Every month we take turns picking one book that all three of us read and review. Our book of the month for February is Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America.
Synopsis from Publishers Weekly:
Not long after Jack the Ripper haunted the ill-lit streets of 1888 London, H.H. Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) dispatched somewhere between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women, in the churning new metropolis of Chicago; many of the murders occurred during (and exploited) the city’s finest moment, the World’s Fair of 1893. Larson’s breathtaking new history is a novelistic yet wholly factual account of the fair and the mass murderer who lurked within it. Bestselling author Larson (Isaac’s Storm) strikes a fine balance between the planning and execution of the vast fair and Holmes’s relentless, ghastly activities. The passages about Holmes are compelling and aptly claustrophobic; readers will be glad for the frequent escapes to the relative sanity of Holmes’s co-star, architect and fair overseer Daniel Hudson Burnham, who managed the thousands of workers and engineers who pulled the sprawling fair together on an astonishingly tight two-year schedule.
Have you guys read The Devil in the White City? If so, please tell us what you thought in the comments! If not, celebrate the romantic month of February with some thrilling true crime. Read along with us and check back for our reviews later this month!
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When I first found out the Book of the Month was going to be a science book, I wasn’t completely thrilled. Science and I do not get along and the idea of reading a 500 page book revolving around all things science did not sound like a good time to me. Luckily, while reading Coming of Age in the Milky Way, I found myself enjoying at least 60% of what I read. Continue reading →
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The controversial Richard Dawkins’ new book responds to creationists’ question, “Where is the proof?” The Greatest Show on Earth generally takes a gentler, more persuasive tone than his previous books, but Dawkins may be preaching to the choir. Given his reputation and the vitriol of his earlier The God Delusion, it would be surprising if creationists can approach the book with an open mind, or if most even care to read it.
Dawkins refrains from creationist bashing for the most part, except for some passages in the book’s introduction “Only a Theory”, which is an unfortunate placement in a book meant to persuade the doubtful. Those who believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old, however, are not spared from Dawkins’ continuous derision. Continue reading →
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$30.00 USD |
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Jan 15th, 2010
by Ranjana.
Posted under: Room to Read, Spotlight.
Hey guys! Hope you’re enjoying the start of the weekend! Just wanted to post a quick update on our campaign for Room to Read. Their Financial Times dollar-matching continued through today, so to maximize the donation value we have donated the money we’ve received so far. However, we are still raising money for Room to Read through Feb 9 and are able to dollar-match up to $50 more in donations. To donate, please see our previous post about Room to Read.
We were able to donate $204.40 ($210 minus Paypal fees) to Room to Read today. Thank you so much for your support! Here’s an ecard about the donation (you can also view it here):
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Jan 9th, 2010
by Kim.
Posted under: Room to Read, Spotlight.
There are plenty of charities out there, but one that has caught our attention is Room to Read, an organization devoted to bringing literacy to developing countries. In 2000, Room to Read began after founder John Wood, a senior executive at Microsoft, returned from a trip to Nepal. He had visited several schools with students eager to learn, but lacking the resources to achieve. Wood quit his high-paying job and focused on building a global team together to work in these rural communities to help meet their educational and literacy needs.
Now, almost a decade later, they have built 832 schools, 7,526 libraries, published 334 books, distributed over 6 million books, given 8,786 girls scholarships, and benefited over 3.1 million children all over the world. Check out Room to Read for more information on their amazing programs and efforts to help bring literacy to the world.
In 2010, their goal is to bring their number to libraries built to over 11,000 and we’ve decided to help. From January 9-February 9, readheadreviews.com is pledging to match the total amount of donations made through our page up to $250. For more information, check out our ChipIn site here. And the best part? Room to Read was selected as a Financial Times 2009-2010 Charity Partner so thanks to the generosity of a few corporate supporters, donations made through mid-January will be matched up to $1.4 million. So we’re going to be making two separate donations to Room to Read: one on January 14 and one on February 9. So any donation made until January 14 will be triple matched! Can you think of a better way to start off the New Year?
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