Discussion

A Morning Immersed In the Magical World of Harry Potter
During this recovery period books are my best friends, so sitting on the couch with a steaming mug of freshly blended tea and a book in hand I was set for the morning atleast. The book was 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone', the debut novel in the seven-part Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I loved it since childhood and still continue to do so, there are very few stories that are timeless and still interesting. No matter how many times I went through it, it never gets old.
By Staringale2 years ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: Death in the Tallgrass by Donald Willerton
I really enjoyed Death in the Tallgrass. Firstly, it is best that you know that I love any book which is set in the Wild West: in the days of the pioneers and settlers and their encounters with Native American tribes; with the stories of the less reputable white folk who find themselves down on their luck and trying to find a way to survive; where people looking for a new life or travelling to a better one were exposed on the plains and carried guns for protection and to use for hunting for sustenance. It is the perfect setting and environment for a tense tale of adventure. And that is what Willerton has created here.
By Rachel Deeming2 years ago in BookClub
On Prince Hal and the History Plays
William Shakespeare began to write English history plays early in his career with the three-part Henry the Sixth, followed by Richard the Third which was his first major success. Around 1597 he began a second four-part cycle, this one about the preceding historical period.
By Doc Sherwood2 years ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
I am so glad I discovered Katherine Rundell. This has been one of the best things that I can take away from 2023 - The Golden Mole was a revelation and, when I discovered that she also wrote fiction, it was only a matter of time until I sought her out.
By Rachel Deeming2 years ago in BookClub
The Power of Silence: Managing Anger through the Art of Stillness
In our fast-paced and often chaotic lives, moments of anger can be all too common. However, the ancient wisdom of harnessing the power of silence during times of anger has proven to be a transformative and effective approach. This article explores the profound impact of choosing silence as a response to anger, delving into its benefits and the art of mastering this practice.
By Nada soliman2 years ago in BookClub
Promoting Climate Resilience through Infrastructure Development
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that our world is facing today. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts have highlighted the urgent need for action to promote climate resilience. One of the key ways to address this issue is through infrastructure development.
By Mohsen Al-Tayeb2 years ago in BookClub
"Manson: The Life & Times of Charles Manson" by Jeff Guinn - Book Club Discussion. Content Warning.
Based on new interviews, this revealing account of one of the most notorious criminals in American history puts Manson in the context of his times, the turbulent end of the 60s, revealing a rock star wannabe whose killings were directly related to his musical ambitions. After more than forty years, Charles Manson continues to mystify and fascinate us. Manson and members of his mostly female commune killed nine people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate. Now, drawing on new information, the author tells the definitive story of how this ordinary juvenile delinquent became a murderer whose crimes still shock and horrify today.
By Kristen Barenthaler2 years ago in BookClub
"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson - Book Club Discussion. Content Warning.
The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. 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.
By Kristen Barenthaler2 years ago in BookClub
Rachel Reviews: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a book which is very much of my time, set in the days where the world of gaming was beginning to blossom into the powerhouse of entertainment that it is today.
By Rachel Deeming2 years ago in BookClub
"The Killer Across the Table" by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker - Book Club Discussion. Content Warning.
The legendary FBI criminal profiler, number-one New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the hit Netflix show Mindhunter delves deep into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers, offering never-before-revealed details about his profiling process, and divulging the strategies used to crack some of America's most challenging cases. The FBI's pioneer of criminal profiling, former special agent John Douglas, has studied and interviewed many of America's most notorious killers--including Charles Manson, "Son of Sam Killer" David Berkowitz and "BTK Strangler" Dennis Rader--trained FBI agents and investigators around and the world, and helped educate the country about these deadly predators and how they operate, and has become a legend in popular culture, fictionalized in The Silence of the Lambs and the hit television shows Criminal Minds and Mindhunter. Twenty years after his famous memoir, the man who literally wrote the book on FBI criminal profiling opens his case files once again. In this riveting work of true crime, he spotlights four of the most diabolical criminals he's confronted, interviewed and learned from. Going deep into each man's life and crimes, he outlines the factors that led them to murder and how he used his interrogation skills to expose their means, motives, and true evil. Like the hit Netflix show, The Killer Across the Table is centered around Douglas' unique interrogation and profiling process. With his longtime collaborator Mark Olshaker, Douglas recounts the chilling encounters with these four killers as he experienced them--revealing for the first time his profile methods in detail. Going step by step through his interviews, Douglas explains how he connects each killer's crimes to the specific conversation, and contrasts these encounters with those of other deadly criminals to show what he learns from each one. In the process, he returns to other famous cases, killers and interviews that have shaped his career, describing how the knowledge he gained from those exchanges helped prepare him for these. A glimpse into the mind of a man who has pierced the heart of human darkness, "The Killer Across the Table" unlocks the ultimate mystery of depravity and the techniques and approaches that have countered evil in the name of justice.
By Kristen Barenthaler2 years ago in BookClub
"I’ll be Gone in the Dark" by Michelle McNamara - Book Club Discussion. Content Warning.
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. "I'll Be Gone in the Dark"--the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death--offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman's obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic--one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.
By Kristen Barenthaler2 years ago in BookClub
"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote - Book Club Discussion
The most famous true crime novel of all time "c hills the blood and exercises the intelligence" ( The New York Review of Books ) -- and haunted its author long after he finished writing it. On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. In one of the first non-fiction novels ever written, Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, generating both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
By Kristen Barenthaler2 years ago in BookClub