I come from a stable home. Two parents who are still together and just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Four kids. A few regular ups and downs but certainly my childhood was filled with a sense of security and well-being if not full of ponies and sweet sixteen parties. My life could not be more different than King’s but I enjoyed reading an account of someone who was able to reconcile a tumultuous childhood and examine it in front of the world. Read More »
I Read a Lot of Books
I read a lot of books. Sometimes I review them.
Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running by Jennifer Lin and Susan Warner
I used to be am a runner, but until I regain my former running glory, I made the goal to read one running book a month to keep the inspiration alive as I’ve battled through an IT band injury, knee-injury, various pregnancies (okay, only three), and the sleep depravation associated with having three kids 5 and under in my life. Read More »
The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-map Dealer who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding
I love maps. I do. In all my dreams of having the “perfect” room (you can go ahead and imagine a library because all my perfect rooms are library dreams) it has maps all over the place. We moved into our current home about 4 years ago (wow, time flies! I remember unpacking all those books when we got here just like it was yesterday) and I am finally getting around to decorating our bedroom. I found the most amazing map printed on glass over some translucent turquoise painting. It is awesome. I keep waiting for it to go down in price to something remotely reasonable, and one day IT WILL BE MINE. What I’m saying is, I get a guy wanting to steal maps. I understand why people would collect them and preserve them. In short, I get this book. Read More »
The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra by Helen Rappaport
Does the world need another book about the Romanovs? That is the question. I’m not exactly sure that it does, but then again I’m not sure that it doesn’t. Helpful, no? There are a slew of nonfiction books about Czarist Russia, Rasputin, the October Revolution, etc and a book has to be unique to add something new to a discourse that has been hashed over to the point of animated musical fodder. Read More »
This is Not a Love Story by Judy Brown
This goes on the record as one of the BEST books I’ve read this year. 2016 has started out with some truly great books, but this one sticks with me. It is Judy Brown’s memories of growing up in a Chassidic jewish family in New York City. She and I have a lot in common, not really, but sort of. Read More »
House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family by Paul Fisher
I’ve been wanting to read this book since it came out. I’ve kept my eye on it and put it on my amazon wish list in hopes my husband would get it for me for Christmas of my birthday. I am VERY easy to shop for. Books, chocolate, and running shoes, in that order. Easy.
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Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked by Chris Matthews
No secret. I LOVED Reagan. Loved. Him. Sure I was about a month old when he was elected to office, but he was my first president. I always had an interest (some would say unnatural) in politics. I remember watching the Oliver North trials by choice! Not the average activity of choice for a little kid. Whenever I see that there is a new book out featuring the Reagan presidency, I gobble it up. I was a bit skeptical because Chris Matthews is not well known for fair minded political reporting, but it had REAGAN on the cover so I couldn’t resist.
Women of Faith in the Latter Days: Volume One, 1775-1820 edited by Richard E. Turley Jr. and Brittany A. Chapman
I’d actually read several excerpts of this book and following volumes and had wanted to sit down and read the entire book. I also hope to get to the rest of the volumes when time permits. Read More »
Farewell: The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century by Sergie Kostin and Eric Raynaud translated by Catherine Cauvin-Higgins
This book was so disappointing. So. Disappointing. I don’t know how you can make such an interesting story boring, but the writers managed to make this book an actual snoozefest if such a thing exists.
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The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
How to review a book of this nature? It is basically like casting judgment on someone’s life and what they have gone through. I’m in a memoir phase lately, which in and of itself is a bit of a surprise. I’ve always maintained that if you write an entire book about yourself you should definitely have done something mildly noteworthy. Is having a crappy childhood, and equally crappy adolescence noteworthy?
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The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
Disclaimer: I am NOT a hoarder, but I do have bit of a reputation for saving every. single. paper. that comes into contact with my life. Read More »
Build Your Running Body: A Total-body Fitness Plan for All Distance Runners, from Milers to Ultramarathoners Run Farther, Faster, and Injury-Free by Pete Magill, Thomas Schwartz, and Melissa Breyer
This is the type of book I have been looking for. And it came at a very handy time in my running journey… right before I injured my IT Band this summer. Read More »
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
Who doesn’t love a tragic book about men against nature? I’ve read Moby Dick and enjoyed it, but did not know the Essex’s sinking contributed as inspiration for the tale. I was completely unaware of this little thrilling bit of history until I saw a preview for the movie starring Chris Hemsworth. Thank you, Chris, I still haven’t seen your movie, but I’ve read the book. That is actually pretty accurate, when I see previews of movies based on books, it only encourages me to read the book first. Sometimes I get to the movie, sometimes I don’t. Read More »
A Moment of War by Laurie Lee
This is the final of autobiographical work of Laurie Lee, a British dude who enjoyed romping around Europe. A Moment of War follows him as he decides to go battle against Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War. As you can imagine, it didn’t go well. Read More »
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
In 2005 (?) my mom had cancer. She told us that she had to go in for surgery. I visited her in the hospital. She came home. My youngest brother and I called her surgery “the incision” and would make fun of her Pre Incision and Post Incision dancing. I wasn’t living at home and the whole thing seemed to pass rather quickly and then it was over. My mom was okay… then I read The Emperor of All Maladies… so I called to hear what really happened, because if Mukherjee taught me one thing, it is that cancer is never that simple.
The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science by Douglas Starr
I’m sure I’ve talked before about how my husband thinks I am extremely macabre what with my reading of murder books all the time… I can’t help myself. I love history and there is also something about looking at the horror of a murderer and what makes them tick. It is like standing close to a monster, but not getting eaten. Read More »
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I have never hidden my love of Erik Larson’s books. I enjoy learning more about the subjects he chooses, and usually find his style very readable and relatable. Larson is a master at recreating a time while giving the reader the ability to belong to that era. Dead Wake was no exception.
Run or Die Killian Jornet
Yes, I am reading one running book a month to keep the dream alive (and the enthusiasm) until I can begin my running program. Read More »
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal Bascomb
Spoiler alert* Roger Bannister got to the four minute mile first, and I’m assuming you know that if you’ve been alive the last 60 yrs or so. I assume Bascomb also knew that you’d know the outcome before he even started this book and that was his challenge. How to make common knowledge into a bit of a nail biter? How to mimic the feelings of watching an actual race? Bascomb manages to do just that, and to recreate an era of sports before ‘doping’ and big money endorsements. Read More »
Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans by Gary Krist
Jazz, scandal, murder? Sounds like a book for me… sadly, it was only okay. Read More »
The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin
Oh, the tears that I cried while reading this one. So, spoiler alert, people die. Children, specifically. If you are squeamish about kids dying, this is probably not the book for you.
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Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West by Hampton Sides
This book solidifies it for me. I need to read more Hampton Sides. Read More »
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran
Spoiler alert. This book is depressing. SUPER depressing. I purposely saved this gem for a time when I am not pregnant because I knew I would not be able to handle it in a highly charged emotional state. That being said, I still cried. Read More »
The Saga of Hugh Glass: Pirate, Pawnee, and Mountain Man by John Meyers Meyers
How can a book be both fiction and non fiction you ask? Well, clearly, it doesn’t work, but I will get into that later. Let me just say… this was one of the worst books I have read in my life. Period. There were times when I debated finishing it at all. Ugh, it was awful. Do yourself a favor and never read it. Read More »
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’t Most Terrifying Epidemic-and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
So much about this book was truly wonderful, but the organization left a lot to be desired. Perhaps the scope of the entire project was just too large and the book would have been better served if Johnson had narrowed the scope, but more on that later. Read More »
Running Ransom Road: Confronting the Past, One Marathon at a Time by Caleb Daniloff
I used to be a runner. This is true. Since I had my son almost four years ago my running has been sporadic and at times a bit disappointing. During this, my third, pregnancy I vowed to read at least one running book a month in order keep my excitement level up to fulfill my goal of eventually running a marathon. I’d had this book on my radar for quite some time, and was very happy with the book overall. Read More »
The Only Girl in the Car by Kathy Dobie
*Sigh. Where to begin? Sometimes I read a book and I just shake my head over it. This is one of those. Read More »
The Longest Race: A Lifelong Runner, an Iconic Ultramarathon, and the Case for Human Endurance by Ed Ayres
So, spoiler alert, I would like to one day run a marathon. Until I am back to my spritely running form, I have decided to read one book a month about running in order to keep my enthusiasm up and learn a thing or two. I don’t have a lot of runner friends that READ about running, so getting good recommendations has been mostly trial and error. As previously stated, I don’t like to read reviews prior to reading a book because I don’t want to taint my own feelings. I had already started this one when I added it to my goodreads.com profile. Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of some negative reviews so this might feel like an apologist essay. If so, I apologize (do you see what I did there?). Read More »
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Though I have vowed to cut back on my WWII reading, this book came highly recommended from nearly all my non fiction reader friends. I thought I’d read it before it became a movie and a weirdly watered down Hollywood version replaced the memory of the actual book. I am glad I did. Read More »
American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, and the Birth of Hollywood by Howard Blum
At first, and in the middle, and also at the end, many things about this book just bothered me. I didn’t like the style in which it was written. Read More »