I've been busy reading over the past few weeks. Here's what I've been up to:
The Miracle Detective by Randall Sullivan. Part travelogue, part discussion of how the Catholic Church evaluates potential miracles. Lots of discussion about the visions in Medjugorje. I found it a decent read but also found the history of the Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian conflict confusing.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I came to this in a roundabout way, via the
musical. I thought this was compelling as a psychological thriller but found its romantic sections unconvincing.
The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California by Richard Rayner. This is partially about how the first transcontinental railroad across the United States was built, and even more about the financial tricks used by Stanford, Huntington, and others to build incredible fortunes. A very good read.
Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow by Dee Brown. Another book about the first transcontinental railroads. I'm not very interested in trains or railroads though I do know several big railfans, hence these recent reading choices. This book is a more general history about early railroading (not just its financial aspects) and I liked it more than the previous title.
The Beatles: Fifty Fabulous Years by Robert Rodriguez. I'm reading this now and it's nice to learn about how the Beatles first became famous. I've heard the story in bits and pieces before but not in chronological order as in this book. I'm reading the Kindle version which no longer seems to be available. A quick, entertaining read with many photos and album illustrations but the promised audio/video content seems to be missing.
Krushchev by Edward Krankshaw. I just started this because honestly I wanted to read something Russia-related with the approach of the Olympic Games in Sochi.