Review: 1947: Where Now Begins, by Elisabeth Asbrink (Amazon / Book Depository) I try to assemble the year 1947 into a splintered whole. This is lunacy, but time does not leave me alone. Within the first few pages of 1947, I made myself slow down because I realized I was reading something special and I didn't want it... Continue Reading →
An Unflinching Look at An FBI Career in Crimes Against Kids
In the Name of the Children, by Jeffrey Rinek (Amazon / Book Depository) Jeffrey Rinek, retired FBI agent and owner of a majestic mustache, writes a memoir detailing cases he worked during his career, particularly in the area of child sex crimes and the infamous Yosemite murders, where three tourists (Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina... Continue Reading →
Historical Scandal, Murder and Medicine at Harvard
Book review: Blood & Ivy, by Paul Collins Amazon On November 23, 1849, shortly before Thanksgiving, Dr. George Parkman entered Harvard's Medical College to visit a tenant of his, the college's chemistry professor, John White Webster. He was never seen again. A familiar figure in and around Boston, Dr. Parkman's disappearance grabbed plenty of news... Continue Reading →
Stories from America’s Melting Pot of Cuisine and Culture
Buttermilk Graffiti, by Edward Lee (Amazon / Book Depository) This says a lot about who we are as a culture now; we care about the person behind the recipes. For us, it is important to know as much about the cook as we do about his or her dishes. Cookbooks are living traditions. They reflect... Continue Reading →
Favorites of the Year So Far
2018 has seen so much great nonfiction and we're only halfway there. It's been quite the year for big nonfiction news stories too, kicking off in January with Fire and Fury frenzy, then the memoir debut of a daughter of Mormon survivalists taking the literary world by storm, James Comey's much-anticipated tell-all, and a triumphant moment for criminal justice... Continue Reading →
America’s Dead Girl Fixation and Other Obsessions
Book review: Dead Girls, by Alice Bolin (Amazon / Book Depository) Alice Bolin's debut essay collection opens with a strong and intriguing premise: what is this obsession America (and beyond) has with dead girls? The murdered or missing blonde white ones of media frenzies; the ones that get forgotten after serving as engines for outrage... Continue Reading →
Then and Now, Across America’s Last Frontier
Book review: Tip of the Iceberg, by Mark Adams (Amazon / Book Depository) Travel writer Mark Adams recounts his experiences traveling in Alaska, that "last great American frontier", following the trail of an exploratory expedition run by railroad tycoon Edward Harriman in 1899. That expedition was mapping the state's coastline, and included famed naturalist and... Continue Reading →
David Sedaris on Getting Older, Complicated Families, and the “Sea Section”
Book review: Calypso, by David Sedaris Amazon His most recent publications have been a bit of a diversion for David Sedaris. Last year, he published the first part of his diaries, Theft by Finding, which showed the genesis of some of his well known works, as well as being an unconventional glimpse into his early life and... Continue Reading →
Reinvestigating Roanoke
Book review: The Secret Token, by Andrew Lawler (Amazon / Book Depository) Roanoke has long been a setting for our national nightmares. A recurring topic of Andrew Lawler's new exploration into the lost colony of settlers at Roanoke in the 1580s is just how much this story, from the early beginnings of European history in... Continue Reading →
The Strange and Sad History of Humans and Orcas
Book review: Orca, by Jason Colby (Amazon - Book Depository) Author Jason Colby's father was one of the last orca hunters in Washington state, capturing the apex predator from its natural habitat to fill orders for aquariums worldwide. Colby writes this detailed, descriptive but very readable history of human-orca interactions from a place of lifelong... Continue Reading →
A 1937 Crime and Trial Setting Historical Precedence
Book review: Little Shoes, by Pamela Everett (Amazon / Book Depository) I noticed this book was coming out after reading Piu Eatwell's take on Elizabeth Short's infamous murder, Black Dahlia, Red Rose. In that book, Eatwell repeatedly references the profiling work of Dr. Paul De River, a psychiatrist who, before psychologically profiling and interviewing Dahlia suspect Leslie... Continue Reading →
For Love of the Library
Book review: A Library Miscellany, by Claire Cock-Starkey (Amazon / Book Depository) Without hesitation, I can say one of the things I love most is the library. The cover picture on this site is the Rose Reading Room at the New York Public Library, one of my favorite places to be. I've been attached to... Continue Reading →