A Life on Our Planet

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough

Read September 2021 - Well Read Book Club

I am so glad I read this book!  This is one of those books that I recommend you read (the book is chockfull of photos from throughout David Attenborough's life and career) and also listen to as he is the narrator of his story.  The book is laid out over the course of his own lifetime.  He includes snippets of information showing how much forest is left at each point in his life (going down with each year) and how many extinctions of animals and plants (going up with each year).  Those little snippets at the start of each chapter are powerful in their own right.  He outlines the effects of climate change in ways that are obvious and not so obvious.  It feels like a heavy weight... but he doesn't leave us there.  He gives good hopeful suggestions for how nations are addressing the issues effectively and how individual people can also participate in turning things around, or at least slowing the decline.  If only we would all listen to him.  

Quotes from the book...

By the end of the twentieth century, mankind had removed 90% of the large fish from all the oceans of the world. 

To restore stability to our planet, therefore, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing we have removed.  It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created.  We must rewild the world. 

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet - official trailer for the Netflix documentary

News of the World

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Read September 2021 - Zoom Reading Circle

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd performs live readings of newspapers throughout small northern Texas towns.  After one reading he is offered money to deliver a young girl to her relatives near San Antonio and he accepts.  The girl, Johanna, was kidnapped by Kiowa raiders 4 years earlier after he family was killed and she no longer remembers that life. She is determined to escape and return to the only people she has ever known, the Kiowa.  But throughout the treacherous journey south the Captain and the girl, Johanna, eventually bond as they escape dangers of all kinds.  The 71 year old Captain is determined to get the 10 year old girl safely to her long lost relatives, but there will be more decisions for him to make when they reach their destination.  Throughout my reading of this book I saw and heard Captain Kidd as Tom Hanks (the movie had been released, although I have yet to see it.)

Quotes from book...

More than ever knowing in his fragile bones that it was the duty of men who aspired to the condition of humanity to protect children and kill for them if necessary. 

Life was not safe and nothing could make it so, neither fashionable dresses nor bank accounts.  The baseline of human life was courage. 

Book Trailer - News of the World by Paulette Jiles

News of the World movie trailer

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Read September 2021 - Zoom Reading Circle

Wow!  This book sort of horrified me, to be honest!  It reminded me of that movie Jennifer and I watched called Seeking a Friend For the End of the World where, when it was over, we were horrified that the world ended!   ha!  

And Then There Were None is fast paced and has more than one shiver-inducing scene.  Agatha Christie truly was the master of mystery and her descriptions of location and her fleshing out of character is unmatched.  How she was able to create such a huge cast of characters that stand out and are easy to remember, is astonishing.  I never got anyone mixed up.  There are so many twists and turns right up to the very end.  

And Then There Were None - 2015 AcornTV movie trailer (but I believe this movie diverges from the book a fair amount?)

There is a truly interesting series of videos called The Essence of Agatha Christie - featuring her grandson sharing personal glimpses into her life and work.  Click the link below to see the full playlist. 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBDCoRkrxbNIxEcScX7mbE9vh3kHMtMV