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Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America’s Forgotten Border

Filed Under: Books Read

Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America’s Forgotten Border

Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America's Forgotten Border by Porter Fox
on July 3, 2018
Pages: 272
Format: hardback
Genres: Environment, Natural History, Nature, Nonfiction, Travel
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

A quest to rediscover America’s other border―the fascinating but little-known northern one.

America’s northern border is the world’s longest international boundary, yet it remains obscure even to Americans. The northern border was America’s primary border for centuries—much of the early history of the United States took place there—and to the tens of millions who live and work near the line, the region even has its own name: the northland.

Travel writer Porter Fox spent three years exploring 4,000 miles of the border between Maine and Washington, traveling by canoe, freighter, car, and foot. In Northland, he blends a deeply reported and beautifully written story of the region’s history with a riveting account of his travels. Setting out from the easternmost point in the mainland United States, Fox follows explorer Samuel de Champlain’s adventures across the Northeast; recounts the rise and fall of the timber, iron, and rail industries; crosses the Great Lakes on a freighter; tracks America’s fur traders through the Boundary Waters; and traces the forty-ninth parallel from Minnesota to the Pacific Ocean.

Fox, who grew up the son of a boat-builder in Maine’s northland, packs his narrative with colorful characters (Captain Meriwether Lewis, railroad tycoon James J. Hill, Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota Sioux) and extraordinary landscapes (Glacier National Park, the Northwest Angle, Washington’s North Cascades). He weaves in his encounters with residents, border guards, Indian activists, and militia leaders to give a dynamic portrait of the northland today, wracked by climate change, water wars, oil booms, and border security.

Newtown: An American Tragedy

Filed Under: Books Read

Newtown: An American Tragedy

Newtown: An American Tragedy by Matthew Lysiak
Published by Gallery Books on December 10th 2013
Pages: 288
Format: hardback
Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

In the vein of Dave Cullen’s Columbine, the first comprehensive account of the Sandy Hook tragedy—with exclusive new reporting that chronicles the horrific events of December 14, 2012, including new insight into the dark mind of gunman Adam Lanza.

12/14/12

Sandy Hook Elementary School

Newton, Connecticut

we remember the numbers: 20 children and 6 adults, murdered in a place of nurture and trust. We remember the names: teachers like Victoria Soto, who lost her life protecting her students. A shooter named Adam Lanza. And we remember the questions: outraged conjecture instantly monopolized the worldwide response to the tragedy—while the truth went missing.

here is the definitive journalistic account of Newtown, an essential examination of the facts— not only of that horrific day but the perfect storm of mental instability and obsession that preceded it and, in the aftermath of unspeakable heartbreak, the controversy that continues to play out on the national stage. Drawn from previously undisclosed emails, police reports, and in-depth interviews, Newtown: An American Tragedy breaks through a miasma of misinformation with its comprehensive and astonishing portrayal.

this is the vital story that must be told—today—if we are to prevent another American tragedy in the days to come.

The Shadow District

Filed Under: Books Read

The Shadow District

The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indriðason
Published by Harvill Secker on May 18th 2017
Series: Reykjavik Wartime Mystery #1
Pages: 360
Format: hardback
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

A 90-year-old man is found dead in his bed, smothered with his own pillow.

On his desk the police find newspaper cuttings about a murder case dating from the Second World War, when a young woman was found strangled behind Reykjavík’s National Theatre.

Konrád, a former detective, is bored with retirement and remembers the crime. He grew up in ‘the shadow district’, a rough neighbourhood bordered by the National Theatre and an abattoir. Why would someone be interested in that crime now? He starts his own unofficial enquiry.

Alternating between Konrád’s investigation and the original police inquiry, we discover that two girls had been attacked in oddly similar circumstances. Did the police arrest the wrong man? How are these cases linked across the decades? And who is the old man?

A deeply compassionate story of old crimes and their consequences, The Man from Manitoba is the first in a thrilling new series of novels by the worldwide bestseller Arnaldur Indridason.

The Shadow District is the first book in a new series Reykjavik Wartime Mysteries by Arnaldur Indriðason.
Moving from past to present, the book explores the death of a 90-year-old man whom during World War II investigated the murder of a young woman. To add another layer to the story, Konrad, a retired policeman is looking into the death as he believes it was a murder, not just an old man who died peacefully in his sleep.
Indriðason weaves a compelling story of wartime Reykjavik, just on the verge of independence from Danish rule, dealing with the onset of American soldiers fraternizing with Icelanders.
While I noticed that in places the translation was “rough” I don’t believe that it detracted from the book.
I am very interested to see the direction Indriðason will take this new series.