Saturday, June 27, 2009
Half way there!!!!
I finished reviewing my 25th book of 2009! I have reached the halfway mark! And I beat my total from last year and it's only June!
More Bill Bryson . . .
This week I read Bill Bryson's "Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America". Bryson is up to his same old antics as he travels across the country revisiting places his father took him as a child and searching for the perfect small town.
Bryson traveled across the U.S. during the late 1980s, after living in England for twenty years. Even though he is originally from Iowa, you can tell that he has been away for a long time. Most of the book revolves around him bemoaning the death of the small town and the American tourist. Each destination he manages to find something that reminds him of days gone by, but mostly he marvels at how Americans take their historic places and national parks for granted. Yet after he is finished traveling he comes to realize how wonderful his boyhood home of Iowa really is and that sometimes you can come home.
I always like what Bill Bryson has to say. He doesn't mince words or sugarcoat anything, he writes about what he really thinks of the places he travels. While I may not always agree with what he says (i.e. driving through Ohio is torture), I do understand why he sees the world the way he does. The striking theme throughout the book is how the tourism industry has completely taken over many of the country's historical and natural monuments. I would like to think that twenty years later we have gotten better, but I suspect we have just gotten worse.
If you would like to read "Lost Continent" by Bill Bryson, you can find it at your local library or at Barnes and Noble.
Bryson traveled across the U.S. during the late 1980s, after living in England for twenty years. Even though he is originally from Iowa, you can tell that he has been away for a long time. Most of the book revolves around him bemoaning the death of the small town and the American tourist. Each destination he manages to find something that reminds him of days gone by, but mostly he marvels at how Americans take their historic places and national parks for granted. Yet after he is finished traveling he comes to realize how wonderful his boyhood home of Iowa really is and that sometimes you can come home.
I always like what Bill Bryson has to say. He doesn't mince words or sugarcoat anything, he writes about what he really thinks of the places he travels. While I may not always agree with what he says (i.e. driving through Ohio is torture), I do understand why he sees the world the way he does. The striking theme throughout the book is how the tourism industry has completely taken over many of the country's historical and natural monuments. I would like to think that twenty years later we have gotten better, but I suspect we have just gotten worse.
If you would like to read "Lost Continent" by Bill Bryson, you can find it at your local library or at Barnes and Noble.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Howard Dully
This week I read "My Lobotomy" by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming. Words cannot describe how this book made me feel.
Howard Dully was a seemingly average young boy. His mother passed away when he was young, leaving his distant father to raise Howard and his brother Brian. His father soon after remarried a strong and strict woman with two children of her own. For some reason she decided that Howard had to go. After searching she found what seemed like a solution to her problem, a lobotomy. Mrs. Dully found the father of transorbital lobotomy, Dr. Walter Freeman. He agreed to give twelve year old Howard Dully a lobotomy. It took Howard 40 years to regain his life again.
He takes us from on a journey of discovery, Dully spends the book trying to understand why this was done to him and why no one, not even his father tried to prevent this from happening. He decided to write this memoir after the success of the NPR broadcast featuring him and other lobotomy patients. Everyone should read this and then demand more funding for social services, not child should ever go through what Howard Dully went through.
The NPR broadcast is available at NPR.org. You can fin "My Lobotomy" at your local library or Barnes and Noble.
Howard Dully was a seemingly average young boy. His mother passed away when he was young, leaving his distant father to raise Howard and his brother Brian. His father soon after remarried a strong and strict woman with two children of her own. For some reason she decided that Howard had to go. After searching she found what seemed like a solution to her problem, a lobotomy. Mrs. Dully found the father of transorbital lobotomy, Dr. Walter Freeman. He agreed to give twelve year old Howard Dully a lobotomy. It took Howard 40 years to regain his life again.
He takes us from on a journey of discovery, Dully spends the book trying to understand why this was done to him and why no one, not even his father tried to prevent this from happening. He decided to write this memoir after the success of the NPR broadcast featuring him and other lobotomy patients. Everyone should read this and then demand more funding for social services, not child should ever go through what Howard Dully went through.
The NPR broadcast is available at NPR.org. You can fin "My Lobotomy" at your local library or Barnes and Noble.
Appalachian Trail
Have I mentioned how much I love Bill Bryson? Well if I haven't: I love Bill Bryson. I read his book "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail".
While it's not my favorite of his many books, I still enjoyed it. Bryson is one of those authors that make you laugh out loud and then turn to the person next to you so you can read the same thing to them. He's a great travel writer because he doesn't sugar coat everything. At the beginning of the book he laments over the thousands of dollars he has spent on camping/hiking equipment and he doesn't even know what to do with most of it. He also doesn't pull any punches about how inexperienced he and his friend Katz are. The AT is tough and Bryson has no problems admitting it. But gradually he and Katz begin to love and appreciate the rareness of the AT. Bryson includes some great commentary on the Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers. I had no idea stupid government policies could reach that far.
This book really inspired me to make sure my family takes advantage of our metro, state, and National parks.
If you are looking for a laugh you can pick up Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" at your local library or Barnes and Noble.
While it's not my favorite of his many books, I still enjoyed it. Bryson is one of those authors that make you laugh out loud and then turn to the person next to you so you can read the same thing to them. He's a great travel writer because he doesn't sugar coat everything. At the beginning of the book he laments over the thousands of dollars he has spent on camping/hiking equipment and he doesn't even know what to do with most of it. He also doesn't pull any punches about how inexperienced he and his friend Katz are. The AT is tough and Bryson has no problems admitting it. But gradually he and Katz begin to love and appreciate the rareness of the AT. Bryson includes some great commentary on the Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers. I had no idea stupid government policies could reach that far.
This book really inspired me to make sure my family takes advantage of our metro, state, and National parks.
If you are looking for a laugh you can pick up Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" at your local library or Barnes and Noble.
More Mary Roach
What can I say about Mary Roach and her book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers"? I loved it! As usual Roach takes a topic and runs with it into directions unknown. She goes beyond the funeral home and cremations and discusses some of the other interesting jobs held by dead bodies. The first chapter just pulled me in, I love how she picks some of the most unusual pieces and places them at the beginning of her books. I don't want to give too much away, all I can say is how do doctors practice facelifts?
I understand that sometimes readers are bothered when Roach goes a little off topic, but I really enjoy it because her writing is so conversational if she were to stick to the topic the entire time it would get a little boring.
I totally recommend this book! If you are interested in reading "Stiff" by Mary Roach you can find it at your local library or at Barnes and Noble.
I understand that sometimes readers are bothered when Roach goes a little off topic, but I really enjoy it because her writing is so conversational if she were to stick to the topic the entire time it would get a little boring.
I totally recommend this book! If you are interested in reading "Stiff" by Mary Roach you can find it at your local library or at Barnes and Noble.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
They say it's oldest profession . . .
One of the books I read this past month was Karen Abbott's "Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul"
This was a fantastic book. Even though everything was taken from historical documents and first person accounts, this book reads like a novel. The book mainly revolves around the famous/infamous Everleigh Club and the ruling madams Ada and Minna in Chicago's red light district. These sisters wanted to have the ultimate house of pleasure, where the girls were treated well, paid well, and only the best clients could enter. Although few things are definite about their lives before Chicago, they certainly knew what they were doing.
On the flip side was the ministers and temperance seekers. The Everleigh Club represented everything that was wrong with American society and it became their mission to have it shut down and the whole district with it.
While the Everleigh Club was the best and Ada and Minna treated their girls well, they were the exception. Most houses were full of abuse, neglect, drugs, and slaves. Because the law looked the other way many young girls and women were traded and treated like property. And while Abbott goes to great lengths to describe the abuses that went on in these houses, she shields the Everleigh Club from any negative images. You can tell she has grow to care about these women and as you read their story you forget that they run a brothel and start to root for them.
This is an excellent book and a great summer read. If you are interested in reading "Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul" by Karen Abbott, you can find it at Barnes and Noble or your local library.
This was a fantastic book. Even though everything was taken from historical documents and first person accounts, this book reads like a novel. The book mainly revolves around the famous/infamous Everleigh Club and the ruling madams Ada and Minna in Chicago's red light district. These sisters wanted to have the ultimate house of pleasure, where the girls were treated well, paid well, and only the best clients could enter. Although few things are definite about their lives before Chicago, they certainly knew what they were doing.
On the flip side was the ministers and temperance seekers. The Everleigh Club represented everything that was wrong with American society and it became their mission to have it shut down and the whole district with it.
While the Everleigh Club was the best and Ada and Minna treated their girls well, they were the exception. Most houses were full of abuse, neglect, drugs, and slaves. Because the law looked the other way many young girls and women were traded and treated like property. And while Abbott goes to great lengths to describe the abuses that went on in these houses, she shields the Everleigh Club from any negative images. You can tell she has grow to care about these women and as you read their story you forget that they run a brothel and start to root for them.
This is an excellent book and a great summer read. If you are interested in reading "Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul" by Karen Abbott, you can find it at Barnes and Noble or your local library.
Belated reviews
I'm now officially done with school! YAY! I have been doing some reading and I will hopefully have some reviews posted sometime tonight or tomorrow. Now that my schedule is more open I will hopefully be able to update in a more timely manner this summer.
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