Matt Patterson spend time as interns with the Turtle Rescue League in Massachusetts where they care for and celebrate the magnificent, and often threatened, turtle. Part science and part memoir, Ms. Montgomery lovingly reflects on the lives of each distinct turtle and its journey. Readers will relish these accounts of rescue and healing for the turtles and renewal for their human caretakers.
Mariner Books, 2023, 304 pages
Classic on Language
‘Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric’
By Ward Farnsworth
Originally published in 2010, this guide to rhetoric hardly qualifies as a classic, but the hundreds of examples used to illustrate such devices as chiasmus and anastrophe are nearly all drawn from sources such as Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, and Patrick Henry. Older composition students can improve their writing with this book, while lovers of language can graze its pages again and again, taking pleasure from its vast buffet of excerpts ranging from speeches, plays, novels, and histories.
David R. Godine Publisher, 2016, 256 pages
For Kids
‘Chanticleer and the Fox’
By Geoffrey Chaucer and Barbara Cooney
This classic tale of a cunning fox and a proud rooster named Chanticleer who lives in the barnyard of a widow and her daughters is perfectly told, as one might expect from Chaucer, and comes with a moral tale that one might expect from a fox and a rooster. A warning about pride and flattery, it’s a necessary addition to every child’s library.
HarperCollins, 1982, 44 pages
