The Ice has been Broken

Hey what's the matter out there,,Holmes got your tongue? I finished the book yesterday and really liked it. Very different from the psychotic serial killers I've come to know and love in Cornwell, Sandford, Oconnell, Gerritsen - super quick reads filled with horrific details of blood & gore. I kept waiting for that, but found that what was left to my imagination was just as awful. Holmes was clearly one sick dude!! The head games and manipulation - the feelings of control and power he got off on were at times worse than his victims ultimate deaths. He was brilliantly deranged!

I wonder where I can find a copy of "The Columbia Cook Book" p.211 Loved Adelaide's useful little tips..maybe she could teach Martha a thing or two.

Ice Breakers

By now I hope you're reading (and enjoying) The Devil in the White City. I'm about 150 pages in and I'll post my first blog in a day or two. I hope everyone will cough up an entry by the time they reach the end of Part I (pg. 110).

Below are a few possibilities for your first entry if you're looking for help getting started:

• How well does the author relate the content of the book? Does the author provide enough background material on the subject to allow readers to get involved? How is the book organized? Is it chronological, thematic, topical, or arranged in some other format? Are there parts you wish had been developed further or more clearly? 


• How vividly does the author re-create the historical period and the lives of the characters? What draws you in? What, if anything, seems too dry or unnecessarily detailed? 


• Think about nonfiction and its relationship to truth. Does the nonfiction writer have an obligation to be truthful above all, or is bias acceptable in certain cases? Does the author attempt to remain objective about the subject at hand? Is the book objective and balanced or deeply personal and strongly biased? Is there a political or a polemical agenda behind the book? 


• What is original about this book? How does it distinguish itself from other books you have read on a similar topic?

And They're Off...

Nice start. Anyone seen Auntie?

Please add your name to your PROFILE so we all know who we are. And extra credit if you include a picture or image to your PROFILE.

Also, be sure to vote for your favorite past summer reading book on the right side of the blog!

And the Winner is...

Hello Everyone! Welcome to our Summer Reading 2007 Blog!

This time around we voted on the summer reading and when the hanging chads cleared it was pretty obvious that Erik Larson's Devil in the White City was the popular choice--though Blood Meridian was a close second. (Sorry, Olivia. I wanted BM too...)

Get a copy ASAP, start reading, and check back often.

We're hoping for a big turnout on the blog so be sure to sign in and post your thoughts at will. We'll probably have an assignment or two because it wouldn't be painful, and it wouldn't be Summer Reading, without that.

Also, if you're using a Mac (and why wouldn't you be?!) then Firefox is the best browser for this site. It gives you many more options when viewing & writing a post.