Friday, July 29, 2016

The Year of Fear by Joe Urschel


In the 1930s, American gangsters needed to find a new source of income. The end of Prohibition put a stop to bootlegging and, due to the Great Depression, many banks were not worth robbing. Kidnapping became the most lucrative crime and many wealthy men or their family members were snatched and held for ransom. Law enforcement was practically helpless in the face of this crime. Local police could not pursue criminals across state lines and often cooperated with the criminals. In Washington, D.C., J. Edgar Hoover was trying to turn the Bureau of Investigation into an incorruptible national police force that could take control of criminal investigations before local authorities could mishandle the evidence, or worse, abet the criminals.

When George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his wife, Kathryn, kidnapped wealthy Oklahoma oilman, Charles Urschel, Hoover and his agents were ready to enforce the newly enacted Federal Kidnapping Act, rescue Mr. Urschel and catch the perpetrators. Once the ransom was paid and Urschel was released, the agents began to track down the criminals. Using clues provided by the alert and observant victim, the agents began at the farm in Texas where Urschel had been held and crisscrossed many states to the east, finally nabbing the Kellins in Memphis, Tennessee. Their capture was the first major case solved by Hoover's newly named Federal Bureau of Investigation and the first case prosecuted under the federal kidnapping law.

"Machine Gun" Kelly and his wife Kathryn were colorful characters--charming, good-looking, and fond of elegant clothing and expensive cars. J. Edgar Hoover was a beleaguered and maligned civil servant, disliked by many powerful people. Due to Hoover's doggedness, their fortunes were reversed. In The Year of Fear, author Joe Urschl combines their compelling stories with American history, creating a fascinating true crime book.

Friday, July 22, 2016

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad


From new author Mona Awad comes 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl. Lizzie has always been a plus size girl and has never liked the way she looks despite what everyone tells her. As a teenager, Lizzie realizes that no guy will ever be interested in her, so she starts to date online. Things go well in her online relationships up until the guys she likes start asking for pictures. Realizing that she doesn't want to turn out like her mom, overweight and alone, Lizzie begins counting calories, miles on the treadmill, and dropped sizes until she can fit in designer dresses she never thought she'd dream of fitting into. Even after all of the weight lost, Lizzie realizes that she's not happy with her life, despite all of the validation she receives from her husband and everyone around her.

It a world obsessed with body image, Awad's book is an interesting, often funny, look through the eyes of a young woman who is trying to figure out her life and what makes her truly happy.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Rules of Civility by Amore Towles


In the late 1930s, New York City could be an exciting or desperate place to live, depending on your income and background. Katey Kontent, daughter of a Russian immigrant, and Eve Ross, a Midwestern transplant, were in the desperate group. But they were enterprising young women and knew how to stretch their limited resources: by sharing a room at a boarding house, sharing wardrobes, sneaking into movie theaters and stretching three dollars at a jazz club on Saturday night. When they met Tinker Grey, a handsome young banker with classy clothes and an apartment in the high rent district, they were able to expand their social life to include many well-to-do young people and fancier establishments. Unfortunately, an automobile accident disrupted their lives and their outlook on life changed. Eve, badly injured, eventually went her own way. Tinker, feeling guilty, came and went in Katey's life. But Katey, smart, capable and sensible, succeeded on her own, finding better jobs and expanding her circle of friends and acquaintances. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles paints an intriguing picture of depression-era New York City and its residents of all social classes.

Friday, July 8, 2016

One Small Farm: Photographs of a Wisconsin Way of Life by Craig Schreiner


It's difficult to travel anywhere in this state with out seeing farm buildings beautifully gracing the gorgeous Wisconsin countryside. These farms are much of what this great state is built on. One Small Farm: Photographs of a Wisconsin Way of Life is the perfect illustration of a small Wisconsin farm, where the rhythms and routines of daily farm life keep the Lamberty family grounded. Milking cows in the morning and at night, plowing the fields, planting crops, baling hay, cleaning the barn, and helping birth a calf are just part of daily life on a farm.

Photographer Craig Schreiner perfectly captures a typical day, through the course of all four seasons, on the Lamberty farm near Pine Bluff, Wisconsin, while capturing the exceptional moments of a calf standing on its legs for the first time and corn just peeking through the ground for the first time in spring. While Schreiner's thoughtful photos illustrate farm life, he also helps shed light on the growing concern of disappearing small family farms, the rural way of life, and ultimately Wisconsin traditions.

Friday, July 1, 2016

LaFayette In the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell


Forty years after the Bicentennial of our country, most citizens take the American Revolution for granted. We know the names of the most famous patriots who fought the war and wrote the Declaration of Independence. But we generally give little thought to these historical figures and their words and deeds. Now historian, humorist, and outside-the-box thinker, Sarah Vowell, brings us a short unique history which provides details of our Revolution and Revolutionaries.

The Marquis de LaFayette, a wealthy French idealist, joined the Revolution at the age of nineteen. He provided his own transportation, his own uniform, his own weapons and insisted he be allowed to serve "at my own expense...(and) to serve first as a volunteer." From LaFayette, the altruistic center of her book, Vowell expands her scope to tell the stories of many other patriots and scoundrels involved in the Revolution. Then, as now, people did not appreciate his management of the war. American and foreign military officers vied to displace him. Congress would not allocate the funds needed to feed and clothe his army. And the war often went poorly. But LaFayette remained loyal to Washington as did other generals, including Nathanael Green and the self-educated artillery general, Henry Knox. We are all aware that the Continentals prevailed, but after reading this book, we will know how this was achieved and how close they came to failing.

After America won its independence, LaFayette returned to France and became embroiled in the French Revolution. He survived and, in 1824, at the invitation of President James Monroe, returned to the United States for a celebratory year-long tour of the the then twenty-four states. Everywhere he went, enormous crowds turned out to see and honor the last surviving general of the Revolution. Two thirds of the population of New York City was the port to welcome him. Throughout her book, Vowell points out that then, as now, our country was only "Somewhat" united. Factions, regions, and political parties divided a people who could only agree that they loved LaFayette. 1824 was even the year of one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, resulting in the choice of John Quincy Adams as an unpopular compromise. Now, nearly two hundred years later, We the People are still citizens of a somewhat United States as our televisions bring another hotly contested presidential campaign into our homes.

LaFayette In the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell is an unusual American history book as it is both amusing and informative.