47. Starvation Heights ~ Gregg Olsen
46. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind ~ William Kamkwamba
45. The Rape of Nanking ~ Iris Chang
44. The Briar King ~ J. Gregory Keyes
43. Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit ~ John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
42. For Love of Mother-Not ~ Alan Dean Foster
41. The White Queen ~ Philippa Gregory
40. Dancing With Ana ~ Nicole Barker
39. Sworn to Silence ~ Linda Castillo
38. The Morning After ~ Lisa Jackson
37. One Scream Away ~ Kate Brady
36. Wait until Twilight ~ Sang Pak
35. Benny and Shrimp ~ Katarina Mazetti
34. The night before ~ Lisa Jackson
33. Cold Blooded ~ Lisa Jackson
32. Kiss of Midnight ~ Lara Adrian
31. Assiniboin Girl ~ Kathleen Wallace
30. The Osiris Alliance ~ Jack Ford
29. Bad Mother ~ Ayelet Waldman
28. Hot Blooded ~ Lisa Jackson
27. Afraid ~ Jack Kilborn
26. She and I: A Fugue ~ Michael R. Brown
25. Almost Dead ~ Lisa Jackson
24. Serial ~ Jack Kilborn & Blake Crouch
23. Deep Freeze ~ Lisa Jackson
22. Fatal Burn ~ Lisa Jackson
21. A Worthy Legacy ~ Tomi Akinyanmi
20. If She Only Knew ~ Lisa Jackson
19. My Ears Are Bent ~ Joseph Mitchell
18. Jantsen’s Gift ~ Pam Cope
17. The Laws of Harmony ~ Judith R. Hendricks
16. Dirty Little Angels ~ Chris Tusa
15. Behind a Mask ~ Louisa May Alcott
14. Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life ~ Neil Strauss
13. The Keepsake ~ Tess Gerritsen
12. Singularity ~ Kathryn Casey
11. One Thousand White Women ~ Jim Fergus
10. The all-true travels and adventures of Lidie Newton ~ Jane Smiley
09. She Wanted It All ~ Kathryn Casey
08. Love in the Time of Cholera ~ Gabriel García Márquez
07. The Devil’s Feather ~ Minette Walters
06. The Broken Parachute Man ~ Robert B. Bolin
05. Dearly Devoted Dexter ~ Jeff Lindsay
04. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer ~ Patrick Süskind
03. Cat Among the Pigeons ~ Agatha Christie
02. True Evil ~ Greg Iles
01. The Nine Days Queen ~ Mary Luke
A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest
From the Publisher
In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary “fasting treatment” of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters. But within a month of arriving at what the locals called Starvation Heights, the women were emaciated shadows of their former selves, waiting for death. They were not the first victims of Linda Hazzard, a quack doctor of extraordinary evil and greed who would stop at nothing short of murder to achieve her ambitions. As their jewelry disappeared and forged bank drafts began transferring their wealth to Hazzard’s accounts, Dora Williamson sent a last desperate plea to a friend in Australia, begging her to save them from the brutal treatments and lonely isolation of Starvation Heights.
In this true story—a haunting saga of medical murder set in an era of steamships and gaslights—Gregg Olsen reveals one of the most unusual and disturbing criminal cases in American history.
My review: I was bored at first when I started this book. But if you look at the books I had read just prior to this, you will see I was on kind of a murder and mayhem high when I started this book. Although this book also deals with a murder, it was a quite different method then I had previously read about. Gregg asked me not to give up on the book, since I was only at the 20 or so page mark I didn’t.
The time period of this book as mentioned, steamships and gaslights, a slower paced time and the book follows this, Gregg Olsen carefully sets the stage, drawing the people with care and attention to detail. In the end, one feels that they truly ‘know’ everyone involved in the case and since you know the characters, you care and want to know what happens to them.
What Gregg does is take a quote from after the case had ended, in some cases from after Linda Hazzard had died, giving the communities take on Starvation Heights, sometime the stories and superstitions that were common in that area. These are scattered about the narrative of the case and the trial. Also we learn the history of Linda Hazzard and her husband and son, how they came to be in Olalla and the trouble that seemed to follow them. Much of it of their own doing it must be noted.
What Gregg doesn’t do is report the trial word for word with trail transcripts. He does reprint some newspaper accounts and articles. Enough to keep you informed, but not so much that you are bored.
At the end of the book, he gives you a little synopsis of how he found out about this case and what intrigued him to write it. Where he got most of his information. This is important for me, I am always thinking as I read non-fiction, “How do they know that? How does the author know that this person said that?” And my absolute favorite part is when he talks about digging in the mud with his daughters on Father’s Day looking for bones and teeth. Well what else would you expect from a true crime writer on his day?
I recommend this book to fans of Historical True Crime.
Historical True Crime
E-book
Copyright: 1997
One of the things I love about being a ‘book blogger’ is the ‘book blogging community’ as I like to call it. For instance …
Someone e-mailed me to win a book I offered on my blog, in return, she told me about a giveaway on her blog. If you would like a chance to win a copy of The King’s Rose by Alisa M. Libby click here.
I am on a list of bloggers to receive books for review. I haven’t been accepting books for review for a while, but decided to start up again. Today I got my first new review book. It is an “Advance Reader Copy”.
The book is called ‘Conflicts with Interest’ by Michael Ruddy and is set to be released in January 2010. Stay tuned for my review after I read it. It is a legal thriller.
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The Book Review selects the best novels and nonfiction from the last year.
After so many years, and so many lists, you might think the task of choosing the 10 Best Books would get easier. If only. The sublime story collections alone created agonies of indecision. So did the superb literary biographies we read — and deeply admired. But in the end the decisions had to be made.
Not that drawing up the list — or rather, whittling it down — was a wholly painful exercise. One of the pleasures it afforded was the chance to resample the sometimes surprising chemistry of reviewers and authors, particularly when it came to fiction. Jonathan Lethem, whose “Chronic City” made our list, reviewed Lorrie Moore’s novel “A Gate at the Stairs,” which made it too, while Curtis Sittenfeld, whose novel “Prep” was one of the 10 Best in 2005, reviewed Maile Meloy’s story collection “Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It,” a winner this year. Any book review editor will attest that persuading fiction writers to assess other people’s fiction can be a struggle. These were heartening exceptions to the rule. May more novelists review for us in 2010!
This list will appear in print in the Dec. 13 Book Review. —The Editors
“IF you want to make it, all you have to do is try …” (from the back)
William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, his life was one of magic and superstition. His father was a farmer that grew tobacco and corn. They had no electricity or running water. Then one year the crops failed and the country suffered famine, followed by disease.
The back of the book talks about the windmill William built using odds and ends from his father’s farm and the local scrapyard, a windmill that brought electricity to power lights and a radio, eventually a water pump. A windmill that brought hope, but there is much more to this memoir then that. We learn about his early life, the hardship and superstition that affected his life, his curiosity to find out how things worked. When his family could no longer afford to send him to school he started a course of independent study which led to him building the windmill.
He also explains many of the customs and beliefs of his county, giving you a look into another culture.
This is a very fascinating book, written in a very relaxed manner that is enjoyable to read. I originally gave it 3 stars, then as I thought about what I wanted to put in this review, I decided that it is a better book then that and so it now has four stars.
I recommend this book.
with the name of the book in the subject line and your name and mailing address in the body of the e-mail. The first person who e-mails will receive my copy of this book. It is an Advance Reader’s Edition, and the cover has some minor damage. Other then that it is in excellent condition and is a trade paperback.
The book has been claimed by a reader in Malaysia. Congratulations! Yes I have readers all over the world. It still boggles my mind.
The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
Synopsis
In December 1937, in what was then the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (Nanjing) and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured, and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. Amazingly, the story of this atrocity—one of the worst in world history—continues to be denied by the Japanese government. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents in four different languages (many never before published), Iris Chang, whose own grandparents barely escaped the massacre, has written what will surely be the definitive, English-language history of this horrifying episode—one that the Japanese have tried for years to erase from public consciousness. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: that of the Japanese soldiers who performed it; of the Chinese civilians who endured it; and finally of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. It was Chang who discovered the diaries of the German leader of this rescue effort, John Rabe, whom she calls the “Oskar Schindler of China.” A loyal supporter of Adolf Hitler but far from the terror planned in his Nazi-controlled homeland, he worked tirelessly to save the innocent from slaughter. But this book does more than just narrate details of an orgy of violence; it attempts to analyze the degree to which the Japanese imperial government and its militaristic culture fostered in the Japanese soldier a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells one more shocking story: Despite the fact that the death toll at Nanking exceeded the immediate deaths from the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined (and even the total wartime casualty count of entire European countries), the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to court the loyalty of Japan and stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterized this conspiracy of silence, which persists to this day, as “a second rape.”
This is a fascinating well written account. It is a controversial subject, I saw at least two books claiming it never happened. One even claims that the pictures in this book were ‘doctored’. Knowing the Japanese habit of re-writing history, I am inclined to believe that this is a true account. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in history especially the history of WWII. Please be aware, the descriptions of mass beheadings and systematic rapes are graphic and the pictures may be disturbing to some people.
If you would like this book,
with the name of the book in the subject line and your name and mailing address in the body of the e-mail. The first person who e-mails will receive my copy of this book. It is a trade paperback in excellent condition.
Book has been claimed by Wanda from Manitoba. Congratulations Wanda, your book will arrive by post in 5 to 10 days.
The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Book 1
Synopsis
Two thousand years ago, the Born Queen defeated the Skasloi lords, freeing humans from the bitter yoke of slavery. But now monstrous creatures roam the land—and destinies become inextricably entangled in a drama of power and seduction. The king’s woodsman, a rebellious girl, a young priest, a roguish adventurer, and a young man made suddenly into a knight—all face malevolent forces that shake the foundations of the kingdom, even as the Briar King, legendary harbinger of death, awakens from his slumber. At the heart of this many-layered tale is Anne Dare, youngest daughter of the royal family . . . upon whom the fate of her world may depend.
This is a common story line, a long ‘dead’ evil is discovered to not be dead, just sleeping. There are many story lines in the book, which is huge, and the first of 4. While some story lines seem to be finished, some are not and you realize that at the end of the book the story is far from done.
Greg Keyes has done an admirable job of taking a common story line and adding his own unique twist to it, at the end most of the threads have woven together and come into one plot line. This book has it all, a doomed royal family, betrayal by trusted people, dark magic and good forces combating it, knights in armor, and crusty old warriors that just might save the day.
The only thing is I don’t know if this is compelling enough to last through 4 books. I hope so since I have already bought the other 3 books, but I don’t know it that is because I really want to read them or because I am obsessed with reading every book in a series I start to read.
People who enjoy Fantasy would probably enjoy this series.
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Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit
Description
During his twenty-five year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement, pursuing some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time: the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle’s Green River killer, the case that nearly cost Douglas his life. As the model for Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs , Douglas has confronted, interviewed, and studied scores of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Ed Gein, who dressed himself in his victims’ peeled skin. Using his uncanny ability to become both predator and prey, Douglas examines each crime scene, reliving both the killer’s and the victim’s actions in his mind, creating their profiles, describing their habits, and predicting their next moves. Now, in chilling detail, the legendary Mindhunter takes us behind the scenes of some of his most gruesome, fascinating, and challenging cases — and into the darkest recesses of our worst nightmares.
John Douglas takes us through his history first, his experiences growing up, what made him decide to become an FBI agent and how he used profiling even before he became an agent and knew what it was. While he does not mince words when describing crimes the descriptions are neither gratuitous nor graphic, what comes through all his narration is respect and sympathy for the victims. He explains that profiling is an investigation into the why of a crime, and why this is important in solving certain types of crime.
He also details the interviews he and another agent had with convicted serial killers and how this has helped him and other agents fine tune their investigative skills.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy reading about investigative technique (profiling) and psychology.
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Pip and Flinx: Book 1
Description
He was just a freckle-faced, redheaded kid with green eyes and a strangely campelling stare when Mather Mastiff first saw him an the auctioneer’s block. One hundred credits and he was hers. For years the old woman was his only family. She loved him, fed him, taught him everything she knew — even let him keep the deadly flying snake he called Pip. Then Mother Mastiff mysteriously disappeared and Flinx took Pip to tail her kidnappers. Across the forests and swamps of the winged world called Moth, their only weapons were Pip’s venom . . . and Flinx’s unusual Talents.
This is a re-read, I read it before and when I saw it as an e-book I bought it so I could re-read it. Half way through I remembered that it is the first in a series, so the story is finished, but not really. Some things are not explained so you know there is more.
This is science-fiction so you do have to suspend believability at points, but what I liked is the non-earthly details meshed, they were all consistent. Like the author had created a blueprint for his ‘world’ and stuck to it. It had a good plot, the main plot was easy to follow, the subplots not so much but added interesting details. There was action and character development in the right amounts for the plot.
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city girl drinking craft beer 