Last Days

The Last Days of Night was a really good.  It was quick and easy to read, not at all like I thought it would be.  I don't know what made me think this, but I thought it would be a "literary" read.  But man I just got right into it!
And the thing is, it is historical fiction, so I did learn a lot, too, because while I was reading it, I researched the "real stories" behind the events and people.  Plus, the author gives a good recap of what was real and what was fiction at the end of the book and also online.
I just found out that this is going to become a movie!
The only thing I guess that has me wondering is that in this book Westinghouse is not a good dude.  And from what I have read about him, in real life, he was a good dude.
Edison is a jerk in the book and from everything I have read about him, he was a jerk in real life. 
Telsa seems like a good dude in real life and in the book, too.
Graham Moore is a very easy to read author and this is one great book! 

A great book but now I will take a little break

I have been getting obsessed with the Rick Geary Treasury of Victorian Murder graphic nonfiction titles.  I do need to take a little break from them, but I will definitely go back to them soon, maybe around Halloween, which is fast approaching!  The last two Sundays I filled the pulpit up at Bradford Woods Community Church and that was my focus on off-work hours.  My reading slowed, so now I need to get back into it will full-force and and obsession of any kind is never good when trying to expand my reading experience!  

I think A Treasury of Victorian Murder MIGHT have been the first in what has become a series of individual graphic works, like the ones I have talked about here:  the assassination of Garfield and H.H. Holmes and Madeleine Smith.  I say might because I still don't understand the whole language and set up and organization of graphic works, like compendiums and collected volumes and things like that!

In any case, this volume featured there creepy stories:  the murders of brother and sister, Nick and Mary Ryan, the murderous Dr. Pritchard, and Mary Pearcey.

Uh oh...am I stuck on another series?

I think I am!  This time I used the Comixology app and bought and read another of Rick Geary's graphic nonfiction books in his Treasury of Victorian Murder series.  The Case of Madeleine Smith was interesting because Geary is simply a great storyteller and illustrator and also because I had never heard of Madeleine Smith and also because, even after reading it, I can't be totally sold on the idea that she did it.  Good stuff here.

He was the devil, you know, in the White City

When I read The Devil in the White City, I was blown away.  What a great, great book.  And the devil, referred to in that book as H.H. Holmes, mostly, was a fascinating, foul and frightening character from history.  I had never heard of him before, even though he is considered by many to be America's first serial killer. The Beast of Chicago:  an account of the life and crimes of Henry W. Mudgett, known to the world as H.H. Holmes focuses on the monster himself.

James A. Garfield

Last year I read The Destiny of the Republic and loved it.   As I mentioned back when I reviewed it, it made me want to visit his home in Mentor, Ohio.  Well, finally I did!  Below are some pictures from the trip that I made with mom and Lobster!  It was so worth it!  The tour was excellent. At the gift shop I picked up the book The Fatal Bullet:   the assassination of James A. Garfield.  It was a really, really well done graphic non-fiction and now I want to read the whole series that Rick Geary has done.

Just not sure...

why a book like Blizzard isn't as popular as the I Survived series.  This was the first book I've ever read by Jim Murphy and the first I ever heard of the Great Blizzard of 1888.  Which was a REALLY bad storm!  This book is super well done.  I am not a history fan.  I am especially not a history fan of any time in history before WW2 and so for a book to get and keep my attention, the way that this one did, that is saying something.  It made me want to read more about this blizzard, and more by Murphy. 
The other thing that was really interesting here was the whole history of the National Weather Service.  A lot of folks, like me remember when you had to read a newspaper or watch tv or listen to the radio to find out the weather forecast.  Now it is available on your phone at any time.  Before that it was available on the computer at any time.  But back in these days?  Just crazy, crazy how it all went down!  A great read.