What I Read June

I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy.  Check out what everyone else is reading this month. I managed to read quite a lot of books this month. I was on a roll.

Trespassing Across America By Ken Ilgunas

When I picked this up, I thought that this was perhaps too liberal of book for me.  The cover intrigued me.  I didn't really want to read about the Alaskan Pipeline. I can say why Ken is not for the pipeline but he got me to think about the pipeline as he walked what would be the route of the pipeline.  I thought it was thoughtful and there is something there for both liberals and conservatives. This was an incredibly interesting book about the many sides of the pipeline and where it runs through the US and the people along it.

What is the solution? How will we get there? If we could travel five hundred years into the future and see things turned out okay, how did we make it okay, and how can we now, as individuals  and as a country, make real this future of okayness.- Ken Ilgunas

A pipeline is built to send a resource form a place that has a lot of resources to a place that doesn't. But civilization won't collapse without new oil pipelines, it'll will collapse without clean water, healthy soil, and a stable climate. What we ultimately  need, it seems , cannot be delivered by a pipe.- Ken Ilgunas

The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel

I had a hard time putting this down.  It was intriguing read about Empress Wu and what happens behind palace doors. Of course, there is back stabbing, romance, political intrigue. There is a sequel to this book but I haven't read it yet.

Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott

This was OK for me. Set in the early start of the industrial age and talks about the girls who work in the cotton mill in Lowell. There was mystery and romance.  This is a good summer read.

Sisi by Allison Pataki

Married to Emperor Franz Joseph, Elisabeth—fondly known as Sisi—captures the hearts of her people as their “fairy queen,” but beneath that dazzling persona lives a far more complex figure. In mid-nineteenth-century Vienna, the halls of the Hofburg Palace buzz not only with imperial waltzes and champagne but with temptations, rivals, and cutthroat intrigue. Feeling stifled by strict protocols and a turbulent marriage, Sisi grows restless. A free-spirited wanderer, she finds solace at her estate outside Budapest. There she rides her beloved horses and enjoys visits from the Hungarian statesman Count Andrássy, the man with whom she’s unwittingly fallen in love. But tragic news brings Sisi out of her fragile seclusion, forcing her to return to her capital and a world of gossip, envy, and sorrow where a dangerous fate lurks in the shadows.- Amazon review

This was an interesting read. I am a sucker for this type of historical fiction.

Life in Motion by Misty Copeland

This was a Modern Mrs Darcy recommendation for a memoir.  I have been a fan of Misty for a while. I find her back story on how she became a ballerina fascinating. You can't but help but admire Misty's drive. Misty is a remarkable woman and dancer.

The Last Season by Eric Blehm

The story of a missing back country ranger, Randy Morgenson,  and the resulting search in the Sierra Nevada's.  The mystery why he disappeared . Wow, this book was hard to put down true story.  Some parts of this reminded me of Ranger Confidential. I am in awe of the jobs our Rangers do in National Parks.