My Top Ten Books #1

My Top Ten Books is a series of short book reviews. My next post will be my honorable mentions.

The #1 book on my list was written by Nancy Gentry, Tod Comes Home.

First a little background on the story. The Carter family was living peacefully in their home in Franklin, Tennessee, (now known as The Carter House) when the Battle of Franklin started to come together literally right at their front door.

Skipping through part of the book- Tod Carter finds out that his regiment is marching towards Franklin! So naturally he asks if he could leave the regiment to go home for a little while to see his family. He is told that he could leave whenever he wanted. He was going home! He also agreed to bring along James Cooper, another Franklin native. So they left the camp and started on their way to Franklin. James led Tod to his cousin's house and Tod was glad of it. It reminded him of his own home and it gave his horse a needed rest. After an hour or so Tod and James went on their way. After dark they make their way to the Neely's home and ended up finding out that the Yankees got past his men on the pike. Neely said that they weren't safe there but they could stay as long as they needed. But Tod decides that it is just not possible to go home, especially with Yankees right on his front lawn. He told James that they needed to go back to the army but James said he was going all the way to his home. They shook hands and James left.

Tod moved on as well, just in the opposite direction. He came close to the pike and heard soldiers walking. But who? It would be logical for the Tennessee boys to be on the road but they hadn't stopped the Yankees back down the road. So it could be either army. Tod puts a blanket over him to cover his uniform and walks closer to the troops.

Which side are these mystery troops on? And will Tod eventually see his family? All these questions will be answered if you read the book.

This, along with the last book on my list, is my absolute favorite book of all time. I've owned it for around three years I think and have read it at least three times. I'll probably be reading it after writing this review. Even though I know the ending of the book it will most likely never be boring to me. And it's a true story! That is probably part of the reason I like it soooo much! Make sure to read the epilogues at the end. And maybe you should take a trip down to Franklin, Tennessee to see the Carter house and other cool buildings that were there during the Civil War. I've been there and can tell you, it will not disappoint.

So if this book sounds interesting to you here is a link to buy it, https://www.amazon.com/Tod-Comes-Home-Nancy-Gentry/dp/0986024473/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472487008&sr=1-1&keywords=tod+comes+home 

My Top Ten Books: #2

My Top Ten Books is a series of short book reviews.

The top two books on my list aren't really ranked because they are my all time favorites. With that said the #2 book on my list is written by Romaine Stauffer, Aaron's Civil War.

This book is based on a true story, every character but one or two was actually a real person. Romaine Stauffer is a descendant of the family in the book.

The Stauffer family lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on a farm. Aaron's father has just died and it has been a rough time without him. But -skipping through time a bit- Aaron's mother eventually remarries Abraham Brubaker and that's when things started to change even more than it already had. The Brubakers lived in Snyder County which was a days trip away. When Aaron heard that his mother was moving there he didn't like it. Then when he heard that his brother Enos was going too, and Aaron had to stay and help his older brother David with the farm. He hated it even more. “I've been pushed around all my life, somebody is always telling me what to do, when to do it, and where to go. I'm sick of it,” thought Aaron. Skipping through time a little more- Aaron is now sixteen and the Civil War has been going for two years now. Aaron and a couple of his friends meet in the barn next to the church meeting house and talk for a little bit and then they all end up agreeing to go to Camp Curtin, the troops training base. So a couple nights later Aaron meets with his friend on a road off his farm, they wait for someone else but when he doesn't come they move on. As they start to see the outline of buildings in the small town they hear someone running up to them, they turn around and see......... Well you'll just have to read the book to find out.

I don't even know where to begin with this book it is sooo good. But I'll try and put it into words for you. This book tells the story of someone who sees “glory” (the war) and wants it, but finds out it isn't glory at all. It's just gory and not good whatsoever. After the war, Aaron struggles with the thought that he might have killed someone and that not even God can forgive him. It becomes his own personal Civil War. And make sure to read the epilogue at the end. It tells some more about what happened after the end of the book that's really interesting.

If you think you might want to read this book here is a link, https://www.amazon.com/Aarons-Civil-War-Romaine-Stauffer/dp/087813705X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472141272&sr=8-1&keywords=Aarons+civil+war+romaine+stauffer

My Top Ten Books: #3

My Top Ten Books is a series of short book reviews.

The next book on my list was written by Carolyn Reeder, Shades of Gray.

Now don't get this book confused with the movie 50 Shades of Gray because this book is completely different than the movie. It's actually a story based right after the end of the Civil War.

The main character, Will Page, has to go live with his Uncle and Aunt because his entire family died during the war. Will comes into his Uncle's household thinking that he was a traitor for not fighting for the South even though he didn't fight for the North either. So you can pretty much see where this is going. Will doesn't like his Uncle, so when he tells Will to call him by his name right then and there Will vows to himself that he will never call his Uncle by name... EVER. So the time passes and Will starts to see that his Uncle didn't fight because he was a traitor or coward but because his Uncle simply didn't believe in what the war was fighting for. At least that's what Will was told. But he was never going to believe it! He would never call his Uncle by name right? Or would time mold Will?

Well you'll just have to read the book to find out!

I would highly recommend this book to all the history lovers out there. Even though the story might be fictional it tells what a lot of families had to go through after the war. And I'm not talking about thinking that your Uncle is a traitor. I'm talking about the struggles the war brought for the well being of farmers and a lot of other occupations in the South.

If you would like to read the book, here is a link,https://www.amazon.com/Shades-Gray-Carolyn-Reeder/dp/0689826966/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471884462&sr=8-1&keywords=shades+of+gray

The Continental Congress: As Told by George Wilson

“No, I think we should send that letter to the king!” I said. “Yeah!!” Shouted most of the rest here in the Pennsylvania State House.

“Oh, Hello! My name is George Wilson and I am a delegate in the Continental Congress representing North Carolina. Right know we're discussing whether to send a letter of grievances to the King or not. I think it's pretty unanimous that we will be. But let me take you back to where it started.”

“It started around two weeks ago, I received a letter from John Adams saying that there was going to be a gathering of all 13 colonies in two weeks. (It ended up only being 12 because Georgia needed British troops for fighting Indians) Anyway where was I? Ah yes, so I received a letter that said I was chosen to be a delegate of the fine colony of North Carolina. I was really excited about that because now I could speak for all of North Carolina in the Continental Congress. But that also put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. But George Wilson was ready! So I made preparations, met with the other delegates of North Carolina to see what their point of views were. And we also met with a lot of the authorities from around the colony to see what the people wanted. So in ten days we were ready to leave, we said goodbye and left for Philadelphia. We arrived on the evening of the third day on the road. Philadelphia was magnificent big brick buildings, cobblestone roads, and best of all, the Pennsylvania State House! Wow! The tall spire, the length of the building, and just the grandeur of the building. Inside and out.

We arrived just in time for roll call of the different colonies' delegates. Everyone was present, other than the Georgian delegates. And a couple of other people who couldn't make it for other reasons.

The next day at nine o'clock all the delegates met for the first discussion topic, boycotting British goods. Now this was pretty much already in action throughout the colonies but there had never been an executive decision to boycott. Colonists just started one day and it spread.

So as you may have guessed already by 11:30 we took a vote. It was a unanimous vote to keep boycotting British goods until the taxes were lifted. After a break for dinner (lunch was called dinner in the old days, Editor) we met back at the State house in two hours and discussed the letter to the King. The points of view were mixed at first with 3/4ths of the delegates being in favor but the other ¼ weren't so sure. They thought that it might anger the King and Parliament even more than they already were. But others, like myself, thought differently. We thought that if we sent a calm and peaceful letter of grievances maybe the King would actually listen to us. “No, I think we should send that letter to the king!” I said. “Yeah!!” Shouted most of the delegates. “Lets vote.” said one of the delegates from Virginia. So we voted. It came out almost unanimous that we would send a petition to the King.

Now the final discussion, who would write the letter/petition? It was decided after unanimous vote once again that John Dickinson would write the letter/petition.

And that my friends is what happened at the First Continental Congress. The next day we came back to the State House and told John what the colonies wanted in the letter. We went all went back to our homes and a week and a half later went back to Philadelphia to read and edit the letter.

The End

My Top Ten Books: #4

My Top Ten Books is a series of short book reviews.

#4 on my list is written by Ed Dunlop. Escape to Liechtenstein.

This book is set in the second world war in Austria. Hans and Gretchen, the main characters, live in a small village by themselves. Their mother was killed and their father was forced to serve for the Nazis.

It starts out a peaceful day but when Gretchen sees Nazi soldiers walking towards the village she yells for Hans, “Nazi soldiers are coming! What will we do!?” Hans being a good brother said calmly back to her, “stay quiet and calm maybe they won't come here.” But they did come...

Bang Bang, “open up!” Said a Nazi soldier, “open up!” “We're coming,” Hans called, “just a moment.”

The soldiers asked if they were the only ones there and they answered truthfully saying yes. The soldiers were looking for a runaway boy and asked again if they were the only ones there. But the soldiers had to find out for themselves. They rummaged through every room turning them all upside down to no avail. They went out to the barn to search but they finally gave up. So after all that Hans and Gretchen were finally by themselves again with a huge mess to clean up and even more hatred for those Nazis!

They looked down into the village and saw all the Nazi soldiers marching through the streets finally leaving the village alone. Then Hans heard something up in the loft of the barn, “be quiet Gretchen I hear something.” A board creaked then another, someone was up in the loft! Hans and Gretchen moved over quietly to where they could see the intruder but he couldn't see them. The intruder started backing down the ladder! Will this intruder be armed and dangerous!? Or will he be friendly and kind!? Read the book to find out!

This book makes my top five because it tells the story of hate changing into sympathy While still having plenty of suspense and action. So if you love Historical Fiction look this book up and maybe give it a try!

If you do want to read it, here is the linkhttps://www.amazon.com/Escape-Liechtenstein-Young-Refugees-Book/dp/1591660130/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JAMJKKA5NJSRVKT5WZGK