The 2015 Book List

Here are the books I read this year. Those marked with an asterisk (*) were read for audiobook jobs; if you are interested in purchasing one, please click here. Most are available now.  

Month	Book Number	Book Title		Author
January	1	Why I Read: The Pleasure of Books		Wendy Lesser
	2	Pinheads and Patriots:
		Where You Stand In The
		Age Of Obama		Bill O'Reilly
	3	Killing Patton		Bill O'Reilly/Martin Dugard
February	4	Traveling To Infinity		Jane Hawking
March
April
May	*5	The Distinguished Minecraft
		Joke Book		Lucas Enderman
	*6	Kolb's Learning Model Example		Trevor Clinger
	*7	The Everyday Email Eradication Plan		Tai Reynolds
	*8	Chemistry: Labatory Lessons		Ismail Kakembo
	9	How Star Wars Conquered The World		Chris Taylor
June	*10	New Hamphire Travel Adventures		Elizabeth Duggar
	*11	New Hampshire & Vermont: A Guide to
		the State Parks, Forests &
		Wildlife Areas		Barbara Sinotte
July	*12	Maine's South Coast: Portland
		Scarborough, Kennebunk, Sebago
		Lake & Beyond		Earl Brechlin
August	13	My World		Mary Roach
	14	Bones of the Lost		Kathy Reichs
	*15	The Ultimate Fallout Guide: A History
		of the Wasteland and an in-depth look
		at what makes the series so SPECIAL		Trevor Clinger
September	16	Scoundrels		Timothy Zahn
	17	Avenger		William Shatner
October	18	ST:TNG:Dragon's Honor		Kij Johnson and Greg Cox
	19	Shakespeare: The World as Stage		Bill Bryson
	*20	How Writers Make Money on Fiverr:
		True Stories from a Top Rated Seller		FastCopyWriter
	*21	Top 10 Places In The World To Go On
		Safari: Your Safari Guide to Finding
		The Best Safari Parks in all Parts of
		The world: Including Kenya, Tanzania
		and More!		Xavier Zimms
November	*22	Massachusetts and W. Conn		Elizabeth Duggar
December	*23	Box Set:Stupid, Simple,Photoshop and
		5 Essential Photoshop Tricks		Joseph Scolden
	*24	The Complete Small Claims Court Guide:
		Winning Without  A Lawyer		Green Initiative
	25	The Wright Brothers		David McCullough

He Came From New Hampshire

And who is "he"? Well, none other than H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer.


In The Beginning

Born in Gilmanton, NH, on May 16,1861 with the given name Herman Webster Mudgett, Holmes grew up with a father who owned a store and was postmaster. Both his parents descended from the first English settlers in the area.

Soon after graduating high school, he married the first of three wives, Clara Lovering. His college career began at age 19, when he enrolled at the University of Vermont--Burlington, eventually graduating, in June 1884, from the University of Michigan Department of Medicine and Surgery.

Holmes' life of crime began while he was in school in Michigan--with an insurance scam. He would steal cadavers and collect the insurance money on the policies he took out on them, claiming they were killed accidently. After leaving Michigan his travels took him around New York and Philadelphia, scamming store owners and building a career as a suspect in various disappearances.

Then came Chicago, the site of his most active years. First, he changed his name to Dr. H.H. Holmes, then scammed a store owner right out of her business.

The "Murder Castle"


Across the street from his store, at 601-603 West 63rd, Holmes built a massive three story, 163 foot long, 50 foot wide hotel, which local people called "The Castle". It was the official hotel for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, with hotel, office, and retail space.

Holmes used the hotel to kill his victims by building rooms with various torture devices like metal walls embedded with blowtorches for incineration, or a special solid brick room with a trap door in the ceiling--people would fall in and that's it. He had another room with gas pipes to be opened and victims would asphyxiate in their sleep.    This was clearly not a normal guy.

Most of his victims were women, including his second and third wives and many female employees.


In The End

Holmes left Chicago in 1893 and disappeared, eventually finding himself in Fort Worth, Texas, where he endeavored to build another Castle. Soon abandoning the project, he travelled throughout the US and Canada, finally winding up in St. Louis, where, after all he had done, he was arrested for the first time after being involved in a horse swindle.

When he got out after posting bail, a long series of other cons, swindles, and murders are attributed to him, including the murder of a long time criminal and supposed new partner whom he had met during his short time in jail.

In 1894, his life finally caught up with him when he was arrested again on suspicion of another horse swindle and insurance scam, this time in Boston.

He confessed and was sent to prison in Philadelphia for the insurance scam. At the same time, the authorities in Chicago were investigating his activities there, and in 1895, he was found guilty of murder of his one time associate Benjamin Pitezel, and was hanged in Philadelphia on May 7th, 1896.

Before the sentence was carried out, however, Holmes confessed to killing 30 people in Chicago, Indianapolis, and Toronto--even though several were in fact still alive.

It's hard to  say how many were killed, but most estimates range from 20 to 200.