Historic Books
Book 2- Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin – Ok this book came HIGHLY recommended… And it was a nice BIG book which I thought was good for work. I thought it was very well written. (And yes- it MIGHT be considered amusing that I finished it on President’s Day).
To me, the most interesting NEW fact that I learnt was the fact that Booth tried to have a couple of co-conspirators kill the Secretary of State- Steward and Vice President Johnson the same night he killed Lincoln…. Of course since I didn’t know that- the other two weren’t successful- but it was interesting to find out how large a vision Booth had.
Book 3- Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. This was a historical book about Daniel H. Burnham- the Director of works for the 1893 Chicago World’s fair AND H.H. Holmes( born Herman Webster Mudgett) the first American serial killer…who ‘worked’ in Chicago during the 1890’s.
I want to start by saying like Team of Rivals, I found Devil in the White City both interesting AND informative. I was amazed at the details of HH Holmes- especially as his ‘body count’ was MUCH higher then Jack the Ripper, yet more is made of Jack. I assume this is because a- Jack seemed to be more flamboyant… and b) the whole mystery angle of ‘who was Jack?’ whereas we know whom HH Holmes was, and the question is merely how many people did he actually kill.
That said- as interesting as HH Holmes, was reading about the 1893 World’s Fair… like learning that the Ferris Wheel, was invented by a Mr. Ferris, debuted at the 1893 World’s fair. I also was amused that Fredrick Olmsted was mentioned- as I know him as the ‘creator’ of Central Park in New York City and the Emerald Necklace in Boston… as well as helping design the White City aka- the Chicago 1893 World’s Fair.
Book 4- The Man from the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman. I say this was an Austin Powers meets John Constantine. Kim Newman mentions in the afterword that he introduced Richard Jeperson( the ‘man’ from the Diogenes Club) for an anthology called Dark Detectives: Adventures of the Supernatural Sleuths as a 70’s supernatural spy… Newman had created Richard Jeperson and his ‘Mrs. Steed’ Vanessa many years ago… but they hadn’t seen print YET.
The book is a collection of short stories (none of which I had read before) about Richard Jeperson- ranging from the truly bizarre of a James Bond type villain who wants to ‘remake the world’ to the macabre with a haunted killer train. I really liked this book and would recommend it.
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. Not much to say about this book. I borrowed it from the library, because it LOOKED amusing, but not amusing enough to buy. I’m glad I didn’t buy it as it was a quick read( about a day) and not all that amusing. It was about the Greek Gods, who live in a flat altogether in London. I think the two things that I found the most annoying is the set up that they were the ONLY Gods around (we didn’t hear about any other pantheons) AND that Eros is a Christian. It just bothered me Eros going around wishing he had meet Jesus… and him trying to talk a couple of the other gods to be good Christians.
To me, the most interesting NEW fact that I learnt was the fact that Booth tried to have a couple of co-conspirators kill the Secretary of State- Steward and Vice President Johnson the same night he killed Lincoln…. Of course since I didn’t know that- the other two weren’t successful- but it was interesting to find out how large a vision Booth had.
Book 3- Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. This was a historical book about Daniel H. Burnham- the Director of works for the 1893 Chicago World’s fair AND H.H. Holmes( born Herman Webster Mudgett) the first American serial killer…who ‘worked’ in Chicago during the 1890’s.
I want to start by saying like Team of Rivals, I found Devil in the White City both interesting AND informative. I was amazed at the details of HH Holmes- especially as his ‘body count’ was MUCH higher then Jack the Ripper, yet more is made of Jack. I assume this is because a- Jack seemed to be more flamboyant… and b) the whole mystery angle of ‘who was Jack?’ whereas we know whom HH Holmes was, and the question is merely how many people did he actually kill.
That said- as interesting as HH Holmes, was reading about the 1893 World’s Fair… like learning that the Ferris Wheel, was invented by a Mr. Ferris, debuted at the 1893 World’s fair. I also was amused that Fredrick Olmsted was mentioned- as I know him as the ‘creator’ of Central Park in New York City and the Emerald Necklace in Boston… as well as helping design the White City aka- the Chicago 1893 World’s Fair.
Book 4- The Man from the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman. I say this was an Austin Powers meets John Constantine. Kim Newman mentions in the afterword that he introduced Richard Jeperson( the ‘man’ from the Diogenes Club) for an anthology called Dark Detectives: Adventures of the Supernatural Sleuths as a 70’s supernatural spy… Newman had created Richard Jeperson and his ‘Mrs. Steed’ Vanessa many years ago… but they hadn’t seen print YET.
The book is a collection of short stories (none of which I had read before) about Richard Jeperson- ranging from the truly bizarre of a James Bond type villain who wants to ‘remake the world’ to the macabre with a haunted killer train. I really liked this book and would recommend it.
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. Not much to say about this book. I borrowed it from the library, because it LOOKED amusing, but not amusing enough to buy. I’m glad I didn’t buy it as it was a quick read( about a day) and not all that amusing. It was about the Greek Gods, who live in a flat altogether in London. I think the two things that I found the most annoying is the set up that they were the ONLY Gods around (we didn’t hear about any other pantheons) AND that Eros is a Christian. It just bothered me Eros going around wishing he had meet Jesus… and him trying to talk a couple of the other gods to be good Christians.
Labels: 50 book challenge
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home