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.

The Coldest Places On Earth

A funny thing happens in winter. It gets cold. No matter where you are on the planet, it is cold. But there is cold, and there is C-O-L-D. And folks, these places are serious, no kidding around cold.  Here are some of the coldest places on Earth.

We start with the coldest place—Vostok Station, Antarctica.  The coldest temperature in recorded history, -89.2 degrees C, was recorded here on July 21^st, 1983. Vostok Station is a Russian research base where scientists from around the globe do historical climate research by taking core samples deep in the ice.

While Vostok Station is located at the bottom of the world, another place on this list is at the top of the world—Northice Station, Greenland.  The temperature here can get down to -66 degrees C, as it did on January 9^th, 1954. Why would someone want to be here? Well, actually, no one has been here since 1954, but it was the base for the British North Greenland Expedition (1952-1954), which was interested in mapping the area and studying its geology.

Returning to the good old USA for a moment, we go to International Falls, MN. Generally considered to be the coldest city in the country, the lowest recorded temperature the last few years is -41.1 degrees C. In fact, the city prides itself as being the “Icebox” of the continental US; the city actually has an Icebox Days Festival featuring the “Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run”.

There is controversy, however. International Falls is actually in competition with Fraser, CO for the coldest city title. Fraser also reaches temperatures of -40’s C. One interesting thing for certain, however, is that another part of Colorado—the University of Colorado, Denver, to be exact—is the site of the lowest temperature ever recorded.  In 1995, researchers there, in partnership with scientists from MIT, got the temperature down to one-millionth degree above absolute zero. Now that is cold!

Leaving the lab, we now travel to Snag, Canada. It is so cold here- down to -63 degrees C. That is cold enough for your frozen breath to hang in the air for 15 minutes. The good news is that nobody really lives in Snag. There are no permanent residents and only 5 people are there at a time.

Since we are in Northern Canada, let’s take a trip over to Russia for our next places.  Here we visit two Siberian towns- Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon.  Just like International Falls and Fraser, there is controversy over which is actually the rightful owner of the coldest place prize, although it has not gotten into the courts yet.  Oymyakon, whose name in English would be “Oy, my achin’ toes” reaches temperatures of -71.2 degrees C, as it did on January 26, 1926. Verkhoyansk, whose permanent population numbers 1,300 people, gets temperatures down to -72 C.  The issue is that the Oymyakon temperature noted above was determined through extrapolation, not recorded on an actual thermometer.

There it is, some of the coldest places on Earth. When you step outside this winter, and you think it’s cold. Well, maybe it’s not so bad.  

Joe Garland, Part 3

We conclude our story.......

I took the subway to Queens, then a cab to Bushwick Park. It didn't take long to find the apartment building where Rudolph Sleigh lived. It was a run-down old building and it reminded me of my office.

I walked up and knocked on the door. An old grey-haired man answered.

"Are you Rudolph Sleigh?" I asked.

"Yes, I am."

"My name is Joe Garland, Private Investigator." I said, taking a small business card out of my pocket. "Do you have a minute?"

"Um, sure, um, come on in." He spoke reluctantly, but turned in let me in.

"I'll be direct and straight to the point." I said, sitting down on a chair in the living room. "Santa and his float are missing from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and I know that you were in the area around the time of the disappearance."

"Well, I was in the area earlier this morning, but I....."

I interrupted him. "I also know that you were planning something for today, and that your family wanted to put you in an old illusionists' home."

He had started to shake at this point, and he stood up and started yelling."Yes! I took Santa. I did it because nobody recognizes me anymore, and I just wanted to hear the cheers of the crowd one more time! I was going to put him back!"

"But how did you do it?"

"I did it by kidnapping Santa and hiding him in my old apartment down the street, then I took apart the float and hid the pieces all around the city. I  did it all last night," he said with an evil laugh.

I went to the window, and yelled out to a passerby to call the cops.

Several hours later, Rudolph Sleigh was being arraigned on kidnapping and theft charges, while Santa and his float rejoined the parade route.

I went to Clancy's Bar and Grille near Central Park where it occurred to me that illusionists like Sleigh never die, they just slowly disappear.

The End

Joe Garland, Part 2

....and now, our story continues......


I asked John about what he knew, then we went down to the spot where Santa and his float were supposed to be. By now, he had calmed down. He had started telling me the history of the parade, and the changes that had taken since he became the president.

While we were walking down 5th Avenue, and I was questioning different people, we bumped into Jimmy "The Grinch", a bookie, drug runner, and old adversary of mine.

"I see you're out again Jimmy, " I remarked.

"Oh, man, give me a break! I've gone straight, you know, turned over a new leaf, " he said.

"Well, Santa's missing, and I think you took him.", I said, looking him square in the face.

" I didn't take him, I tell you, I didn't." Jimmy protested. "But I did see Rudolph Sleigh hanging around the Santa float earlier. "

Rudolph Sleigh. A washed-up, bitter illusionist who hasn't been seen in public for years. Now, suddenly, he's back. How interesting.

I sent John back to his office and told him I'd get back to him in a while. I then went to my office, and had my secretary, Brandy Noel, check out Jimmy "The Grinch" because I still had my suspicions. But, as it turned out, Jimmy had turned over a new leaf, like he said. I guess I was wrong just this once.

"Brandy, I have one other person I want you to check out." I said, lighting up yet another cigarette. "A guy named Rudolph Sleigh."

"I'll get right on it, Joe." she said in that sweet voice of her.

Meanwhile I went around 5th Avenue again and investigated some more. Later I called my office.

"Brandy, this is Joe. Did you finish checking out Sleigh?"

"Yes, I did. It seems that his family wanted to send him to the old illusionists' home and he didn't want to go. Then he said that he had 'something up his sleeve' for today. "

"Where is he living now?" I asked.

"He lives in Queens, near Bushwick Park. I think you better get over there quick."

"Thanks Brandy, why don't you take the rest of the day off."

"Thanks Joe, I'll see you tomorrow." she said, hanging up the phone.

The original Joe Garland story cover

....up next, the exciting conclusion.....

Joe Garland Investigates: The Case of The Missing Santa, Part 1

And now...a little Christmas in August. Back in 1988, my senior year of high school, I took yet another in a series of writing classes.

 I was a fan of the Mike Hammer TV show; based on the character from Mikey Spillane's novels, Stacy Keach's Hammer was a hard-boiled NYC private detective. So, with that inspiration, I came up with my own PD--Joe Garland.

Recently, I was going through some boxes and came across the original story, and thought it would be fun to serialize it here exactly as I wrote it for class. Here's part 1.

Joe Garland Investigates: The Case of the Missing Santa

I was sitting in my office on a lonely Thanksgiving Day, drinking old scotch and smoking new cigarettes. My name is Joe Garland, Private Eye. I'm six foot six, just over 200 pounds, and when I'm on a case, nobody better get in my way because I'm trigger happy. 

My office in New York City is dusty and dirty, with old, used coffee cups thrown all over my desk. You might not be impressed with my office, but to me it's home.

Anyway, I was sitting in my office when this guy came running in, out-of-breath and practically in tears. "Are you Joe Garland?", he sniffed. 

"Yeah, I am."

"Good, because I want to hire you."

"Calm down buddy," I said, putting out my cigarette."What's your name?"

"M--My name is John Macy" By this time he was hysterical. "I'm president of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Santa is missing, float and all! The whole thing is gone!" 

"The parade is supposed to start in a few hours, " I said, looking at the clock on the wall. "What took you so long to come to me?"

"Does that matter now? Please, Mr. Garland, will you take the case?", Macy screamed. 

"Alright. I'll take the case."

......Stay tuned for part 2

Planetary Nebulae: What Are They?

“Space-the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Our mission: to boldly go where no-one has gone before.” –Captain Jean-Luc Picard

In its own way, this has been the mission statement of human kind since the beginning.  At first, “space” was the far bank of the river, then the other side of the mountain, then the ocean…..eventually the heavens.

There are many things out there in space, one of which is a phenomenon called a planetary nebula (nebulae for plural).

What Is This Thing?

Planetary nebulae are what forms when a star no more than four times the size of the Sun comes to the end of its life-cycle. The star’s internal gravity becomes so intense that the star explodes, blowing the outer layers into space, which are then lit up by the heat of the star’s core. Due to that intense heat, these nebulae do not last long at all, perhaps only about 50,000 years.  Scientists believe that our sun may grow and go through this process in about 5 million years.

It is predicted that there are approximately 10,000 planetary nebulae now in the Milky Way, and 2,000 have been discovered. However, only four have been officially catalogued: the Dumbbell, Ring, Little Dumbbell, and Owl Nebulae. The last of these-the Owl Nebula-was discovered in 1751.

Despite its name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. The name was coined in the 1780’s by William Hershel, because it reminded him of the rings of Uranus.

What Does It Look Like?

Planetary nebulae are fairly small-only about 1 light year in diameter, although there is a range of sizes as the nebula ages. NGC 3918, for instance, is only 3/10 light year in diameter, while the Helix Nebula is over 2.5 light years. NGC 3918 is calculated to be only 3,000 years old, so it is still fairly young.

Nebulae are quite hot (as expected, being a former star). The temperature range is 8,000 to 23,000 K, with an average of around 10,000 K.

It is also thought that planetary nebulae only last about 50,000 years. Since most expand at 20-30 km/s, after that time the density of particles are too spread out to be seen.

The Vorontsov-Velyaminov Scheme

In 1934, Russian astrophysicist Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov came up with this way of categorizing planetary nebulae based on their morphology. There are six styles:

1.  Stellar image (I).
2. Smooth disk (II) (a, brighter toward center; b, uniform brightness; c, traces of a ring structure).
3. Irregular disk (III) (a, very irregular brightness distribution; b, traces of ring structure).
4. Ring structure (IV).
5. Irregular form, similar to a diffuse nebula (V).
6. Anomalous form (VI).

There also can be combinations. For instance, there can be two rings (a “4 + 4”).

With all these kinds of nebula, who knows what else is out there. Will astronomers and their colleagues in space science ever find a planetary nebula that actually has a planet? Probably not, but it is fun to think about. As Captain Picard says, “Make it so.”