Lovely Books and Things - 5.10.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Life is Short with Justin Long podcast (here) - Is it just me or is time flying by? How do we make the most out of our short time here on Earth? That’s what we’re here to find out.

2. Emma (Jane Austen Musical) on Streaming Musicals (here) - thanks for this tip Sophia Rose of Delighted Reader. Pride & Prejudice is also available to see. Next up is Marry Harry on May 22. Sign up to get invited to the free preview screening (here).

3. Supalonely by Benee featuring Gus Dapperton - cute catchy peppy tune




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Bought:

Athenian Blues
by Pol Koutsakis
-Mystery, Thriller, Greece | Goodreads

Library: audiobook

Untamed
by Glennon Doyle
narrated by the author
-Memoir, Self-help | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by Books Inc.
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

A conversation amongst V.E. Schwab, Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Charlie Jane Anders

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
by V.E. Schwab
-Fantasy | Goodreads

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
-LGBTQ, YA | Goodreads

The City in the Middle of the Night
by Charlie Jane Anders
-SciFi | Goodreads
Virtual Author event: hosted by Book Passages
Register and listen to the archive of this or to future Book Passages author talks for free (here)

The Splendid and the Vile:
A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
by Erik Larson
in conversation with Michael Krasny
-Biography, WWII | Goodreads

The Island of Sea Women
by Lisa See
in conversation with Kathryn Belden
-Historical, South Korea | Goodreads

Reading challenge:

Daphne du Maurier
Reading Week
May 11-17, 2020
Hosted by heavenali (details)

AND watched: on YouTube

True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)
Director: Justin Kurzel
Screenplay: Shaun Grant
Based on book by: Peter Carey
Stars: George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Charlie Hunnam
-Biography, Crime, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
Based on Peter Carey's novel. The story of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they flee from authorities during the 1870s.


CHECK this out...

CAAMFest 2020
May 13-22, 2020
details and schedule (here)
Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage month with CAAMFest online!

Heritage at Home features over 20 digital events, ranging from online film screenings to interactive panels, watch parties and house parties featuring live performances, all free of charge.

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Happy Mother's Day
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* image source: card

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

*** THANKS to those on the front line during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Day 55, Week 9
Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

The Devil in the White City:
Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
by Erik Larson
narrated by Tony Goldwyn

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
BookExcerpt
Website
Blog
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter

Published: 2003
Publisher: Crown
Genre: History, True Crime
Hardback: 447
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
The date was April 14, 1912, a sinister day in maritime history, but of course the man in suite 63-65, shelter deck C, did not yet know it.

In The Devil in the White City, the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.

Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.

The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

My two-bits:

What is special about this story are the rich details provided for both the makings of the Chicago's World Fair 1893 and of a serial killer during that time period.

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* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Diesel Book Club, Larkspur (here)

Stacking the Shelves - 4.25.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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For Review:

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
by Lewis Carroll
narrated by Alison Larkin
-Audiobook, Children's classic
courtesy of author and Kate Tilton's Book Bloggers!
Thanks !
Amazon | Audible.com
Library:

The Devil in the White City:
Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
by Erik Larson
-Crime, Non-fiction
Amazon | Goodreads
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that 'The Devil in the White City' is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor.

Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.

=====> Listening to audio version.

World's Fair Gardens: Shaping American Landscapes
by Cathy Jean Maloney
-Garden, History
Amazon | Goodreads
In World's Fair Gardens, Cathy Jean Maloney offers a lavishly illustrated exploration of the gardens and grounds of America's nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century world's fairs. Maloney describes the landscapes of nine of America's great fairs from the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia to the 1940 World's Fair of Tomorrow in New York, many of whose legacies are still evident.

=====> The World's Fair Expo topic has currently captured my interest.

OTHER things kinda book-related:

Pride and Prejudice
and Zombies and Marshmallows
LOL! Check out this April Fool's day press release announcement: QUIRK BOOKS TO PUBLISH PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES AND MARSHMALLOWS® at here

AND binge watching:

Mad Men
tv series, season 5
-drama, 1960's
Amazon | AMC
Don faces the challenges of keeping both a new marriage and a fledgling company afloat.

=====> playing catch up

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers