In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of food life, Barbara Kingsolver tells about the year that she and her family moved to their family's farm in the Virginia mountains. Her goal was to feed her family on food that they would grow themselves or that had been grown by local farmers. Over the course of the year, Kingsolver raises a large garden, her daughters help raise chickens and turkeys and she learns to preserve her own produce. The story of that year is told with humor and insights into the challenges her family faced in living on an organic farm. Kingsolver's memoir is inspiring for those who enjoy her novels and also for those interested in organic farming and the locovore movement.
Hour of Peril: the Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln before the Civil War, by Daniel Stashower follows the investigations into the conspiracy to assasinate Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore on his way to his inaugeration. The story begins with the career of Allan Pinkerton, head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, as he develops techniques for investigations and forms his Pinkerton Detective Agency. Like a thriller, the book follows two stories, Pinkerton's investigation into the conspiracy rumors in Baltimore and Lincoln's railroad trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C., until they intersect in Maryland. Was there a conspiracy in Baltimore to murder Lincoln? Hour of Peril offers an entertaining and informative look at this historical mystery.
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