[azcap]

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at
by Erik Larson - A really fascinating book that intertwines the story of the building of the Chicago Worlds Fair and serial killings of H.H. Holmes during the fair.

[raynearhood]

The Devil in the White City:

I read that last year, and loved it. My wife could only get so far into it as the H.H.Holmes portion scared the crap out of her. I enjoyed reading about the planning of the Chicago World Fair so much that I could barely put the book down.

I learned a couple things, too. Example: The El in Chicago was the modern technology attraction of the 1893 World Fair. I never looked into it, but always assumed the Elevated Trains were built out of necessity, not to marvel!

[retrokitten]

Loved, loved, loved that book. I mainly picked it up for the parts about HH Holmes and figured I’d trudge through the parts about the fair. But the creation of the fair was fascinating!

His description of life at that time is so vivid that it blew me away. If it hadn’t happened so long ago, I would have sworn he had to be there experiencing the things first hand.

One thing that struck me was how the fair organizers wouldn’t allow Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show to be a part of the fair. So, they set up outside and made a boatload of money.

[daisyscarlett]

I really did enjoy the Devil in the White City.

I just finished reading Janet Evanovich’s latest Stephanie Plum book. Every summer, when this thread is posted, that is my response because a new Plum comes out every June and has done so for the past 14 years and will do so for the next 4 years at least.

[Fractal Trader]

Just finished Gusher of Lies by Robert Bryce. All lot of his opinions are highly slanted against Bush and the like, but the facts are amazing. Everything the government has tried to do to “improve” the energy system has failed miserably. Much better to sit back and enjoy the ride rather than trying to get “energy independence” or “renewable energy”.

A devastating critique.