So you want to read...True Crime

Want to read true crime, but unsure of where to start? Here's a few books to get you started.

In Cold Blood  by Truman Capote

"With the publication of this book, Capote permanently ripped through the barrier separating crime reportage from serious literature. As he reconstructs the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, Capote generates suspense and empathy."

This book is credited with starting the entire true crime genre, and what better place to start than the beginning? When I told my mother I was writing this post (she's a big true crime fan), she took the opportunity to admonish me for the umpteenth time for not reading "In Cold Blood." Mom, if you're reading this, I promise I'll get to it soon.

The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas

America's foremost expert on criminal profiling provides his uniquely gripping analysis of seven of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime -- from the Whitechapel murders to JonBenet Ramsey -- often contradicting conventional wisdom and legal decisions.

A great book combining all of the famous unsolved murders: Jack the Ripper, Zodiac, Black Dahlia, the Lindbergh baby, etc. There could be no one better to come up with theories on these cases than John Douglas, and his expertise in the profiling field shows here.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.

If you have not read this book yet, please, do yourself a huge favor and run to your nearest bookstore. This is also a good choice for those who want their true crime with a side of American history.

Happy reading!

It's the End of the World as We Know It...and I Feel Fine

At around 3:30 this morning I woke up, and while I was trying to figure out exactly why I would wake up at such an ungodly hour of the morning, 50 mile per hour winds told me why. I'm a recent first-time home buyer, and I'm quite convinced my house is going to collapse while I'm sleeping. We had some pretty nasty winds a few weeks ago in the middle of the night, which caused my house to shake. Last night was a repeat performance - needless to say I got very little sleep.

Since I tend to lean towards the melodramatics and because of my (what I consider) life-threatening experience last night, today's post features non-fiction disaster books. I just cannot get enough of this stuff. Am I just a horrible human being that revels in other people's misery?  Regardless, recently I've read quite a few books in this vein and I've got quite a few on my TBR pile to get to. I'll keep this post on the ones that I've read, and will do a follow up post later when I've read more. (note: I found several of these books on the fantasic user-voted list on GoodReads here).

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

Man, David McCullough knows how to write a book, no doubt about it. This is one of three in his engineering series (the other two go over the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal). Being from Pennsylvania myself, this hit a little closer to home, mostly by being able to recognize some of the main characters in the steel business. Thousands of people died in this disaster, a result of a dam failure. McCullough does an excellent job recounting the exact events in this book and is easy to follow, but also shows a lot of respect for the tragedy that occured and those who lost their lives. This was one of my favorite books that I read in 2009. Pennsylvania residents as well as people interested in the steel business will also enjoy this book.

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson

Best known for the book, The Devil in the White City (a phenomenal read), Larson's earlier work Isaac's Storm should not be overlooked. It tells the story of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 mostly through the eyes of the meteorologist of the town. If you though Katrina was bad, you were wrong. Larson has a particular gift for weaving a story without getting into to much speculation on the thoughts of historical figures. If you can, read this after the Johnstown Flood, since this event did occur later and there are a few meaningful references to it.

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

If you like your disaster books a little, well, less national but still want a fascinating slice of American history, I highly recommend In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. The sinking of the Essex was the inspiration for Melville's Moby Dick, but the true story goes so much further than that. It does go into detail in the whaling industry, so if you're squeamish about that kind of thing you might want to steer clear of this book. If not, please do not miss this one. I found it incredibly riveting, and was also one of my favorite reads of 2009.

I think the reason I enjoy these types of books so much is it shows two extremes of human nature: the lengths that man will go through for money, fame, and respect, and the the lengths that man will go through to survive. Just like any Shakesperian tragedy, these real-life events feature a villian whose decisions (often small ones) come at the expense of the others, and the heroes who manage to live through some of the most daunting experiences humankind has ever faced. Or maybe I really am just a sucker for tragedies.

Climbing Mt. Everest

No, I'm not talking about my to-be-read pile (although that's a serious contender in size). It's Sunday night, and on the Discovery Channel they are running a marathon of "Everest: Beyond the Limit." If you've got even a passing interest on this famous mountain and those determined to scale it, check out Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. This riveting book is about the tragedy on Mt. Everest in 1996, which the author was witness to. It spotlights the incredible lengths these climbers go through to scale the mountain, and the very high costs of that goal.

Also, if you want to inject some mystery into Everest, check out the story of Mallory and Irvine. I have not read any books on the topic, but there are several books mentioned in the Wikipedia article that sound interesting (if I do read one of these, I will post an update). George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine may have reached the summit of Mt. Everest years before Sir Edmund Hillary's successful attempt, but they disappeared in the attempt. In 1999, Mallory's body was located, but only deepened the mystery. Check out the Wikipedia article here.

And, if you're still in the mood to read about more mountain disasters, you can check out Alive by Piers Paul Read. This book (and the movie of the same name) covers the 1976 Andes plane crash in which the survivors were reduced to cannibalism for survival before they were rescued. I have not read this book, but it is on my list for 2010.

Now that we're on to mountain disasters and cannibalism, let's go to the more recently released The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown. It recounts the tragedy of the infamous Donner Party and is getting great reviews. I have this book on loan from the library and should be getting to it in the next few days, so check back for a followup.

If anyone has anything to add to this list or has read any of the books mentioned in the Mallory Wikipedia article, get over to the comments section and let me know. In the meantime, I'll be staying somewhere near sea level sipping some nice warm hot cocoa.