River of the Gods: Sir Richard Burton, John Speke, Sidi Mubarak Bombay and the Epic Search for the Source of the Nile | 
pickCandace Millard wrote a thoroughly researched, yet exciting, narrative nonfiction which is quite the adventure! The source of the Nile River was a mystery in 1850 until two British men were determined to discover the answer. Speke and Burton were highly invested, intelligent explorers who clashed during their expeditions. Burton was a highly skilled linguist who spoke 25 languages and translated the Kama sutra into English. Good but long!
pickCuriosity, bravery, greed, pride, and ambition brought these two men to the heights of fame and the pit of infamy. Speke, the Burtons, and Bombay come across as imperfect people in a perfect storm of exploration and politics. I am determined to read all of Millard‘s works of nonfiction but I hope she is working on something now as I have only one left.
Late posting my #joyousjanuary wrap up but I am feeling the joy! Thank you @Andrew65 for hosting 😊
✅ Finished Appointment with Death
✅ Finished What Meets the Eye
✅ Finished River of the Gods
✅ Read an installment of Serial Reader each day
Friday night #joyousjanuary update
Finished What Meets the Eye … Review to come
Finished part 3 of River of the Gods
Still reading one installment a day on Serial Reader - finished A Christmas Carol and returned to Little Women
#joyousjanuary Day 4 update! Having a Monday off is all fun and games until you have two days‘ work to finish on Tuesday 😬 but I did manage to get a little reading in. I‘m not loving What Meets The Eye so far, but maybe it will pick up once the plot gets cooking.
Finished Appointment With Death, read an issue of Christmas Carol, and now I‘m getting back to River of the Gods (which I started in Nov!). I was reading it for book club, but then I couldn‘t make it to the meeting and I moved on and never finished the book. But it‘s so good! I just have to get past my mental block. That‘s what readathons are for 😊 #joyousjanuary
#JoyousJanuary Readathon goals!
1. Finish River of the Gods (which I started back in November)
2. Read an installment of my serial reader every day
3. Murder in Mesopotamia for #backlistreadathon
4. What Meets the Eye for my book club
pickLow pick. I can‘t help but feel that if the author wanted to write a book about the actual native people who were/are active in exploration culture, they should have done so instead of writing yet another glowing biography of Burton & shoehorning Bombay into the afterword.
Photo from https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=fafd5305-a83d-4083-90e0-3d456... (Royal Geographic Society) where there is a small bio of Bombay.
pickThis work focuses on the pursuit of finding the source of the Nile by a cast of unique personalities. Not my favorite of Millard's works. It had a lot more betrayal then adventure in it. Nevertheless, the story is very interesting and engaging at times and is well worth the read.
pick97/150 A fascinating history of the search for the source of the Nile. Both Richard Burton and John Speke were amazing men, courageous and determined, but also ruthless, ambitious and egotistical. Their various trials and tribulations, in and out of Africa, makes for engrossing listening. 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1st book finished for #JubilantJuly @Andrew65
pickAnother great book from Candice Millard! This tells the story of the British search for the source of the Nile, complete with rivalries, egos, and arrogance a plenty. My favorite thing about this book is how well it highlights the reliance upon indigenous guides and their contribution to the travels of folks like Livingston, Burton, and Speke. If you‘re a history nerd, maybe give it go!
Sunday morning reading. This is the latest selection I‘m reading with my aunt. We both loved Candice Millard‘s River of Doubt so we‘re looking forward to diving into this one. #candicemillard #riverofthegodsbook
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Far outside of what I‘d normally read on my own, this was Sharon McMahon‘s (@sharonsaysso on Instagram) pick for her current book club, and I really enjoyed it. I had zero knowledge of anything covered here, and Millard presented it all in an easy to follow way, making connections & giving background information as needed. I am definitely interested in checking out her other books!
pickAfter the Rosetta Stone was discovered, European explorers increased their interest in Egypt and the origin of the Nile River. Actually finding the origin, however, was tricky and fraught with difficulty and disease. Millard tells the story in her terrific narrative nonfiction, through a 2022 lens. Fun book!
#ReadingAfrica2022 #Somalia
pickIf you‘ve ever read Candice Millard, you‘ll already know she‘s an extraordinary storyteller. With this tale of old-fashioned bravery and derring-do, she has a story worthy of her talents. This book has it all - excitement, tension, and a betrayal so deliciously terrible that it took my breath away. Magnificent. I‘ll be interviewing the author at Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, MO on June 2. Come along if you can!
pickVictorian explorers were pretty terrible in retrospect, bushwhacking their way through locals because Europeans were always right, but I enjoyed this larger-than-life look at the rivalry between Burton and Speke to be the first European to find the source of the White Nile. I‘m definitely #TeamBurton; I mean who wouldn‘t love a dogged, over-dramatic polyglot?? Speke just seemed a bit more boring. Interesting read for #Uganda #ReadingAfrica2022!
