American Railroads, published in 1961, is a reasonable starting point if one does not know much about how the American railroad system began, starting with the canal system that used the nation’s navigable rivers such as the Erie. Stover’s history delves into why the railroad…
Over the holidays, I started reading, one play at a time, the works of William Shakespeare, figuring that I ought to get around to reading what I was supposed to have read in high school and college … but, of course, didn’t. I started with…
This was an Amazon Prime benefit book selection. The books selected by Amazon vary in quality but Pesos: The Rise and Fall of a Border Family by Pietro La Greca, Jr. did not disappoint. Pesos is part memoir of La Greca’s growing up in a…
Savage Harvest is controlled chaos. I really wanted to give between four and five stars to Carl Hoffman’s extensive biographical investigation into Michael Rockefeller’s death in a remote Asmat village located in New Guinea. However, like Chaos: Charles Manson, the Cia, and the Secret History…
Set in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Carnegie’s Maid tells the story of a lowly woman (Clara) of the 19th century that rose in power and prestige through determination, adaptation to the situation to take advantage of an opportunity that suddenly presented itself, and plain old hard work.…
The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI’s Original Mindhunter is one of several non-fiction books on serial killers and what makes them tick. What makes Douglas’ work unique is his decades of experience in developing (along…
Look Up by Sarah Cruddas is an excellent introduction into space exploration, orbiting the Earth in microgravity, trips to the Moon, the Artemis Mars program, robotic non-crewed missions to Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Sun, and out into interstellar space as well as commercial and private exploration…
In the Woods is a gripping novel that is tightly written through its intensive focus on the investigation with just enough human drama and deadpan humor. Steven Crossley makes the audiobook a success with the accents and manner of speaking that makes it seem like…
This book published in the late 19th century (1885) is listed as part of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die, which is how I came across it. The book like so many others is in the public domain and accessible through Project Gutenberg.…
I learned something that might prove useful for those who read pdfs (advance review copies, Project Gutenberg copies of books, etc) on Kindle and want to access afterwards the highlights and notes in another application. I read King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard as…
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