The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey, 465 pages

When the 9th Duke of Rutland died alone in the cramped family archives on April 21, 1940, his son and heir, Charles, ordered the room sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became one of the first historians allowed inside. What she discovered when she began reading through the duke's letters was a mystery involving one of the most powerful families in British society in the turbulent days leading up to World War I. The 9th Duke, who had devoted his entire adult life to organizing and cataloging several hundred years' worth of family correspondence, had carefully erased three periods of his life from the record. But why? Filled with fascinating real-life characters, a mysterious death, family secrets and affairs aplenty, The Secret Rooms is an enthralling, page-turning true story that reads like an Agatha Christie novel.

The Secret Lives of Hoarders by Matt Paxton with Phaedra Hise, 238 pages

This looks at hoarders, the behavior behind it, and the people who help clean the houses. Having just moved with probably more books than I need (but not more than I want), I found this interesting and intriguing. I've decided though my problem isn't too much stuff, it's not enough house, lol. The book jumped around a little between the case studies, but was pretty good.

Paris, Tightwad, and Peculiar by Margot Ford McMillen, 93 pages

My husband had checked this book out and I thought it looked interesting. It's a relatively short read, giving the background for some of the more odd place names in Missouri. I had always thought Versailles and Paris, MO, were named after France, but no, they're actually named after towns in Kentucky. This wasn't an indepth read or totally engrossing, but if you want to learn some interesting tidbits in an afternoon, this is a good book for that.

Mistresses: A History of the Other Woman by Elizabeth Abbott, 510 pages

I read this book for my Joplin Globe review and really enjoyed it. I don't want to go into too much detail since my book review comes out Sunday.

Malled: My Unintentional Life in Retail by Caitlin Kelly, 226 pages

Caitlin Kelly was a journalist, who due to downsizing at her newspaper, decided to take a part-time retail position with The North Face, a adventure clothing store. This book details her experience, starting with the interview, training, dealing with corporate expectations, demanding customers, and an ever growing sense of the lack of respect shown to customer service employees. Businesses pride themselves on their excellent customer service, but many pay their frontline people a low wage, give few benefits, create unsafe work environments and show little respect to those employees. Caitlin intersperses her experiences with actual facts about retail work, making this an informative and entertaining read. While I've worked fast-food, I've been lucky enough to not work retail with sales quotas and such and I will count my blessings. It's hard enough working in a field with a lot of public contact, I can't imagine doing so where I also had to sell so much every shift.

Wicked Plants, The Plant that Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart, 236 pages

I had read Wicked Bugs by this author and really enjoyed it, so I eagerly picked this book up. It's comforting to think of how much of the world is actively trying to kill us. Plants that poison, destroy, suffocate, and are just plain dangerous are featured in little vignettes. Ranging from Betel Nuts, Nightshade, Kudzu, Ratbane, Stinging Trees, and Yew, there is something for everyone. I will definitely take a second look at plants I put in my flower beds or bring into my house considering how many things are poisonous to animals and children. This book is well worth picking up for a fun and informative read.

Wicked Bugs, The Louse that conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart, 272 pages

This books explores some of the most deadly and interesting bugs in the insect world. With a variety of flies, spiders, mites and louses, this book makes for an intriguing but disturbing read. There are some very creepy bugs out there. America has some bad bugs but not as many as Africa and other third world countries. These insects won't just bite or sting you, some of them will burrow their way into you to live or lay eggs. UGGGHHH!!!! But this book was so fascinating that I've already picked up another book by this author called Wicked Plants.

White Man's Heaven by Kimberly Harper, 325 pages

The subtitle for this book describes it perfectly: The Lynching and Expulsion of Blacks in the Southern Ozarks, 1894-1909. I had heard about the mobs that had drove blacks out of Joplin at the beginning of the 1900s but didn't know much about it, so I was interested in reading this book when I found it at the library. It covers Peirce City, Monett, Springfield, southern Arkansas, and Joplin. There were lynchings of blacks pulled out of jail cells, including 3 in Springfield on Easter morning, 2 of which are believed to be innocent men. Mobs after most of the lynchings drove black communities out of the towns, leaving this area empty of the African American population. This is a good look at one of the most shameful times of this area. While dry at times, this is still an interesting read for anyone who wants to learn more about this time period.

Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester, 495 pages

This book covers the Atlantic Ocean, with the author using Shakespeare's speech "All the world's a stage" from As You Like It, with man's seven stages of life illustrating the ocean, the infant, the school boy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, pantaloon, and second childishness. He covers the creation of the Atlantic ocean, the exploration, the military battles, and even man's destruction towards the ocean. This was a slow read at times but very intriguing and interesting. I had read The Professor and the Madman by this author so I knew he liked a lot of details, which this book had tons of. If you enjoy non-fiction, this is a great read. Just plan on devoting a big chunk of time to it.

The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo, 437 pages

This is the story of 3 men, Fleisher the former cop and customs agent, Bender the forensics artist, and Walter the profiler who started the Vidocq Society. This is a club in honor of the original French detective who was the inspiration for the first detective story. The members are the best in the field of crimefighting who meet once a month for a gourmet meal and a cold case. They have solved many crimes over the years that have baffled authorities.
This was a interesting read, though a little choppy at times, jumping from case to case and back and forth. If you like true crime, this is a read you'll want to pick up. What was really neat was reading about a couple of cases that I remember seeing on Unsolved Mysteries.

Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson & Marina Budhos, 154 pages

This books covers the history of sugar, how it influenced trade and slavery, and determined foreign policy. Cari recommended this book and I'm glad she did. I'm a fan of the show Modern Marvel on History Channel and this reminded me a lot of it. I love learning about stuff I had never even thought about, and I had no idea of how much sugar had affected the world. Next time you put some sugar in your coffee, give a thought to the blood, sweat and tears that lay behind it.