Review: In the Dark Streets Shineth

In the Dark Streets Shineth by David McCullough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very short book with a very short speech by David McCullough giving some background on two Christmas songs, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas." He gave this speech during a Christmas concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Also included in this book are the speeches that FDR and Winston Churchill gave on Christmas Eve in 1941.

I read the Kindle version of this book and finished in less than a half hour. The print book came with a CD. You can find an excerpt of McCullough's presentation of his speech on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Y8u... He has a great voice and it's an enjoyable piece to watch.

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Review: News of the World

News of the World by Paulette Jiles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In 1870s Texas, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd spends his days going from town to town reading selected news articles to the local townspeople for their entertainment and his pocketbook. Offering the news of the world, Kidd, a veteran and hero of three wars, travels a circuit around north Texas, far from his own home in San Antonio. He is approached by a freed slave, Britt Johnson, who has saved a young 10-year old girl that had been abducted by a tribe of Kiowa Indians. She is the only survivor of her immediate family in a brutal massacre. Johnson is able to convince Kidd to take young Johanna Leonberger back to her aunt and uncle in Castroville, TX, not far from San Antonio.

During the trip, Johanna, who now only understands the language of the Kiowas, learns to communicate with Kidd and forms a bond on their long trip home. In typical western fashion, the two fight off Indians and bad guys, and stop along the way to visit the people of the local towns and read the news of the world.

This is such a great story with a heartfelt ending. I fell in love with the old man and the young girl. I most enjoyed reading about Texas in the 1870s as the two made their way across the state. I'm looking forward to reading more of Jiles' work.

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Review: The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very, very, very exhaustive and detailed tome on Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. He was quite a man and a pioneer in the steamship and railroad business. Considered one of the robber barons of the gilded age, Vanderbilt made friends and enemies on his rise to the top of the financial and transportation business. He was a smart and cunning man. You either loved or hated him depending on which side of the deal you were on. He was a powerful man and he deserves a powerful biography. This is it!

Stiles follows Vanderbilt from the time he started working for his father running an import / export business on an old sailboat through his time building paddle boats and steamships, building a route from Nicaragua to California during the gold rush, moving into the railroad business and to his death at the age of 82. He almost died many times due to crashes and ill health, but he rallied each time and persevered through to be one of the richest men in the world.

This book really deserves a higher rating, but it was too much for me at the time I was reading it. I appreciate the details. Stiles was well researched and it shows. I will certainly take a stab at his other works, but for this reading, I found myself struggling to stay interested and often found my mind wondering at times.

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Review: Charlie the Choo-Choo: From the world of The Dark Tower

Charlie the Choo-Choo: From the world of The Dark Tower by Beryl Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is such a cute little children's story from the King of horror. Beryl Evans is Stephen King's pseudonym, the name coming from one of his characters in The Dark Tower series. Charlie the Choo-Choo is not a horror story but a lovely book for young kids, about an old coal powered train and his trusty engineer, Bob. Charlie and Bob have spent years making the St. Louis to Wichita run until a new diesel train is brought in to take Charlie's place. Is it retirement time for Charlie?

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Review: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever dreamed of living in the time of Jane Eyre? Gone With the Wind? Do you desire to float around in big hoop skirts and highly styled hair to lounge around while men and servants wait on you hand and foot? Well this book is here to squash your dreams! Living the Brontë life was anything but glamorous. In fact it was downright disgusting at times. Unmentionable will pluck you out of the 21st century and drop you smack dab in the middle of the 19th century, giving you a tour of all things important to the Victorian woman. From examining crotch-less undies and corsets, to daily ablutions, to understanding why a woman should not lick their parasol, to...oh my god, what is up with all that silverware, to understanding your place as a wife and mother without being labeled as hysterical, Unmentionable will thoroughly, and hilariously cover all of these subjects.

Therese Oneill does a wonderful job of using 19th century resources, including ads, medical books, and photographs to present the reader with the sordid details of Victorian life for women young and old. Her humor lightens the mood as you travel through time. Some are laugh out loud moments, some are a bit uncomfortable. The reader is sure to be shocked and amazed, and at times horrified. Ultimately, today's woman will appreciate the modern times we live in.

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Review: Christmas Angels: A Novella

Christmas Angels: A Novella by Viola Shipman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Christmas Angels is a wonderful little tale about a young woman named Kate, who is getting through the holidays after a breakup with her boyfriend. Kate is a holiday decorator who has a chance encounter with a client who is also struggling through the holidays after the death of his wife. He is a single dad whose son has had to grow up too quickly, but learns that life goes on after our cherished ones leave and angels are all around.

This is a great short story to get you in the mood for the holidays.

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Review: Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ghostland is a book about the history behind haunted places. It is broken up into four categories: homes, commercial buildings like bars/brothels/restaurants/hotels, civic buildings like asylums/cemeteries/prisons, and cities/towns. I had expected to read about the hauntings of these buildings, the sordid details of the ghost's past with some irrefutable evidence that disembodied spirits are roaming around the U.S. What you actually get is the details of haunted stories connected to the buildings and then the actual history of the building that actually ends up disproving or contradicting these legends. Typical of oral history that is passed on from generation to generation, stories get retold, and often incorrectly. In some cases, they are plain made up. Colin Dickey gets to the heart of the stories. He follows some paranormal investigators, joining them on their outings, often coming up with butkiss. Where often the author refutes or corrects the stories once he's researched the buildings and the people connected to them, he doesn't necessarily come off as a skeptic, leaving the reader to decide if there are ghosts out there.

I found this to be a very interesting book that is well worth the read if you like ghost stories. Dickey covers subjects like the Salem Witch Trials, the Amityville House, the Winchester House, and various locations in New Orleans. The author is witty and has a comfortable writing style that keeps you engrossed and entertained.

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