Book Review: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Non-fiction, narrative.  I was a little afraid when I saw the description of this book that it was going to be an all gore account of a serial killer, and it definitely is not.  It does include things that the self-styled H.H. Holmes planned, did, and how things ended up, but it is interspersed with the main story of the city hosting the World Columbian Exposition in 1893, and the men who made it happen, primarily Burnham.  I found out all sorts of fun things I did not know about the fair and the men who made it happen, Olmsted was the grounds planner or "landscape architect" and was furious when people did not treat it as an art form (the man who planned Central Park in NYC), Ferris created his first wheel for the fair, the designer of the Women's Pavilion Sophia Hayden went mad, literally, after so many people told her to muck up her design and throw stuff on it as if it were only a patchwork quilt and not a building.  It was totally worth the read, I highly enjoyed it, one of the better books about the history of Chicago/IL I have read so far, it definitely helps that the author used the narrative non-fiction style to make it feel more like a story.  My only disappointment is that, at least in the eBook version, there are very few pictures in it, a few of the "White City" and one who I believe was supposed to be H.H. Holmes but it was poorly labeled.  I would have liked to have seen images of the people who made these events happen, in addition to the images of their buildings.  I would recommend this to those who like narrative non-fiction, those interested in the history of Chicago,those who love architecture, and those who want to know about H.H. Holmes, considered one of the first known serial killers in the U.S. (he wrote several items, so we have his direct words, creepy man).

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Book Review: David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Non-fiction.  From the title and description I thought this one sounded interesting, and it is in parts, but loads of it feels like the author is stretching it a bit.  I think it can provide some historical and mythological inspiration if you feel like and underdog yourself.  It was worth my time to read it, but I would not go around recommending it to the whole world as something they had to read.

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Book Review: The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov

Narrative non-fiction. Interesting story about an African American man who was born in the south, moved north to several places in the U.S., and eventually ends up overseas. He settles in Russia, and has an interesting life and career there in the restaurant and club scene, around the time of WWI and its aftermath. I do not want to say too much and ruin it for others because it is most definitely worth a read. I highly recommend this one, fascinating stuff.

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Book Review: City of Scoundrels by Gary Krist

A really interesting read about two weeks in Chicago during the summer of 1919.  It shows how much the city and the country were in flux, with a blimp crash, race riots, corrupt politics, the death of a child, labor unions riots, and more.  If you are interested in the history of Chicago, or any of the above listed issues, I would highly recommend this book.  It is a great work of narrative non-fiction.

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Book Review: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

Really enlightening and easy to read, covers primarily 1860-90, something from each of the regions in the U.S., some of the major figures involved (all sides), and ultimately how Native Americans were pushed onto reservations.  Some things I definitely did not know, and it is much more informative than most versions of U.S. history taught to us in school.  It was great to get an idea of the Native American perspective on many of these country changing events.  This was recommend to me by a woman I am in a non-fiction book club with, and I in turn now highly recommend this one as well.

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Help Wanted...

The Cannon Log Cabin where students discover what life was like in 1847.

So I am still on the job hunt, very depressing. As I clean the house, search for jobs, put in applications, read, take care of our son etc., I am still feeling rather useless. I respect all those women who are "stay at home" status but, it is not my thing, and even it was it was, it's not financially possible for us. I am grateful for the time though because it has allowed me to do physical therapy from the accident and to start doing a lot of things I meant to do but didn't have time to accomplish while teaching five classes. But, I have still felt I need to be of further use, so while job searching I decided I would contact some local organizations to see if they had paid positions and if not if they have any volunteer opportunities.

The local county historical society responded to my e-mail about volunteering. So, I went in this week and toured the museum, the historical buildings, and saw all the behind the scenes operations like cataloguing and preservation techniques and procedures. I am going to start going in every Tuesday and putting my education to use for the community. I am looking forward to this because it means I can be of service to others and I will hopefully learn a lot about museum operations, preservation, and display of historical objects. Even if it is on a smaller scale, the types of work done in a location like this is the same as any large institution, so I think it will benefit me greatly, both personally, by being of service, and professionally by enhancing my skill set.

Wish me luck!

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