I didn't get a lot of reading finished in February - in fact I only finished two books this month, although I have a pile of books that I am continuing to read but couldn't get through by the end of February.
The Misunderstood Mission of Jean Nicolet: Uncovering the Story of the 1634 Journey by Patrick J. Jung. This is a slim little book that I wanted for Christmas and received. Jung thoroughly debunks the myth that Jean Nicolet was sent by the French to Green Bay to search for the Northwest Passage, that he expected to find Chinese colonies living there and that he brought along and wore a Chinese robe when he met with the Indians there. He uses French written sources, archaeological evidence and the oral histories of the descendants of the Indians who lived in the area. In the course of it he goes into a lot of the story of Samuel de Champlain. If you are interested in Samuel Champlain and the exploration of the Great Lakes area in the 1600s, you will enjoy this.
The Black Ascot by Charles Todd. Another in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series of mysteries. This time Inspector Rutledge, of Scotland Yard, is given a tip that a wanted man, thought to have escaped England ten years before, has returned. Traveling around England in his motor car, Rutledge solves the years old case. A survivor of World War I, Rutledge suffers from PTSD and "hears" the voice of a former comrade in arms in his head. Time moves slowly in these novels and only two years have passed since the end of the war. Rutledge is slowly getting better, but is still a very damaged man. I always enjoy the Inspector Rutledge novels (more than the companion series featuring Bess Crawford). This one had a somewhat convoluted plot line with a lot more characters than usual (who I sometimes had trouble keeping track of from chapter to chapter). Not my favorite, but still very enjoyable.
