What are you reading?

Last night I finished The Cincinnati Subway by Allen J. Singer. It's the story of the ill-fated, never-completed subway line in Cincy that was built in the early 1920s.   

What Hath God Wrought, a history of the United States from 1815 to 1848.

You think we are at each others' throats and divided now? It was MUCH worse then.

I just finished A Killing in Comics by Max Allan Collins.  It's a murder mystery set in the world of 1940's comic book publishing. Collins wrote the graphic novel A Road to Perdition, which was made into the Tom Hanks/Jude Law movie of a few years back.

I really liked the book, but Collins' way of naming characters got on my nerves. A lot of the characters are based on real figures, like the creators of Superman and Batman, but Collins got a little cute in disguising their names. Batman creator Bob Kane became Batwing creator Rod Krane. Batman writer Bill Finger becomes Batwing writer Will Hander. That's my only beef with the book, that the names were just a little too cutesy-poo.

Last night I started A Lion Named Christian. You may have seen the Youtube clip of two men being reunited with the lion they raised as a cub. It's a great clip, and this book tells the story of how the authors came to raise the lion. I really like it so far, but it's crazy how easily these guys, who had no wild animal-raising backgrounds or knowledge were able to obtain the cub. They bought it at Harrod's!

Bob,

I went to High School with Allen.  I am not to proud of the fact that I once smashed peas in his chemistry book.  His research for the subway book was interesting and the access he got to the current tunnels was amazing.


He is currently working on a project about the beverly hills country club (precursor to the beverly hills supper club that caught fire and killed so many)

I have been going through my old school books

Hiroshima
The Pearl
The Lord of the Flies
My Brother Sam is Dead
Huck Finn
Tom Sawyer
Of Mice and Men
Johnny Got His Gun
All Quiet on the Western Front
Puddin Head Wilson
Catcher in the Rye

and many others

It has been a few weeks of light reading and good memories