true adventure

It Can’t Be Don’t, Nellie Bly is a short, but interesting chapter book about Nellie Bly, a journalist in 1888, when women were not considered journalists.

Inspired by Jules Verne’s book Around the World in 80 Days, Nellie tries to see if one can, in fact, travel around the world in eighty days. And in trying, she wants to beat Verne’s time. Halfway through her journey she finds out there is a journalist from the magazine Cosmopolitan trying to beat her. It Can't Be Done, Nellie Bly takes you on her adventure.  Come along and see if she makes it!

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes is not what I expected, but I wasn't disappointed, either. The twelve previously published magazine stories are similar to Holmes mysteries, but not all involve crimes. Grann immerses himself in his work, reporting on his subjects’ history, and detailing his own interactions with them.

While I initially anticipated a series of murder-mysteries, the people in The Devil and Sherlock Holmes are what piqued my curiosity. Each tale focuses on the backstory of the character and provides some context to Grann’s interviews and interest in them. There are enough facts to

Shangri-la conjures up images of a utopian kingdom where no one suffers or ages—a la the classic movie.  But the book Lost in Shangri-la is grounded in reality, relaying the harrowing rescue of a band of soldiers during World War II.  A flight of men and women stationed in New Guinea was lost, not in battle, but during a joy-ride on a lovely Sunday afternoon.  They were going to fly over a newly discovered lush valley that time had forgotten, and were excited for this diversion in what was becoming a dull stint in this no-action jungle island. But they were thwarted by the sad mistakes of the