The Four Winds *Spoiler-FILLED* Reading Vlog + crazy twin antics :)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- #adventuresinhistorybookclub
Join me for all the emotions as I read and share all my thoughts on The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. The Four Winds was the April book club pick for the Adventures in History Book Club I host here on TH-cam. Please see details below on how to join. Otherwise, PLEASE comment with all your thoughts on this vlog ... include all the spoilers :)
Adventures in History Book Club:
1) Announcement video: • Historical Fiction Boo...
2) Goodreads group: / adventures-in-history-...
Other Book videos you may enjoy:
1) Huge Historical fiction book haul: • Huge Historical Fictio...
2) Top 13 books for Fall: • 13 Book Recommendation...
3) Booktubers who LOVE Historical fiction: • 8 Booktubers who LOVE ...
Book of the Month referral link: www.mybotm.com...
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Hi! I’m Angie. I’m a homeschooling mom to 4 amazing kiddos (7, 5, 3, and 3 years old). On this channel I enjoy sharing our homeschooling journey as well as my serious love for all the books! You can expect videos on homeschooling curriculum, schedules, and tips/tricks as well as book reviews, wrap-ups, and book hauls. Excited to have you following along!!
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I loved the book, gave it 5 ⭐️, but this is what killed me emotionally while reading this book... we read this story of history, and see how horrible the lower class was treated for no fault of their own... and I look at our country today, look at how we treat immigrants, how we treat the lower class workers, how we STILL do not offer a living wage, how Kristin Hannah spoke about the atrocity of putting people in cages at the border of California and how this was so inhumane... and then I look at how our last President put people at the border in cages. The most devastating part of this book... is that very little has changed in the mindset of those who have, against those who have not! And that imo, is the true travesty!!!
Excellent connection - I feel like that aspect of the story was really heartbreaking to read about! I hadn't considered that as I was reading but you are completely right!
The book will rip your heart out and stomp on it, repeatedly. I loved it! Five stars!!
Haha! Yep, that pretty much sums it up!!
While I love her writing, I came away feeling it was overdone. Maybe it was my emotional state that made it a bad time to read it, but it frustrated me on so many levels, including the political narrative that felt agenda driven. I agree with your point about the female relationships and the positives there- I just couldn’t keep caring about the characters because of how unbelievable the amount of suffering and lack of hope was while reading it. I probably need to let the story “sit” longer lol!
I completely agree with you - that is why it wasn't a 5 star read for me! Although, I did connect with the characters which helped it wrap up better for me! But, yes, that was my biggest complaint as well.
This book didn't turn out at all like I expected. I cried like a baby at the end and my husband thought I was a nut lol.
Glad you liked it!! Yep, that often happens to me while I'm sitting next to my husband reading :)
I am so glad you chose this book because I LOVED it. I knew almost nothing about the Dust Bowl so even without the fictional story, the historical knowledge was incredibly eye opening and tragic.
I cried at the end of the book, and I rarely cry when I read books. I think it was because of the Mother Daughter relationship and the fact that they’d just begun to reconcile and come together again, only for the daughter to be left without her.
Beautiful book. Five stars.
I know what you mean, I felt so sad for the daughter because I felt like she was just coming to see her mom more clearly - and that just made me even more heartbroken when Elsa died! So glad you liked the book!
I'm glad I read the book and learned more about this time in history. However, it was just so sad and depressing. I too was waiting for something good to happen and at times I thought their was hope, but it didn't last and more sad things happened, especially the ending.
Yes, I was definitely feeling that was as well ... honestly if it weren't for the interesting characters, I might not have made it all the way! But I'm really glad I made it to the end!
I ended up LOVING this book! I, at first, couldn't get into it. But after about 60 or so pages, I was hooked! I enjoyed the character development of Elsa and Loreda and how Rafe's parents "adopted" Elsa in a sense as the daughter they never had, which in turn becomes the parents she never had! I agree that it was a very depressing read, but in a beautiful way that I think only Kristin Hannah can pull off! (does that make sense? LOL!) I cried buckets at the end!! I loved how this book taught me about a time in our nations history that I knew VERY little about!! I had no idea the droughts lasted that long...and honestly never even heard about the "dust bowl" until I heard about this book! THIS is exactly why I love Historical Fiction!! This is my second Kristin Hannah book, The Great Alone being my first...which I LOVED!! I have The Nightingale on my must reads for 2021 TBR and am thinking I will read it sometime this summer! I am so glad you started this book club Angie and I am very thankful to have had it brought to my attention! I picked up May's book yesterday from the bookstore and cannot wait to start reading it!! :)
Some of my favorite parts of the book were from the beginning ... from her relationship with Rose, I was sad when the story diverged and left them in Texas!
This is my first book by Kristin Hannah and I am having a hard time getting through it. I stopped reading at Ch. 25 because I couldn't take any more heartache. Help me. Should I keep going or just put it away.
Oh man, I was feeling the same way at about that point and it doesn't get any easier for another 100 pages or so ... and even then it is still hard but the character development really helps ground the story. So, I'm not sure if it would be good for you to continue - just know I was feeling similar but the end was really good!
Loved this book
I'm so glad you loved this one!! Hopefully, you will also love Junes pick - The Children's Blizzard :)
I absolutely loved this book! I loved seeing Elsa find her strength and becoming a hero to her children.
Yes, I loved her character development over the course of the book - I was really routing for her!!
My first Kristin Hannah book and I LOVED it!!! It sent me down a rabbit hole of learning everything I could about the Dust Bowl. Great choice!!!
Me too!!
I did the same thing - I vaguely knew about the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, but not anything close to what I learned in this book. Love that about Historical fiction!
I love love love Kristin Hannah. Do I go into it knowing she's going to wreck me? Yup. I absolutely do. But she can tell a story that just captivates me from beginning to end. This one in particular was pretty bleak, but I just kept thinking how realistic that was for the time. It was a tough tough time in our history. I googled the strikes and "refugee" camps and that was a real thing. I loved Eva's progression throughout this book and how she found strength within herself.
Haha, I knew that going into the book too .... but I feel like this one wrecked me more than the other ones :) In the case of The Nightingale, I expected hardship because it was WWII ... but maybe it was because I didn't know much about the dust bowl before this book! I did really enjoy learning more - I was shocked at the state of the camps and what people had to live through! So glad you joined this month!!
I gave this book 5 stars. The authors writing is so good that it keeps me wanting to read more. A hard to put down book 📚
Agree! Have you read any other KH books??
@@sciencemama Yes, The Nightingale and Firefly Lane. I will definitely read more of her books in the future
Great review. I agree that this book was heart wrenching and depressing but also very good. It taught me a lot about the dust bowl and the depression. I found myself googling about that time period to learn more. I liked the ending because although it was sad that Elsa died, I felt that it made me appreciate the brave workers that battled for a living wage and all that they went through for these rights that we enjoy today.
Oh, I stopped the video at 9:36 to not hear any spoilers.
LOVED this book so much! Elsa died for what she believed and I believe she died happy.
So good!
Ugh it made me so angry! I loved the setting and concept and I did love the characters and the romance. I felt like there were too many loose ends and like the ending was rushed. I HATE that she died! I really wish she could’ve just gone on to live a happy life with Jack. But I should’ve known Kristin Hannah was going to kill someone off! 🤣 I think this was my least favorite KH novel but it was a good read. Depressing but engaging.
Haha, you made me laugh with the "should have know KH would kill someone off" comment! Sorry it wasn't your favorite, are you reading this months book?
When you talked about how you felt in the middle of this book, that is was too much and it wasn’t getting better...that’s how I felt about Firefly Lane. I hated that book, which I wasn’t expecting to. The death at the end of this book and all the sadness and tragedy, like you said, it’s terrible but it makes sense. It’s realistic to the time period and it makes sense in the end. I didn’t feel that way with Firefly Lane.
It's been a while since I read Firefly Lane - but I really felt connected to the non-famous character (I think her name was Kate or Katie)! I should go back and read it, I think it was my first KH book!
This is my third Kristin Hannah, and I loved loved loved it. I could not put it down. I cried at the end. What I loved most about the book was how the author transported us to a very well known time in history and the horrible hardships that so many people had to endure to just simply survive. I feel that is under appreciated about that time period. I now want to learn more about the dust bowl. Such a fascinating time period! The book also kept me think of my grandmother who lived during the depression. She made her own clothes, grew he own food, and of course, never threw anything away. I wish she was still alive so I could ask her about that time in her life (she would have been in her 20's). Wonderful book! 5 star read for me.
YES! I feel like that was one of the major strengths of the book - how transformative it was!! I really felt like I was in Elsa's shoes!
Check out The Grapes of Wrath
Loved this book! I'd say it's tied for my second favorite Kristin Hannah book with the Nightingale (The Great Alone is my favorite). I too did not know much about the migrants during the great depression, and it really opened my eyes to a less talked about era of history.
I feel like that timeframe of history has come more alive for me because of this book - I knew about the dust bowl but now I have a small glimpse into what it might have felt like!! Love that about historical fiction!
I absolutely loved the book. It was such a hard read in the low parts, but I devoured it. I related on different levels with all the characters but you’re so right, the relationships were so well written and so well portrayed. I also did not expect her death but it did make the story! She found her voice, she found real love, she reconnected with her daughter. It was so good. I think I’ve just been reading the wrong type of books lately cause when reading this I just kept thinking I don’t want it to end (I wanted the low parts to end! But not how the book drew me in!) Cant wait for next months book but I definitely think I need to read some more Kristin Hannah! This was my first book of hers and if you say her others are better than this, I’ll be hooked! Thanks so much for putting this book club together, I never would have picked the book up otherwise!
I also loved getting to see your kiddos and the reality that is motherhood haha
So glad you loved your first KH book - let me know what you think if you pick up any of her other ones! They have a similar style so I bet you will love them!
I feel like we had very similar reading experiences. I found myself reading a trio of really emotional, tragic stories at the end of April. I’ll admit I had to talk myself into those last 50 pages and I felt like that part of the book MADE it phenomenal. I’m giving it 4⭐️- it was my first Kristin Hannah and I’m sure I’ll be reading her books again...once I recover.
Haha, no joke ... KH books will do that to you :)
Ok it will stay in history but I stopped watching I'm disappointed in myself but I will finish the book and watch later.
I just started "The Traveling Cat Chronicles "
I hope you enjoy the end of the book!
I think you stated it perfectly for my situation. This was not the month for me to read this book. I also was finishing up Kindergarten curriculum prep for the fall. Then I felt paralyzed for awhile afterwards with many other parts of my life changing from my immunosupressive medication changing to my sister starting chemo. I couldn't handle the endless hardships in this book. It ended up on my DNF list. Maybe one day I will revisit it.
It is not a book to pick up during a hard season of life - I wish I would have known that because then I could have warned you all! Have you read any other KH books?
I ended up loving this book! I feel a personal connection to it for a couple of reasons. First, my husband’s family are wheat farmers in the Pacific Northwest and while the Dust Bowl didn’t hit them as hard, they did suffer from it. My husband said his grandmother used to talk about how everyday they had to clean thick layers of dust off the windowsills. Second, I am a Californian and I did not realize so much of the book took place in California. The mistreatment of migrants from the Midwest isn’t something I’ve ever learned about but this book has made me want to learn more. In fact, it’s prompted me to want to read The Grapes of Wrath this summer which I’ve always felt is a classic I should read but now actually want to read.
I agree that the relationships made this book so wonderful. I loved Elsa and found her an engaging main character. I loved the arc of her relationship with her daughter especially.
While this book dealt with hardship and tragedy, I didn’t find it oppressive (as I definitely did while reading The Nightingale...talk about all the horrible things happening to people!) but more a testament to the hope and perseverance of one woman against the odds. I thought it was so well done!
I agree, KH has a gift! All of her books make me feel like I am living in that timeframe :) Glad you loved the book!
This was the first Kristan Hannah book I’ve read! It was great. I really get into the setting of the farm and the horrible conditions. I lived in Oklahoma and Texas and really felt I was there. What I really didn’t know was the horrible treatment these people received in California. Why do we not help each other as a country during the worst of times. Had no idea they were treated so badly. I loved the characters. Elsa for sure. She was very strong and showed the love for her children. The husband was disgusting!!!! How could he leave them? What a selfish piece of work! Loved his parents. It was very sad and happy story at all. It was really told well. Can’t believe the ending. There were some passages that I marked and loved. I look forward to the next Hannah book.
I'm so glad you loved it! KH really has a gift at drawing the reader into the situation - which KH are you picking up next?
This was my first Kristin Hannah book and I absolutely loved this story. It was really depressing but I agree, I was so attached to Elsa and her journey! This was a great pick and a new author to me that I'm excited to read more from!
Excited to introduce you to KH - haha, you just always have to be prepared for an emotional train wreck :)
This was my first Kirsten Hannah book. I haven't been able to get into it. I stopped after her husband left. I found myself wanting to put it down but pushed through hoping getting over hundred pages would help me to connect more with the characters. I haven't been able to pick it up since and it took 3 weeks to read the first bit. Maybe just wrong time to read the book or maybe I'm just not fan of Hannah's writing style.
KH definitely has a specific writing style - the kind that stomps on your heart :) I feel like I would have liked it more if I would have picked it up at a differ timepoint. I really did love The Nightingale ... but you have to be prepared for all the WWII hardships!
I just finished this one (longest wait list at the library ever!). Ugh! Poor Elsa! What a life. She went through so much and was so strong. I definitely did not expect her to die. Loved the story and reading about the time period. 4+ stars for sure!
Haha, it was a long wait at my library too! Glad you liked it, I'm still thinking about the book :)
Took two weeks to read it because it was so depressing! But it was good and I kept going on... I cried my eyes out in the last two chapters and since then I can’t read... 😆 It’s not leaving me and it’s been years since that happened to me... It would have been a five stars read if it had more « happy moments » in it but it’s a four stars. Glad I read it. 👍🏻
YES, you pretty much described my thoughts - I loved it, it has haunted me a bit, and I wish it was a bit happier :)
I’m starting to plan for the new school year (second grade and kindergarten) so I get what you mean! Do you have any homeschool channels that you recommend?
Oh man, there are so many good ones! I really like Rooted in Rest and Grace and Grit ... but it really depends on which curriculum you end up going with!
I was really feeling depressed through the reading of the book. It did give me a real perspective of the time of the depression era. I
Iiked what you said about Elsa needing that family, even if she came at a time when her own family shunned her. I liked the book The Great Alone better then this one, but that could be because I came from that time period. I loved learning about Alaska. Great job on the report. Looking forward to the read in May.
Yes, I think I didn't know enough about that timeframe to prepare myself better for the intensity and sadness of this book - but I did learn a bunch! That is why I love historical fiction :)
I loved this vlog and review. I read the book in February when I had covid and was quarantined away from my husband and kids. I was able to fly through it because I didn’t have anything else to do. It did motivate me to learn a more about the dust bowl. I think the author was trying to make us feel sad, exhausted, and emotionally parched as we slogged through the middle to end of the book, getting a small taste of the way the people who lived through the Depression felt.
Haha, I didn't think about the middle that way, but I like it! I learned a ton about the dust bowl as well - this book really helped it come alive!
It had all the hardships, but that didn't bother me as much. The mother/daughter relationship reminded me of the sister relationship in The Nightingale, where you had one sister more reserved and stay safe, and the other one a more go-get-em personality. I didn't really like either character. I felt sorry for Elsa, and while I admired her pull-up-your-bootstraps, her desire for land over what would be best for your family was hard for me. We know what CA would be like, but she didn't. If there was a chance it would be better for her kids, wouldn't you take it?
I did laugh hysterically over their description of crossing the Mojave desert. Y'all, I LIVED in the middle of the Mojave desert and Hannah nailed it perfectly. However, not sure they would have to fear that over what they escaped.
The whole communist had me edgy. Maybe because I saw a lot of "one class and one income is what we need" these past few years with a lot of the younger generation. A book like this, with no balance of the dangers of communist/socialist ideas, is not healthy for the generation that doesn't know history and takes the majority talk about it as gospel truth. So I had some red flags with that. I believe I know what Hannah was trying to accomplish, it isn't about what we today know, but what they believed then.
Ahhh, so many thoughts.
I agree about the similarities between the sisters in The Nightingale - I forgot to mention that in my video!! As for all the socialist/communist viewpoints - I have to agree that someone could take the ideas from this book out of context, which is a bit scary! But I thought she stayed really close to the history of that timeframe - which helped me feel more connected to the characters! Haha, but this is exactly why I love historical fiction ... I feel like I wrestle with important ideas!
Very good book. So descriptive of that time period, but that ending! Why’d you have to do that to us Kristin Hannah? Lol
Haha, I know that KH books are going to stomp on my heart - but this one was even worse than I anticipated!!
I loved this book. Even though it is sad and depressing and doesn't have very many happy moments, I feel like it depicted actual life events. I would imagine that most of the families that went through this did not have happy endings. 5 star book for me.
I totally agree, I think KH really nailed the timeframe and brought to life what it would have felt like to live back then!
I really enjoyed this book, as it reminded me a lot of my maternal grandmothers era. I can’t wait to read more Kristin Hannah books, and excited to read Mays pick!
So glad you liked it!! Yeah, I wish my gramma was still alive to chat with her about this timeframe!
I loved this book...It was beautifully written! 5 stars
So glad you loved it!!
I’m so happy to have read it with you and it gave me all the feelings - so I gave it 5 stars and really liked to be able to see a spoiler filled video 📚👍
I'm glad you loved the book! It was really fun to make the spoiler vlog :)
Vlogging with kids is so hard! I said the same things in my review! Such a depressing book.
So hard!! I tried to find some quiet time alone, but then I just wasn't filming my reactions ... so I just started doing it with the kids! But, yes such a depressing book!
@@sciencemama haha yes! If you wait for a good time it’ll never happen , at least around here!
Hello...I'm a new subscriber...and your boys are so cute...my three sons are now all in their 40's.....time flies...
....oh, btw, I loved that book :)
Thanks they are a lot of fun :)
5⭐️. I loved this book!
So glad you liked it!
I loved the beginning until they left for California.. Then it felt like a Grapes of Wrath redo. Also since I just read that last year none of the hardships they faced were new to me. So when they got there I was like oh they are going to run into people who are mean, then live in a hobo camp, then work for big growers, etc. I do think it gave you more hope for the future than Grapes of Wrath did. I did not expect the mom to die. I did expect they would end up back in Texas. I wished the dad had some growth and wound up back there but you can't have it all :-P I gave it 3 on good reads.. it was more like a 3.5 but not a 4 for me.
Crazy, I haven't read Grapes of Wrath - I didn't realize it so closely follows the plot of The Four Winds! Now I want to pick up Grapes of Wrath :)
@@sciencemama Maybe it is just because I read that for the first time this last year it felt very similar. I would be curious to know if anyone else that has read both felt the same way.
It was a good book, but nothing spectacular for me. I found it a little boring at times
to long on the time of the depression especially on the farm, I would of liked a little more of
her children, it went from baby girl to 12 years old and a son included, wish knew more of
the life of Elsa family life with her husband and children.
I also felt it was ironic that before she died at the end, she asked for her children to be taken back to Texas, where in the 1st place had to leave cause of her son's breathing problems.
I do understand that they had no one else, but might of been a mistake in the story line.
I really liked the time at the farm as well - the relationship between Rose and Elsa was fun to read about! Have you read any other KH books?
@@sciencemama I think I read them all, My favorite The Winter Garden and Nightingale
This was a 4-star for me. Kristin Hannah is such a wonderful storyteller. I was so invested in Elsa’s journey and felt her struggle, gut punch after gut punch. The relationships saved book for me too. I particularly loved Elsa and Jean’s friendship, with its portrayal of such strong women during unbelievably difficult times. So glad you choose this one to kick off the book club. It was a BOTM for me that I was eager to pick up. Now, on to Where the Lost Wander!
Glad you loved it too! It was a BOTM for me too :)
I absolutely loved this book. Gave it 5 stars. I will be honest, I was not expecting Elsa to be the one to die. I was really thinking that it would be Jack. So when it turned out to be Elsa (and I was expecting something very sad, because it is Kristen Hannah) it really got me. Having lost both of my parents in 2016 within 45 days of each other, when Loreda told her mom when she was dying that she didn’t know what she was going to do, because no one would love her like her mom, it gutted me. I can remember thinking things like that after my parents passed away. No one loves you like your parents. I know it wasn’t really part of the book and where the author wanted to go, but I was curious about what happened to Rafe after he left...and yes I definitely thought he was a schmuck lol. I was amazed at how brave Elsa was to leave and take her kids to California. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to do that if I was in her place. By the way The Nightengale is one of my top 5 favorite books of all time.
I thought it was going to be Jack too!! I can see how the end would have been particularly impactful for you ... I was just so sad for Loreda because she had just started to see her mom more clearly! Glad you loved the book!
This was a 4-4.5 stars for me. I felt transported to the 1930s, all the hardship, heartbreak, pain, and the enduring hope, too. While I’ve read other books set in this era, this book actually made me feel like I was there. I also learned a lot, I knew it was bad but not as bad as the squatter camps, back breaking labor, how shunned the people were from communities and how dehumanized. It was an eye opener to the conditions of the time. It was incredible to watch Elsa come into her own as a woman, mother and activist. And, I cried when she died, when she had just discovered new love, created a new family, had so much left unsaid and not done. As a mother, I felt that moment and it hurt so much, I was grieving with her and for her and for her children. And to think, this was one story that represented the reality for so many other’s lives back then. When I read the author’s note, that resonated with me. How the pandemic was another example of despair, heart break, and hardship and how through it all, our collective humanity-our experience of suffering, hope and resiliency is what gathers us together and helps us through.
YES to everything you said! I also rose and fell with all the triumphs and hardships Elsa and the kids went through ... and it was so tough to know that this actually happened to real people!!
It was 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 for me. Yes it is a book that will leave you an emotional wreck but there were stand out moments like the visit to the beauty salon and the relationships with Jean and Jack. The trip to hospital with her son 😢. How Elsa gained her confidence, strength and courage to be herself after the treatment by her family and husband was wonderful. I cannot choose between this book, The Great Alone and The Nightingale as they were all 5 stars for me
I LOVED the beauty salon part as well - that was one of the bright spots in the middle of the book! Her transformation was inspiring - I started the book hoping she would grow as a character and she sure did!!
I am obviously a slow reader, essentially have only read this book the whole month and I am about 3 fifths through. I haven't watched the vid yet I'm scared but I will now watch
It took me almost all month to read it because it was just so heavy of a topic, I kept having to take breaks!
I loved this book, 4 stars for me too because I also wanted there to be just a little bit more happy somewhere in it. It was fascinating to be transported to this time period and learn what it was like to be living in it. Can’t wait to read Where the Lost Wander next, it just came in at my library and I’m headed to pick it up this afternoon :)
Yep, that was pretty much how I felt as well - the characters, the setting, and how well I was drawn into the timeframe were excellent aspects of the book! It was just so darn sad!
This book was so heart wrenching. I loved it but I felt differently about the ending. It went from a 5 to a 4.5. I had fun reading it though and knowing all of you were reading it as well. 💜📖
Haha, this is why I love book clubs so much because everyone comes at it with a different perspective!
I also loved this book. I enjoyed hearing all of your thoughts.
Glad you liked it!
I loved it!!!! I had a lot of feelings while reading the book.
You and me both!!