The Jolly Coroner
A downright quirky look at small-town life with Billy, the coroner, as a central character. Billy is an odd man who likes to create a world of ambiance with each death he examines, giving the families a good story. The deaths in the town weave in and out, winding Billy into an interesting position.
There is a lot of great description, strange stories, and a strange cast of characters in and out of Hokum. The language was a bit much at times, the author really seems to delight in using unusual wording or twenty-five cent words when a nickel word would do. In the beginning, I felt like he was intentionally messing with readers. The chapters jump around between stories and characters, and if you aren't paying attention, it can get confusing. But all in all, it is different, and that is a good thing. Definitely not mainstream reading
There is a lot of great description, strange stories, and a strange cast of characters in and out of Hokum. The language was a bit much at times, the author really seems to delight in using unusual wording or twenty-five cent words when a nickel word would do. In the beginning, I felt like he was intentionally messing with readers. The chapters jump around between stories and characters, and if you aren't paying attention, it can get confusing. But all in all, it is different, and that is a good thing. Definitely not mainstream reading
Public Library and Other Stories Ali Smith 4out of 5 stars
Why are books so very powerful? What do the books we’ve read over our lives—our own personal libraries—make of us? What does the unraveling of our tradition of public libraries, so hard-won but now in jeopardy, say about us?
The stories in Ali Smith’s new collection are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make.
Woven between the stories are conversations with writers and readers reflecting on the essential role that libraries have played in their lives. At a time when public libraries around the world face threats of cuts and closures, this collection stands as a work of literary activism—and as a wonderful read from one of our finest authors.
The stories in Ali Smith’s new collection are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make.
Woven between the stories are conversations with writers and readers reflecting on the essential role that libraries have played in their lives. At a time when public libraries around the world face threats of cuts and closures, this collection stands as a work of literary activism—and as a wonderful read from one of our finest authors.
Why are books so very powerful? What do the books we’ve read over our lives—our own personal libraries—make of us? What does the unraveling of our tradition of public libraries, so hard-won but now in jeopardy, say about us?
The stories in Ali Smith’s new collection are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make.
Woven between the stories are conversations with writers and readers reflecting on the essential role that libraries have played in their lives. At a time when public libraries around the world face threats of cuts and closures, this collection stands as a work of literary activism—and as a wonderful read from one of our finest authors.
The stories in Ali Smith’s new collection are about what we do with books and what they do with us: how they travel with us; how they shock us, change us, challenge us, banish time while making us older, wiser and ageless all at once; how they remind us to pay attention to the world we make.
Woven between the stories are conversations with writers and readers reflecting on the essential role that libraries have played in their lives. At a time when public libraries around the world face threats of cuts and closures, this collection stands as a work of literary activism—and as a wonderful read from one of our finest authors.
Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer Katherine Ramsland 4 out of 5 stars
In 1974, Dennis Lynn Rader stalked and murdered a family of four in Wichita, Kansas. Since adolescence, he had read about serial killers and imagined becoming one. Soon after killing the family, he murdered a young woman and then another, until he had ten victims. He named himself “B.T.K.” (bind, torture, kill) and wrote notes that terrorized the city. He remained on the loose for thirty years. No one who knew him guessed his dark secret. He nearly got away with his crimes, but in 2004, he began to play risky games with the police. He made a mistake. When he was arrested, Rader’s family, friends, and coworkers were shocked to discover that B.T.K. had been among them, going to work, raising his children, and acting normal.
This case stands out both for the brutal treatment of victims and for the ordinary public face that Rader, a church council president, had shown to the outside world. Through jailhouse visits, telephone calls, and written correspondence, Katherine Ramsland worked with Rader himself to analyze the layers of his psyche. Using his drawings, letters, interviews, and Rader’s unique codes, she presents in meticulous detail the childhood roots and development of one man’s motivation to stalk, torture, and kill. She reveals aspects of the dark motivations of this most famous of living serial killers that have never before been revealed.
In this book Katherine Ramsland presents an intelligent, original, and rare glimpse into the making of a serial killer and the potential darkness that lives next door.
This case stands out both for the brutal treatment of victims and for the ordinary public face that Rader, a church council president, had shown to the outside world. Through jailhouse visits, telephone calls, and written correspondence, Katherine Ramsland worked with Rader himself to analyze the layers of his psyche. Using his drawings, letters, interviews, and Rader’s unique codes, she presents in meticulous detail the childhood roots and development of one man’s motivation to stalk, torture, and kill. She reveals aspects of the dark motivations of this most famous of living serial killers that have never before been revealed.
In this book Katherine Ramsland presents an intelligent, original, and rare glimpse into the making of a serial killer and the potential darkness that lives next door.
Ramsland presents a large number of factors that likely contributed to Rader becoming a serial killer. Her research is truly excellent and, although it may seem like a lot to take in, she explains a large variety of the ingrediants that ultimately become the stew of a serial killer. All the explanations are another important component to making this book such an excellent read. She importantly points out that society's basic model on serial killers needs to be updated and that some of the widely accepted answers are not in fact the case. We learn more about the mindset of these killers as time goes on and things that were once deemed fact should now be seen as possibility to take into account. For instance, this book does a great job of explaining that not all sexual homicides actually need to involve some sort of sex with the victim. In Rader's case, (I never knew this prior to reading this book) he didn't have sex with any of the victims; he got his gratification and relief through viewing a victim in bondage. It was the ropes, the terror the victim was thinking about, the image of a person in bondage, and the strangling that brought about his sexual gratification.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and serial killers. It is very thorough and well articulated. Rader's explanations and theories are mostly satisfying for the reader looking for a better understanding. Congratulations to Katherine Ramsland for adding an important chapter to serial killer literature that will likely go down in history as one of the best in the field.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and serial killers. It is very thorough and well articulated. Rader's explanations and theories are mostly satisfying for the reader looking for a better understanding. Congratulations to Katherine Ramsland for adding an important chapter to serial killer literature that will likely go down in history as one of the best in the field.
Head in the Cloud: Why Knowing Things Still Matters When Facts Are So Easy to Look Up William Poundstone 3 out of 5 starsThe real-world value of knowledge in the mobile-device age.
More people know who Khloe Kardashian is than who Rene Descartes was. Most can't find Delaware on a map, correctly spell the word occurrence, or name the largest ocean on the planet. But how important is it to fill our heads with facts? A few keystrokes can summon almost any information in seconds. Why should we bother learning facts at all?
Bestselling author William Poundstone confronts that timely question in HEAD IN THE CLOUD. He shows that many areas of knowledge correlate with the quality of our lives--wealth, health, and happiness--and even with politics and behavior. Combining Big Data survey techniques with eye-opening anecdotes, Poundstone examines what Americans know (and don't know) on topics ranging from quantum physics to pop culture.
HEAD IN THE CLOUD asks why we're okay with spelling errors on menus but not on resumes; why Fox News viewers don't know which party controls Congress; why people who know "trivia" make more money than those who don't; how individuals can navigate clickbait and media spin to stay informed about what really matters.
Hilarious, humbling, and wildly entertaining, HEAD IN THE CLOUD is a must-read for anyone who doesn't know everything.
More people know who Khloe Kardashian is than who Rene Descartes was. Most can't find Delaware on a map, correctly spell the word occurrence, or name the largest ocean on the planet. But how important is it to fill our heads with facts? A few keystrokes can summon almost any information in seconds. Why should we bother learning facts at all?
Bestselling author William Poundstone confronts that timely question in HEAD IN THE CLOUD. He shows that many areas of knowledge correlate with the quality of our lives--wealth, health, and happiness--and even with politics and behavior. Combining Big Data survey techniques with eye-opening anecdotes, Poundstone examines what Americans know (and don't know) on topics ranging from quantum physics to pop culture.
HEAD IN THE CLOUD asks why we're okay with spelling errors on menus but not on resumes; why Fox News viewers don't know which party controls Congress; why people who know "trivia" make more money than those who don't; how individuals can navigate clickbait and media spin to stay informed about what really matters.
Hilarious, humbling, and wildly entertaining, HEAD IN THE CLOUD is a must-read for anyone who doesn't know everything.
Head in the Cloud begins with incompetent bank robber McArthur Wheeler, who smeared lemon juice on his face to make himself invisible to security cameras. Wheeler knew that lemon juice is an invisible ink, so he reasoned that it should render him invisible. It didn't work, and he was quickly apprehended. Wheeler was the inspiration for the Dunning-Kruger effect, that says that the ignorant don't know how ignorant they are. Head in the Cloud presents a case that over-reliance on the Internet can make the Dunning-Kruger effect worse. We don't know how ignorant we are, but knowing what we don't know is essential to using the Internet. You'll find a lot to laugh at in Head in the Cloud, and it will definitely make you think.
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