Bill Ruttenberg
@bill-ruttenberg.bsky.social
History teacher, book lover, reader
I finished up a couple more history books these last couple of days. Both of them were 5 star reads.
July 22, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I finished up a couple more history books these last couple of days. Both of them were 5 star reads.
A big thank you to the University of Chicago Press for sending this biography in the mail. Alexander the Great: Lives and Legacies by Stephen Harrison. I can’t wait to dig into it!
July 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A big thank you to the University of Chicago Press for sending this biography in the mail. Alexander the Great: Lives and Legacies by Stephen Harrison. I can’t wait to dig into it!
Finished this biography this morning by Jane Dunn called Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. This is an excellent dual biography of two queens of Europe from the 1500s. The book is a great look at the relationship and rivalry of these two women. I highly recommend checking out this book.
July 19, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Finished this biography this morning by Jane Dunn called Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. This is an excellent dual biography of two queens of Europe from the 1500s. The book is a great look at the relationship and rivalry of these two women. I highly recommend checking out this book.
For all of you baseball fans out there that love the history of the game, this was a good one about the 1908 season and the amazingly close finish to the NL pennant race. It discusses the changes in baseball that led to the modern era of the game. Good stuff. Crazy ‘08 by Cait Murphy.
July 13, 2025 at 10:40 PM
For all of you baseball fans out there that love the history of the game, this was a good one about the 1908 season and the amazingly close finish to the NL pennant race. It discusses the changes in baseball that led to the modern era of the game. Good stuff. Crazy ‘08 by Cait Murphy.
I just finished my first two books for Historathon 2025 - 3rd Quarter where we read history nonfiction for the years 1500-1820. Both of these books were really good. I highly recommend both of them. Go check them out. They are by Stacy Schiff and Olaudah Equiano.
#historathon2025
#historathon2025
July 12, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I just finished my first two books for Historathon 2025 - 3rd Quarter where we read history nonfiction for the years 1500-1820. Both of these books were really good. I highly recommend both of them. Go check them out. They are by Stacy Schiff and Olaudah Equiano.
#historathon2025
#historathon2025
I couldn’t sleep last night so I got up and started reading these Gary Paulsen classics, Brian’s Winter and Brian’s Return. They are part of the Hatchet series. Wonderful adventure stories! If you’ve never tried them you are missing out.
May 27, 2025 at 8:43 AM
I couldn’t sleep last night so I got up and started reading these Gary Paulsen classics, Brian’s Winter and Brian’s Return. They are part of the Hatchet series. Wonderful adventure stories! If you’ve never tried them you are missing out.
I just finished Erik Larson’s book The Devil in the White City. I have been working on this for the last two weeks. Good book. Not my favorite Larson book but still very interesting. Set in the 1890s during the Chicago Fair with a killer on the loose. I recommend everyone to check it out.
May 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I just finished Erik Larson’s book The Devil in the White City. I have been working on this for the last two weeks. Good book. Not my favorite Larson book but still very interesting. Set in the 1890s during the Chicago Fair with a killer on the loose. I recommend everyone to check it out.
Yesterday I finished an excellent novel by Mitch Albom called The Little Liar. It is a story of a Jewish family during the Holocaust and their world after. I highly recommend the book.
May 20, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Yesterday I finished an excellent novel by Mitch Albom called The Little Liar. It is a story of a Jewish family during the Holocaust and their world after. I highly recommend the book.
I just finished up My last book for the first quarter of #historathon2025. Alexander at the End of the World by Rachel Kousser covers the end of Alexander the Great’s life when he was on campaign in Central Asia and India. I found this to be a good book that is accessible to all readers. Good book!
March 30, 2025 at 12:09 PM
I just finished up My last book for the first quarter of #historathon2025. Alexander at the End of the World by Rachel Kousser covers the end of Alexander the Great’s life when he was on campaign in Central Asia and India. I found this to be a good book that is accessible to all readers. Good book!
I am enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the porch and just finished John Steinbeck’s novella The Pearl. This is a sad story of what greed can do to people. Check it out.
March 29, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I am enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the porch and just finished John Steinbeck’s novella The Pearl. This is a sad story of what greed can do to people. Check it out.
I just finished Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates. This is #9 in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. In this story Conner and Lucy buy a house together on the beach. Is it haunted or just full of bad family history? Go check out this fast paced mystery!
March 29, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I just finished Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates. This is #9 in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. In this story Conner and Lucy buy a house together on the beach. Is it haunted or just full of bad family history? Go check out this fast paced mystery!
I just finished up this excellent piece of WWII historical fiction by Jack Cavannaugh called Dear Enemy. The narrative is done from the perspective of a strong female character, a nurse during the war. I highly recommend this book. It was very well done.
March 28, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I just finished up this excellent piece of WWII historical fiction by Jack Cavannaugh called Dear Enemy. The narrative is done from the perspective of a strong female character, a nurse during the war. I highly recommend this book. It was very well done.
I just finished reading Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard. This was an excellent book about the military career of Winston Churchill. It is easy to read and understand. I would recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn more about the early part of Churchill’s career.
March 27, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I just finished reading Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard. This was an excellent book about the military career of Winston Churchill. It is easy to read and understand. I would recommend the book to anyone wanting to learn more about the early part of Churchill’s career.
My daughter and I finished another Boxcar Children mystery. This one was The Mystery of the Missing Boxcar by Gertrude Chandler Warner. The children are going to put their boxcar in the Founders Day Parade but it comes up missing. Who took it?
#booksky #booktube #boxcarchildren
#booksky #booktube #boxcarchildren
March 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
My daughter and I finished another Boxcar Children mystery. This one was The Mystery of the Missing Boxcar by Gertrude Chandler Warner. The children are going to put their boxcar in the Founders Day Parade but it comes up missing. Who took it?
#booksky #booktube #boxcarchildren
#booksky #booktube #boxcarchildren
Finished another classic from Erik Larson called The Splendid and the Vile. This is a great retelling of the the German bombing of Great Britain and the reaction and leadership of Winston Churchill during WWII. This is a must read for all WWII fans.
March 19, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Finished another classic from Erik Larson called The Splendid and the Vile. This is a great retelling of the the German bombing of Great Britain and the reaction and leadership of Winston Churchill during WWII. This is a must read for all WWII fans.
I just finished this legal thriller called We, the Jury by Robert Rotstein. A man kills his abusive wife. Will he be found guilty or not? This story has a lot of twists and turns. If you like Grisham books then you will love this.
March 19, 2025 at 9:15 AM
I just finished this legal thriller called We, the Jury by Robert Rotstein. A man kills his abusive wife. Will he be found guilty or not? This story has a lot of twists and turns. If you like Grisham books then you will love this.
Just finished Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates. It is #8 in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. These are great cozy mysteries. Lucy & Conner are getting married but there are people from the past not wanting to see Lucy tie the knot. And someone is desperate enough to murder. Who? Enjoy the book!
March 16, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Just finished Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates. It is #8 in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. These are great cozy mysteries. Lucy & Conner are getting married but there are people from the past not wanting to see Lucy tie the knot. And someone is desperate enough to murder. Who? Enjoy the book!
I just finished this book, The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport. 5 star read. This was a great personal account of the sisters’ time growing up in early 20th century Russia.
March 3, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I just finished this book, The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport. 5 star read. This was a great personal account of the sisters’ time growing up in early 20th century Russia.
I just finished J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Oh my! What an awesome adventure and what an awesome reading experience! I cannot wait to jump into The Lord of the Rings.
February 23, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I just finished J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Oh my! What an awesome adventure and what an awesome reading experience! I cannot wait to jump into The Lord of the Rings.
As promised, I finished The Mystery of the Black Raven by Gertrude Chandler Warner with my daughter. She liked it a lot and rated it a 5 star. She can usually guess the ending of the book, but not so with this one. It made for a fun afternoon.
February 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
As promised, I finished The Mystery of the Black Raven by Gertrude Chandler Warner with my daughter. She liked it a lot and rated it a 5 star. She can usually guess the ending of the book, but not so with this one. It made for a fun afternoon.
I finally finished Shelby Foote’s trilogy over the Civil War. Good book. It is a classic account of the war.
February 22, 2025 at 1:17 PM
I finally finished Shelby Foote’s trilogy over the Civil War. Good book. It is a classic account of the war.
Just finished a powerful tear jerker of a book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
February 17, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Just finished a powerful tear jerker of a book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
Another snow day led to extra reading with my daughter. We finished another Boxcar Children Mystery called The Mystery in the Old Attic. It was funny because when we went to rate it on Goodreads (I always let her rate the kid books) she said to rate it 3 stars because “That mystery was so easy!”
February 13, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Another snow day led to extra reading with my daughter. We finished another Boxcar Children Mystery called The Mystery in the Old Attic. It was funny because when we went to rate it on Goodreads (I always let her rate the kid books) she said to rate it 3 stars because “That mystery was so easy!”
I just finished The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. This was a 5 star read. Excellent account of the opening shots of the Civil War and the causes and instigators of that war. If you enjoy studying the Civil War then this is a must read.
February 12, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I just finished The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. This was a 5 star read. Excellent account of the opening shots of the Civil War and the causes and instigators of that war. If you enjoy studying the Civil War then this is a must read.
My daughter and I finished another Boxcar Children Mystery and we started the next one last night. We finished The Mystery in the Mall. My daughter liked this one and gave it high marks. The children get to go the mall and hang out / work for a week and they found a mystery in the process. Enjoy!
February 12, 2025 at 9:56 AM
My daughter and I finished another Boxcar Children Mystery and we started the next one last night. We finished The Mystery in the Mall. My daughter liked this one and gave it high marks. The children get to go the mall and hang out / work for a week and they found a mystery in the process. Enjoy!