Looking for Your Next Book

 One of the biggest events to take place in the United States in the 19th century, that was not a war, would have to be the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago ( World's Columbian Exposition). Noted non-fiction author Erik Larson takes readers on a deep dive into the machinations behind the event and ties in the workings of one of the world's most noted serial killers after England's notorious Ripper. The background on the fair is truly fascinating. Larson's research really captures the political maneuverings behind such a massive event, how it would benefit the city (and its politicians), and the struggles to actually make it happen. The number of challenges and disasters was rather staggering to me. What I found most interesting was the work behind the Ferris Wheel - something to rival France's Eiffel Tower - and its own successes and failures. (A bit of a side note - I learned from my father that my grandmother had gone to this fair and I couldn't help but wonde...

Fourteen year old Nick, his younger brother, and their father move into an old, run-down Victorian house that they've inherited. It's a little bit eerie, but for a pair of curious boys, exploring an old house can be a lot of fun. And dangerous.  When Nick opens the door to his room in the attic, he is hit in the head by a flying toaster. Things only get stranger from there. The old house contains a great deal of ... junk. Nothing looks useful, in any case, so they organize a garage sale to get rid of all the old items in the attic. During the course of the sale, Nick meets and befriends some local kids his age - Mitch, Vincent, and Caitlin. Exploring first the unusual items from the attic, and then the attic itself, the group of teens learn that the items from the attic had been placed there by engineer/inventor Nikola Tesla. These were his last inventions and contained special, very unique properties. But more than that, the attic itself was a special vortex and it needs the i...

I don't know what happened, but something happened with this book! I generally use a couple of different websites to request an advanced reading copy (ARC) of a book prior to its being published. You can generally see where I get my ARCs at the end of my reviews. Having generally enjoyed the previous volume of this series, I requested, and was granted access to, this edition, Volume 11. I loaded the PDF onto my Kobo reader and as it moved up into my reading queue, gave it my time and attention. Finished with the reading, I've gone to post my review and, as I typically do, went to Goodreads to grab the cover image to post on the review. And the book isn't there. I checked Edelweiss, the site from which I requested the book, and there's a status update: Cancelled. And a Google search indicates that the book has not been released anywhere, with one author posting on their blog: "I’ve been informed directly that the book my next story was planned to be in, Best Women’...

I have enjoyed reading Louis L'Amour books. Not just his westerns (which I do like), but his few other books, more adventure titles and historical fiction (ala The Sacketts series). And I've been aware that since his death in 1988 a number of his unfinished works are either being finished by his son Beau, or presented in collections of "Lost Treasures." Skyring Water is a thriller based on a first draft that Louis L'Amour wrote many years ago, when he was still trying to be considered for more than just a 'western' author. Even so, L'Amour (according to his son Beau at the back of the book) recognized that it didn't live up to its full potential. Louis and Beau plotted some potential changes to the original work, but Louis died of pneumonia before he could complete the work. Now Beau has taken up the mantle and decided to finish it. Sadly, this still doesn't live up to its potential. We're in a period known as the Cold War and former Navy ...

Max Ringo had been a tremendous courtroom lawyer until she'd been in a car accident and subsequently became addicted to painkillers. The addiction destroyed her career and personal life but she's been given the chance for some work that could begin to restore her name and credibility. From a list of potential mediators offered to the two parties in a  divorce settlement, Max is the only person that both sides agree to work with. Max is grateful for the opportunity, but she recognizes that the two sides are big time players in the business community and the husband has worked in the company that the wife's father built. There's a lot of bad blood and the parties are suspicious of one another - if someone wants something, the other side doesn't want to give it to them just because they suspect there's a financial reason for it. And there is. The husband is willing to give up everything for controlling ownership in the business that he helped turn into the success ...

I suspect that, like most people who might recognize the name of Edward Gorey, it is for his very unique art. Mostly famous for his illustrations for T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats , which was the basis for the long-running hit musical Cats and perhaps his for his illustrations for Bram Stoker's Dracula , Edward Gorey had a long career that included illustrating books and book covers, writing, and a great deal of theatre work, including writing, and designing sets and costumes. I was not aware of the amount of theatre work that Gorey did. On the one hand this is a little surprising given my own background in theatre. On the other hand, much of what is presented here shows that a great deal of this work was with a smaller, regional theatre company - one whose work I generally wouldn't have been familiar with back in the Midwest. It seems as though Gorey's theatrical ventures veered to the unique and unusual, just as his artwork did. This would be ...