Lindsay @ Plot Twist Travels

The Mountains Sing takes place over the past century in Vietnam, taking the reader through essential points in the country’s history. We visit the cities of Hanoi, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), and Nam Dinh and see a family’s fortune change in two short generations. By turning to the first page of The Mountains Sing, you will open the door into an authentic Viet Nam where proverbs are sprinkled throughout daily conversations, where lullabies and poems are sung. You will experience the colors, richness and complexity of our culture, beginning with our Vietnamese names and language, which appear in full diacritical marks…Forty-five years after the war, tremendous progress has been made in terms of reconciliation between Viet Nam and the United States.

I was Mrs. Fiocci training for WWII on Inverie Bay in Scotland, Lucienne Carter aiding escape into the Pyrenees, Madame Andre in command of seven thousand French resistance troops in the hills of rural France. Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon is about a real woman, Nancy Wake, who became an undercover agent for the French resistance. , Lawhon takes an interesting character in history and draws her experiences out into a dramatic tale, at times funny and other times completely anxiety-inducing. Here are some I love: Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for a chance to read a complimentary advanced reader’s copy of Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon.

The Newberry Library is an independent research library that not only holds rare books, but also offers incredible literary learning opportunities. The Newberry holds events like the Newberry Library Book Fair, and also has opportunities for ongoing adult learning. During 2019, they had a monthly series dedicated to the Chicago Race Riots of 1919, as well as one-off events like Drag Queen Story Hour for kids, meet the author events, and a genealogy and local history orientation for individuals who want to learn more about how to research their own family histories. Make a day trip to Oak Park to visit both of their houses, then walk through downtown Oak Park, located just south of the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street.

The Newberry Library is an independent research library that not only holds rare books, but also offers incredible literary learning opportunities. The Newberry holds events like the Newberry Library Book Fair, and also has opportunities for ongoing adult learning. During 2019, they had a monthly series dedicated to the Chicago Race Riots of 1919, as well as one-off events like Drag Queen Story Hour for kids, meet the author events, and a genealogy and local history orientation for individuals who want to learn more about how to research their own family histories. Make a day trip to Oak Park to visit both of their houses, then walk through downtown Oak Park, located just south of the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street.