Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Current Read - Killing the Witches


I enjoy reading books about history, but that was not always the case.  Do you remember the type of books we were handed in class?  You know, a quick overview of dates, names, events and places? Yah - for me they were a super snooze fest and I groaned every time I heard the words "history books" or "history class".  So when I started homeschooling my children, I was concerned my attitude towards history would be a problem. Kids are smart and can pick up on those attitudes. Unit studies made me aware of "living history" and it changed my attitude towards history. Those books brought history to life. I went from hating history to loving it! My children had the same attitude and majored in history in college. 

With all that said, I am always searching for my next non-fiction read. I have heard MANY good things about Bill O'Reilly's series and decided to break down and purchase one of his books to see if it is as good as it was touted to be. I chose "Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts" which is the latest installment of his "Killing series". I had a hard time choosing which in the series to read first, but settled on this one, since it was the latest book and when I read the sample on Amazon, I thought it would be an interesting read. 

The book is well written and is easy and enjoyable to read. It has many footnotes (yes, I really do read them all!) and I have found them to be helpful. I enjoy the storytelling - giving personalities to those written about. Did you know that Myles Standish had a temper? I am going to dig more into that after I finish the book, but I found it quite interesting since I always imagined a Pilgrim to be very calm and even-tempered since they were so "religous". 

I am not very far into the book, but I wanted to post about how much I am enjoying it. I wish I had more time in the day to just sit down and read for an afternoon, but I won't really have time to do that until the weather turns cold. Then it will be the perfect time to curl up under an afghan with a hot cuppa and a good book to read. 

If the book or series interests you, make sure to visit Amazon and read the sample that is posted and look at Bill O'Reilly's other books. They all look fascinating!