Saturday, October 20, 2007

Mini-Challenge for 24 Hour Readathon

My current book: An Unlikely Friendship: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley by Ann Rinaldi.

Dewey's mini-challenge is to post five interesting facts about the setting of our book.

My book is unusual in that it has several settings: Lexington, Kentucky; Springfield, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and those three are just in reference to Mary Todd Lincoln! I believe Elizabeth Keckley spent most of her childhood in Virginia before moving to St. Louis, and then later Baltimore, and then Washington D.C..

Lexington, Kentucky:

it is the second largest city in Kentucky.
It is the home to Transylvania University.
It is the birth place of Mary Todd Lincoln. Tourists can even visit one of her childhood homes that has been turned into a museum.

Washington, D.C.

If Washington, D.C., were a state, it would rank last in area (behind Rhode Island), 50th in population (ahead of Wyoming), first in population density, and 35th in gross state product.
Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States, situated within the District of Columbia (abbreviated as "D.C.").
The city and the district are located on the banks of the Potomac River and bordered by the states of Virginia (to the west) and Maryland (to the north, east and south).
Washington is a popular destination for tourists, the site of numerous national landmarks and monuments, the world's largest museum complex (the Smithsonian Institution), galleries, universities, cathedrals, performing arts centers and institutions, and native music scenes.

10 comments:

alisonwonderland said...

i'll be interested to find out what you think of this book ... i know of Lincoln, of course, but not Keckley. happy reading!

BookGal said...

YEA! I think you're the first one to complete the mini-challenge. Enjoy your reading.

1morechapter said...

I used to live in the Lexington area and my brother lives there now. A beautiful place.

Debi said...

I lived near Lexington for about a year. I agree with 3M...it is a beautiful area.

Continued good luck! Have fun!

Dewey said...

I read a book this week set in Washington: Grief by Andrew Holleran. It was good!

Anonymous said...

I'd never heard of Elizabeth Keckley, I had to look her up in wikipedia. Sounds absolutely fascinating!

Kristin said...

Reader of the hour, congratulations! I hope you are enjoying your reading as much as I'm enjoying my cheering.

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Hellooooo, Becky! I'm your cheerleader, here to cheer for you! I loved reading the facts about the locationS of your book. Keep up the good work! Go, girl!

Robin M said...

You go girl! Have fun reading

Robin

Em said...

I'm not participating in the challenge, but I am checking out everyone's posts. Always on the lookout for a good book. :-)
Have fun!