Less than two months into the year and I’ve already read so many interesting things! Here’s the highlights. The Bone Clocks This is our February book club read, and boy was it a doozy. We’ve read one of David Mitchell’s other books, Cloud Atlas, and I’m pumped to discuss it in a few days. Mitchell’s…
Tag: history
Review: The Tin Ticket
Teenagers Agnes and Janet stole clothing; Bridget stole milk; Ludlow pawned her employer’s spoons. In the early 1800s in Britain the sentence was not jail time, but transport. These women — and thousands of others like them — were convicted by courts eager to populate Van Diemen’s Land (later Tasmania). Packed into ships like cattle,…
Review: Lives in Ruins
Most people know a little bit about archeology, or have heard about Machu Picchu, Pompeii, and the pyramids. But what do we know about the people who discovered these places, or any of the thousands of other archeological places of interest around the globe? What makes them obsessed with digging through the dirt an inch…
Review: Witches of America
Alex Mar is a writer and skeptic. Like many people in her age bracket, she doesn’t feel a connection to the religion in which she was raised. But she envies those who do — in particular, the witches. Witches of America is a chronicle of Mar’s exploration of witchcraft, from its (surprisingly contemporary) roots to…
Review: The Devil in the White City
On February 24th, 1890, Chicago was chosen to host a world’s fair that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Daniel H. Burnham — who later designed New York City’s famous Flatiron Building — was chosen to put together and lead the group of designers and architects responsible for building the…