What are you reading now?

[LincolnMan]

Ok guys, just bought a book edited and signed by Paul Angle at an old bookstore. It's called A Portrait of Abraham Lincoln in Letters by his Oldest Son. In glancing through the pages I noticed RTL writing about Edwin Booth and the Bixby letter. Looks promising. Anyone familiar with the book?

[LincolnToddFan]

No, Bill...I have never even heard about that one....anything interesting that stands out?

[LincolnMan]

I'm still driving on the way home! I'm in Detroit looking at an area where thousands of trees were recently planted on vacant land-thousands!

[LincolnMan]

Yesterday I visited a bookstore in Detroit that I have been frequenting for 30 years. My intention was to purchase a book I saw there a few months ago about Booths oil speculations in Pennsylvania. I wanted to purchase it then but for some reason I didn't. Of course, yesterday I found it was gone. Rule of thumb: when you think you should probably buy a book that you are inclined to buy- because if you don't- you will probably regret later that you didn't!

[J. Beckert]

That's a fantastic book, Bill. You should grab it if you see it again. It gives more insight into Booth's personality than any thing else I've ever read.

[LincolnMan]

I could kick myself for not getting it when I had it in my palms!

[LincolnMan]

Forgot to mention that Candace Millard's book on Garfield mentions that there were those who firmly believed in a conspiracy involving the Vice-President (Arthur) in the assassination- similar to the Johnson- Lincoln scenario. Garfield was told about it and didn't beleive a word of it.

[Gene C]

Just finished T R the Last Romantic, by H W Brands, about Theodore Roosevelt. 816 pages, and it took me a while to read it. Not a "can't put it down" book. I think it would have been better if he had left out about 200 pages. For me, the best part was the last 50 pages dealing with the Wilson Administration, (Theodore couldn't stand him), World War 1, and the death of his youngest son Quentin. I also wish he had written more about Roosevelt's trip to the Amazon and the assassination attempt when he ran for president again in 1912 (less than three pages).

http://www.amazon.com/T-R-Romantic-H-W-B...1408472249

[BettyO]

Was in Barnes and Noble a couple of weeks ago and found a new, huge thick book, The Invention of Murder - How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders. Can't put this thing down. It's British, and covers all the UK popular murders, from the 1830's Red Barn Murders to Jack the Ripper; with particular emphasis on how the media and public approached each.

[Rogerm]

I am in the process of reading LINCOLN'S BOYS by Joshua Zeitz. It is about Lincoln's presidential secretaries John Nicolay and John Hay and how they were instrumental in influencing the modern perception of our sixteenth president through the monumental book they wrote about him. I am enjoying it.

[LincolnToddFan]

I have that one, Rogerm...haven't gotten around to it yet. It's getting great reviews!

[BettyO]

I am in the process of reading LINCOLN'S BOYS by Joshua Zeitz. It is about Lincoln's presidential secretaries John Nicolay and John Hay and how they were instrumental in influencing the modern perception of our sixteenth president through the monumental book they wrote about him. I am enjoying it.

I want to get this one as well - it looks wonderful!

[LincolnToddFan]

I just started our Betty's "Alias Paine" last night...fantastic read so far. I am also finishing up Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth", Rosemary Crawford's "Michael and Natasha: The Life of Michael II, the Last of the Romanov Tsars", and Chris DeRose's "The President's War: Six Presidents and the Civil War that Divided Them"...great book!

Next up in the bullpen is John McKee Barr's "Loathing Lincoln: An American Tradition" and a fascinating new release about the last days of Anne Boleyn that a friend sent to me from London, and an anthology of the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca that I received as a birthday present in June.

My apartment looks like a Vietnam battlefield circa 1967. This is what happens when you would rather read than vacuum and wash dishes.

[Eva Elisabeth]

My apartment looks like a Vietnam battlefield circa 1967. This is what happens when you would rather read than vacuum and wash dishes.

I can well relate to this...(as I also use to read 3 or more books at once). I'm still making my way through Mr. Tripp's far-fetched interpretations, and I'm enjoying "Lincoln in the Kitchen" with which Laurie treated me. Very interesting book, and really enjoyable, nice light reading!!! And "Crowns of Thorns and Glory", so far I like it.

[LincolnToddFan]

Ooohh Eva I think you will love "Crowns of Thorns and Glory"...I definitely did. Varina Davis was a very remarkable woman. She had more in common with Mary Lincoln than I ever knew!

"Lincoln In the Kitchen" just made me hungry!