Cheryl Truman on books

Here we go, the first round of suggestions to break my book drought.

From Nancy Perry:

“Cheryl, have you tried nonfiction?” (In fact, I have, and am very fond of any book by Erik Larson, given the number of times I’ve tried to press Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History into the hands of strangers, and sometimes family members as well. Larson’s account of the 1900 Galveston hurricane is so richly observed that it could serve as an example of how to write nonfiction that reads even better than fiction. The Devil in the White City is similarly engrossing, because it will surely drive you to do more research on the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. … And about The Monster of Florence, I have not yet read it, but did see a documentary on the subject featuring Preston and contributing author Mario Spezi, a crime reporter, on MSNBC. The “monster” is like an Italian melding of the fictional Hannibal Lecter and the real-life Son of Sam.)

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba … and then lost it to the revolution, by T.J. English

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (essays)

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson (about the architecto of the Chicago World’s Fair and the serial killer who prospered near the far at the same time)

The Night of the Gun: A reporter investigates the darkest story of his life, by David Carr (about his drug addiction)

The Monster of Florence, by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi

Ladies & Gentlemen of the Jury: The Greatest Closing Arguments in Modern Law, by Michael S. Lief and H. Mitchell Caldwell