Mac Net Journal

What a quick and compelling read! Seattle-based writer Erik Larson does a fantastic job weaving together the stories of Daniel Burnham and Dr. H.H. Holmes into a historic good-guy, bad-guy tale that is riveting to read. I especially appreciated learning more about Burnham, who along with John Root was the designer of a building in Tacoma, Wash. called the Luzon Building that a local buyer is trying to restore before it crumbles. The building plays no part in this book, but it one of the few Burnham and Root buildings that remains standing on the West Coast.

As a writer whose most recent work was about Washington state's history, I found Larson's work especially compelling. I need to read his other books - Isaac's Storm and his latest work, Thunderbolt (I think that's the title...) - to see what other good tips I can gather for my own writing toolbox.

Animal. Vegetable. Miracle. - Barbara Kingsolver
Friday, December 7, 2007, 6:09 PM

This is the first of Kingsolver's books that I have read, and her writing has me curious enough to try one of her other works now. This topic is one that has inspired many people around the country to try changing their diets and buying habits to become "locavores" - people who eat local food year round. Natalie and I have been planning to do this next year, and we may start writing about our experiences in this regard as well on a Web site we plan to build that will gather resources for eating locally in Washington state.

Dupont Circle - Paul Kafka-Gibbons
Tuesday, December 4, 2007, 6:09 PM

This was a book that Natalie picked up during her most recent trip to Washington, D.C. - fittingly enough when she was staying near Dupont Circle she found the book in Kramerbooks. The story is simple, but the book is well written and does a good job reflecting the Dupont Circle area of D.C. This was a fun, quick read.

Sky Time in Grays River - Robert Michael Pyle
Sunday, December 2, 2007, 6:09 PM

I actually read this book earlier in the year, but wanted to make sure I added it to my list of books read this year with a late note here. In Sky Time in Grays River, Robert Michael Pyle revists his local landscape that he had previously written about in the class Pacific Northwest nature book, Wintergreen. This time Pyle marks the passage of the seasons in his very local place, with close observations ranging from the insect life that invades his river side home to the political landscape in a quiet but restlessly growing part of Washington state.

Bob recently won an award for this book from a Northwest outdoor writers association. I know I posted about this in my regular section of Mac Net Journal in November, but I cannot find the post now...

A Box of Matches - Nicholson Baker
Monday, January 15, 2007, 9:24 AM

Over the weekend I finished reading this pleasant book that I started around the new year. I picked up this book in the remainder bin at Imprints Bookstore in Port Townsend, during our first bout of snow and cold for the winter in early December 2006. This is a perfect book to read one chapter per night right before falling to sleep. I had a hard time describing the story line to Natalie - it is one man slightly older than me who writes about his ritual of starting a wood fire in the dark each morning and then sitting and writing about whatever comes to mind. Along the way the reader learns about the main character's world.