On October 17, 1965, Navy LTJG Porter Halyburton was shot down over North Vietnam on his 76th mission and listed as killed in action. One-and-a-half years later he was found to be alive and a prisoner of war. Halyburton was held captive for more than seven years. Reflections on Captivity, ... more >
Perfect for fans of Michael Lewis and David Simon (Homicide, The Corner, The Wire, We Own This City) Real life is different from what gets depicted on procedural crime dramas. Equipped with a journalist’s eye, a paramedic’s experience and a sardonic wit, Bruce Goldfarb spent ten years with Maryland’s Office ... more >
A fascinating, revelatory portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard. Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have ... more >
A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people—morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners—who work in it and what led them there. We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that ... more >
The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins This was the first of my two short Halloween reads. Like most of my Halloween reads, it wasn’t particularly scary. The story opens with the Countess Narona visiting a doctor in London, and recounting a strange story about her meeting her fiance’s jilted lover. ... more >
I run a virtual book club for seniors, volunteering for a non-profit (check it out and see if you’d like to help, or consider participating in the national village movement closer to your home), and we take turns picking out the books we read. One of the advantages this has ... more >