I only began this reading list in the summer of 2009... but better late than never Yes, I sometimes read multiple books at the same time.

"ENOLA GAY" by Gordon Thomas and Max M. Witts (07 June 2009) < the story of the crew that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima >

"THE ETERNAL DARKNESS" by Robert Ballard (10 June 2009) < Geologist who discovered the Titanic recounts the history of deep sea exploration >

"HOW NOT TO DIE" by Dr G, Medical Examiner (Dr Jan Garavaglia) (11 June 2009)

"COLUMBINE" by Dave Cullen (14 June 2009) <chilling summary of the Columbine shooting that introduced me to previously unknown facts>

"THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH" by Norton Juster (15 June 2009) <read this one again, one of my favorites>

"ASSASSINATION VACATION" by Sarah Vowell (21 June 2009) <a reporter visits the graves of assassinated presidents and sometimes the sites where they died... Heard about this one on NPR, has a few errors where Robert Lincoln is concerned>

"BILL W." by Robert Thomsen (24 June 2009) <The story of Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous>

"AMERICAN LION : ANDREW JACKSON IN THE WHITE HOUSE" by Jon Meacham (06 July 2009)

"POLK : THE MAN WHO TRANSFORMED THE PRESIDENCY AND AMERICA" by Walter Borneman (11 July 2009)

"AROUND THE WORLD WITH LBJ : MY WILD RIDE AS AIR FORCE ONE PILOT, WHITE HOUSE AIDE AND PERSONAL CONFIDANT" by Brig. General James Cross (11 July 2009) <President Lyndon B Johnson>

"BONES OF BETRAYAL" by Jefferson Bass < Jon Jefferson & UTK's Dr Bill Bass > (14 July 2009) <I prefer the non-fiction of Dr Bass>

"IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON - A CHALLENGING JOURNEY TO TRANQUILITY, 1965 - 1969" by Francis French and Colin Burgess (20 July 2009, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonlanding)

"METHLAND- THE DEATH AND LIFE OF AN AMERICAN SMALL TOWN" by Nick Reding (22 July 2009)

"TOWER STORIES : THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SEPTEMBER 11th" edited by Damon DiMarco (27 July 2009)

"MISSION : AN AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN'S VOYAGE TO SPACE" by Bill Nelson (now Senator from Florida) (08 September 2009) <the last mission prior to the Challenger break up>

"HIGH ADVENTURE" by Sir Edmund Hillary (06 October 2009) <climbing Mt Everest>

"ANDREW JOHNSON : A BIOGRAPHY" by Hans L. Trefousse (20 October 2009) <President A Johnson>

"THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE : A FIRST DAUGHTER SHARES THE HISTORY AND SECRETS OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS HOME" by Margaret Truman (daughter of President Harry Truman) (01 November 2009)

"ANDREW JOHNSON : PLEBEIAN AND PATRIOT" by Robert W. Winston (28 November 2009) <President A. Johnson>

"HOMESTEADING SPACE : THE SKYLAB STORY" by D. Hitt, O. Garriott and J Kerwin (10 February 2010) <the story of the first US space station>

"THE MAKING OF AN EX-ASTRONAUT" by Brian O'Leary (07 March 2010) <chosen to be a scientist astronaut, he decides to give it up>

"THE GREAT MORTALITY : AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF THE BLACK DEATH, THE MOST DEVASTATING PLAGUE OF ALL TIME" by John Kelly (29 April 2010)

"MY DREAM OF STARS : FROM DAUGHTER OF IRAN TO SPACE PIONEER" by Anousheh Ansari (30 April 2010) <I found this an uplifting and inspiring story>

"NIXONLAND : THE RISE OF A PRESIDENT AND THE FRACTURING OF AMERICA" by Rick Perlstein (06 June 2010)

"GARBAGE LAND : ON THE SECRET TRAIL OF TRASH" by Elizabeth Royte (27 June 2010) <I have never been able to look at trash in the same way again>

"A PURITAN IN BABYLON : THE STORY OF CALVIN COOLIDGE" by William Allen White (21 August 2010) <President "Silent Cal" Coolidge... his hands-off policy helped create the depression blamed on poor geologist President Herbert Hoover>

"COLUMBIA : FINAL VOYAGE - THE LAST FLIGHT OF NASA'S FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE" by Philip Chien (30 September 2010)

"AND TYLER TOO : A BIOGRAPHY OF (President) JOHN AND JULIA GARDINER TYLER" by Robert Seager II (13 October 2010)

"PRESIDENT JAMES BUCHANAN" by Philip Shriver Klein (20 November 2010) <I actually found President Buchanan an interesting fellow>

"DECISION POINTS" By President George W. Bush (28 November 2010)

"MILLARD FILLMORE : A BIOGRAPHY OF A PRESIDENT" by Robert Rayback (15 December 2010) <there's a reason you don't know much about Fillmore... he was a boring fellow>

"MARTIN VAN BUREN : THE ROMANTIC AGE OF AMERICAN POLITICS" by John Niven (13 January 2011)

"WINTER WORLD : THE INGENUITY OF ANIMAL SURVIVAL" by Bernd Heinrich (15 February 2011) <this was one cool book - a great read for biology, ecology and animal behavior>

"THE THIRD REICH AT WAR" by Richard J. Evans (22 February 2011)

"RAWHIDE DOWN : THE NEAR ASSASSINATION OF RONALD REAGAN" by Del Quentin Wilbur (16 March 2011) <hard to believe that it has been 30 years since President Reagan was shot... I remember the day well>

"WASHINGTON : A LIFE" by Ron Chernow (18 May 2011) <a veritable tome with 817 pages but very little explaining his presidency>

"OLD TIPPECANOE - WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON AND HIS TIME" by Freeman Cleaves (03 June 2011)

"RAMESSES - EGYPT'S GREATEST PHARAOH" by Joyce Tyldesley (04 June 2011) <Ramesses II>

"FLIPPED" by Wendelin Van Draanen (22 July 2011) <one of the books on the summer reading list of incoming freshmen>

"INSIDE 9-11: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED" by the editors and writers of Der Spiegel magazine (04 September 2011) <read this one again, book is from 2002>

"FALLING TO EARTH- AN APOLLO 15 ASTRONAUT'S JOURNEY" by Al Worden and Francis French (11 September 2011)

"THE WORLD WITHOUT US" by Alan Weisman (25 September 2011) <how the ecosystems would recover or disappear if humans simply ceased to exist>

"DREAM WALKER: A JOURNEY OF ACHIEVEMENT AND INSPIRATION" by Spacewalker Dr. Bernard A. Harris,, Jr. (27 September 2011) <one of the most disjointed, repetitious, cliché-ridden books that I have read in years... the words "venture capitalist" now make me shudder... I rarely throw a book away but I am saving anyone else the suffering when I trash this one>

"THE LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON" by Robert V. Remini (10 October 2011) <the one volume condensation of the author's larger work>

"JAMES K. POLK, JACKSONIAN: 1795-1843" by Charles Sellers (03 November 2011) <volume one of Sellers biography of President Polk>

"JAMES K. POLK, CONTINENTALIST: 1843-1846" by Charles Sellers (26 November 2011) <volume two of Sellers biography of President Polk>

"FREDDY: A LOVE STORY" by Ray Oliver (01 December 2011)

"THE KENNEDY DETAIL: JFK'S SECRET SERVICE AGENTS BREAK THEIR SILENCE" by Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin (15 December 2011)

"PRESIDENT KENNEDY: PROFILE OF POWER" by Richard Reeves (29 December 2011)

"EISENHOWER: THE PRESIDENT" by Stephen Ambrose <Volume 2 of 2: 1952-1969> (10 March 2012)

"THE FINAL DAYS" by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (31 March 2012) <The Watergate scandal brings President Nixon to his decision to resign>

"PRESIDENT NIXON- ALONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE" by Richard Reeves (27 May 2012)

"MANHUNT: THE TEN YEAR SEARCH FOR BIN LADEN FROM 9/11 TO ABBOTTABAD"by Peter Bergen (30 May 2012) <a good, quick read... I would have had real problems making the call based on the INTEL described in this well reviewed book>

"TEMPLES, TOMBS AND HEIROGLYPHS: A POPULAR HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT" by Barbara Mertz (01 July 2012) <An easy read but too much history to squeeze into only 307 pages>

"CONFRONT AND CONCEAL: OBAMA'S SECRET WARS AND SURPRISING USE OF AMERICAN POWER" by David E. Sanger (16 July 2012) <Interesting book detailing the use of drones and cyber attacks while fleshing out the author's "Obama Doctrine">

"SUMMER WORLD- A SEASON OF BOUNTY" by Bernd Heinrich (28 July 2012) <a good read but it just can't compare to the mastery of the author's previous "WINTER WORLD">

"SOUL OF A TEACHER" By Dr. Whitey Hitchcock (27 December 2012) < good read about what makes a good teacher "tick"... my favorite Dr H quote- "we show our values by how we spend our time and money" >

"AN INVISIBLE THREAD: The true story of an 11 year old panhandler, a busy sales executive, and an unlikely meeting with destiny" by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski ( 28 December 2012 ) < The Blind Side without sports... heard about this one on NPR... a good, quick read that served as a reminder that I never really know what the home lives of my students are or are not >

"THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION TAPES- The White House conversations of Lyndon B. Johnson regarding the assassination, the Warren Commission, and the aftermath" by Max Holland (20 January 2013) < I saw this author interviewed on CSPAN covering the 49th anniversary of the assassination so I ordered his book... a good read... the best part is the summative history (the backstory of the LBJ Presidency) between the transcripts... >

"KILLER ON THE ROAD- Violence and the American Interstate" by Ginger Strand (04 March 2013) < Saw this reviewed in American History Magazine- it relates mobility to murders and placement of the interstate system through lower income parts of cities... a good "true crime" sociological read >

"RED SCARF GIRL- A MEMOIR OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION" by Ji-Li Jang (11 June 2013)

"FOOTPRINTS IN THE DUST- THE EPIC VOYAGES OF APOLLO, 1969-1975" Edited by Colin Burgess (12 June 2013)

"THE CIRCUS FIRE- A TRUE STORY" by Stewart O'Nan (14 July 2013) < Watching Nik Wallenda cross a small feeder canyon of the Grand Canyon reminded me that his grandfather survived the 1944 Hartford, CT circus tent fire so I re-read this account >

"A THOUSAND DAYS- JOHN F. KENNEDY IN THE WHITE HOUSE", VOLUME ONE by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (08 August 2013) < Volume 1 of 2 for the 50th anniversary of the death of the President >

"A THOUSAND DAYS- JOHN F. KENNEDY IN THE WHITE HOUSE", VOLUME TWO by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (14 October 2013) < Volume 2 of 2 for the 50th anniversary of the death of the President >

"THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS" by Rebecca Skloot (17 October 2013) < Doctors took her cells without her consent in 1951 shortly before her death and those cells are now used world-wide in research living on as the HeLa line of cells... medical revolutions and millions of dollars resulted... the essential questions- Do you own your cells? Do you own your DNA? >

"DAY OF INFAMY" by Walter Lord (18 December 2013) < Began this account of 12/7/1941 on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor >

"FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL- LIFE AND DEATH IN A STORM-RAVAGED HOSPITAL" by Sheri Fink (27 December 2013) < An accounting of a post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans hospital where patients were given terminal end-of-life care due to conditions >

"NOTHING TO ENVY: ORDINARY LIVES IN NORTH KOREA" by Barbara Demick (01 January 2013) < Heard this reviewed on NPR a couple of years ago and added it to my list to read- this account reminded me of RED SCARF GIRL but was much more chilling in that starvation killed so many... if you only read one chapter, I suggest chapter 9 - The Good Die First >

"GERALD FORD AND THE CHALLENGES OF THE 1970s" by Yanek Mieczowski (06 January 2014) < An in-depth accounting of the policies of the 895 day term of President Ford... I never realized how far-reaching his energy policy was... we still have "right on red", a strategic petroleum reserve and appliance labeling for energy efficiency along with the long-term effects of deregulation of natural gas/petroleum... he was a short-term president for the long-term >

"THE MEMOIRS OF RICHARD NIXON" (VOLUME ONE, 1913 - 1971) by President Richard M. Nixon (17 May 2014)

"IN COLD BLOOD" by Truman Capote (21 June 2014)

"DARK INVASION - 1915: GERMANY'S SECRET WAR AND THE HUNT FOR THE FIRST TERRORIST CELL IN AMERICA" by Howard Blum (28 June 2014) < Heard the author interviewed on NPR and ordered this book the same day... fascinating look into how Germany thwarted America's attempt to remain isolated and neutral despite selling the Allied Powers munitions, etc. that were used against Germany... secret groups bombed the interior of the US Capital, attempted to assassinate JP Morgan, created acid time-bombs to set fire to ships at sea and even launched successful biological attacks using Anthrax... I completed this book on the 100th anniversary of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand which sparked the fire that ignited the "Great War" >

"A LUCKY CHILD - A MEMOIR OF SURVIVING AUSCHWITZ AS A YOUNG BOY" by Thomas Buergenthal (28 June 2014)

"AMERICAN DREAMS- THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1945" by H.W. Brands (11 July 2014) < An excellent survey of the US from the end of WWII... My favorite quote attributed to President DD Eisenhower- "There must be respect for the Constitution- which means the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution- or we shall have chaos." >

"BOLD THEY RISE- THE SPACE SHUTTLE YEARS, 1972-1986" by David Hitt and Heather R. Smith (16 July 2014) < Hoot's Law- "No matter how bad things get, you can always make them worse." Astronaut Hoot Gibson >

"DENALI'S HOWL: THE DEADLIEST CLIMBING DISASTER ON AMERICA'S WILDEST PEAK" by Andy Hall ( 22 July 2014 ) < An account of a 1967 attempt to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley in which seven members of the party die >

"NIGHT" by Elie Wiesel (31 August 2014) < A chilling account of teenage life in the concentration camps, completed on the eve of the 75th anniversary of Germany's invasion of Poland >

"THE SHADOW OF BLOOMING GROVE- WARREN G. HARDING AND HIS TIMES" by Francis Russell (05 October 2014) < I began reading this in June when the legal restriction elapsed and love letters Harding had written to one of his mistresses were finally released... I agree with Harding's opinion of his being elected president- "I am not fit for this office and should never have been here." President Hoover said of Harding that "he had been betrayed by a few of the men whom he had trusted... it was later proved in the courts of the land that these men had betrayed not only the friendship and trust of their staunch and loyal friend but they had betrayed their country. That was the tragedy of the life of Warren Harding." With the release of letters this summer, the scandals still continue to bury Harding's reputation. >

"41: A PORTRAIT OF MY FATHER" by President George W. Bush (29 December 2014) < An intimate biography of President George Herbert Walker Bush >

"THE MEMOIRS OF RICHARD NIXON" (VOLUME TWO, 1972 - 1974) by President Richard M. Nixon (28 February 2015)

"WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT- A CONSERVATIVE'S CONCEPTION OF THE PRESIDENCY" by Donald F. Anderson (15 March 2015)

"THE CHIMP AND THE RIVER: HOW AIDS EMERGED FROM AN AFRICAN FOREST" by David Quammen (19 March 2015) < QUOTES OF NOTE: (a) "You know you're in the boonies when the galaxy itself (the Milky Way) is visible downtown." (b) "AIDS began with a spillover (zoonosis transmitted from one species to another) from one chimp to one human... near (the) southeastern wedge of Cameroon around 1908... from there it grew, slowly but inexorably, from a spillover to an outbreak to a pandemic." (c) "Adamant resistance to vaccination by some activists in the present era is misguided, unjustified by scientific data, and costly to public health." I got my "science on" with this book- a narrative detailing how AIDS isn't a new disease- it arose around the turn of the last century when a hunter carved up a chimp for "bush meat" and became infected... the infection slowly descended downriver over a half a century and then reached highly populated towns... from there it became history. >

"GULP - ADVENTURES ON THE ALIMENTARY CANAL" by Mary Roach ( 20 March 2015) < The science behind eating, digestion and nutrition... a neat-o book that explains so many things... (a) digestive enzymes are used to clean clothes (b) rabbits eat their feces because the colon produces vitamins and the "substance" needs sent back through the small intestine to be absorbed (c) Elvis died of complications of a megacolon that explained his weight fluctuations and appearance in the mid-late 1970s (d) flatulence is mostly hydrogen and methane and is absorbed into the blood stream and exhaled as well as being "tooted" (e) For every cell in your body, there are 9 or 10 bacterial cells within you and on you >

"ESCAPE FROM CAMP 14: ONE MAN'S REMARKABLE ODESSEY FROM NORTH KOREA TO FREEDOM IN THE WEST" by Blaine Harden (03 April 2015)

"UNLIKELY WARRIOR: A JEWISH SOLDIER IN HITLER'S ARMY" by Georg Rauch (24 May 2015) < Picked this interesting read up at the CMS book fair... money well spent >

"HOW THEY CHOKED- FAILURES, FLOPS, AND FLAWS OF THE AWFULLY FAMOUS" by Georgia Bragg (28 May 2015) < Picked this one up at the CMS book fair. This book is wonderful in explaining that sometimes people (and students) must fail at something (or an assignment) in order to really learn. Favorite quotes: "There are so many ways to fail that it's hard to pick which one is right for you. The possibilities are limitless, and the world is your failure playground. You can fail in ways that you won't even be able to predict."... "So fail the best you can: try something new, be brave, make mistakes. Just don't hurt anyone, don't get greedy, and don't act like you're perfect, because you're not." >

"GO SET A WATCHMAN" by Harper Lee (18 July 2015) < Donated to CMS Library >

"ONE MAN AGAINST THE WORLD- THE TRAGEDY OF RICHARD NIXON" by Tim Weiner (01 OCT 2015)

"WHERE ARE THEY BURIED? HOW DID THEY DIE?" by Tod Benoit (17 NOV 2015)

JANUARY 1973: WATERGATE, ROE v. WADE, VIETNAM AND THE MONTH THAT CHANGED AMERICA FOREVER" by James Robenalt (18 NOV 2015)

"WICKED BUGS: THE LOUSE THAT CONQUERED NAPOLEON'S ARMY AND OTHER DIABOLICAL INSECTS" by Amy Stewart (19 NOV 2015)

"MIDDLE SCHOOL- THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE" by James Patterson (19 NOV 2015) < CMS bookfair purchase, I just couldn't resist the title >

"DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES - THE STRANGE AND FASCINATING CASES OF A FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST" by William R Maples, Ph.D (21 DEC 2015)

"WORKING STIFF - TWO YEARS, 262 BODIES, AND THE MAKING OF A MEDICAL EXAMINER" by Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell (27 DEC 2015) < The most chilling portion of this book recounts the identification of remains from the WTC 9/11 attacks >

"THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT AND OTHER CLINICAL TALES" by Oliver Sacks (29 DEC 2015) < This has always been on my "to read" list but was bumped to the top due to the death of Dr Sacks in 2015... the inspiration for one of my favorite movies- Awakenings (1990) >

"SILENT WITNESSES - THE OFTEN GRUESOME BUT ALWAYS FASCINATIING HISTORY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE" by Nigel McCrery (29 DEC 2015) < Favorite quotes from this book : "Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." - Margaret Mead, anthropologist, 1901 - 1978 and "A poison in a small dose is a medicine, and a medicine in a large dose is a poison."- Alfred Swaine Taylor, toxicologist, 1806 - 1880 >

"THE DISAPPEARING SPOON AND OTHER TRUE TALES OF MADNESS, LOVE, AND THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS" by Sam Kean (01 JAN 2016) < "As we know, 90 percent of particles in the universe are hydrogen, and the other 10 percent are Helium. Everything else, including six million billion billion kilos of earth, is a cosmic rounding error." >

"DEADLY COMPANIONS - HOW MICROBES SHAPED OUR HISTORY" by Dorothy H. Crawford (03 JAN 2016) < QUOTES OF NOTE: (a) "...microbes seem to be overshadowed by larger forms of life, but they are still by far the most abundant on the planet, constituting some twenty-five times the total biomass of all animal life. There are over a million different types, mostly harmless environmental microbes. They are in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat- and when we die they set about deconstructing us." (b) "...by causing epidemics that killed significant numbers of our predecessors they helped to shape our history." (c) "None of these tiny life forms have brains, so despite the fact that they often appear ingenious and manipulative, they have no facilities to think or plan. The human characteristics often attributed to them actually come about by their ability to adapt rapidly to changing situations." (d) "We each house... microbes... outnumbering our own body cells y ten to one." (e) "Given ideal conditions a single bacterium* could produce a colony weighing more than the Earth in just three days, but fortunately conditions would be far from ideal long before that!" (f) "Whereas only 1 - 2 percent of all deaths in the West are caused by microbes, this figure rises to over 50 percent in the poorest nations of the world." * Slowest doubles 14 days, fastest in 13 minutes >

"FIVE DAYS IN NOVEMBER" by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin (05 JAN 2016) < A first-hand account of the days surrounding 22 November 1963 by the "agent on the car" when President Kennedy was killed >

"THE JOB - TRUE TALES FROM THE LIFE OF A NEW YORK CITY COP" by Steve Osborne (21 JAN 2016) < I heard the author interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air" and instantly wanted to read this book. This quote is influenced by me living in a bad neighborhood- it "rings true" to me: "During the day the world has some rules; people go to work, kids go to school, and stores open for business. But when it gets dark, and the normal people pull down their shades, and barricade themselves in for the night, the rules go out the window- and the bad guys get bolder. They're like vampires, and for some reason the lack of sunlight seems to energize them." This quote reminded me of what I tell those that despise law enforcement... that these professionals tend to have an altered view of society since they frequently only interact with lawbreakers... "After being a cop for a few years, you learn to dislike people equally." >

"A THOUSAND NAKED STRANGERS: A PARAMEDIC'S WILD RIDE TO THE EDGE AND BACK" by Kevin Hazzard (29 JAN 2016) < I heard the author interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air" and instantly wanted to read this autobiography about an EMT then Paramedic in downtown Atlanta. Quotes: "... as always, lessons are drawn from mistakes, not victories."; "It's the ultimate lesson in humility. We're nothing but meat, and if circumstances allow, we'll end up no different than a possum lying by the roadside."; "Disturbing as it may be, the raw truth is that often enough, the people showing up to your medical emergency do so because this was the only respectable job they could get with a GED and a clean driving record." >

"NO EASY DAY: THE FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF THE MISSION THAT KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN & THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A NAVY SEAL" by Mark Owen (16 FEB 2016) < "Don't just live, but live for a purpose bigger than yourself. Be an asset to your family, community, and country." >

"A MOTHER'S RECKONING- LIVING IN THE AFTERMATH OF TRAGEDY" by Sue Klebold ( 24 FEB 2016) < Mother of Columbine HS shooter Dylan has written a gut-wrenching exploration of her guilt for not catching the signs. QUOTES OF NOTE: (a) "The ultimate message of this book is terrifying: you may not know your children, and, worse yet, your children may be unknowable to you." (b) "Most parents think they know their children better than they do; children who don't want to be known can keep their inner lives very private." (c) "Like all mythologies, this belief that Dylan was a monster served a deeper purpose: people needed to believe they would recognize evil in their midst. Monsters are unmistakable; you would know a monster if you saw one, wouldn't you?" (d) "According to the CDC, suicide if the third leading cause of death among people aged 10-14, and the second among people aged 15-34." (e) "A 2013 study looked at almost 6,500 teens. One in eight had contemplated suicide, and one in twenty-five had attempted it, yet only half of them were in treatment." (f) "... 25 percent of the thirty-four teenage shooters... participated in pairs." "... these deadly dyads mean it's absolutely critical for parents to pay attention to the dynamics between kids and their friends." (g) "An estimated one in five children and adolescents has a diagnosable mental health condition. Only 20 percent of those kids are identified." (h) "More commonly, though, a disturbed teenager will be unpleasant: aggressive, belligerent, obnoxious, irritable, hostile, lazy, whiny, untrustworthy, sometimes with poor personal hygiene." (i) "Sometimes a kid messing up at school or coming at you with a bad attitude about helping at home isn't a sign they need to be criticized and corrected, but a signal that they need help." >

"13 SOLDIERS- A PERSONAL HISTORY OF AMERICANS AT WAR" by John McCain and Mark Salter (29 FEB 2016) < "It is disrespectful to sentimentalize war, to make it seem glorious and romantic. When we do, we devalue the sacrifices made in it. War is wretched beyond description. Only a fool sentimentalizes its cruel realities. When nations seek to resolve their differences by force of arms, a million tragedies ensue. The lives of a nation's best patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die... Whatever gains are secured, it is mostly loss that veterans remember. And they remember it until the end of their days." >

"NO SUMMIT OUT OF SIGHT - THE TRUE STORY OF THE YOUNGEST PERSON TO CLIMB THE SEVEN SUMMITS" by Jordan Romero with Linda LeBlanc (27 May 2016)

"FIVE PRESIDENTS - MY EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY WITH EISENHOWER, KENNEDY, JOHNSON, NIXON, AND FORD" by Clint Hill with Lisa McCubbin (29 May 2016)

"GHOSTS IN THE FOG - THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALASKA'S WWII INVASION" by Samantha Seiple (16 June 2016) < Japan's invasion and occupation of the Aleutian Islands during World War II >

"THE BITCHY WAITER - TALES, TIPS AND TRIALS FROM A LIFE IN FOOD SERVICES" by Darron Cardosa (16 June 2016) < Having read the author's blog for years and remembering my own multi-year stint at Ryan's Family Steakhouse #337 in Cookeville, I looked forward to the publication of this book.... I was not disappointed. This book gave me the vocabulary to explain my 4 PM to 1 AM Friday night shifts back to back with my 8AM to 10 PM Saturday shift- "clopening- when you close the restaurant one night and open it the next morning". The author agrees with me that if everyone worked customer service that the world would be a better place... full of "please" and "thank you" with the realization that "when you arrive at a restaurant and you're in a hurry, it's not your server's problem." Seriously folks, if you can't afford to tip fifteen to twenty percent, just eat at home. >

"THE SUPREME COURT" by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (16 June 2016) < I began reading this book with the death of Justice Scalia... it is a well-written manual about the workings of the Court with some important cases thrown in... critical to the environment of today are such quotes as "it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is... { Marbury v. Madison, 1803}. Concerning the right of a president to name nominees to the court, this book includes mentions of President Van Buren nominating a justice with just a week left in his term to President Andrew Johnson being prevented from naming any justices due to the passing of a law by congress... Rehnquist states that "when a vacancy occurs on the Court, it is entirely appropriate that the vacancy be filled by the president..." >

"THROUGH THE YEAR WITH JIMMY CARTER - 366 DAILY MEDITATIONS FROM THE 39TH PRESIDENT" by Jimmy Carter with Steve Halliday (16 June 2016) < A deeply religious man, President Carter has offered one page discussing a scripture quote for the 366 days present in a leap year. Two highlighters gave their life as I read this book... general quotes include "the dehumanizing of someone by the use of a pejorative word is a sinful thing." "People make innocent decisions, often reaching out to new people, and these choices sometimes change their lives." "Most of our guidance tends to come in the form of doors opened or closed." >

"1940: FDR, WILLKIE, LINDBERGH, HITLER- THE ELECTION AMID THE STORM" by Susan Dunn (25 June 2016) < I read this in an election year purposely to remind myself that politics hasn't changed much... lies and more lies all for votes... quotes: "One receives a great deal of advice... most of it is free and it is worth just that." - W Willkie; "Let us not, therefore, fall into the partisan error of opposing thing just for the sake of opposition. Ours must not be an opposition against- it must be an opposition for." - W. Willkie, Failed Republican candidate for President in 1940 after losing to FDR >

"FLASHBACKS ON RETURNING TO VIETNAM" by Morley Safer (02 July 2016) < I ordered this book when I heard the announcement of his death... famous for the CBS News report on Cam Ne in August of 1965... quotes include "...something goes wrong at a certain age. You stop seeing things as clearly at forty as you did at twenty-one." - Dr. Duong Quynh Hoa; "I think any bullet, from whoever it comes, is shot at the mother first, not at the son who is killed." - Van Le; "Tomorrow tends to jump up and bite you in the ass. Yesterday is a good dog." - M. Safer >

"THE BERLIN CANDY BOMBER" by Gail Halvorsen (03 July 2016) < "Uncle Wiggly Wings" writes his memoir as a pilot in the Berlin Airlift... the airlift supplied Berlin when the Russians shut off ground routes to the city in 1948-1949... along with flour, fuel and other necessities, Halvorsen began dropping candy to the besieged children... the program eventually spread like a wildfire. Quote- "Little decisions put your footsteps on the path that will lead you to your final destination, good or bad." The candy deliveries began with only two sticks of chewing gum and eventually delivered over 23 tons of candy to the blockaded children of Berlin. >

"I AM MALALA, THE GIRL WHO STOOD UP FOR EDUCATION AND WAS SHOT BY THE TALIBAN" by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb (16 July 2016) < After seeing the eighth graders reading and enjoying this book I added it to my list... excellent read! Memorable quotes include her thoughts on Pakistani madrasas where the boys"... learn that there is no such thing as science or literature, that dinosaurs never existed and man never went to the moon." Her father's advice of "don't accept good things from bad people." Her thoughts on "Westernized" education being banned- "Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human." I also have to include the lines that irritated me and were vivid reminders of the inequality of the sexes in some societies- "When I was born, people in our village commiserated with my mother and nobody congratulated my father. For most Pashtuns it's a gloomy day when a daughter is born." >

"HILLBILLY ELEGY: A MEMOIR OF A FAMILY AND CULTURE IN CRISIS" by J.D. Vance (05 SEP 2016)

"JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND THE UNION" by Samuel Flagg Bemis (13 OCT 2016) < The President that would not retire... Adams devoted his life to public service serving as a US Senator, US Secretary of State, the 6th President and then a member of the House of Representatives... After a public life serving his country starting in 1794, he died at his post in the House of Representatives in 1848... he was an opinionated politician that worked without ceasing for his country and the abolition of slavery. >

"UNDER ONE ROOF - LESSONS I LEARNED FROM A TOUGH OLD WOMAN IN A LITTLE OLD HOUSE" by Barry Martin with Philip Lerman (14 OCT 2016) < The story of the woman that lived in the house that inspired the Disney/Pixar movie UP... surrounded by a huge shopping mall she just didn't want to move. >

"SILENT SPRING" by Rachel Carson (15 OCT 2016) < I haven't read this since my college days and wanted to re-read it to see if it was as "big of a deal" as I thought it was then... it was a big deal in the pre-EPA days and still a good read with hindsight... tweak one thing in nature and something else responds... as Carson writes, "in nature nothing exists alone." >

"THE BURGER COURT AND THE RISE OF THE JUDICIAL RIGHT" by Michael J Graetz and Linda Greenhouse (24 OCT 2016) < The story of how President Nixon's appointments to SCOTUS swung the Court from the liberal leaning Warren Court from 1969 - 1986 setting up the Rehnquist Court that followed. >

"THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY" by Oscar Wilde (30 OCT 2016) < "Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes." "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." >

"GUESTS OF THE AYATOLLAH- THE IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS: THE FIRST BATTLE IN AMERICA'S WAR WITH MILITANT ISLAM" by Mark Bowden (09 DEC 2016) < "The dilemma centered on one of the most basic... questions of democratic society: Which was more important, the individual or the state?" "Iran's hatred of the United States was in part a consequence of heavy-handed, arrogant, and sometimes criminal twentieth-century American foreign policy, but it was also rooted in something that has nothing to do with that. It grew out of anger over the erosion of tradition. The modern Western world does not recognize revelation and divine right as the root of government authority.... The murderous terrorism that has become a fact of modern life is part of the death throes of an ancient way of life." >

"THE STRANGER: BARACK OBAMA IN THE WHITE HOUSE" by Chuck Todd (20 JAN 2017) < "...presidents succeed when the other party cooperates, and many a political strategist has figured out that the best tactic to bring down an initially popular leader of the other party is to simply oppose everything." "... when it comes to Congress, there is no such thing as an offer they can't refuse." "... hope was one thing, change another." >

"MADAM PRESIDENT- THE SECRET PRESIDENCY OF EDITH WILSON" by William Hazelgrove (30 JAN 2017) < An well-written and easy to read account of how the First Lady took over most of the business of the President following Woodrow Wilson's debilitating stroke... from the fall of 1919 to Harding's inauguration March 4, 1921 Woodrow Wilson was pretty much out of the daily picture of being President... all business handled was funneled through his wife Edith. Saw this author interviewed on CSPAN and ordered the book immediately. >

"DOCTOR WHO - THE PLAGUE OF THE CYBERMEN" by Justin Richards (02 February 2017) < A Matt Smith story... "But they're children"... to which the Doctor replies "Aren't we all, deep down? Or maybe not so deep, some of us." >

"DOCTOR WHO - FEAR OF THE DARK" by Trevor Baxendale (10 February 2017) < A Peter Davidson story... "Every dream exists on the precipice of a nightmare. Nowhere else but in the subconscious is the divide between comfort and horror so narrow, and so fragile. It is almost as if a dream is just waiting to be toppled, its hopes dashed, its promises broken." >

"DOCTOR WHO - "ILLEGAL ALIEN" by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry (20 March 2017) < A Sylvester McCoy story... "Evil thrives on neglect. It thrives on ignorance, on apathy, on hypocrisy. It thrives wherever we allow these things to grow unchallenged. It thrives wherever we turn our face away from need. Wherever we close our eyes, evil thrives." - the Doctor >

"DOCTOR WHO - SANDS OF TIME" by Justin Richards ( 08 April 2017 ) < A Peter Davidson story >

"DEAD WAKE - THE LAST CROSSING OF THE LUSITANIA" by Erik Larson (15 APR 2017)

"LEGEND - A HARROWING STORY FROM THE VIETNAM WAR OF ONE GREEN BERET'S HEROIC MISSION TO RESCUE A SPECIAL FORCES TEAM CAUGHT BEHIND ENEMY LINES" by Eric Blehm (19 APR 2017)

"DOCTOR WHO - PLAYERS" by Terrance Dicks (03 May 2017) < A Colin Baker story >

"FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER - A DAUGHTER OF CAMBODIA REMEMBERS" by Loung Ung (11 MAY 2017)

"DOCTOR WHO - BEAUTIFUL CHAOS" by Gary Russell (04 JUNE 2017) < A David Tennant Story >

"DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY - MURDER, MAGIC AND MADNESS AT THE FAIR THAT CHANGED AMERICA" by Eric Larson (02 JULY 2017) < The 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois and Dr H H Holmes, a serial killer that used the fair as bait for his victims >

"THE LAST OF THE PRESIDENT'S MEN" by Bob Woodward (28 OCT 2017)

"13 HOURS - THE INSIDE ACCOUNT OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN BENGHAZI" by Mitchell Zuckoff (01 NOV 2017)

"ENDURANCE - A YEAR IN SPACE, A LIFETIME OF DISCOVERY" by Scott Kelly (20 DEC 2017) < A memoir detailing Kelly's spaceflights, his year in orbit on the ISS and the medical studies and comparisons between himself and his twin brother Mark (also an astronaut). < "We have a unique vantage point here aboard the International Space Station. As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful planet that seems inviting and peaceful. Unfortunately, it is not. These days, we are constantly reminded of the unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can inflict upon one another. Not just with our actions, but with our irresponsible words. We are better than this. We must do better." >

"WHAT HAPPENED" by Hillary Rodham Clinton (23 DEC 2017) < "It's hard to compete against demagoguery when the answers you can offer are all unsatisfying." >

"STAR WARS - THE LABYRINTH OF EVIL" by James Luceno (02 JAN 2018) < "The problem was partly semantic, in that the Jedi Order had seen to it that the dark side of the Force had become equated with evil. But was shade more evil than stark sunlight?" "... search for the thing that didn't seem to be there by analyzing its effects on the world around it." >

"BARBARA BUSH - A MEMOIR" by First Lady Barbara Bush (29 APR 2018)

"I WILL FIND YOU" by Detective Lt. Joe Kenda (09 MAY 2018) < This book is just like his TV show, full of phrases like "She nearly took a one-way ride on a dead-end road." and lots of truth like ""You can't legislate human behavior in a free society" and "Once you put on a badge, everyone begins to look like a criminal" >

"AN ELEPHANT IN THE GARDEN" by Michael Morpurgo (08 JUNE 2018) < Reading for summer school >

"THE GREAT GATSBY" by F Scott Fitzgerald (05 JULY 2018) < "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." "It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment." >

"THE TRUTH ABOUT ANIMALS - STONED SLOTHS, LOVELORN HIPPOS, AND OTHER TALES FROM THE WILD SIDE OF WILDLIFE" by Lucy Cooke (09 JULY 2018) < "We are living in a time of homogenization of our wildlife... thanks to globalization and human population growth there are even more chances for the translocation of wildlife around the world- and their diseases." "... science is not going to save biodiversity; a shift in human behavior is the only thing that is going to save it." >

"SIX YEARS IN THE HANOI HILTON - AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF COURAGE AND SURVIVAL IN VIETNAM" by Amy Shively Hawk (23 JULY 2018) < "Any day you can turn the handle on the door and walk out of a room... is a good day." ~ Captain James Richard Shively, POW 1967 - 1973 >

"THE RESTLESS WAVE - GOOD TIMES, JUST CAUSES, GREAT FIGHTS, AND OTHER APPRECIATIONS" by Senator John McCain (08 SEP 2018) < "Our Constitution and closely divided polity don't allow for winner-take-all governance. You need the opposition's cooperation to get most big things done." "... opinions were formed in restricted information loops as they communicate mostly or exclusively with people who believe the same." "Increasingly, we have our own facts to reinforce our convictions and any empirical evidence that disputes them is branded as 'fake'. That's a social trend that is going to be very hard to turn around given the prevalence in our daily lives of media and communications technologies that enable it." I was also interested to see a reason why the Russians got involved in the 2016 election... anti-Putin protests during his re-election in 2012 that he blamed Secretary of State Clinton for... see pages 273-274. >

"WHO OWNS THE DEAD? THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS OF DEATH AT GROUND ZERO" by Jay D. Aronson (11 SEP 2018) < 2,753 people died in and around the World Trade Center but only 293 bodies were found relatively intact... most were identified through DNA from the over 21,900 bits and pieces collected... some as small as your fingernail. This book goes deep into the battle around redevelopment of the 16 acre WTC complex and the burial of rubble in the Fresh Kills landfill. >

"WHO GOES OUT IN THE MIDDAY SUN? AN ENGLISHMAN'S TREK THROUGH THE AMAZON JUNGLE" by Benedict Allen (27 NOV 2018) < I was inspired to read this account by the news coverage of the murder of an evangelist by native people on a remote island... with that in mind, my favorite written conversation was "Godmen been here,"... "How do you know?"... "Because people not happy." >

"FEAR - TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE" by Bob Woodward (01 DEC 2018)

"WHEELS STOP - THE TRAGEDIES AND TRIUMPHS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM, 1986 - 2011" by Rick Houston (11 DEC 2018) < "The legacy of the Space Shuttle is that it marked the transition from people believing that human beings really didn't belong in space to us viewing ourselves as a space-faring race." "Kids today think that human beings belong in space, that spaceflight is routine. It's not. It is anything but routine, but the human race views itself as no longer confined to one planet." >

"HARRY TRUMAN'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE - THE TRUE STORY OF A GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP" by Matthew Algeo (16 DEC 2018)

"INDIANAPOLIS - THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORST SEA DISASTER IN U.S. NAVAL HISTORY AND THE FIFTY-YEAR FIGHT TO EXONERATE AN INNOCENT MAN" by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic (26 DEC 2018)

"THE SCARLET GOSPELS" by Clive Barker (05 JAN 2019)

"NEVER HOME ALONE - FROM MICROBES TO MILLIPEDES, CAMEL CRICKETS, AND HONEYBEES, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF WHERE WE LIVE" by Rob Dunn (19 JAN 2019) < This book will creep you out... from the bacteria that live inside your shower head in biofilms to the fact that the bacteria on different hands gives breads different tastes... I still have no use for the camel cricket though. Some quotes: "Breathe in. Inhale deeply. With each breath you bring oxygen deep into the alveoli of your lungs, along with hundreds or thousands of species. Sit down. Each place you sit you are surrounded by a floating, leaping, crawling circus of thousands of species. We are never home alone." "We leave a cloud of life everywhere we go. As we wander through our homes, our skin flakes off in a process called desquamation. We all fall apart at a rate of about fifty million flakes a day. Each flake floating through the air has thousands of bacteria living and feeding on it. Riding their skin flake parachutes, these bacteria fall from us like a steady snow." "It is the normal condition of mammals to be covered in a shaggy layer of bacteria..." "Hand washing prevents the spread of pathogens and saves many lives a year, but it doesn't do so by sterilizing your hands. Instead, hand washing appears to remove microbes that have newly arrived, but not yet established on the hands." >

"INFESTED - HOW THE BED BUG INFILTRATED OUR BEDROOMS AND TOOK OVER THE WORLD" by Brooke Borel (23 JAN 2019) < "For my generation to be oblivious of the bed bug, I realized, was as strange as the thought of future children not knowing the cockroach, the ant, or the fly.... that they are back today isn't a fluke. It is a return to normal, an ecological homeostasis." Beaten into retreat by various pesticides including DDT, the bed bug is back and resistant to many pesticides that used to kill it... its survival is an example of natural selection where the traits for pesticide resistance developed quickly because of the rate of reproduction. "... virtually any chemical control method we have devised for insects is eventually destined to become obsolete... insect control can never be static but must be in a dynamic state of constant evolution." >

"DOCTOR WHO - THE WHEEL OF ICE" by Stephen Baxter (01 FEB 2019) < a Patrick Troughton story >

"DARWIN COMES TO TOWN - HOW THE URBAN JUNGLE DRIVES EVOLUTION" by Menno Schilthuizen (21 FEB 2019) < The author takes Darwin to task for not being able to imagine evolution by natural selection taking place "in real time" in a timescale of just years or decades. Some quotes: "...urban ecology is an ecology if fragmentation." "It's time to own up to the fact that human actions are the word's single most influential ecological force." "... nature's ultimate ecosystem engineer: Homo sapiens... has created niches for cohabiting animals and plants... anthropophiles." >

"UNEXAMPLED COURAGE - THE BLINDING OF SGT. ISAAC WOODARD AND THE AWAKENING OF PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN AND JUDGE J. WATIES WARING" by Richard Gergel (22 FEB 2019) < Although I was aware that Truman desegregated the Armed Forces, I was ignorant of all his civil rights work following the treatment of returning soldiers from WWII... "I am going to try to remedy it and it that ends up in my failure to be reelected, that failure will be in a good cause." ~ President Harry Truman. 1948 >

"THE MATTER OF THE HEART - A HISTORY OF THE HEART IN ELEVEN OPERATIONS" by Thomas Morris (22 FEB 2019) < I read this book with rapt attention since I have survived two open-heart surgeries and multiple cardiac procedures. I found it amazing how the surgical techniques that saved me evolved from monkey lungs, ice baths, calf studies and two headed dogs... I know that I will re-read this book many times. >

"SCYTHE" by Neal Shusterman (17 MAR 2019) < This is the book that I see students reading the most in my classroom so I gave it a read. “Therin lies the paradox of the profession,' Faraday said. 'Those who wish to have the job should not have it...and those who would most refuse to kill are the only ones who should.” >

"WHEN DEATH BECOMES LIFE - NOTES FROM A TRANSPLANT SURGEON" by Joshua D. Mezrich, MD (18 MAR 2019) < Heard the author interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air and ordered the book immediately... "Black or white, yellow or brown, gay or straight, genius or moron, rich or poor, American or foreign- the organs look the same and will all function the same." "A couple of months into my training, I killed my first patient." >

"FIRST - SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF THE FIRST WOMAN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE" by Evan Thomas (23 MAR 2019) < "... if you're not curious, you're not smart." "In major cases, she always wanted to weigh carefully the long-term import, the practical impact on the people affected, to be certain of her decision." "As woman achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what woman can do, as women see what woman can do, there will be more woman out there doing things, and we'll all be better off for it." >

"MRS. KENNEDY AND ME" by Clint Hill, Special Agent, United States Secret Service (22 OCT 2019)

"20 YEARS IN THE SECRET SERVICE - MY LIFE WITH FIVE PRESIDENTS" by Rufus W. Youngblood (19 NOV 2019)

"THIS PROMISE OF CHANGE - ONE GIRL'S STORY IN THE FIGHT FOR SCHOOL EQUALITY" by Jo Ann Allen Boyce (12 NOV 2019) < "Bright side, not-so-bright side. If you flip the coin that is Clinton tonight, I think that it will land on its edge." >

"THE D.A. CALLS IT MURDER" by Erle Stanley Gardner (12 DEC 2019)

"JOYLAND" by Stephen King (29 DEC 2019) < "Young women and young men grow up, but old women and old men just grow older and surer they've got the right on their side. Especially if they know scripture." >

"DISLOYAL - A MEMOIR: THE TRUE STORY OF THE FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP" by Michael Cohen (16 SEP 2020) < "In defending the indefensible, you can't resort to reason or facts or good business practices; you can't appeal to conscience or justice or fairness. All that is left is what I resorted to, and what Trump displays so often: rage." >

"TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH - HOW MY FAMILY CREATED THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MAN" by Mary L. Trump (19 SEP 2020)

"RAGE" by Bob Woodward (26 DEC 2020)