Other books that might interest you

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  Dean Corll: The True Story of...

  Jack Rosewood

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  In an area of Houston known as the Heights, boys had been going missing for years, but it was the peace-and-love 1970s, so police just called them runaways, even if they’d left with little more than a swimsuit and some change.When the truth was uncovered, and police – and the rest of Houston – realized the boys had become victims of notorious American serial killer Dean Corll, Houston recoiled in horrified shock. Residents realized that they had not only become the site of the most grisly mass murder in Texas history, but the worst mass murder in all of U.S. history. The word serial killer had not yet been coined, and as body after decomposing body was uncovered from the dirt floor of the boat shed where Corll and his two young accomplishes had buried most of the victims, there were hardly words for what this sadistic lust killer had done. The depraved evil that Corll and his accomplices – two teen boys themselves who were promised money but eventually developed a thrill for the kill - was revealed as one of the cohorts, Wayne Henley, calmly, affably, told the stories of how after Corll sexually assaulting them and tortured them in unimaginable fashion, they would kill them and take the boys’ bodies away to bury them beneath the dirt.This serial killer’s biography will haunt you, especially as you learn more about the sadistic torture methods lust killer Corll used on his young victims, all lured to his various apartments by people they believed were their friends.While Corll is dead, killed by Henley during the lust killer’s last night of depravity, the case remains entwined in Houston history, and unforgettable for the families of those who lived it.

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  Narrative of the Captivity and...

  Mary Rowlandson

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  Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, also called The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, is a memoir from the eponymous Mary Rowlandson. In this harrowing narrative first published in 1682, the author tells the story of her capture and being held for ransom after an attack by Native Americans during an attack on Lancaster in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.Mary Rowlandson was captured by the attackers and taken on an 11 week journey through the wilderness, being sold and purchased in exchange for goods in various settlements, and suffering the loss of her children as the journey took its toll. The story is an in-depth look at the life of a captive woman, and demonstrates the value of her temerity and faithfulness throughout the difficult ordeal. When she ultimately was given freedom and allowed to reunite with her remaining family, Rowlandson decided to use her writing to convey the importance of her faith in God and belief that her life was ultimately a blessing, given how easily it could have been taken.

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  Chopin

  Jeremy Siepmann

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  Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence. Regarded as one of the most mesmerising performers of his day, he lives on in his music – his waltzes, mazurkas, études, preludes, nocturnes, three piano sonatas, two piano concertos and much more. Here, his life, from his birth in Poland, his famous affair with the French writer George Sand, to his death at the age of thirty-nine in Paris, is told with his music featuring prominently. We think of Chopin as a ‘frail, sheltered genius’ but this forthright portrait demonstrates he was far more boisterous than that. Cheerful as a youth, it was only later that the glare of publicity, the change from local to national celebrity, made Chopin guard his privacy more carefully. This is clearly presented in Jeremy Siepmann’s sympathetic account of the life of one of the key figures in Romantic music, and emphasised in the very personal portrayal by the English classical actor Anton Lesser. The accompanying booklet is packed with extra information about Chopin’s life and background.

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  Titanic Lives: Migrants and...

  Richard Davenport-Hines

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  Marking the centenary of the Titanic disaster, Titanic Lives is an utterly compelling exploration of the lives on board the most famous ship in history. 
  On the night of 14 April 1912, midway through her maiden voyage, the seemingly unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg, sustaining a 300-feet gash as six compartments were wrenched open to the Atlantic Ocean. In little over two hours, the palatial liner nose-dived to the bottom of the sea. More than 1,500 people perished in the freezing waters. But who were they? 
  In Titanic Lives, Richard Davenport-Hines brings to life in fascinating and absorbing detail the stories of the men who built and owned the ship, the crew who serviced her and the passengers of all classes who sailed on her. The Titanic was a floating microcosm of Edwardian society – at the bottom of the ship was third class, filled with economic migrants and political and religious refugees hoping for a better life in the New World. Above them were hundreds of second-class passengers buoyed up by their prosperous respectability. On the upper decks were the hereditary rich and those of inconceivable wealth – American titans of industry such as John Jacob Astor IV, who was found with $4000 in sodden notes in his pockets. In this epic, sweeping history we are introduced to this broad cast of characters, from every class and every continent, as we follow their lives on board the ship through to the supreme dramatic climax of the disaster itself. 
  Published to coincide with the centenary of the sinking, Titanic Lives is an impeccably researched and utterly riveting history which re-creates the complexities, disparities and tensions of life one hundred years ago. 
  Davenport-Hines best-selling Titanic Lives is a top-notch biography that delves into the lives of the Titanic's passengers. It's an autobiography of the ship and its people, painting a vivid picture of the Edwardian society. 
  For fans of Oliver Soden (Jeoffry), and Richard Bassett (Last Days in Old Europe).

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  Delight

  J. B. Priestley

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  ‘An exquisitely-written, generous, funny, thoughtful book about the everyday joys of being alive. I love it.’ Dolly Alderton 
  ‘J. B. Priestley is one of our literary icons of the 20th Century and it is time that we all became re-acquainted with his genius.’ Dame Judi Dench 
  ‘My apology, my little bit of penitence, for having grumbled so much, for having darkened the breakfast table, almost ruined the lunch, nearly silence the dinner party, for all the fretting and chafing, grousing and croaking, for the old glum look and the thrust-out lower lip. So my long-suffering kinsfolk, my patient friends, may a glimmer of that delight which has so often possessed me, but perhaps too frequently in secret, now reach you from these pages.’ 
  There are times when there doesn’t seem much to smile about. And for those times, there is this book. J. B Priestley’s 1949 classic teaches us that joy may be found in even the simplest things, and that we all have the capacity to appreciate them. 
  Delight comprises a series of short essays, all focussing on a single simple pleasure, from reading detective stories in bed to smoking a pipe in the bath; from ‘Cosy planning’ to the earliest summer mornings; and from mineral water in the bedrooms of foreign hotels to the smell of bacon in the morning. 
  Combining poignant memories of his childhood with glimpses of his interior world, panoramas of life abroad with thoughts about writing, music, theatre – some strictly personal, some universal –this highly readable book bursts with humour and literary flare on every page. 
  In his autobiography, Priestley takes us on a travel through his life, sharing collections of moments that brought him happiness. This non-fiction memoirs book is a top pick for anyone seeking growth. 
  For fans of Rory Stewart (Politics On the Edge), Marion Turner (The Wife of Bath), Felicity Cloake (Red Sauce Brown Sauce), and Ross Gay (The Book of Delights). 
  HarperCollins 2023

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  The Ordeal of Mark Twain

  Van Wyck Brooks

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  This book, published in 1920, analyzes the literary progression of Samuel Clemens and his shortcomings (which are debatable). Brooks attributes Clemens' increasing sense of pessimism to the repression of his creative spirit due largely to his mother and his wife. (Summary by Wikipedia and Lucretia B.).

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