THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE
by Douglas Preston

In August of 2000, Douglas Preston, along with his wife and two young children, moved from their farmhouse in Maine to a tiny town in Italy. Douglas, who is a journalist and murder mystery writer, was planning on writing a novel about a lost painting. While doing research, he was introduced to Mario Spezi, who was known as a famous crime reporter in the Tuscany region. Spezi told Preston that between 1974 and 1985 seven couples were brutally murdered while making love in parked cars in the hills of Florence.
The case has never been solved and the murderer has never been found.
Preston and Spezi work together to seek out the truth and to track down the killer.
The Monster of Florence is suspenseful, chilling and shocking.
Great writing by a masterful author.
Highly recommended, but not for the faint-hearted.

PIG CANDY : TAKING MY FATHER SOUTH, TAKING MY FATHER HOME
by Lise Funderburg

Lise Funderburg, a mixed-race woman, was raised in an integrated neighborhood of Philadelphia. While growing up, she could never understand her father; why he was so strict, so demanding, never around. The only thing she knew about his past was that he had grown up in the Jim Crow South and had fled its oppression.
When Funderburg is in her forties, her father is diagnosed with terminal cancer. From this point on, the two of them travel, on several trips, from Philadelphia to Jasper County, Georgia, his hometown.
In Pig Candy the author writes about the rural South, pecan groves, farms, families and pork.
Her relationship with her father has its moments, but they become closer.
A beautifully written story about living life to its fullest.
Highly recommended.

BOOKS : A MEMOIR
by Larry McMurtry

Larry McMurtry is not only a prolific writer of forty books, such as Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, etc., but he has become one of America's most established bookmen.
In Books: A Memoir McMurtry writes about his passion for books, traveling all over the United States as a scout and collector to eventually open up stores for his rare finds in Texas.
He grew up in a ranch house that was bookless. His parents never read him any stories, which is why, he said, he's made up so many.
1942 was the year that changed his life, when his cousin Robert Hilburn, on his way to enlist in the war, gave him a box of nineteen books.
There's interesting trivia, gossip, anecdotes, crazy characters and observations about authors and literature.
The chapters are small comprised of either one or two pages, but they each pack a wallop of information.
A charming work that is both revealing and extremely satisfying.

TO THE HEART OF THE NILE : LADY FLORENCE BAKER AND THE EXPLORATION OF CENTRAL AFRICA
by Pat Shipman

Born in Transylvania, in 1845, Florence Szasz became orphaned during the Hungarian Revolution and was raised in a harem in the Ottoman Empire. When she was fourteen, she was sold, to the highest bidder, in a white slave auction. Samuel Baker, a wealthy Englishman and adventurer, was one of the assembled men, in the room and felt compassion and empathy towards her. He boldly abducted Florence and they escaped, in a carriage, through Central Europe.
In To the Heart of the Nile Pat Shipman deftly reconstructs letters, journals, documents and private papers to tell the amazing story of these two stalwart people. They travelled to Africa and stayed there for four years, where they confronted disease, starvation, hostile natives, betrayal, bloodshed and human cruelty. Four years later, the couple returned to Africa as Samuel was given the position of governor-general and told to eradicate the slave trade on the White Nile.
The book is an engrossing tale of bravery, determination and unshakeable love.
Heartily recommended.

THE SHAMELESS CARNIVORE : A MANIFESTO FOR MEAT LOVERS
by Scott Gold

According to the American Meat Institute, Americans consume 218.3 pounds of beef, chicken, turkey, and pork per person annually.
Human beings, though, are not really carnivores. We are omnivores, which means that our bodies and digestive tracts can process all kinds of foods, including meat.
In The Shameless Carnivore, Scott Gold attempted to eat 31 different meats in 31 days. He made up a list and brought it to his favorite butcher in Brooklyn. Whatever could not be purchased at this shop, Scott bought at www.exoticmeats.com.
Between squirrel hunting in Louisiana; attending the Testicle Festival in Missoula, Montana; Gold's cooking experiences in his friends' kitchens (he does not have an oven in his apartment); becoming a vegetarian for one week makes for one entertaining read.
There's recipes, a guide to cooking steak, descriptions of primal cuts, grass-fed vs. grain-fed cattle and all other sorts of interesting tidbits.
The author has a great sense of humor and his foraging adventures are absolutely hilarious.
Check out www.theshamelesscarnivore.com for even more fun-filled stuff.
I totally enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who is passionate about meat.

SWALLOW THE OCEAN : A MEMOIR
by Laura M. Flynn

As a child Laura Flynn had quite an imagination. She and her two sisters would play with their Little Women dolls creating adventures that would take them far away from reality.
They had to because of their mother. Sally Flynn, once a strong, vibrant woman, started to become unhinged. She analyzed dreams for messages, had rules about what her daughters should wear (she made them hideous clothing), told them what they could eat (Hunt's tomato paste, yes; Del Monte, no), forced them to stay inside, cut off from other people.
The living conditions deteriorated with mail piling up, dirty dishes covering the sink, rotten fruit sitting out, circled by flies.
The girls knew that she was sick, but didn't know that there was a technical name for the illness. Their father told them after he filed for divorce and fought for full custody: paranoid schizophrenia.
Swallow the Ocean is a captivating memoir that hits you right in the gut. The writing is absolutely beautiful.
Highly recommended.

THE ANATOMIST : A TRUE STORY OF GRAY'S ANATOMY
by Bill Hayes

Gray's Anatomy is one of the most famous books in the English language and is the only medical text that most people know by name. In the United States, it is in its thirty-ninth edition, has never gone out of print and has sold five million copies.
2008 marks the 150th anniversary of this publication.
In The Anatomist Bill Hayes writes a fascinating story of how this book came to be.
Henry Gray, a brilliant anatomist, did not leave behind any of his own scribblings. His collaborator, H.V. Carter, who drew all of the magnificent anatomical illustrations, had a dearth of letters and diaries, from which Hayes was able to richly, detail the relationship between these two men and what they brought to the world.
To better understand the human body, Hayes takes a course in classical gross anatomy and performs his own dissections. His descriptions of the adult human skeleton's bones, the muscles, the joints, etc., makes for engrossing and fun reading.
A wonderful tale by a terrific writer.