One star review, originally posted here on December 15, 2017. I am pretty shocked that my 2nd 1-star review since joining Goodreads a few years ago is going to this (supposed) masterpiece. But there it is. I somehow managed to make it all the way to my mid 30’s without ever touching Hemingway, and decided … More Goodreads Review: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Five star review, originally posted here one December 5, 2017. Amazing. I laughed. I cried. I was totally sucked in. Fantastic story, beautifully and honestly told. I’m one of the people who had never heard about any of this The Room stuff until earlier this year when I saw my first trailer for new The … More Goodreads Review: The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero, Tom Bissell
Five star review, originally posted here on October 31, 2017. Finally! I’ve had a pretty dry year reading-wise, where books just haven’t really been speaking to me. My last couple were really good, marking a bit of an uptick, but then I hit this gem, and hallelujah my love of books is restored! Hesse tells … More Goodreads Review: American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse
Five star review, originally posted here on October 22, 2017. If you like Erik Larson books and are looking for something similar, definitely read this book. Prentice has that same talent as Larson for making a non-fiction tale feel like an intriguing novel with an over-the-top plot. I honestly have no clue how these people … More Goodreads Review: The Lost Tribe of Coney Island: Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man Who Pulled Off the Spectacle of the Century by Claire Prentice
Five star review, originally posted here on October 6, 2017. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book, which I picked up on a whim at the gift shop while visiting historic St Mary’s City. The formula is pretty straightforward; the entire book is a continuous list of examples of court cases … More Goodreads Review: Crime and Punishment in Early Maryland by Raphael Semmes
Three star review, originally posted here on September 18, 2017. This book was ok! It was fine. No real complaints at all. It was well written and creative and the characters were very well fleshed-out. I didn’t dislike reading it. But for some reason I can’t put my finger on this one just didn’t really … More Goodreads Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Four start review, originally posted here on August 4, 2017. (Note this was several months before he left the senate under less than stellar circumstances.) Not much to say here; if you know anything about Al Franken or have read any of his previous books, this will be pretty much exactly what you expect. Nothing … More Goodreads Review: Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken
Four star review, originally posted here on July 26, 2017. A legitimately fascinating topic, told with tons of details. The basic gist is: Henry Ford was a wackadoo with some great ideas and some terrible ideas. Here’s a shining example of one of his terrible ideas. This was also my first time ever trying … More Goodreads Review: Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin
Three star review, originally posted here on July 7, 2017. I’m guessing that I approached this book from a different angle than the majority of other people who read it. I had never heard of Pat Tillman before, and instead came to this book because I saw it on a list of Krakauer books. “This … More Goodreads Review: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Three star review, originally posted here on June 6, 2017. I was sucked in from the very first word of this book. Yeah, it was written forever ago, but it sure didn’t feel that way, and I felt like I was right there with the narrator every step of the way. And that was before … More Goodreads Review: Moby Dick: or, the White Whale by Herman Melville
Helga without the H 