#history

> Tag: #history

A Historic Mystery on the Mountain

The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest by Mark Synnott

November 29, 2023 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

Many moons ago I read Into Thin Air and it sparked a Mt. Everest fascination in me. I can’t say that before 2015 I thought overmuch about the highest peak in the world, and I’m someone who enjoys a good walk but has zero intention of ever tackling anything like mountain climbing. But… I have been devouring content about the mountain and other thirteen 8,000-meter peaks ever since. So, when I spotted reviews of Mark Synnott’s The Third Pole I added it to my list and […]

Kansas City Confidential

Kingdom Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, The Kansas City Chiefs, and how a once Swingin' Cow Town Chased the Ultimate Comeback by Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd

November 25, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

I think I have a thing for books like this and want to read more of them. I visited Kansas City twice. It was fine. Unmemorable. I mean, I didn’t dislike it. I just didn’t get a good grasp for it. And I don’t think I have an east coast snob’s bias against midwestern cities. I enjoyed my time in Cincinnati and Indianapolis respectively. I just didn’t find much going on in KC outside of great barbecue and the excellent Negro League Hall of Fame. […]

“All the things that are wrong in the world seem conquered by a library’s simple unspoken promise: Here I am, please tell me your story; here is my story, please listen.”

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

November 24, 2023 by narfna 1 Comment

Look, I’m just gonna do the thing. Here is (part of) the blurb: On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the […]

Land of the Rising Sun

Ancient Tales & Folklore of Japan by Richard Gordon Smith

November 15, 2023 by Pooja Leave a Comment

Smith, a Victorian traveller to Japan, compiled into this book a number of folktales that he heard from the people around him while there. I have always been interested in mythology and folklore. My great-grandmother used to tell me stories from Hindu mythology when I was four or five (though unfortunately her versions are now lost to the sands of infantile amnesia), and throughout elementary school I branched out to Greek and Norse mythology as well. I’m not sure why I love fairytales and folklore […]

“Let me say, there is nothing wrong with a younger woman marrying an older man. However, there is definitely something wrong with anyone marrying Norman Mailer.”

It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright

October 24, 2023 by narfna Leave a Comment

30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 3 Book 12/30 As always with Jennifer Wright, I laughed the whole book. She also has really good luck with audiobook narrators. Hillary Huber does a great job with her sly (and sometimes not so sly) humor. This book does exactly what it says on the tin. There are thirteen essays (and a small introduction) detailing in Wright’s signature style thirteen of the worst breakups throughout recorded history, starting with Nero in Rome all the way up to Elizabeth […]

Does not do what it says on the tin. Where be the witches?

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet