Get Lost in Literature

  The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann "Storms continued to batter the ships day and night. John Byron stared in awe at the waves that broke over the Wager , bandying the 123-foot vessel about as if it were no more than a pitiful rowboat." Today's review is going to be a short one about The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann . I feel like the book really needs no long-winded synopsis written from me as the author so painstakingly put it in the title with just three words. But in case you need more information, here goes: In 1740, a small fleet of English ships set sail for a secret mission meant to foil the war plans of the Spanish. This mission takes them around the treacherous Cape Horn where disaster strikes one of the ships, the Wager . Eventually stranded on a foreign shore, Captain Cheap is desperate to fulfill his orders and rejoin the fight; his crew, focused on survival, want to turn back. I don't read a ...

"Last March Zodiac had been writing industriously, casting his net wide; spreading his word southward." Zodiac Unmasked was the first book I read in 2025, I've managed to hold off posting the review for this specific day. Woohoo! I made it. It's also a first for me, the first true crime novel I've ever read. I originally wanted to get Zodiac by Robert Graysmith , you know the one with the infamous yellow cover. But it appears that wasn't available by e-book and I was too lazy to go to the store or library to look for a hardcopy. Zodiac Unmasked  is dedicated to exploring the theory that Arthur Leigh Allen was the Zodiac Killer, based on witness testimony and circumstantial and coincidental evidence. It also explores additional murders, assaults, and abductions during that time period that may have been perpetrated by the Zodiac. I found this book to be very well written and well researched, taking us through the crimes and how they relate to the timeline of ...

  American Pharoah: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Winner's Legendary Rise   by Joe Drape "The three hardest things to predict the outcome of are a ballgame, a love affair, and a horse race." In 1978, a horse named Affirmed managed to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown of horse racing. It would be a 37-years before the next horse was capable of accomplishing the same feat: American Pharoah in 2015. This isn't a particularly long book, but it took me forever to read. It's not a particularly emotional book (I don't think, anyways) but it kept making me emotional. I've been a horse lover all of my life, even making the financially irresponsible decision to buy one of my own, and a longtime fan of horse racing. I wasn't even born in 1978 when Affirmed won the Triple Crown... and while I'd seen video of Secretariat moving 'like a tremendous machine' it wasn't the same as ex...

The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained  by Colin Dickey "...if you could spin a wild tale with just the right mix of fact and fiction, it would burn itself indelibly in the public's minds..." Colin Dickey, The Unidentified Let me just start by saying I don't believe in Bigfoot. I'm not a Flat-Earther. I don't believe in alien abductions, although I do believe with a universe so vast as the one we have, we probably aren't the only ones living in it. And Area 51? Ok, I admit I can't imagine what they might be doing in there, so hiding a ufo is probably as good a guess as any other, even though I don't think we've been visited... But how would I know? I'm on this side of the security fence. As you may have guessed The Unidentified  is about monsters, alien encounters, and conspiracy theories, and why we feel like we have to believe in them despite there being no scientific evidence to back...

  "Pa and William could never be on the same flight together, because there must be no chance of the first and second in line to the throne being wiped out. But no one gave a damn whom I traveled with; the Spare could always be spared.”― Prince Harry, Spare I'm not sure how to review a memoir, I don't read many of them. With fiction I can usually pick apart the points be they good or bad, or criticize the shortcomings if they exist, but how do you review the pieces of someone's life? I really liked this book, but is it because I have a curiosity about royalty or because it was a book of substance? Spare opens with Harry's childhood and his mom's early death. First let me just say, I can't imagine growing up with people referring to me as a "spare" like, "Hey, you, you're extra, and probably a little unnecessary." What a toxic way to raise a child, no wonder he needed to get away. His mom's death shatters his world; he makes hims...

  "...the horse is a living organism and a unique individual that can develop only at his own rate. The horse is the clock, and he provides the calendar of progress." Training Strategies for Dressage Riders by Charles de Kunffy I don't know if this book is still in print, but if it is and you are a dressage enthusiast, or even just looking to improve upon your horsemanship skills, this is the book for you. Like many books written by experts in their field, there are some braggy bits in the beginning, but I am awed by how much the author emphasizes having empathy and consideration for the horse. Too many professionals today are viewing the horse as a means to an end, and we need do better by our animals, be better both as riders and as human beings. Some of the information is repetitive, but the best way to learn sometimes is through repetition. Book includes descriptions of basic, but sometimes confused, equestrian terminology like the much sought after "collection....

Fantastic Fungi: Expanding Consciousness, Alternative Healing, Environmental Impact   by  Paul Stamets, Louie Schwartzberg, Eugenia Bone, Suzanne Simard, Roland Griffiths, Jay Harman, William Richards, Andrew Weil, Michael Pollan...  We can’t get stuck in the past; we need to be grounded in the present but not stop looking ahead. If we can visualize a better future, we can achieve a better future. No summary is necessary to introduce this book, if you've read the title then you've read the synopsis. This book is about fungi, more specifically mushrooms.  I am aware this is a film, but I've never seen it and I can't tell you how the book compares to the documentary. I can tell you that I never knew how much I didn't know about mushrooms until I read this book. They can detoxify the planet, they can be nutritional, medicinal, or deadly. They can help with decomposition and rebirth. It seems like the secrets to the universe are held inside the fantastic fungi Paul Stam...

  "Hygge is humble and slow. It is choosing rustic over new, simple over posh and ambience over excitement." Denmark has been voted one of the happiest nations in the world, and that's largely attributed to their concept of Hygge. Hygge is all about creating a quiet and warm atmosphere and taking time to enjoy the simple things in life. I feel like the book spoke to me on a personal level, as the secret to Denmark's happiness includes a lot of things I already enjoy doing. I'm no stranger to curling up with a hot cocoa and a good book or a night out by a campfire. It's always been important to me to make time to connect with nature, and it seems strange to me that others refuse to leave their houses... Now I find there's an entire country who believes this is the correct way to live. It seems Denmark took, what I always considered to be the introvert's way, and made it into a social event. In this I missed the mark, as I struggle to find connections in...

  “We were so tired of death and destruction. We wanted to do something beautiful.”   The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis , by Eliizabeth Letts   When I was in college, I was asked to write an essay about WW2, but I could write about any aspect of it. I wanted to write about horses. That essay never got written. The statistics on how many horses were gunned down were staggering. No one wants to read that. I don't actually know what subject I chose. It was largely forgettable. I have forgotten it.   Now here's a book about horses in WW2, that is unforgettable. Elizabeth Letts had better luck with her research than I did with mine.  During WW2, Germany was running low on horse power and the Nazis were developing a top secret eugenics program to breed the ultimate military horse. But without native stock, they began stealing the four legged national treasures from countries they were occupying. The gro...

"There is no “right” way to be. I am flawed and imperfect, but am uniquely me. I don’t fit in and probably never will. And I don’t have to try to anymore. That other person was a lie. And let’s face it, normal is boring. We all have something to offer the world in some way, but by not being our authentic selves, we are robbing the world of something different, something special." If you're a fan of Leah Remini, which I am, you'll love this book. She writes the way she speaks: ego, attitude, and honesty. She tells her story, growing up in a troubled home and her determination to make something of herself. If you are only interested in her involvement in Scientology: either to degrade the religion or to degrade those who don't believe in it, you'll probably hate this book. It's not really about the religion, although she does detail her involvement in the movement. Truthfully, as an underachieving Average Jane, I find this biography to be deeply relatable. L...

Native Dancer: The Grey Ghost, Hero of A Golden Age by John Eisenberg "Standing in the winner's enclosure, in the shadow of the grandstand, the Dancer was a portrait of power and glory... His moment to make history was at hand." As you may have guessed from the title, this is the story of racing legend Native Dancer, whose name belongs right up with well known thoroughbreds like Secretariat, War Admiral, and Citation... Native Dancer whose DNA courses through the blood of many modern day Kentucky Derby winners... A touch of irony; though Native Dancer won 21 of 22 starts, he's rarely remembered because he never claimed the Triple Crown. The fan favorite lost by a head at Churchill Downs even though he went on to claim the Preakness and the Belmont. Born to Alfred Vanderbilt Jr, Sagamore farm in 1950, Native Dancer arrived during an era of change, accompanied by his favorite groom Les Murray, ridden by jockey Eric Guerin, and trained by Bill Winfrey. The ...

Battleship: A Daring Heiress, a Teenage Jockey, and America's Horse  by Dorothy Ours This story was more like the biography of Marion Dupont -- not that I'm complaining -- with flashes of Bruce Hobbs's terrifying childhood mixed in. Marion duPont, is more than an heiress, although her family never wanted for money because they had the good fortune to invent gunpowder--and no matter how bad a recession is, war never goes out of style. Her father, William Sr. was the black sheep of the du Pont family, cast out of the family and the family business after a scandalous divorce, he chose to retreat with his new wife and growing kids to an estate with show horses. She and her brother William Jr. grew up in the country; Marion duPont learned to ride with both legs on either side of a horse; first riding saddle-seat horses and later hunters until the fateful day she saw legendary Man o'War auctioned off and her dream made itself known. Both Marion and William would come ...