Pride: One of the Seven Cardinal Sins

Pride: One of the Seven Cardinal Sins by Eugene Sue This book is the first of a seven volume series where each volume has as its theme one of the cardinal sins:

1. Pride
2. Envy
3. Wrath
4. Lust
5. Sloth
6. Avarive
7. Gluttony

This work explores the destructive nature of hubris, entitlement, and rigid social structures. It follows characters across different levels of Parisian society highlighting how personal vanity and class prejudice are manifested in different ways.
A poor retired Naval Commander living on his pension with his housekeeper is getting extra financial help from his nephew who is working odd jobs while he is on leave from the army.
The richest woman in France who is terminally ill has a sixteen year old daughter who will inherit her wealth and become sought after by countless men who want to share her inheritance through marriage. But this woman also has a secret illegitemate daughter no one knows about. When she dies the intrigues begin.

A Brief History of a Long War: Ukraine's Fight Against Russian Domination

A Brief History of a Long War: Ukraine's Fight Against Russian Domination by Mariam Naiem This is a non-fiction graphic novel history of Ukraine’s centuries-long struggle against Russian domination, from the Middle Ages to the current war told in two alternating forms. Mariam Naiem narrates her daily life enduring the bombardment of Kyiv in segments called "Living Through War for Dummies". These alternate with Historic explanations of the long fight to fend off Russian aggression including a chapter called "What is Genocide?" about Stalin's genocidal starvation of Ukraine in the 1930s. The book ends with the events leading up to and since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, along with the Ukrainian pleas for support from the West. While the history is complex and unfamiliar to most Western readers, this book provides a good starting point for developing an understanding of the background and the current situation.The illustrations by Yulia Vus and Ivan Kypibida bring the details to life and enhance the text.