I"m late posting July readings because I am so humiliated

July was not a very successful month for me, reading-wise.  I blame it on the fact that I didn't get a lot of pool time the second half of the month.  Also, that I started a book that I read 40 pages of in 14 days and then put down.  I might try it again in the future.  But I just can't right now.  So this month was 2 books, 695 pages.  Ouch- I hang my head in shame.....

Ruth's Journey by Donald McCraig (372 pages).  Have you ever wondered about Gone with the Wind's Mammy?  Like where she came from?  What her real name was?  Apparently, so did the author.  Her name was Ruth.  And she was born on Saint-Domingue.  Her mistress, Solange Escarlette Fornier, saved her when the rebellion happened.  The Fornier family escaped the island and found themselves ensconced in Savannah.  When Solange lost her first husband, she found another.  Two daughters and another dead husband later, Solange found herself married to Pierre Robillard.  Through it all, Ruth was by her side, save for the brief time she left Savannah for Charleston with her husband (and spent some time with the Butler family).  When Solagne died giving birth to Ellen, Ruth was right there to raise the girls.  And when a heartbroken Ellen lost the love of her life and married Gerald O'Hara, Ruth went to northern Georgia with her.  At this point, the author took some liberties with GWTW that I did not appreciate.  Changing the very story that I have read numerous times, the story that Margaret Mitchell so beautifully crafted.  Thank goodness, that part of the book was mercifully short.  Other than that, I enjoyed the story.  It was kind of like Wide Sargasso Sea, which told the back story of Mr. Rochester's crazy wife in the attic.  I finished the book in two days.

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (323 pages).  I had never heard of Jan and Antonina Zabinski.  Neither had any of you?  It's a shame.  Because they managed to save the lives of over 300 people in Poland during World War II.  They ran the zoo in Warsaw.  Once the war came to Poland, they were able to remain in their home (albeit with far fewer animals).  Jan became involved with the resistance.  And they managed to house several Guests for the length of the war.  Sometimes for a few days, others for several months.  Some lived in outbuildings meant for animals, others in closets.  Their story was absolutely fascinating.  The author culled from Antonina's journals, from people who knew them, and from events of the time.  I finished it in five days (only three days of actual reading time).

So there you have it.  The books I read were great.  I blame the stupid Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on my downfall this month.  I thought, every guy my age has read it.  I'm cure it'll be fine.  It.  Was.  Not.