John Esposito's book "Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath" is a solid look at the Boston nightclub fire, in which hundredsJohn Esposito's book "Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath" is a solid look at the Boston nightclub fire, in which hundreds died. The blaze was likely sparked by a waiter used a match to screw a lightbulb back into place into a fake palm tree, which lit up the hundreds of yards of fabric that lined the labyrinthine building's ceilings. It didn't help that nearly all the doors were locked, blocked or covered over, save from a door that opened inwards and a revolving door, neither of which could be successfully navigated by hundreds of panicked people.
The book gives a pretty solid overview of the fire and does a good job of telling stories of victims, as well as a history of the club's owner. I found it a bit confusing in the beginning because there were a lot of people mentioned but it all became clearer by the end. ...more
I found the first volume of Eugenia Ginzburg's work "Journey into the Whirlwhind," which is about Ginzburg's experience in Stalinist Russia as she wasI found the first volume of Eugenia Ginzburg's work "Journey into the Whirlwhind," which is about Ginzburg's experience in Stalinist Russia as she was captured, tortured, and sentenced to a decade in a Siberian labor camp to be stunning and heartbreaking. I looked forward to reading "Within the Whirlwind," the second installment of her memoir.
I struggled a bit reading this book -- mostly because Ginzburg (probably due to necessity from the horrors she witnessed -- seems a much "flatter" writer in this volume. The story and the horrors of life in Siberian camps is just as striking, but it's told in a more matter-of-fact type style that made it a harder read.
Still, Ginzburg's observations are a solid (and heartbreaking) look at a terrible time in history....more
In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free copy of Christina Soontornvat's book "All Thirteen: The incredible cave rescue of the Thai boys'In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free copy of Christina Soontornvat's book "All Thirteen: The incredible cave rescue of the Thai boys' soccer team" from LT's early reviewers program. I'm glad to have received a copy because it's a book I probably wouldn't have picked up otherwise, but I really enjoyed reading.
Soontornvat does a great job delving into the miraculous rescue of 13 boys who became trapped in a cave (and managed to survive nine days before anyone even located them.) There were plenty of details here that I didn't know about -- especially about the efforts to divert rivers and pump water out of the cave. I became really emotionally invested in the rescue (even though I was among the millions watching on TV when it happened and knew everything turned out OK.)
The style of the book put me off at first -- it's written very simply with explainers dotted throughout that made me think it's geared more to a young adult audience. But by the end, I felt the style actually served the book fairly well. If you're interested in the story of the cave rescue, you won't go wrong reading this book....more
David Roberts is one of my favorite climber-authors. I generally like his take on things and have only disliked one or two of his books. "True Summit:David Roberts is one of my favorite climber-authors. I generally like his take on things and have only disliked one or two of his books. "True Summit: What really happened on the legendary ascent of Annapurna" was a bit of a misfire for me -- I felt like the revelations about the first ascent of this Himalayan 8,000 meter peak, weren't all that interesting.
To be fair, I'm apparently the only person on Earth who didn't particularly care for Maurice Herzog's account of the climb (despite his book "Annapurna" being beloved in mountaineering circles.) I've read nearly all of the other books Roberts mentions in this one and preferred them all to Herzog's enthusiastic account.
There are plenty of accounts of discord in mountaineering books -- and I've enjoyed them greatly -- but the discord Roberts mentions is seems so pat and usual that it really didn't make for very interesting reading. The story of the climb, told by Roberts is fine enough, but I definitely wouldn't consider this one of his better books....more
I received a free copy of KK Ottesen's book "Activist: Portraits of Courage" from LT's Early Reviewers program. The book as about 40 vignettes, along I received a free copy of KK Ottesen's book "Activist: Portraits of Courage" from LT's Early Reviewers program. The book as about 40 vignettes, along with portraits, about people who fought for what they believe is right -- from AIDS activism to civil rights to advocacy for the disabled.
I enjoyed the book over all and found the stories and quotes really inspiring. (Especially moving were the activists talking about times their efforts failed and how important it is to keep trying.) The portraits are really add to the book (except for poor John Lewis... ) but I didn't care for the black and yellow color scheme though-- the couple of pages that had yellow on white were tough to read....more
If you look for lists of great non-fiction books, Samuel Pepys' diary nearly always can be found someplace on the list, so I thought I would check it If you look for lists of great non-fiction books, Samuel Pepys' diary nearly always can be found someplace on the list, so I thought I would check it out.
Pepys lived at an interesting time and kept a dairy faithfully for about 10 years, detailing is money troubles, his awful relationship with his wife, his numerous affairs as well as some big historical events of the 1660's including the arrival of the plague and the Great Fire of London.
He was generally an awful, lecherous human being -- even though he was much younger, I kept picturing him as the creepy Benjamin Franklin actor on an episode of the "The Office."
I generally found his dairy entries interesting but I'm glad I read an abridged version -- his job with the Navy bored me but his descriptions of historical events were particularly interesting. Overall, I'm glad I decided to read this....more
I watched the movie "Twinsters" a few years ago and didn't realize that Anais Bordier and Samantha Futerman had also written a book about their experiI watched the movie "Twinsters" a few years ago and didn't realize that Anais Bordier and Samantha Futerman had also written a book about their experiences. The pair, both Korean adoptees, found out they were twins at the age of 25 -- a circumstance made all the more remarkable by the fact Sam was raised in New Jersey and Anais in France and both had adoption paperwork saying they were single births. Thanks to the internet, they reunited.
While neither is a natural writer, I'm glad to have read "Separated @ Birth" it because it really cleared up some aspects of Anais' story that were unclear in the movie (mainly that she had more negative feelings about her adoption than Sam -- I thought she had a difficult relationship with her adoptive parents but that wasn't the case at all, and is amply illustrated in her portions of the book.)
I came away from this book with a bit of a sad feeling about Sam, (an actress) who is surrounded by people who upon learning about her discovery of a twin immediately responded with "business opportunity."...more
I received a free copy of James Forgan and Mary Anne Richey's book "The ADHD Empowerment Guide: Identifying your child's strengths and unlocking potenI received a free copy of James Forgan and Mary Anne Richey's book "The ADHD Empowerment Guide: Identifying your child's strengths and unlocking potential" from LT's early reviewers program.
I found this to be a very comprehensive and positive guide to working with kids who have the challenges brought by ADHD. My kiddo was diagnosed a few years ago and I've done a lot of reading on the subject so I wasn't sure this guide would have a lot new to say. However, I found their positive approach to be unique and the results from the quizzes were interesting (in one case reaffirming what I've always known and the other case, leading to somewhat surprising results.)
The book basically has you look at your child's learning characteristics (intelligences) and their challenges and suggests activities for playing to your child's strengths as well as bolstering weaker areas. The suggested activities were definitely a the b...more
I received a free copy of this book from LT's early reviewers program.
I mostly enjoyed Jeremy Scott's book "The Women Who Dared: To break all the ruleI received a free copy of this book from LT's early reviewers program.
I mostly enjoyed Jeremy Scott's book "The Women Who Dared: To break all the rules" (which actually means they had forward-thinking ideas for their time about sex mainly.) Scott profiles six women who did not conform to the ideas of their times.
The strongest profile was the first on Victoria Woodhull -- the first woman who ran for president in the United States. She was also a bit of a shyster, as well as a newspaper publisher and (along with her sister) was the first female stock broker. I'd absolutely love to read a more extensive biography of her, just based on Scott's presentation here.
Not all of the other profiles were as strong... I feel like I read more about Edwina Mountbatten's husband than the woman herself, though the information that was actually her was certainly interesting.
Overall, this was a pretty fun look at some strong women....more
I received a free copy of Bradley G. Stevens' book "The Ship, The Saint, and the Sailor: The long search for the legendary Kad'yak.=" from LT's early I received a free copy of Bradley G. Stevens' book "The Ship, The Saint, and the Sailor: The long search for the legendary Kad'yak.=" from LT's early reviewers program. Unfortunately, I can't overstate how much I disliked this book.
The author comes across as a fairly egotistical guy -- he appears to want a lot of credit for essentially having a map translated from Russian to find an old shipwreck off the coast of Alaska. He uses government property -- when his boss explicitly says not to -- and grant funding that is not for the project when he gets interested in the idea-- which he tries to justify in a "everyone does this" sort of way.
I liked the portion of the book about the Kad'yak itself, but otherwise I found the book was way to bogged down in excruciating detail about the search for the ship -- from grant proposals to actual search trips. The story really wasn't all that interesting to me. There is probably enough material here for a good magazine length piece, but not a book....more
Primo Levi's "Survival in Auschwitz" is a heart-wrenching account of the year he spent in the German concentration camp. Levi, who was captured as a mPrimo Levi's "Survival in Auschwitz" is a heart-wrenching account of the year he spent in the German concentration camp. Levi, who was captured as a member of the Italian resistance and mistakenly thought admitting he was Jewish, rather than a part of the resistance, would give him a better chance at survival. He focuses on how those who survived made it-- mainly through ingenuity and theft.
This is an important book and a hard read. It's more a straight-forward account of Levi's time in the camp as compared to "The Drowned and the Saved," which is more focused on trying to understand the tragedy of the Holocaust and its impact years later. ...more
"Frozen in Time" is a fascinating look at the fate of the Franklin expedition. In the 1980's a series of scientific expeditions headed off to the Arct"Frozen in Time" is a fascinating look at the fate of the Franklin expedition. In the 1980's a series of scientific expeditions headed off to the Arctic to exhume the remains of three bodies buried before the expedition got into real trouble and disappeared. In a detailed analysis, Owen Beattie found the lead levels in the bodies was extraordinarily high, and he believes the expedition started to go awry as its members became ill with lead poisoning. He also found a bone that backed up the story of cannibalism that rocked England when it was first suggested.
I generally liked the book and found the scientific story interesting. I felt the Franklin information itself was a big glossed over and was bugged that the book paints Lady Franklin as a devoted wife searching for her husband's fate without balancing out the story -- she tried to destroy Arctic explorer John Rae for suggesting the crew turned to cannibalism in an attempt to survive.
If you already know a bit about the Franklin expedition and the many searches for the fate of the captain and his men, this book is definitely worth reading. ...more
"Journeys of a Lifetime" which gives short vignettes on interesting travel ideas is a really beautiful book. The pictures are gorgeous and the short t"Journeys of a Lifetime" which gives short vignettes on interesting travel ideas is a really beautiful book. The pictures are gorgeous and the short trip descriptions are nice.
I didn't love the way the book was organized -- by type of travel rather than location -- as it makes things more difficult to find if you're traveling to an area. (Do a lot of people say, I want to take a trip by train.... I'll look for someplace to go?) I expected more itineraries rather than brief descriptions, too.
The book is nice for armchair expeditions, though it won't help much in the planning department. ...more
I received a free copy of Michael Palin's book "Erebus: One ship, two epic voyages and the greatest Naval mystery of all time" from LT's Early RevieweI received a free copy of Michael Palin's book "Erebus: One ship, two epic voyages and the greatest Naval mystery of all time" from LT's Early Reviewers program.
I have a dread of books where the author's name is larger on the cover than the book title because I find authors with that practice tend to insert themselves into the story and this, sadly was one of those. As Palin didn't sail on the Erebus, there really isn't need to mention himself (or the places he went to do research) in the book, yet he does.
I'm very familiar with both of the expeditions this book is focused on and they are both interesting stories.... this book really should have been a slam dunk for me. But I dislike the way Palin writes... he made a great story incredibly dry and boring....more
I first read Elie Wiesel's "Night" in high school and planned to give it a reread after he passed away. I was surprised to learn there was a trilogy sI first read Elie Wiesel's "Night" in high school and planned to give it a reread after he passed away. I was surprised to learn there was a trilogy so I picked up this book, which has fictional works "Dawn" and "Day" too. While the latter two are certainly heavy with the absolute turmoil that surviving the Holocaust caused, I didn't love the pairing of both fiction and nonfiction in one big work.
"Night," of course," tells the story of some of Wiesel's acutal experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It was probably the first book about the Holocaust I ever read -- and even upon rereading, it's heart-wrenching, painful and moving to hear about the horrors from those who lived them.
"Dawn" takes a look at what might have happened had a survivor who had Wiesel's Holocaust experiences, moved to Palestine and become involved in the push to get Great Britain out of the country. What does it take to turn someone who was victimized into a killer himself? What role does God play the life of someone who witnessed what Wiesel witnessed? It's an interesting meditation, though I felt it wasn't as strong as the other stories.
"Day" was another fictional piece, (though it had an autobiographical vibe to it,) in which a Holocaust survivor struggles with an indifference toward the concept of death and a survivors' tactic of keeping his thoughts and feelings closed off as a sort of protective measure. While this short novel started off a little slowly, it gained momentum as it unfolded and I found it made me rather thoughtful about its themes. ...more
It's funny that a book all about water could be so dry. Marc Reisner has written a tome on water rights in the American West with his book "Cadillac DIt's funny that a book all about water could be so dry. Marc Reisner has written a tome on water rights in the American West with his book "Cadillac Desert: The American West and its disappearing water" that is overly long. Reisner somehow made John Wesley Powell seem boring, which is absolutely crazy because I love a good Powell story.
Reisner actually has some great information packed into this book, but he tends to explore every little detail of every single situation... after a while I ended up just skimming most of the book. I probably would have enjoyed reading an edited, more streamlined version of this book....more
I received a free copy of Beck Dory-Stein's memoir, "From the Corner of the Oval" from LT's early reviewers program. I have to say that I found this tI received a free copy of Beck Dory-Stein's memoir, "From the Corner of the Oval" from LT's early reviewers program. I have to say that I found this to be a fun "beachy" type read, even though it wasn't exactly what I expected.
Dorey-Stein lucked into a job as a White House stenographer early into Obama's tenure and, as a result, she spent her late 20's flitting from country to country aboard Air Force One, recording the president's speeches and mostly chasing around an unavailable office Lothario and dealing with the repercussions of her actions on her love life. The book mostly focuses on the latter -- though it includes a few interactions with Obama (Dorey-Stein is certainly star struck) and several important historical events that root her adventures into a specific period of time.
Dorey-Stein comes across a bit immature for the job that she has (mostly due to the pining away for the emotionally unavailable guy) but it was interesting to get a small glimpse of Obama's White House behind the scenes and the way staff interacted with each other. This is definitely more of a coming of age story, rather than a political one, but it's a pretty enjoyable one overall. ...more
I enjoyed reading Tristram Korten's "Into the Storm," the story of two ships that foundered after being battered by 2015's Hurricane Joachin. (I receiI enjoyed reading Tristram Korten's "Into the Storm," the story of two ships that foundered after being battered by 2015's Hurricane Joachin. (I received a free copy of the book from LT's Early Reviewers program.) The story focuses heavily on the Coast Guard's rescue efforts and the face a ferocious storm.
There are a lot of people in this book and Korten does a good job trying to paint small portraits to differentiate them. I had a hard time getting into the book at first, but once the storm started getting going, I couldn't put the book down. There is an interesting thread between the two ships in the storm -- the willingness of the crew of the Minouche to follow their captain's orders without question probably saved their lives -- while the crew of El Faro did the same thing and it probably cost them their lives.
This book is well written and powerful, definitely worth reading if the subject is something draws your interest. ...more
I've read Amy Siskind's weekly list of items that show a weakening of the country's democracy online since Trump's inauguration, so I mostly purchasedI've read Amy Siskind's weekly list of items that show a weakening of the country's democracy online since Trump's inauguration, so I mostly purchased this book as a way to throw a little financial support her way for the work she's doing, which I think is important.
It is disheartening to read the lists each week -- and even more so to read a full year's worth at once. But it's also interesting to go back, at this point, a remember that some issues arose in November 2016 that are still at play today.
I don't always agree with Siskind's conclusions but I very much appreciate her work. Politics is not business as usual right now... and Siskind's work really documents a concerning slide toward authoritarianism. ...more
Kate Moore is not the most polished writer in the world, but she tells a compelling story of the women who were poisoned to death by exposure to radiuKate Moore is not the most polished writer in the world, but she tells a compelling story of the women who were poisoned to death by exposure to radium from painting luminous dials on watches and clocks. Their story is heart-wrenching and infuriating, as the companies involved put profits before women's lives -- and continued to look away as former dial painters began dying.
Moore does a great job telling this compelling story....more
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