“Waiting On” Wednesday: The Millionaire and the Mummies

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pre-publication “can't-wait-to-read” selection is:

The Millionaire and the Mummies: Theodore Davis's Gilded Age in Egypt by John M. Adams

Goodreads synopsis:
Egypt, The Valley of the Kings, 1905: An American robber baron peers through the hole he has cut in an ancient tomb wall and discovers the richest trove of golden treasure ever seen in Egypt.

At the start of the twentieth century, Theodore Davis was the most famous archaeologist in the world; his career turned tomb-robbing and treasure-hunting into a science. Using six of Davis's most important discoveries--from the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut's sarcophagus to the exquisite shabti statuettes looted from the Egyptian Museum not too long ago--as a lens around which to focus his quintessentially American rags-to-riches tale, Adams chronicles the dizzying rise of a poor country preacher's son who, through corruption and fraud, amassed tremendous wealth in Gilded Age New York and then atoned for his ruthless career by inventing new standards for systematic excavation. Davis found a record eighteen tombs in the Valley and, breaking with custom, gave all the spoils of his discoveries to museums. A confederate of Boss Tweed, friend of Teddy Roosevelt, and rival of J. P. Morgan, the colorful "American Lord Carnarvon" shared his Newport mansion with his Rembrandts, his wife, and his mistress. The only reason Davis has been forgotten by history to a large extent is probably the fact that he stopped just short of King Tutankhamen's tomb, the discovery of which propelled Howard Carter (Davis's erstwhile employee) to worldwide fame just a few short years later.

Drawing on rare and never-before-published archival material, The Millionaire and the Mummies, the first biography of Theodore Davis ever written rehabilitates a tarnished image through a thrilling tale of crime and adventure, filled with larger-than-life characters, unimaginable treasures, and exotic settings.

Publishing June 25, 2013 by St. Martin's Press.

Book Review: My Life as Laura: How I Searched for Laura Ingalls Wilder and Found Myself by Kelly Kathleen Ferguson

I wanted to love this book. I love Laura Ingalls Wilder and I read it just as I was leaving to go on a trip during which I'd go to two Laura houses - her and Almanzo's home in Mansfield, MO where she wrote all the books, and THE Little House on the Prairie (reproduction) near Independence, KS. But while it was sweet and hopeful and the height of Laura-fandom, in the end it was a little disappointing. It just wasn't special enough.

Kelly went to a good college and graduate school, but ended up waiting tables for years in her college town without any prospects, either career-wise or relationship-wise. And so she decides to move to Montana. And she decides to trace the path of Laura Ingalls Wilder in her immortal books, The Little House Series. And she decides to do this while wearing a "prairie dress" which she buys at the last minute so it's short-sleeved, with a hot-pink hem and doesn't quite fit. While traveling she gets over her fear of going out in public in a prairie dress and becomes a little more comfortable talking to strangers. But there are no big revelations. Her relationship with "her Almanzo" fizzles out. I don't really learn anything about Laura that I didn't already know. My enthusiasm for Laura is in no way dampened (as Kelly's isn't either), but overall, the book was just rather... bland. It was easy to read and I think I would like Kelly, but the book didn't stick with me and I think any book about a solo road trip is inevitably going to be a tough one to make sing. When there is no one to talk to, to act as a foil, an ally, a confidant, you lose a lot. Ms. Ferguson had her work cut out with the book she set out to write.

That said, I did love her enthusiasm, her perseverance, and her optimism. All traits we both love in Laura Ingalls.

Teaser Tuesdays: Titanic Thompson

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading.

Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook p. 24

"After that, Beanie and Hickory refused to bet with Alvin. If he had offered one-to-two that he could eat sugar and flour and crap a birthday cake, they would have bought candles."

Alvin "Titanic" never (except with horses) bet on something unless he knew he could win. No matter how unlikely the bet seemed. In fact, the more unlikely, the more sure you could be that Alvin had figured out a way to make it work, whether through practice, trickery, or skill.

Book Review: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated by Alison Arngrim

Like all little girls in the 1970s, I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder and I hated Nellie Oleson. Unlike a lot of little girls, I had read all the books and wasn't allowed to watch the TV show. Luckily, a neighbor didn't know I wasn't allowed to watch it and I watched in horror - and glee - as Laura pushed a fake-paralyzed Nellie's wheelchair down a very steep hill. It was awesome.

Nellie on the TV show wouldn't have been half as wonderfully awesome to hate if it hadn't been for Alison Arngrim who truly endowed her with a bitchy, spiteful, snottiness that isn't easily carried off. I wasn't sure if I'd like a book by her, but I'm ever so glad I picked it up!

Alison's home life wasn't great. While her parents were pretty cool - perhaps even too cool (her father was gay and it wasn't much a secret) - her older brother was molesting her. She decided at a very young age that she wanted to move out of the house to get away from him, and she knew that meant she needed money and the only thing she knew that a kid could do to make that kind of money was act. Her mother did the voice of Caspar the Friendly Ghost, her father managed Liberace, her brother starred a TV show, so it made sense. And while she didn't end up moving out of the house early, she did develop enough backbone through playing Nellie to finally tell her brother (successfully) to bug off.

This memoir was extremely well-written, smooth and peppy. Alison embraces Nellie's obnoxiousness and finds that at times, it even works to her advantage in the real world. The cast of the show were very much like a family to her, especially Melissa Gilbert who was a true friend, and the show continued to have an impact on her decades afterward. Instead of just being a blip in her life, it still influences her to this day. About to appear in an interview about her charity work, she finds out minutes beforehand that Michael Landon has died. And she uses her fame to push her pet projects, particularly in regards to molestation. She managed to book herself onto The Larry King Show for a full hour, to talk about state laws (particularly California's) which at the time exempted family members from being charged for molestation or rape!

I loved hearing how playing Nellie Oleson helped Ms. Arngrim learn to have gumption, stand up for herself, laugh at herself, and lay claim to her own quirky self in a way you rarely hear in a Hollywood bio. Anyone who was a fan of the TV show should definitely read this fast, fun, but not insubstantial memoir.

I bought this book at a Borders GOOB sale.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is now hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Books completed last week:
Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Books I am currently reading/listening to:
Life With Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line by Martha A. Sandweiss

Up next:
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay

Book Beginnings: Titanic Thompson

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook

"He blew into town like a rogue wind that lifted girls' skirts and turned gamblers' pockets inside-out."

Titanic did do both of these things, not literally, but figuratively. A gambler who never bet unless he knew he could win (except on horses), he is a fascinating figure.

“Waiting On” Wednesday: Claudia Silver to the Rescue

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pre-publication “can't-wait-to-read” selection is:

Claudia Silver to the Rescue by Kathy Ebel

Goodreads synopsis:
In this gutsy debut novel, flawed but unsinkable Claudia Silver cuts a wide comic swath through 1990s New York City in her misguided attempts to find love and happiness.

Estranged from her bohemian Brooklyn family and fired for an impropriety at work, Claudia Silver is officially in over her head. When her younger sister lands on her doorstep urgently in need of help, twenty-something Claudia desperately wants to offer the rescue that she herself has longed for. But Claudia missteps dramatically, straight into a disastrous love affair that disrupts three very different New York households. Ultimately, she discovers the resilient nature of love where she least expects it—among her own family.

Claudia Silver to the Rescue is the firece yet tender chronicle of the many humiliations and occasional triumphs of a young woman determined to wrest her identity from the spectacular wreckage of her mistake. Uncomfortably hilarious, quintessentially human, Claudia is an unforgettable heroine who shoots for the stars and hits the ceiling.

Publishing June 18, 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.