THE POKER BRIDE : THE FIRST CHINESE IN THE WILD WEST
by Christopher Corbett

The gold rush of 1849 attracted people from far and wide to the American West. Only men came. Some became quite rich, while others died trying.
The Chinese arrived in the thousands. They were poor, illiterate and spoke no English. Their intention was to stay for a couple of years, make some money and then return to China to live off their proceeds. Consequently, they were called "sojourners." The name that was used most often, as the Chinese stayed longer, was "celestials" due to their exoticism.
At first, the Chinese were welcomed and praised for their industriousness. They were savvy and frugal and would work long hours. Chinatowns started sprouting up, first in San Franciso and then, later, in small cities, elsewhere.
When competition started to arise for work among the sexes, the Chinese were no longer wanted. (They had jobs as laundrymen, restaurant workers and servants, which were all positions originally done by women, not men.)
The Poker Bride is one hell of a story. Interspersed within the history of the gold rush, is a tale of a young Chinese concubine, named Polly, who is smuggled to San Francisco (riding on a pack horse) and eventually won in a poker game. Her new owner, Charlie Bemis, a gambler, after several years, marries her and they settle on an isolated ranch in Idaho.
Christopher Corbett is a terrific writer with quite an eye for details. Mark Twain and Bret Harte make appearances along with a whole slew of characters.
Not really interested in the Wild West, this book, hands down, changed all of that.
Highly recommended.

ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE : MY FAMILY'S JOURNEY TO AMERICA
by Kati Marton

They were the last independent journalists reporting from Budapest during the Cold War.
Endre Marton worked for the Associated Press and his wife, Ilona, was a correspondent with the United Press. (In actuality, he filed reports for both the AP and the UP. She was no writer, but a shrewd commentator.)
Their friends were American diplomats and they led a bourgeois life. Even as they were much admired by other colleagues, though, the Martons' anti-Communism and dangerous risks taken, daily, eventually led to their arrests.
Several decades later, Kati Marton returns to the country of her birth and discovers, through the reading of secret police files, how her parents were spied on and betrayed.
Enemies of the People is quite a page-turner. The wealth of information that she discovered about her mother and father is quite astounding. Most of what she read, Kati never even knew about. Whenever she asked her parents about their lives, they preferred not to say anything.
The book is extremely well-written and a terrific story.
Recommended.

IN MY FATHER'S SHADOW : A DAUGHTER REMEMBERS ORSON WELLES
by Chris Welles Feder

Orson Welles was a great filmmaker, who is more famous and revered, twenty-four years after his death, than he ever was when he was alive. His genius at producing incredible works of visual art have been celebrated at workshops, seminars and film forums.
Chris Welles (Orson named her Christopher), the eldest of three daughters, absolutely adored her elusive father. The feeling was mutual between them even as the rest of the family attempted to keep them apart, because they thought that Orson would be a terrible influence.
She never stopped believing in him.
In My Father's Shadow is a wonderful, poignant story of a very lonely girl, who inherited her father's brilliance, but longed for her own identity and eventual independence. It's also a personal yet revealing portrait of a most misunderstood and underappreciated man.
In writing this book, Chris is no longer in the shadow of her father.
Recommended.

LOUIS MAY ALCOTT : THE WOMAN BEHIND LITTLE WOMEN
by Harriet Reisen

Although depicted as Jo March in Little Women, Louisa May Alcott was so much more than her alter ego. Louisa's life encompassed deprivation, poor health, tragedy, independence and, eventually, success. (Her book sales would surpass prominent authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a good friend of the family.)
She and her three sisters were the daughters of Bronson and Abigail. The family moved thirty times due to Bronson's incapacity to have a steady job. He was a transcendentalist, with utopian dreams, which always fell short. For a while, he taught, until the parents took their children out of the schools due to his radical thinking.
Alcott had a tumultuous childhood. She was known as a tomboy and was quite boisterous with one hell of a temper. Always the ringleader amongst her siblings and the neighborhood children, she would relish being the center of attention.
Later, when she took up writing, she would harness these experiences in some of her stories.
Harriet Reisen has done a marvelous job of sifting through Alcott's journals, letters, and recollections with family and friends to reveal quite a portrait of a fascinating character.
Here are some less known facts about her: she was a Civil War nurse, an abolitionist, and a feminist, who, secretly, wrote pulp fiction using a pseudonym, A. M. Barnard.
An absorbing account of an extraordinary woman.
Recommended.

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE : A MEMOIR
by Nancy Bachrach

While living in Paris and working in advertising (selling antiperspirant to the French) Nancy Bachrach receives a telephone call from her brother. The news is not good. In fact, it's awful.
Their parents have been in an accident while on their boat. Mort is dead and Lola is in a coma.
Nancy is told to prepare for a double funeral.
Paris is now left behind as the three siblings converge, back in Providence,R.I., and decide what is to be done next.
The Center of the Universe is one hell of a ride. What a family saga!
Mort was a repairman who screwed up everything he touched. (The name of the cabin cruiser was Mr. Fix It.)
Lola was considered a genius, but was bi-polar.
All three children have inherited intelligence. Nancy, the oldest, started writing at a very young age. She has a doctorate in philosophy.
Ben, the middle child, is a piano prodigy born with three thumbs. He is a pulmonologist.
Helen, known as the wild one, is an abnormal psychologist.
This book absolutely blew me away. Nancy Bachrach is quite a wordsmith. In no time, you are enveloped and completely wrapped up in the story.
It's dark, humorous, compelling and just downright terrific.
Highly recommended.

THE MAN WHO LOVED BOOKS TOO MUCH : THE TRUE STORY OF A THIEF, A DETECTIVE, AND A WORLD OF LITERARY OBSESSION
by Allison Hoover Bartlett

When it comes to the realm of books, passions can run very deeply. The bibliophiles, among us, love books, read them, voraciously, and share their wealth with other devotees.
Bibliomaniacs are obsessed with collecting rare tomes and will stop at nothing in acquiring them.
John Gilkey is one of these. An unrepentant thief, he stole a fortune in antiquarian books around the country and hoarded them away.
Ken Sanders, an obsessive collector, himself, strove to catch Gilkey. He set up a stolen-book database for dealers all over the world. Acting as a persistent sleuth eventually paid off.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is fun to read. Allison Bartlett delves into historical figures who collected books, sellers at book fairs, the method that Gilkey used to commit his crimes, and why he did it in the first place.
Suspenseful, humorous and just plain delightful.
Recommended.

HARRY TRUMAN'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE : THE TRUE STORY OF A GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP
by Matthew Algeo

Six months after Harry Truman left the office of the presidency, he and his wife, Bess, decided to take a road trip. Harry bought a Chrysler New Yorker that had all of the latest gadgets. (He loved cars.) But, it had been eight years since he had been behind the wheel of one, so he needed a refresher course learning how to use power brakes and power steering.
They set off, on June 19, 1953. No press. No Secret Service. Just the two of them, traveling for three weeks, alone, hoping to be incognito.
Author Matthew Algeo meticulously details every place the Trumans went and he himself takes the same route, stays at the same hotels and eats at the same restaurants.
Trivia abounds in this book, such as: the origin of the first "mo-tel" in the world; who designed the Holiday Inn and how Irving Berlin was involved; why the Waldorf=Astoria was written with an equal sign, etc.
You will find historical information about presidents, the highway system, the automobile industry and so much more.
A tremendous read. Not to be missed.
Highly recommended.