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Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War | Karen Abbott
After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O'Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring, right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives. Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies' descendants, Abbott weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war. With a cast of real-life characters including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, General Stonewall Jackson, detective Allan Pinkerton, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and Emperor Napoleon III, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy draws you into the war as these daring women lived it.
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review
TheDaysGoBy
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Pickpick

I enjoyed the stories of the four women highlighted in this book that helped the war efforts on both sides - Union and Confederacy. A slower read but most nonfiction is for me. It was definitely interesting but I think I‘m ready for some fast paced fiction for my next read

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Texreader
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This e-book from my TBR list is on sale today. I am going to skip it though because at 500 pages it‘s a bit long for me as an e-book. But it might be perfect for some of y‘all

Librarybelle I loved this one! 3y
Tera66 I loved this one, but I don't remember it being that long. 3y
51 likes2 comments
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Tera66
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#ConflictedWorlds #War
@Eggs & @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Hope you are enjoying your weekend, ladies!🌻
This book tells the story of 4 women during the one of the most brutal conflicts on American soil, the Civil War.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great book! 3y
Tera66 @Riveted_Reader_Melissa It really is, I remember wishing it was longer. 3y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Tera66 Yes! I would have loved a few more stories. 3y
Eggs Great cover and choice! 3y
32 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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BarbaraJean
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Pickpick

Finished this almost-500-page chunkster this week—my #DoubleSpin from March! I‘m glad @MeganAnn recommended it on my #NewYearWhoDis list, because it‘s not one I‘d have picked up otherwise. I‘m not usually drawn to Civil War stories, but this was fascinating—the stories of four women spies during the Civil War, including a young woman who posed as a man and joined the Union army. 😮

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
Nutmegnc One of my good friends is the great great grand niece of one of these intrepid ladies! 3y
MeganAnn I‘m so glad you enjoyed it! @Nutmegnc that‘s so cool! 😍 3y
BarbaraJean @Nutmegnc Wow—so awesome!! 3y
39 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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TEArificbooks
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Getting some civil war resources ready for my son‘s history unit research project. I love having an excuse to buy books.

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Lauren_reading
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Pickpick

This non fiction book was about four women experiences during the Civil War. Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow were spies for the confederacy and Emma Edmonds and Rachel Van Lew spied for the Union. All four seemed larger than life.

Bookish_B This was such a good book! 3y
36 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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literarymermaid
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Pickpick

This is a long but worthwhile book, especially for people looking for women in history. It has two women on each side of the conflict, but not necessarily in the locations you'd expect them to be. This makes the ups and downs of their efforts all the more interesting to listen to, especially when considering their reasoning for supporting their side and the little things that made the biggest differences. Don't underestimate people....

literarymermaid And yeah, took the picture before the screen book but never got around to posting about it. I have a few that are a little behind... 4y
6 likes1 comment
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Kboltz
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Pickpick

Why didn‘t we learn about the Civil War by reading a book like this? No one was probably ready to hear what women did to help/spy/fight/nurse during the Civil War. Oh and did anyone like Abraham Lincoln? History rewritten. This non-fiction reads like fiction and you relearn what we should have already been taught about our country‘s Civil War. Great read.

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MeganAnn
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Pickpick

Non-fiction read about 4 different women working to further their cause during the Civil War. Two of these women were Southern supporters working as spies in favor of the Confederacy. The other two supported the Union cause, one as a soldier pretending to be male, the other as the head of an espionage ring.

I found all four stories fascinating. The bravery & strength these women possessed is incredible and I loved learning about their lives. ❤️

MeganAnn I felt I learned a lot about the US Civil War while reading this beyond just the lives of these women. Most of which was either not taught in the broad strokes of the war we learned in high school or which I had definitely forgotten. Using this for #booked2020 #liveandlearn @4thhouseontheleft @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage 4y
Cinfhen This book has been on my TBR pre-Litsy!!! I really need to pick it up! Thanks for the reminder 4y
Bookish_B Loved this book! 4y
Tera66 I loved this book! 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage I've had this on my TBR forever too! Maybe in 2020 ... 4y
49 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Kshakal
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OriginalCyn620 🙌🏼📚🇺🇸 4y
33 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Bookzombie
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Pickpick

Emma Edmonds, Elizabeth Van Lew, Bell Boyd and Rose Greenhow all risked their lives to become spies in the Civil War. Edmonds took on the persona of a man and joined the Union Army. Van Lew ran a spy ring supporting the Union in Richmond, under the noses of the rebels, and helped captured Unionist escape. Bell Boyd became a spy for the Confederates after killing a Union soldier in her home. Widowed Rose Greenhow used her social status in ⬇️

Bookzombie Washington D.C. to gather military information and pass it along to the Confederates. The stories of these four women are fascinating. I am both surprised and not surprised that I did not learn about any of these women in my history classes that I can recall. The audio is well done and very rarely did I lose track of which individual she was talking about. #Booked2019 #soldiersstory #nonfiction19 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Great idea for this prompt! ♥️👊🏻📚 4y
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Cinfhen This book has been on my TBR for a long time!! Maybe I‘ll try audio too❤️🎧Great choice for prompt 4y
Bookzombie @Cinfhen Thanks! 🙂 4y
Allylu Listening to this today - can‘t wait to start! 4y
Bookzombie @Allylu I hope you enjoy it! 4y
58 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Addison_Reads
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Pickpick

Wow! This book does not read like nonfiction. The 4 women whose lives we follow in this well researched book are courageous and determined. They will keep you on your toes until the end wondering just what is going to happen next.

Great read!

#TIL I was fascinated to learn about Mary Jane Bowser, who worked as a servant in the Confederate White House to spy for the Union. She was a former slave to Elizabeth Van Lew.

#NFNov @rsteve388 @Clwojick

ljuliel Sounds very good. I‘ve put it in my reminder list. I don‘t use it as a tbr. More like a Remember to look that up at the library. 4y
Readswithcoffee Just put it on hold at my library. 4y
Addison_Reads @ljuliel @Readswithcoffee I look forward to seeing what you both think about it. 4y
rsteve388 9 pts 4y
29 likes4 comments
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Addison_Reads
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Still making my way through this fascinating read. I'm not a history buff and I typically avoid books about war, but I'm really enjoying this one. I've been #audiocooking while attempting my first vegan shepherd's pie.

#TIL There were hundreds of women who dressed as men and fought in the Civil War. Some of these women did it to spy, some did it for the cause, others did it because they had no other choice.

#NFNov @rsteve388 @Clwojick

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Such a great book! So Fascinating! 4y
rsteve388 4 pts 4y
Sace How was the vegan shepherd's pie? 4y
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Addison_Reads @Sace The husband and kiddo loved it. Next time I'll add a bit more mashed potatoes. It was perfect for a drizzly autumn dinner though. Thanks for asking! 😁 4y
Sace There's no such thing as too much mashed potato! 4y
34 likes1 stack add6 comments
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Addison_Reads
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#TIL Of all the interesting things I'm learning in this book, my inner little kid, who was horse obsessed, can't seem to stop thinking about the section about Stonewall Jackson's horse. I loved hearing that even though others made fun of Little Sorrel for being small, and at times Jackson had to raise his feet so they didn't drag in the mud while riding him, Sorrel remained his faithful companion through it all.

#NFNov @rsteve388 @Clwojick

rsteve388 4 pts 4y
24 likes1 comment
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Addison_Reads
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Every one in my house is asleep, all 4 dogs and 3 of the cats are curled up on the couch with me while I get in a little audiobook time while playing video games.

I thought the subject matter of the tagged book went well with my current game, Red Dead Redemption II.

Any other gamers out there who listen to books while playing?
#NFNov @rsteve388 @Clwojick

rsteve388 1 pt 4y
27 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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KarenUK
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#AyUpAugust #Temptation
One of the amazing women in this “Non Fic that reads like Fiction” book uses #temptation as her weapon...
I really enjoyed this story of four feisty undercover women from the Civil War.... a surprisingly fun read!

squirrelbrain Sounds great - stacked! (This is starting to become a habit...😁) 5y
gradcat Good choice! 5y
Cinfhen I think I stacked this awhile ago on a recommendation from @Librarybelle 🤩 5y
Librarybelle @Cinfhen You May have! This is such a good book! ❤️ 5y
51 likes7 stack adds4 comments
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Tera66
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Pickpick

While I'm not a big fan of "War" books this one was pretty interesting. Its the true life stories of 4 women that worked as spies in the Civil War, two for the Union and two for the confederate side. While it's nonfiction it read like a novel for me, I found myself getting up early to read before work, and I am a sleepy girl!? So it had to be good.?

Nebklvr I liked this one! 5y
13 likes1 comment
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Ericalambbrown
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Pickpick

This is a wonderful book! I enjoyed it enough that I will keep my eyes open for a copy to add to my personal library. I wasn‘t crazy about parts of the performance but the writing was fantastic. And as a former active duty Marine I particularly enjoyed the story of Emma Edmonds, who gallantly served as Frank Thompson in the Army of the Potomac.

Fun book to finish on this Independence Day! 🇺🇸💥

rubyslippersreads I‘ve had this on my TBR list for awhile. 5y
Ericalambbrown @rubyslippersreads When you get to it, I hope you enjoy it was much as I did! 5y
megnews I love this one too! 5y
66 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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MeganAnn
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On vacation! We drove to Kentucky yesterday. Today we visited the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Park and saw where Lincoln was born and where he grew up (on Knob Creek). Pictured is the first Lincoln memorial built and dedicated 11 years before the one in Washington DC.

I bought the tagged book at the gift shop which sounds fascinating.

Librarybelle I loved this book! 5y
Karkar This book has been on TBR for awhile! Hope you have a good time! (edited) 5y
CouronneDhiver I was pretty impressed with Kentucky on my recent trip. Enjoy! 5y
Peddler410 Enjoy your trip! We are heading to Nebraska this summer. (edited) 5y
46 likes4 comments
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Booksnob
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This book is so good. A history teachers dream. Of course women fought in the civil war. Well behaved women rarely make history and these four women are amazing women.

18 likes2 stack adds
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GinEyre22
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Librarybelle
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I can not recommend this book enough - a study of four women who influenced the American Civil War in one way or the other. These four women risked their lives to rally for their cause. Such a great book! #Gunshot #NoFemmeber

Cinfhen ❣️❣️❣️❣️ 5y
megnews Loved this 5y
Billypar Never heard of this! So it's 3 Confederate spies and 1 Union? I feel like I haven't seen many books or movies about espionage during the Civil War, men or women. 5y
Librarybelle @Billypar It‘s 2 Confederate and 2 Union women. Most were spies of a degree, but one of the Union women pretended to be a man to fight. It came out a few years ago, and I think it‘s a sleeper hit - received a lot of praise by those who read it, but didn‘t quite hit mainstream. It‘s really good, partly because topics like this are not really discussed! 5y
Billypar Ohh ok- I was confused by the one posing as a Union soldier- that makes sense though. Nice when books become sleeper hits- there's so much coming out all the time that it's hard to understand how anything has staying power. 5y
90 likes5 stack adds5 comments
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Lauram
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Pickpick

“War, like politics, was men‘s work, and women were supposed to be among its victims, not its perpetrators. Women‘s loyalty was assumed, regarded as a prime attribute of femininity itself.”

This book is definitely in my top 10 for the year. I really enjoyed how it was presented, the bravery of these women (on both sides of the fight), and can‘t imagine the untold stories of women that have been lost to war.

Librarybelle I really liked this book! Glad you liked it. 5y
Lauram @LibraryBelle I had to put JA on hold to get this one done in time for book club tonight. An Adams family member was mentioned (I think John Quincy‘s son) so it *almost* became an extension of the McCullough book 😉 (edited) 5y
58 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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LikelyLibrarian
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1. I don‘t know that I have a favorite, but I could listen to Nina Simone every day ❤️
2. My Goodreads goal was 52 books and I‘ve already met that, but I also created a “TBR in 2018” list - a list of 31 books that have been languishing in the shelf for some time - and I still have 19 left.
3. Almost none. Work, meetings, grocery shopping 😕
4. None. Mine is the only house on my street 🤣
5. I‘ve been to 5 different countries - 6 including the US

LibrarianJen Nina Simone 💖 6y
16 likes1 comment
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Erinsimps
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It‘s a thick one!

RaimeyGallant How many pages? And welcome to Litsy! #LitsyWelcomeWagon Some of us put together Litsy tips to help new Littens navigate the site. It's the link in my bio on my page in case you need it. Or if you prefer how-to videos, @chelleo put some together at the link in her bio. @LitsyWelcomeWagon 6y
cwarnier @Erinsimps Is this the book you were talking about on Thursday? 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 👋🏻🌸 6y
See All 6 Comments
LitsyWelcomeWagon Welcome to Litsy! 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Welcome to Litsy!!! 6y
theresidentromantic Welcome!! 6y
8 likes4 stack adds6 comments
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WhiskeyMistress
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Pickpick

I‘m not a super big non-fiction reader, but this book was very interesting. It handled the idea of switching between the 4 main characters well, and I enjoyed learning some new things. #historical #civilwar #nonfiction #badasswomen #librarybook

58 likes1 stack add
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wanderinglynn
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My Prime day #bookhaul. I‘m rather proud that I limited myself to just the four books because there were so many awesome book deals! But I couldn‘t pass up these 4.

brittanyreads The tagged book sounds good! Sad I missed that one in the sale! 6y
wanderinglynn @BBL4nkensh1p I thought it sounded fascinating. 6y
Trashcanman How'd the job interview go? 6y
See All 6 Comments
readordierachel Those all look good! 6y
wanderinglynn @Trashcanman I thought it went okay. But while Louisville seems like a perfectly nice place, I‘m not sure I want to live there. So Id be okay if they don‘t pick me. Thank you for asking. 😘 6y
wanderinglynn @ReadOrDieRachel I thought so! 😀 6y
106 likes1 stack add6 comments
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lynneamch
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43 likes1 comment
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tysephine
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Pickpick

I listened to this on audio, and the narrator talks soooooo slooooow. At 1.75x speed it's bearable. The book itself is amazing.

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theladygreer
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For the 30th day of my #womenhistoryreads series, I'm thrilled to feature Karen Abbott! We discuss spies, bootleggers, time travel and more. Greermacallister.com/blog

26 likes3 stack adds
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PacingTheCage
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It's a great day for a rosé, while listening to some old tunes on my new toy, and reading this month's #bookclubbook. Cheers!

#bookandwinepairing 📚 🍷 2016 Domaine Houchart Rose Provence Wine.

Nebklvr That book covers some strong women!! 6y
PacingTheCage @Nebklvr Yes it does! I don't care what side they are on, it's amazing what they did and how they did it. 6y
Nebklvr @dltpacngthecage Yep. Kicked ass and took names 6y
PacingTheCage @Nebklvr It just pisses me off that I'm finding out about this now, 20-30 years after school. Ugh! 6y
Nebklvr @dltpacngthecage In this you are not alone.....I feel that way about a LOT of things... 6y
16 likes1 stack add5 comments
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RainyDayReading
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OMG @Librarybelle I LOVE everything! I‘m super excited about the books! Careless People is exactly up my alley and I‘ve been dying to read the other one! The bookmarks are gorgeous and those buttons! Those are the coolest thing! 😁 Also THE PANDAS!!! I squealed when I saw these, they‘re so cute! My nickname was Panda in high school so I have a fondness for them 😊 Thank you so so much!!! You‘re awesome. #nfbe @inwhichHeikereadsharder

Librarybelle You are so welcome! ❤️ 6y
heikemarie You did tag me, I‘m just buried under a pile!! Looks great!! 6y
20 likes1 stack add2 comments
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JTRobertson
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book. It's truly amazing some of the feats these extraordinary womenpulled off during the American Civil War. More than once I found myself laughing at their bravery and cleverness.

I'm planning a novel based during the Civil War that includes a female character posing as a man, so this was great not only just as a fascinating read, but also as a source of reference.

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Cinfhen
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#NuYear Here are four books I‘d like to read about #America but #SoManyBooksSoLittleFunds ( credit to @Lizpixie for that brilliant hashtag 🤑🤑🤑) Hoping my library #OverDrive will provide these books....

JaclynW Excellent choices! I've read the top two and they are excellent. The bottom two are on my TBR. Hopefully your library will have them for you! 6y
Hooked_on_books The only one I haven‘t read is the tagged book. The other three are outstanding. 6y
Cinfhen Thanks @Hooked_on_books @JaclynW glad to hear I have good books to look forward too😍 6y
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LeahBergen I really liked the Abbott book. 👍🏻 6y
TrishB Not read any of these either! 6y
amvs1111 Americanah was fabulous. Interesting story and excellent writing! 6y
Lizpixie You‘re so welcome lovely!😘😘😘 6y
Reviewsbylola Evicted is fantastic but left me feeling a little hopeless. 6y
Cinfhen Soooo happy my library has all four books on #OverDrive and the waits are reasonable @LeahBergen @amvs1111 @Reviewsbylola 😍 6y
Tamra Evicted & Americanah! Very good. (edited) 6y
alisiakae Great picks! The New Jim Crow is excellent, a must-read for all Americans (including ex-pats 😉). I participated in a discussion series on the book led by Educate to Engage, it was life-changing. Americanah is great too. 6y
cocomass Evicted! It‘s a heartbreaker 💔 6y
EmilyM I'm almost finished with Americanah--so good-- and Evicted is up next for me. 6y
161 likes3 stack adds13 comments
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Cortg
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1. Capricorn
2. A mom gave me a shout out on Twitter about my STEM program last night at work and tagged my library system. Seriously though, how can you go wrong with catapulting candy corn!
3. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War. It was an audio and put me to sleep, several times.
4. Use my coupons at Kohl‘s. I hate shopping though.
5. Who‘s playing???

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JPeterson
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A fantastic nonfiction for November about #four women during the civil war.
#novemberbythenumbers #nonfictionnovember

BookishMarginalia I have this on audiobook ready to go. 👍🏼 6y
RebeccaSpeas I just finished this audiobook and I looooooved it! 6y
Librarybelle Excellent choice! 6y
RebeccaSpeas @JPeterson @BookishMarginalia That one is also really great, and I also really enjoyed her biography of Gypsy Rose Lee! I‘m a big fan of her writing. 6y
76 likes5 stack adds5 comments
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Cortg
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Bailedbailed

I had to bail on this one. Maybe it was the reader since it was an audiobook but I just couldn‘t focus. It was boring me to tears.

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Librarybelle
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I've highlighted this before fairly recently, yet it's the first book that came to mind for both #rebelrebel and #femaleheroes . These women stood up for their beliefs, sometimes going against family and country. And, these are true stories! #septembowie #autumnreads

Cinfhen I really need to get to this book 7y
JaclynW I SO loved this book! And I completely agree with you!! 7y
Librarybelle Wonderful, @JaclynW ! It's one of my favorites ❤️❤️ 7y
66 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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Foxyfictionista
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Pickpick

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 This was a fantastic book. I found two of the women to be quite loathsome but their stories were still interesting. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes reading about history.

LeahBergen I enjoyed this one. 👍🏻 7y
WhatDeeReads This is on my #TBRBingo card. I hope to get to it soon. 7y
Foxyfictionista @LeahBergen It was really good!! 7y
See All 6 Comments
Foxyfictionista @WhatDeeReads I'll be interested to know what you think about it. 7y
WhatDeeReads @Foxyfictionista It's long. So it'll probably be a while, but I will try to remember to tag you when I finish it. I'm thinking of buying it on audio so I can get through it a little quicker. 7y
Foxyfictionista @WhatDeeReads It is very long indeed. There were a few times I had to push through but you might be on the right track with the audio book. 7y
68 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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Librarybelle
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Abbott creates cliffhanger endings for each chapter, or at least I felt that way. Chronicling four women in her book, Abbott focuses on one woman a chapter. I became so hooked, needing to know what happened to each woman, that the rather large book went by so quickly. #hangonitsacliffhanger #backtoreading

51 likes5 stack adds
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Loralie
Bailedbailed

I hate bailing on books. HATE IT. But I was not enjoying the writing or how the book was arranged. I love history too so I really hated to give up. However after I put it down for a few days I had no desire to go back to it, and I have so many other books to read so back to the library this goes.

Nebklvr This was very good on audio 7y
Loralie That's good to know, thanks! Maybe that is how I will try it next time. I really wanted to like it so I am sure I will go back to it. 7y
4 likes2 comments
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Loralie

I just got done with the first part of this book & am struggling. Has anyone read this & if so what were your thoughts? I am trying to decide if I should come back to this at a later date, but if it gets better I will stick with it.

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Nebklvr
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Pickpick

Audio books from overdrive. This was great on audio. Four women who courted death and society's wrath by fighting for their homes.

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Blaire
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Mehso-so

This genre of non-fiction was a stretch for me, which made it a #slowread. The story of Elizabeth who set up an intricate spy ring to get secrets to the union, and also by Emma who fought for the union disguised as a man and then fought for her pension after the war drew me in the most. I knew nothing about any of these women and glad I read it, though chunks were a slog for me. #litsyatoz #letterA #lrcbingo #historicalevent #bookriot #war

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Librarybelle
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Women made their mark on the American Civil War too. Abbott looks at four women - two Union and two Confederate - and how their actions aided their cause. Going into this book, I knew the story of two of the women, but I learned so much. Yes, it's chunky, but the pages fly. Abbott also focuses on one woman at a time, and leaves her story in a cliffhanger to move onto the next woman. So good, so valuable to know...definite standout. #35bookparty

Lwiesman Sounds good! Added to my TBR stack! 7y
tpixie Wow! 7y
Librarybelle Definitely a good read, @Lwiesman @tpixie ! 7y
33 likes6 stack adds3 comments
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DGRachel
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These women sound like the #dangeroustype

From my #blameitonLitsy Kindle #tbr. #rockinmay

Cinfhen I agree!!! Total #BadAss - want to read this one too 🤓 7y
77 likes6 stack adds1 comment
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bookwrm526
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These are some recent reads about #lies and liars. None of them were favorites but they were all entertaining! #maybookflowers

49 likes1 stack add