Books of September 2025

 Books I finished in September 2025.

• 9/2/2025 - The Abyss: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962 by Max Hastings -  This book examines the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. This book shows how close the world came to nuclear war through a mix of miscalculations, miscommunications, and brinkmanship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It draws on archives and firsthand accounts, Hastings portrays both leaders’ restraint and the sheer luck that prevented global catastrophe. (Audible, Narrated by Max Hastings and John Hopkins)
• 9/6/2025 - The McCartney Legacy: Volume 2 / 1974-1980 by Allan Kozinn & Adrian Sinclair - This follows Paul McCartney and his time with Wings from 1974 to 1980. In 1974, he finally found the success and critical acclaim he craved with the Band on the Run album. Then came the world tours, more albums, and changing Wings lineups. The book ends in early 1980, when Wings is touring for their latest( and last) album, Back to the Egg. Paul is busted in Japan for bringing in Marijuana and lands in jail. With this, the tour and band are finished. 
• 9/11/2025 - Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo - For many years, many were said to be able to smell molasses in Boston on hot days. This book tells the story of how that came to be. Leading up to World War I, molasses was distilled into industrial alcohol to make wartime ammunition. To capitalize on the growing need for this, a hastily built storage tank was built in the north end of Boston. The tank leaked from the start, and the only thing the company did was paint it brown to mask this issue. Just after the war, the tank was filled to capacity on a bitterly cold January day to make a batch of liquor before Prohibition started. Then the weather warmed up, causing the tank to burst in the crowded neighborhood, killing 21 people, injuring at least 150 causing major damage to the area. (Audible, Narrated by Grover Gardner)
• 9/16/2025 - The Plot Against America by Philip Roth - A fictional alternative history where famous American flyer Charles Lindbergh wins the Presidency in 1940 instead of Franklin Roosevelt. The story is told through the eyes of a young boy, Philip Roth(fictional), whose Jewish family lives in New Jersey and has to navigate a world and society that changes as the friend of Hitler and America First advocate, President Lindbergh, leads America down a dark road. This book has amazing relevance to current events. 
• 9/26/2025 - Theft by Finding: Diaries by David Sedaris - In the social media book world, I came across the term "comfort book(s)". David Sedaris fits into that category. He has a warm, self-deprecating style of humor. His humor doesn't slap you in the face, Three Stooges style, but more like a nudge and a wink after saying something witty. The book is David's diary from 1977 to 2002. It's interesting that as time goes by, we can not only see his life and career develop, but we also follow David as his writing style evolves. His entries at first seem like short social media posts about odd jobs, smoking weed, and starving cause of poverty. By 2002, his entries are longer, more personal, and his humor develops. In short, we've seen him grow and mature as a writer. (Audible, Narrated by David Sedaris)
• 9/29/2025 - Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude by Dan Ackroyd - Dan Ackroyd tells the story of the origins of how he and the late John Belushi formed the Blues Brothers musical group. The story recounts how Dan and John form the group and embark on their tour. They were most well-known for appearances on the Saturday Night Live TV program and a hit movie.(Audible, Narrated by Dan Ackroyd) 

To Be Read #8: Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude (An Audible Original) by Dan Ackroyd

The Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude by Dan Ackroyd

I first saw the Blues Brothers movies I was blown away. As a teen it was the first R rated movie I saw at the movie theater. It was seemed part musical and part slapstick/dry humor. It also had over the top characters and car chases. It seemed to be the era of car chases with Smokey and the Bandit, Dukes of Hazzard and many more. The music was fresh though. It had musical artists doing cameos that I was only vaguely knew and others who completely didn't know.

 It was certainly be an interesting journey to find out the story behind the Blues Brothers narrated by Dan Ackroyd (Elwood Blues). It is sad the Jim Belushi( Jake Blues) left us in the early 80's. Who knows what would have happened if he had stayed with us. I look forward to listening to this. 

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (1966) is a pioneering work of literary nonfiction that reconstructs the brutal 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, and the subsequent investigation, capture, trial, and execution of the killers. Blending journalistic detail and narrative with novel style, Capote examines not only the crime itself but also the broader social, psychological, and moral implications surrounding it.

The book opens with a calm description of Holcomb, a small farming town on the Kansas plains, emphasizing its quiet, orderly atmosphere. Herbert Clutter, a prosperous and respected farmer, lives with his wife Bonnie and their teenage children, Nancy and Kenyon. On the night of November 15, 1959, two ex-convicts—Perry Smith and Richard “Dick” Hickock—break into the Clutter home, intending to rob the family based on a tip that Clutter kept large sums of cash. The information proves false, and in frustration, the men bind, gag, and execute all four family members with chilling precision. The crime devastates the community, shattering its sense of safety.

Capote then shifts to the killers’ perspectives, recounting their backgrounds and inner lives. Perry is portrayed as sensitive, artistic, and deeply damaged by an abusive childhood and years of institutional mistreatment. Dick, in contrast, is manipulative, amoral, and driven by greed and lust, yet less introspective than Perry. Their uneasy partnership, marked by a blend of dependence and mistrust, becomes a central thread of the narrative. Capote does not excuse their actions but humanizes them, complicating the reader’s understanding of crime and punishment.

The investigation is led by Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Alvin Dewey, who faces immense pressure to solve the case. With few clues and no apparent motive, the murders initially seem unsolvable. Capote carefully details the painstaking police work, the anxieties of the townspeople, and the long pursuit that finally narrows in on the killers after a fellow inmate informs authorities of Dick and Perry’s plan. In Las Vegas, they are arrested, and under interrogation, Perry ultimately confesses in harrowing detail, admitting to the actual killings while Dick acknowledges his role in planning and enabling them.

The latter portion of the book covers their trial, appeals, and eventual execution by hanging in 1965. Capote portrays the judicial process as both inevitable and morally fraught. The defense lawyers raise questions of insanity and diminished responsibility, but the jury finds both men guilty and sentences them to death. During their years on death row, Capote records their thoughts, fears, and final moments, culminating in a stark account of their executions.

Beyond recounting the crime, Capote explores broader themes: the fragility of human life, the randomness of violence, the psychological scars of poverty and neglect, and the uneasy coexistence of justice and vengeance in American society. His narrative style—richly descriptive, meticulously researched, and emotionally charged—was groundbreaking, creating what he called the “nonfiction novel.” By juxtaposing the idyllic innocence.

(Done with the aid of ChatGTP)

Personal Note: My first exposure to this story was in middle school, in the late 1970s, when we watched the black-and-white film adaptation. The late Robert Blake played one of the murderers, Perry Smith, and at the time, he was a TV star playing a cop ironically. I read the book around the time, too. It started a life long interest in the true-crime book genre. 

It was this story that gave me a lifelong interest in true crime books. I'd other similar books like The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule. Ann Rule would go on to be a consistent favorite. In my reading I tend to favor non-fiction like true crime. While there are many fictional crime drama, for me I find plenty of drama in true crime stories. 

There are many elements to a true crime story that I find interesting. You have the victims. criminal/attacker, and authorities. The victims include the initial victim. They include friends, family and the community. In Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood the first Victims are the four members of the Clutter Family of Holcomb, Kansas. The Clutters are a successful farming family that includes two teenage children. They do have adult children but they don't live at home. Which brings us to extended victims who are the adult children, friends and community. These include the two older Clutter daughters who were married and had moved away. Close neighbors and friends who become fearful not knowing who or where the attackers could be. 

We then go to who will find who's responsible. Local at own authorities are immediately overwhelmed by the horrific crime and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation soon take the lead. 

Next are the the murderers, Richard Hickok and Perry Smith. Two small time crooks who first meet in jail and then hook up afterward to rob the Clutter home. Hickok had received erroneous information about a wall safe while in jail. 

After realizing they found little more than $40 and some miscellaneous items they murdered the parents and the two teenage children. They then go on a crimes spree in the southwest into Mexico, Florida and then back to the Kansas area. They are eventually caught and executed.  

It would go to be made it a critically acclaimed film. It was filmed in black & white that gave it a crime documentary noir feel to it. Filmed on location of the murdered and other events. 

The book would spur on other true crime books of similar narrative style. Books like Helter Skelter, Executioners Song, and The Onion Field would carry on the genre. Even today I'm currently reading The Devil in The White City by Erik Larson which is about serial killer in Chicago around the time of the worlds fair in 1890 which carries on the genre. 

To Be Read #7: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

I'm puzzled why I haven't read this classic before. A Book-Toker, @rubyhartbooks, said this was one of her favorites, which inspired me to add this to my to-be-read stack. I even found that I had two copies, which shamed me even more for not having read this yet. 

First published in 1928, it was written by Erich Maria Remarque, who was a German veteran of World War 1. It was enormously successful from the start. It, along with the sequel The Road Back, was banned and burned by NAZI's in the 1930s. It's been made into films on three different occasions, and all have been award-winning quality. The latest one is currently on Netflix, which I plan to watch at some point. 

The story follows 4 German schoolboys who, in 1914, are inspired by their schoolmaster to join the army. They join with youthful patriotism and enthusiasm. Then they are faced with the grim realities of deadly trench warfare, which is full of tedium and terror. 

 

To Be Read #6: Theft by Finding by David Sedaris

 

There are times after reading a book that is heavy, intense, or heartbreaking. I need something light, humorous, and heartwarming to break the seriousness. David Sedaris fills that role for me in my reading repertoire. 

I'm listening to the audiobook version of this, narrated by the author David Sedaris. I've read his physical books, which are wonderful and enjoyable; there is something added to his personal narration of his book. He has a warm, self-depreciating style of humor. His wit can be biting in one moment, and then make you cry with his sadness that comes through in his very personal moments. 

Some serious readers don't consider audiobooks as real reading. I've been a fan of audiobooks for over a dozen years now. I listen to them on my long work commutes, which helps alleviate the boredom and tediousness of a long drive every day. Critiques of whether listening to audiobooks is considered reading a book are a form of gatekeeping. It is also intellectually snobbish. It's taking in the same information and text. It's also beneficial in learning the pronunciation of words that you're not familiar with.  

He also has a follow-up book called Carnival of Snackery that his diary continues from 2003-2021. I look forward to reading that too.