In The Garden Of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin is a work of nonfiction by Erik Larson, detailing the life of William Dodd and his family during Dodd’s tenure as the US Ambassador to Germany. Dodd was a professorof history, whose area of interest was the southern United States. He became ambassador because no one else would take the job, and FDR was desperate to fill the position before Congress recessed. Not the best credentials for a US ambassador, but probably not the worst either. Even though Dodd was an Ambassador, he never really fit in with the elites. His family was also interesting – his daughter Martha ended up falling in love with a Soviet spy – which caused many problems for them both. The author claims that everything written in quotes is a direct quotation – from a letter, memoir, or conversation – and I really appreciated reading the story of Hitler gaining power through the eyes of American outsiders.

464 pages
3.5/5

It took me forever to finish this book. (The book is 688 pages, so I don’t feel too badly about it). The book is a very detailed story of two twin brothers born to a nun (a nun!) in Ethiopia. The nun dies in childbirth and their father, a highly esteemed surgeon, runs away. The two boys are raised by the hospital staff, and come of age as Ethiopia survives a bloody coup. I enjoyed the last part (part four) of this book more than any of the others. A part of me wishes the book would have been shorter. The other part of me wonders if the last part would have been so marvelously riveting if the first parts had been abridged.

688 pages
3.5/5

Outliers: The Story of Success is another one of those straightforward “why didn’t I think of that” books. The premise of the book is that success is something that can be cultivated, but that circumstances surrounding a person can influence “success” a great deal. For instance, if you want your son to be a successful hockey player, you should try to have them born in January, February or March. That gives them a slight advantage physically when they are playing junior league hockey – a kid born in January will be bigger and faster than a kid born in December, but they will play on the same team. That slight advantage will turn into a larger advantage as the kid grows up – obviously the kid has to have talent, but if he does have talent, being bigger than other kids his age is a definite advantage. Gladwell also talks about the 10,000 Hour Rule – basically, it takes ten thousand hours to master a skill. Professional musicians? They practice their asses off, so by the time they reach college they have amassed more practice time than their peers. Same thing with athletes and technology gurus.

This book is an easy read because it is filled with interesting stories of people’s lives. And also plane crashes.

3.5/5
309 pages

P.S. I have been a reading fiend lately. We’re on week 38 of the year, so I’m only 18 books behind. The race is on!

I’ve lived in Alabama for 12 years now, and I still have yet to understand the college football fanatic. Sure, I’ve been to a few football games and even tailgated at the Auburn-Alabama game (in Auburn) – I’ve watched the game with die hard fans who call their bookies at the beginning of every quarter to make a new bet – but I still don’t really understand the football fan(atic). This book follows the biggest of the college football fans – the RV crowd – through a season of Alabama football. The author, a lifelong Alabama fan, ends up buying a RV and joining the fray. For the first time, I understand a little bit about the mindset of the college football superfan.

288 pages
3.5/5

One Day is the story of a friendship between Dexter and Emma – two very different people who have that spark that binds them together even though they spend most of their lives apart. They spend college graduation night together, with no intentions of carrying on much of a friendship, and they spend their entire lives chasing the dream of one another through failed jobs and terrible relationships. It’s a fairly unhappy book, but not altogether depressing, and it’s a quick read.

3.5/5
261 pages

The Imperfectionists is a book of intertwined short stories, each chapter showcasing a character who is loosely associated with a newspaper based in Rome. The story is predictable – the newspaper eventually fails, and the characters are deeply flawed – but aren’t we all?

304 pages
3.5/5

I’ve been thinking about the main theme of this book. Is it despair? Love? Desperation? Addiction? Simple sadness?

The book is about Truitt, a rich man who lives in a tiny rural town who finds a “reliable wife” via the classifieds. The reliable wife is not who she claims to be – as Truitt begins to find out at the train station when the woman who gets off the train is not the same one in the picture he was sent. This story is about their relationship – despite the deception (or maybe because of it).

320 pages
3.5/5

“Super Sad True Love Story” is indeed a story encompassing all of those adjectives: super, sad, true, love. Overall it is a great piece of satire with moments of the best writing I’ve read in ages. The USA is on the verge of collapse. Your thoughts, hopes, dreams, and failures are communicated to the world via the “apparat” (future-world’s iphone). An individual’s worth is determined by your community ranking (hotness, personality, fuckability, etc). The very rich want to live forever, and in fact have made plans to do so. Two people fall into a convenient sort of love; one that’s very practical and not too picky.

Some parts of the book were a little boring, but the next-to-last chapter was spectacular. (The very last chapter was disappointing – when you read it you’ll see why – but I still think you should read it).

352 pages
3.5/5

Also – being able to check out books from the local library on my nook is one of the greatest gifts technology has ever given me.

I stayed late at work last night to finish up a project before taking a week off. Emily picked me up around 8, and in honor of our vacation starting she brought me a diet cherry limeade with the perfect amount of rum in it. When I got home I had roses & a bacon chocolate bar waiting. (Seriously, how lucky am I?).

This morning I woke up, drank my coffee, and read Shit My Dad Says. It was laugh out loud hilarious. It also took me about 30 minutes to read. Thirty hilarious minutes. You owe that much to yourself.

115 pages
3.5/5