Women: The National Geographic Image Collection

Women: The National Geographic Image Collection   509 pages

Not just a stunning book of photography, but essays on women's history, this fantastic book pulls from 130 years of National Geographic photography to showcase the past, present and future of women. Organized around themes, each chapter focuses on topic like "Grit" and "Joy" and includes commentary for notables such as Melinda Gates, Roxane Gay, and more.

I had anticipated this would be a great coffee table book of photography, but hadn't realized there would be so many fascinating essays and commentary. Having the chapters done by theme, sometimes surprisingly, makes the photographs resonate even more strongly.  Definitely a wonderful book if you're interested in women's history (or absolutely stunning photography).

The Murder of Willie Lincoln

The Murder of Willie Lincoln by Burt Solomon    304 pages

Author Burt Solomon transports readers back to Washington City in 1862. Abraham Lincoln is the president; America is embattled in a great Civil War. The Lincoln family is devastated when their middle surviving son, William Wallace, better known as Willie, dies from typhoid fever. Students of the Lincolns can with confidence that neither Abe nor his wife Mary is ever the same.

Lincoln is so beside himself with grief, and given the political climate of the time, he begins to wonder how little Willie could have died. He asks his personal secretary, John Hay, to discreetly look into Willie’s death, just to make sure that he didn’t suffer at another’s hands.

This is not a fast read; it wasn’t a page-turner for me. However, what I did find riveting what the details. Solomon has done an excellent job in recreating the period so that readers may feel they have traveled to the 1860s.

Right before the ending was revealed, Hay made his case for Willie’s death at the hands of a well-known traitor. The fact that this person had not been seen before in the storyline was a little disconcerting, but it’s fiction, so I was willing to let it slide. But as Hay further drew his net, an settled on a completely different person, I found it unrealistic. The motive makes sense, but Solomon isn’t able to make a strong case.

The Murder of Willie Lincoln receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.