Book Review: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

Non-fiction.  I read this for the CLPL Real World Reads non-fiction book club for November 2014.  This book would be worth the read just for the list of books at the end!  This is a narrative non-fiction account of a book club that developed between Will Schwalbe and his mother when she found out she had stage four pancreatic cancer.  She had an amazing background, helping refugees all over the world, so it was not uncommon for her to come home with varying infections, so they thought she had contracted hepatitis on her last trip.  Eventually they figure it out and begin treatment, to make her life last as long as it can in the way she wanted: she was very concerned with her quality of life, not just prolonging it as long as possible.

Will Schwalbe was in the book publishing industry at the time, always an avid reader, and from a family of avid readers.  He and his mother spent much time at the hospital for her chemo treatments, and decided to use the time to discuss one of their favorite things, books.  They covered new works, classics, and used their discussions to learn more about each other and life as a human being.

If you are a reader you will connect to many of the ideas in this book.  It is not sugary-sweet, it does delve into some terrible issues and frustrating struggles, but he somehow manages to keep it contemplative and not depressing.  It is a wonderful idea to have this kind of connection with your parents or children, in fact I am trying it out myself.  I told my son he can pick the books, and we are currently reading through a young adult series, it has been pretty fun so far!

Needless to say, I recommend this book to those who love to read, those thinking about loosing a loved one, and those who want a list of some really great books to read!  I already finished one, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, and it was one of the best books I have read in a very long time.

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Book Review: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Non-fiction, narrative.  I really enjoyed this book!  I ended up finding it as a part of my continuing quest to learn more about Chicago and Illinois history.  It is about William E. Dodd, a professor of history at the University of Chicago, and how he becomes the U.S. ambassador to Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich.  There are so many WWII stories out there that it can be quite daunting when trying to tackle the subject.  This one is a little different, in that it shows you how an american family living abroad felt when arriving in 1933, and how their opinions adapt and change as things in the country do as well.  Since Dodd took his family with him (wife, son, and daughter) and they wrote letters and diary entries religiously, we get multiple perspectives on the time, place, and changing attitudes.  His daughter Martha was very amorous and had relationships with prominent members of the Nazi party (Diels), socialist radicals, and even a Russian spy.  At first she felt positive about the new changes for the German people, but then she slowly became more aware of what was happening around her, and finally changed her tune.  

     It seems that Dodd was one of the few voices bold enough to see what was coming, and to talk about it, even though he was shunned by other ambassadors and the american public for doing so.  If you are one of those people who say "How didn't people see it coming?" well he certainly did.  This book is well worth a read if you are interested in what Germany was like as an outsider during the building up of the Nazi regime and how Hitler and his inside men were constantly bickering, paranoid, chasing gossip, and vying for control of each other and the country.  This is a great story of a prominent Chicagoan and of the climate in Germany leading up to WWII from the perspective an american family.

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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: The Price of Justice by Laurence Leamer

Narrative non-fiction.  I read this for my local library's non-fiction book club (October 2014).  This is an excellent book and very heartbreaking too.  My best friend's stepfather died in a coal mining accident in the 1990s, but to my knowledge I do not think it had anything to do with Don Blankenship (or Massey) or the evils he has done to people.  I know most of the bigger cities and some of the smaller towns mentioned in this work, I have been to many of them, and as I said I am friends with the daughter of a coal miner, so it was very easy for me to picture these places and the people discussed in the book.  Regardless, even if you are not familiar with any of that, I do believe it would be an interesting book for those who want to know what people go through in coal mining, what it is like for the little businesses going against big operations, and also for anybody interested in law cases, the courts, and corruption.  Apparently a John Grisham book called The Appeal was based off of the real life events explained in this non-fiction work.  If you remember the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, these are the people and events leading up to that event (it is also discussed), through a fight of over 15 years, one which led all the way to the Supreme Court due to corruption in electing judges in the state supreme court of West Virginia.  I highly recommend this one, definitely a good read!

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Book Review: 38 Nooses by Scott W. Berg

Narrative non-fiction. I read this for the non-fiction book club at my local library (September 2014).  Skip the first 200 pages...just go to chapter 12 or so and read from there...really scattered writing, it is like he took about 4-5 articles and tried to mash them into a book.  Interesting topic but the writing leaves quite a lot to be desired.  3/5 stars for the topic about 1/5 for the writer.  I finished by sheer will alone.

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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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