#3: The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven: How a Ragtag Group of Fans Took the Fall for Major League Baseball by Aaron Skirboll

Recently, Major League Baseball has been embroiled in a drug scandal related to steroid use by a number of players. Mostly lost in all of the discussion about steroids is that this is not the first major drug scandal in baseball. While I am not old enough to remember what went on in baseball in the 1980's, it seems after reading this book that MLB was able to do a much better job of sweeping the scandal under the rug for a variety of reasons, probably starting with the fact that cocaine is considered a recreational drug rather than a performance-enhancer.

In The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven, Aaron Skirboll investigates how in a scandal that included several star players admitting to cocaine use, none were convicted of any crimes, and few faced any punishment from the league amounting to more than a slap on the wrist.

Early on, Skirboll describes the prevalence of cocaine use in society. Baseball players used cocaine not just because they were rich, but because many other people also did and because they had a lot of down time during road trips. The drug was considered by many to be harmless and not addictive, which is incomprehensible to me after the many lessons of the evils of drugs that I went through in school. Skirboll also connects the rise of cocaine use to the larger history of baseball, in which drug use has been commonplace for decades as players took any substance provided to them by doctors and trainers so that they could stay on the field and reenergize themselves during long seasons. He describes the use of painkillers, amphetamines and other drugs by players dating back for decades.

Skirboll tells the story by focusing not just on the players, but also on the ordinary people involved in the saga. He begins with Kevin Koch, who worked as the Pittsburgh Pirate Parrot mascot for several years, fulfilling the dream of many people of becoming closer to their heroes. He goes on to tell the stories of others who became close to professional baseball players in a variety of ways, and how these men got into supplying the players with drugs. He points out that most were not doing it to get rich, as the players were notorious for being cheap, but for the prestige of being associated with the athletes.

Skirboll's book contains extensive research. Besides looking at the details that came out of the trials of the seven men prosecuted by the government, he interviewed many of the principal figures, including the men themselves, family members, law enforcement, lawyers and professional baseball insiders. The result is a thorough look at the proceedings that was very interesting to read.

The most disturbing aspect of the book was the clear parallels between this and the steroid scandal. In this case, exactly as would occur 15-20 years later, figures such as managers and front office personnel ignored the obvious signs until public pressure mounted to the point that they had to be dealt with. It seems that while the villains sometimes change, many things will stay the same.

#2: In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks by Adam Carolla

In this book, Adam Carolla explains how guys should live their lives. I can't think of a whole lot to say about this book, so I am going to keep it short and simple.

Carolla starts by describing his early life and how he got into comedy. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley with divorced parents, never excelling in school with the exception of football. After graduation, he worked a variety of jobs, mostly in construction, before breaking into comedy. He illustrates his change in lifestyle by including a copy of his social security statement, showing his income rising from near zero into the millions in a short period of time.

The remainder of the book is Carolla's description of what is wrong with society today. It takes the form of a series of lists, with the points of the lists being explained in more detail. For example, under Movies, he explains why he thinks Little Miss Sunshine, Lost in Translation and all of Tyler Perry's movies are overrated, while Fargo, Saving Private Ryan and Election, among others, are underrated. He does this for a variety of subjects such as music, cell phones and restaurants.

I was definitely amused by this book, but it is not something that is going to stick with me for very long. It was a quick read, and a good way to pass some time during vacation.

#1: At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

It's time to try out my book reviewing skills again - the goal is a total of 52 by the end of the year. Reading the books is definitely easier than keeping up with the reviews.

If you are unfamiliar with the writing of Bill Bryson, he is very inquisitive, and it shows up in his work. The good side of this is that you learn a lot of interesting trivia by reading his books. He also has the tendency to go off on tangents, which is very evident in At Home: A Short History of Private Life.

In this book, Bryson uses a tour of his house to describe the development of many things we take for granted today. For example, the chapter about the bathroom describes the history of hygiene and the chapter on the kitchen describes how the way people eat has evolved over time. Bryson's thorough research answers questions such as why salt and pepper are the most prevalent spices. He also looks into the lives of numerous people who contributed to the way we live, both famous and obscure.

Much of Bryson's research focuses on England, where his house, a 19th century parsonage is located. He describes the story of his own house, as well as the development of urban life in London and the palatial country estates of the aristocracy. Other than England, he looks at the rise of America over the second half of the 19th century and how that led us to where we are today.

At Home was an enjoyable book to read, as I enjoy learning trivia. However, it did meander quite a bit - some of the chapters were connected only very loosely to their intended rooms. While it is not my favorite of his works, it is one I would recommend to others.

My Reading List

Last year, I had the goal of reading 100 books in one year. While my reviews tailed off, I finished book 100, although a couple weeks late (I started in early December last year). Things went crazy in September and October, and my reading slowed down a lot. Here is the final list (in parts), and I may post more detailed reviews at some point.

55. Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich
The author tries working a variety of low wage jobs with the goal of surviving on the wages. She makes interesting commentary about the struggles of the working poor. Rating: 4/5
56. Heart of the Game - S.L. Price
A writer for Sports Illustrated looks into the life of Mike Coolbaugh, a minor league coach killed by a line drive, as well as that of Tino Sanchez, the player who hit the ball. The narrative is very well written and depicts the tragedy, as well as the culture of players struggling in the minor leagues. Rating: 5/5
57. The Year of Fog - Michelle Richmond
Abby, a photographer, loses track of her fiance's young daughter while briefly looking away during a trip to the beach. The story chronicles the search for Emma, and the the difficulties Abby and Jake face in their relationship due to the tension. The novel is set in San Francisco, hence the title. Rating: 4/5
58. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
Krakauer was on a trip to climb Mt. Everest and describe it for Outside magazine. Krakauer describes the trip, but also what happened when disaster struck and several other climbers were killed. This is an exciting first-person account of this unusual experience. Rating: 5/5
59. When Men Become Gods - Stephen Singular
This book describes Warren Jeffs and his reign of terror over his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), the polygamists centered in the American Southwest. Rating: 4/5
60. Little Pink House - Jeff Benedict
This book describes a struggle between homeowners and the city of New London, CT over eminent domain. Benedict does a great job in portraying the city and its allies bullying the homeowners who were trying to simply preserve their hard-earned lifestyles. Rating: 5/5
61. The Jury - Steve Martini
A murder mystery in which one scientist is accused of killing another. I don't remember too much of it, other than that it was slow paced and not especially interesting. Rating: 3/5
62. The Taking - Dean Koontz
Another supernatural thriller by Koontz - strange weather phenomena begin occuring as aliens invade Earth, while a couple living in the woods in California try to do what they can to save themselves and others. The book was pretty good, but the ending was less than satisfactory. Rating: 3/5
63. Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit - Matt McCarthy
McCarthy, a Princeton graduate, describes his fish out of water experience as a left handed pitcher in the Angels' minor league system. His anecdotes were interesting, although there has been a bit of controversy over the validity of some of the details. Rating: 4/5
64. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
I read this prior to the movie coming out. I had read it at least three times before, but I enjoy the series. Rating: 5/5
65. Extra Credit - Andrew Clements
Abby receives an extra credit assignment to write to an Afghan pen pal so she can pass her class. Her pen pal is a boy from a village where it is unacceptable for a boy to correspond with a girl, so he has his sister sign the letters. A friendship develops, and the kids learn about each other's cultures. The story is interesting, but not my favorite by Clements.
66. Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy! - Bob Harris
Harris has appeared on Jeopardy several times, competing in various Tournaments of Champions. He humorously describes his experiences on the show, as well as his process for studying for the show and the relationships he developed with other contestants. As a fan of the show, it was an enjoyable book to read. Rating: 5/5
67. Sag Harbor - Colson Whitehead
The novel, set in 1985, describes the experiences of 15-year-old Benji spending the summer in the predominantly upper middle class, African-American area of Sag Harbor on Long Island. This is in contrast with his experience in the city in which he is surrounded by white people. The story progresses at a leisurely pace to match its summer setting and is filled with pop culture references. While somewhat slowly paced, it is an interesting coming of age story. Rating: 4/5
68. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
The novel, recently adapted into a movie, begins with the brutal rape and murder of 14-year-old Susie Salmon. Susie watches her family from the afterlife as they deal with the aftermath over the next several years. The ending didn't quite measure up to the rest of the book for me, but the novel definitely kept me enthralled throughout. Rating: 5/5
69. Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops - James Robert Parish
As the title states, this book describes how several of Hollywood's biggest failures were made and how costs spiraled out of control, mainly due to huge egos or impractical ideas. As someone who enjoys making fun of bad cinema, this appealed to me, although I have seen very few of the movies described such as Ishtar and Last Action Hero. My biggest issue with the book was that it did not include Gigli, which was a horrible movie and colossal flop. Rating: 4/5
70. Kodak Guide to Digital Photography - Jeff Sheppard
A book describing basic photography techniques. It was written very clearly, but I (unsurprisingly) learned a lot more from the photography course I recently completed. Still, this is a good book for a beginner. Rating: 5/5

#54: Blonde Roots

Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo is an alternative history that imagines what would have happened if Africans had enslaved Europeans instead of the other way around. It tells the story of Doris, the daughter of English farmers, who is captured by a slave trader and sent overseas. She ends up at the plantation of a wealthy landowner, but desires freedom, so much of the story concerns her attempts to escape and what happens because of these plots.

I found the premise to be interesting, but the story was hard for me to finish. The plot seemed to move slowly at first, and I put the book down for a while before eventually finishing it. Still, there were some interesting facets, especially the reimagining of American culture if it had been based upon African traditions rather than European ones. Overall, I found the book to be intriguing, but not a must read.

#53: Teacher Man

Teacher Man is Frank McCourt's memoir about his career spent teaching high school English in New York City's public schools. As a teacher, I found his story to be very interesting and entertaining. McCourt described all of the difficulties and rewards of being a teacher. The thing that stuck out was his willingness to find unconventional solutions to problems, even when it caused him to butt heads with administrators. His main concern was connecting to his students, but some of his superiors frowned upon his methods. This lack of flexibility among administrators and overseers of schools is a major source of what is wrong with schools today. Overall, I found McCourt's writing to be humorous and inspirational.

#52: Notes From a Small Island

Notes From a Small Island is another example of travel writing by Bill Bryson. In this case, after living in England for a number of years and just before returning to his native U.S., he decided to explore everything that the United Kingdom had to offer. He began at the English Channel and traveled to John O'Groats at the tip of Scotland, and visited points in between throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

As with Bryson's other books, he looks at things in a humorous way. He uses trains to travel throughout the country and spends time musing on the vagaries of British Rail. He also spent time commenting on his lodging and the historical sites he visited, as well as the odd sites that attracted him like on all of his other journeys. He makes a special point to marvel about just how old many of the things are in Britain, such as numerous footpaths and hedgerows dating hundreds of years and an abundance of churches and other buildings dating to medieval times. However, in one instance, he went to a decrepit ruin of a house to see a Roman mosaic, only to later find out that it was a replica.

While the book does a great job in describing what it is like to travel through Great Britain, Bryson also serves another purpose. He expresses his appreciation for his adopted land. While he sometimes points out the quirks of the British, he does so in a gentle, rather than mocking way.

While I did not enjoy this book as much as some of Bryson's other work (such as In a Sunburned Country and Thunderbolt Kid, I would recommend it to others, especially if you enjoy travel writing.

#51: The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian is the fifth and final book in the excellent Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. In the story, Percy and his friends and allies have to face Kronos and the Titans in a showdown over Mt. Olympus, conveniently located in New York City. Along with the titans, Percy and his friends must face a variety of monsters, including the powerful Typhon, who is rampaging across the country toward New York and attracting the attention of the Olympians. Percy also has to deal with the disturbing prophecy of his sixteenth year.

I don't want to give away any specifics about this book for people who have not yet read it. It was action packed though, with a very quick moving plot. Many of the familiar characters from other books return. Riordan also delves into areas of mythology which he had previously left unexplored in his other books, including the involvement of some of the minor gods.

I found The Last Olympian to be a satisfying conclusion to a great series. And while it seems to wrap up Percy's story, it does leave the door open for more tales about demigods.

Halfway Done (with reviews at least)!

The reason I started this blog was because of a kind of contest called The Cannonball Read that I read about on a website I visit frequently. The goal of the contest is to read 100 books in one year, although it is more of an individual challenge than a race against others. The other part of the challenge is to post reviews of each book that you read on a blog. The reviews don't have to be anything spectacular, but are supposed to illustrate that you have read the book.

Well for me, the reading is the easy part. Then I have to write the reviews. I have always had confidence that I would get through 100 books, especially with my months of leisure during the summer. However, the challenge has been writing a review for each one. I have hated writing since elementary school (and yet I make the students do tons of it), so I constantly put off writing the reviews when I finish each book. I am also somewhat self-conscious about my writing, as I don't want my reviews to sound like garbage, even though I know some of them do.

So now I have completed review number 50 (and finished reading book number 66) with several months to go. I am motivated to see this through to the end. I have also been contemplating adding other content to my blog, so now that I am making significant progress, I will actually follow through with this. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and tolerating my reviews so far, and I hope you are getting some ideas about things to read.

#50: In a Sunburned Country

In a Sunburned Country describes Bill Bryson's journey through all parts of Australia. I have wanted to visit Australia for some time, so I was intrigued when I picked up the book, and became further hooked as I began reading.

Bryson begins his narrative by describing some of the many ways you can die in Australia. For example, several of the deadliest species of snakes in the world live on the continent. In the ocean, there are strong rip currents along with saltwater crocodiles. In the outback, there are the high temperatures, lack of water, and distance from everything. These are in addition to the more mundane ways that a person can die in other places.

Bryson also stresses how little most people know about Australia. He includes statistics about the rarity of Australia appearing in American news sources. To further illustrate his point, he tells the story of an Australian prime minister who simply vanished in the ocean. The leader of a very well-known country just disappeared, and very few people have heard of the story.

Now, on to the subject of the book. Bryson travels throughout the country, visiting all of its major cities and comparing and contrasting them. He describes the majestic landmarks of Sydney, the beauty of Perth and the dullness of Canberra, among other things. He also describes the countryside in between, taking trips to the outback and off the coast to the Great Barrier Reef.

No Bryson book would be complete without his sense of humor. Some choice examples include his listing of place names, such as the town of Tittybong, his summary of commentators at a cricket match that he heard on the radio during a long, lonely drive, and his story about how a dozen rabbits unfortunately led to major changes to the country's ecology.

If you like reading about distant places or have an interest in Australia, be sure to pick up In a Sunburned Country.

#49: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is the first book in Rick Riordan's excellent Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In this book, the protagonist is twelve-year-old Percy Jackson. He has always struggled with learning disabilities and always gets into trouble without trying, leading him to attend a different school every year. As a sixth grader, Percy attends a field trip to a museum with his class from the prestigious Yancy Academy. Although he tries to behave, he manages to vaporize his despised math teacher. Even stranger for him, it seems like no one has noticed. A new teacher appears out of nowhere, and no one has ever heard of the old one.

After this, Percy and his mom take a trip out to Long Island. A fierce storm arises, and Percy and his mom get into their car. Along the road, they meet Percy's friend Grover from school, who seems to Percy to be there randomly, although Percy had thought Grover knew more than he let on. They get into more trouble, and leading to a fight with a minotaur. Percy's mother disappears into thin air, but Percy manages to escape to a safe place - Camp Half-Blood.

At Camp Half-Blood, Percy finds himself in a new world. The Greek gods that he studied about in school are real. His former Latin teacher at Yancy Academy is a centaur and Grover is a satyr. Percy, like all of the other campers, is a half-blood: one parent is a mortal and one is a god. Unfortunately for Percy, he does not know who which god his father is.

Percy eventually figures out from some characteristics he exhibits and a revelation that his father is Poseidon, the sea god. This leads him to become embroiled in a three-way struggle between Poseidon, Zeus and Hades. In order to fix things and save the world, Percy must go on a quest to the gates to Hades, located in Los Angeles. He is allowed to bring two friends: Grover, and Annabeth, a brilliant daughter of Athena.

The Lightning Thief is a very engaging book to read for two reasons. It is packed with action, the author also incorporates a lot of humor. I read it to my class this year, and they enjoyed it thoroughly. Several of the kids read the series on their own, and it got them interested in Greek mythology due to Riordan's seamless incorporation of the mythology into the story. I strongly recommend it!

#48: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is Bill Bryson's very amusing memoir of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa during the 1950's. Bryson grew up in a middle-class family, with his parents, who both wrote for the local newspaper, and his brother and sister. He describes with nostalgia the adventures he engaged in as a young boy in a quick changing society.

One of the amusing things in Bryson's book is the cavalier attitude toward safety that people in the 50's had compared with today. He describes nuclear tests in Nevada in which the fallout could easily drift across populated areas, but people did not care. In fact, they actually went closer to these sites to get a better look. He also talks about things like the preponderance of food dyes, preservatives, and artificial flavors, which people looked at as signs of progress in food preparation without considering any adverse effects.

Bryson also describes his superhero alter ego, as described in the title. Whenever someone such as a teacher or other mean adult offended him, the Thunderbolt Kid would come out that person would be vaporized.

If you have ever read anything else by Bill Bryson, you know that he has a great sense of humor. He also engages in many escapades with a variety of characters. Some brief anecdotes include when he was in high school and there was a plot to liberate beer from the distributor, as well as a set of too smart for their own good brothers who get the idea to set off an explosive device in a high school field. It is the stories like these that make the reader laugh repeatedly.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a book that I would highly recommend, and it encouraged me to go to the library and pick up more books by Bill Bryson.

#47: Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twist

I first read Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne a couple of years ago. Due to the upcoming movie starring Michael Cera, I decided to read it again. Because of the absurd nature of the story and the ridiculous situations that Nick gets into, I enjoyed the book as much as I remembered.

Youth in Revolt describes the travails of Nick Twisp, a 14-year-old living in the wonderful city of Oakland. His main objective in life is to lose his virginity. His parents are divorced, and when Nick's father loses his job, Nick is forced to leave his private school and endure the Oakland public school system. He quickly decides this is not for him and looks for a way out.

During the summer on a trip to Clear Lake (a couple of hours north of Oakland), Nick met Sheeni Saunders, the girl of his dreams. They scheme to get Nick's father a job in Sheeni's hometown of Ukiah (further north) and for Nick to behave so badly that he gets sent to live with his dad. Their plot seems to work, until Nick gets to Ukiah and finds out that Sheeni and her ex-boyfriend have transferred to a private school in Santa Cruz.

From here, the plot continues to thicken. Nick gets himself in to situations that are more and more ridiculous in order to try and reunite with Sheeni, and leaves a huge trail of damage in his wake. Sometimes, trouble just finds him without any effort. As things happen, one after another, the plot keeps the reader entertained.

Youth in Revolt is a hilarious novel. If you are expecting something serious, look for another book to read. However, if you want a book with an authentic voice that will keep you laughing out loud, pick this one up.

#46: Twilight

I finally decided to read Twilight because of the hype, but I wasn't sure whether I would like it. I knew it was about romance and vampires, and neither of those things interest me, but some of the kids in my class were reading it and I decided to give it a chance.

I progressed through Twilight pretty quickly. The action scenes were pretty intriguing to me, like when Bella fled to Phoenix and they tried to escape from the evil vampire. However, there were other parts that annoyed me a great deal. I skimmed quickly over all of the gushy, descriptive language about Bella's obsession with Edward, which allowed me to finish the book more quickly. I also disliked the characters, especially Bella's deference to Edward, and Edward's stalker tendencies.

Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I definitely didn't love it. I may read the rest of the series at some point, but it is not something I am excited enough to go and do immediately.

#45: Stolen Innocence

Stolen Innoncence by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer tells the story of a 14-year-old girl in the FLDS religion who was forced to marry her 19-year-old cousin. Wall and her family were very much entwined in the religion, having periodic direct contact with the leaders, Rulon and Warren Jeffs. The Wall family was labeled as rebellious by the leadership, as some of Elissa's siblings chose to leave FLDS. Her family was broken up, and she, her mom and her two younger sisters were sent to live with Fred Jessop, an important leader in the church. Soon after, Jessop told Elissa that she would soon be married. Elissa was matched with her cousin, who she could not stand. She tried to protest to Warren and Rulon, but was told that it was the prophet's will that the marriage happen, so it did.

As soon as she was married, Elissa began to be subjected to abuse by her husband. She began looking for ways to escape, such as spending time with her mother, visiting her sister in Canada, or simply driving and staying out all night just to avoid her husband. It was on one of these drives that she met the love of her life, when he helped her out of trouble while she was stuck in the desert.

Wall's story is very compelling - she begins to understand that the way of life that she has been following is not fair and that she can reject it and still be a good person. It also provides firsthand insight into the pure evil of Warren Jeffs.

Luckily, Wall's story has had a happy ending so far. Unfortunately, there are many others still in similar situations.

#44: Science Fair

Science Fair is a book for kids written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. While I previously enjoyed the first two novels of the Peter and the Starcatchers series that they wrote, I found Science Fair to be hilarious.

Science Fair is set in a middle school in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC. Toby, the main character, is enrolled in the school's gifted program, along with other gifted students and others whose rich, powerful parents have bought their way in. The rich parents are obsessed with their kids' success to the point that they do the work for their kids. For example, one mother was said to have worked hard for all of her son's grades, starting with the professionally bound animal report he turned in in first grade.

Each year, the school conducts a science fair with a large corporate-sponsored prize. One of the rich kids always wins, because they purchase complicated projects from a strange store in the mall. However, there is a problem - Grdankl the Strong, the leader of the rogue nation of Krpshtskan, has enlisted an operative to rig the science fair so that the rich kids' projects can be utilized for a terrorist plot. Toby finds out about this, and he and his friends have to fix things.

The plot and the details of Science Fair are absurd and over the top, but that is why I enjoyed it so much. Barry describes Krpshtskan in a way similar to the fictional Kazakhstan in Borat, with details like the national holiday for the tournament of the fighting death hamsters and Grdankl's slogan of "Vote for Grdankl or die." Another episode I found amusing was when two of Grdankl's operatives who were sent unwillingly to the U.S. to straighten out problems became addicted to the Home Shopping Network.

Science Fair is a book that definitely would appeal to kids, with its mix of humor and action. In fact, I loaned it to one of my sixth graders after I finished and he read the entire book in a single day. It would also appeal to adults who can enjoy a book that doesn't take itself seriously.

#43: Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Farr)

This was the first book I read by Dave Barry that was written for adults. (I read Peter and the Starcatchers a while back, and I used to read his newspaper column.) The book was very quick to read and amusing. Barry poked fun at various subjects through history. He started with a single chapter covering the years 1000-1999, then adds a chapter for each year up through 2006. He mocks all of the major scandals and news stories from each year, such as the 2000 presidential election and the Y2K hype. Still, while the book was enjoyable while I read it, nothing really stuck with me that I can remember a month after finishing it. It served its purpose as a way to occupy my time on a couple of car trips.

#42:Cryptid Hunters

Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith is about people who are looking for creatures long thought to be extinct. Marty and Grace, 13-year-old twins, are attending a Swiss boarding school when they receive news that their parents have disappeared. They are sent to live with their Uncle Travis on an island off the coast of Washington state. They find out about their uncle's passion for hunting cryptids, or hidden creatures, and see the array of gadgets he has at his compound.

After unsuccessfully lobbying their uncle to take them with him to the African jungle on a research trip, Grace and Marty are on their uncle's plane heading back to school, when they are unexpectedly dropped into the jungle with his supplies while roaming the cargo hold. This leads to their struggle for survival against the forces of nature, as well as their uncle's rivals.

Cryptid Hunters did a good job developing the characters of Marty and Grace, so I was interested in finding out what would happen next. It had a lot of action that young readers would enjoy, but did not stand out to me.

#41: A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson came highly recommended to me by a coworker because of my penchant for hiking and the outdoors. This book describes the author's experience attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail. Bryson, who was born and raised in the U.S., had recently returned and taken up residency in Hanover, NH. As a way to refamiliarize himself with his homeland, he decided to hike the Appalachian Trail from beginning to end, despite having very little backpacking experience. He also brought along his childhood friend, Stephen Katz, who was not known for making good decisions.

The bulk of the book is about Bryson's adventures (and misadventures) while hiking the trail. He describes in detail the scenery and the feeling of accomplishment that one gets from the spectacular view at the top of the mountain. He also describes the various characters he meets along the way, such as a woman who talked incessantly who tagged along with him for a period of time, as well as a group of snooty hikers he met on a rainy evening who were unwilling to share a limited amount of space.

Whether you are an experienced hiker or not, A Walk in the Woods is an enjoyable read. Like in his other works, Bryson uses humor to keep the book moving quickly and to make his story more interesting.

#40: Mormon America

Mormon America by Richard and Joan Ostling describes the influence of the Mormon church on America, as well as tracing its growth over time. The authors, both religion writers from major publications, use thorough research to present conclusions about things like the financial standing of the church and the number of members.

If you are interested in learning about the Mormon church (or Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints as it is officially known), this is a good title to pick up. It starts at the beginning, when Joseph Smith, an uneducated farm boy, has his revelation in the New York countryside. Then it follows as he gains followers, moves west, is killed, then the church moves out to Utah. It includes information about the religious beliefs and famous members, as well as presenting the good and the bad.

I have been interested in the some of the details of the religion ever since I read Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven. It is an interesting story, especially since the religion developed in the United States and fairly recently. The book was a little dry in places, but was packed with information. I have known many LDS members, and it was interesting to get a little more insight into their beliefs and practices.