Paul Adams
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Borley Rectory in Essex, built in 1862, should have been an ordinary Victorian clergyman's house. However, just a year after its construction, unexplained footsteps were heard within the house, and from 1900 until it burned down in 1939 numerous paranormal phenomena, including phantom coaches and shattering windows, were observed. In 1929 the house was investigated by the Daily Mail and paranormal researcher Harry Price, and it was he who called it...
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Summary of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations are a series of reflections written by the famed Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180) as a personal diary. The aim of Aurelius' text was self-improvement through Stoicism, a philosophical movement that the emperor embraced and sought to internalize...
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Summary of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire examines the intricate evolutionary relationship between plant cultivation and human desire. Author Michael Pollan explores this relationship by recounting the history of four plants that have been cultivated to meet four distinct human longings…
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Summary of Giulia Enders's Gut is a thorough introduction to the most recent scientific discoveries and theories about what happens in the human body's digestive system, from ingestion to digestion. Starting with the basic structure of the system, Enders explains the function of each digestive system part from the lingual tonsils to the glycocalyx and how each relies on the others….
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Summary of Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat is a non-fiction account of the remarkable life story of Joe Rantz. Rantz was a determined young man who overcame personal tragedy and hardship to win a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics as a member of the US rowing team.
When Joe was four, his mother, Nellie, died of throat cancer. His father, Harry, went to Canada. He sent Joe to Pennsylvania to live with his Aunt Alma while his older brother, Fred,...
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Inspired after binge-watching Downton Abbey, a British television show about the relationship between a titled family and their servants, journalist Kate Andersen Brower decided to take a close look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamic of America's grandest home, the White House, in her book, The Residence…
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Summary of Bob Woodward's Fear details the political and personal tribulations that faced an ever-shifting cast of White House staffers during the turbulent first year and a half of Donald Trump's presidency. Renowned journalist Bob Woodward uses his access to Washington insiders to create a revealing portrait of an administration increasingly crippled by its need to guide, delay, and even hinder Trump's whims...
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Summary of Jon Krakauer's Missoula is a close examination of the cause and effect of a series of alleged sexual assaults in a Montana college town.
Missoula is the second largest city in Montana, and the Missoula-based University of Montana (UM) Grizzlies football team is a source of significant local pride. In December 2010, a scandal began in which four members of the football team were accused of gang rape, but were not charged with a crime. A...
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Martin Pistorius, who lost all his memories after a childhood illness, tells the story of his miraculous reawakening in his memoir, Ghost Boy.
Martin was a sweet, but shy boy. He was a wizard with computers and electronics. He loved his Legos and his dog, Pookie. Martin learned from overheard conversations that his illness began when he came home from school with a sore throat. His condition rapidly deteriorated and he soon could not walk. Within...
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Summary of Chris Matthews's Bobby Kennedy chronicles the life of Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and a political force in his own right. The Kennedy brothers were third-generation Irish-American Catholics from a wealthy Massachusetts family…
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Summary of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm is neurosurgeon Henry Marsh's memoir, with a particular focus on his mistakes and regrets.
Marsh admits that he grew up privileged. He began his college career studying English, but quit school due to an unrequited love. He took a job working in a mining town hospital, an experience that inspired him to become a surgeon. He returned to Oxford to finish his degree and then attended the Royal Free Medical School in...
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Summary of Julia Ross's The Mood Cure offers a nutritional cure for an array of psychological problems including depression, anxiety, and stress. Ross's plan suggests targeted use of amino acids, along with supplements and a healthy diet, to boost brain function and restore emotional balance...
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Summary of Erik Larson's Dead Wake is a non-fiction account of the German Unterseeboot, or U-boat, sinking of Lusitania, a British merchant vessel belonging to Cunard Line, on May 7, 1915 and its aftermath.
On the night of May 6, 1915, Captain William Thomas reassured the passengers in the first-class lounge as the ship approached the 'area of war' off the southern coast of Ireland.
The Great War, later known as World War I, had been raging in France...
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Summary of Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers is an expansive account of the days, months, and years leading up to World War I. Clark's central contention is that scholars' continuous preoccupation with the question of who was responsible for starting the war stems from an erroneous understanding of the events...
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Summary of David Goggins's Can't Hurt Me is a memoir about the author's unlikely rise from a boyhood plagued by violence and poverty into the elite ranks of the US Navy SEALs and high-endurance athletics. By mastering his fear, and pushing his body past its perceived limits, Goggins has achieved more than he ever thought possible...
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Summary of J.D. Robb's Obsession in Death is a murder mystery by J.D. Robb that features homicide detective, Lieutenant Eve Dallas. This is the fortieth book in this futuristic crime series.
Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called to the scene of a murder. Leanore Bastwick, a defense attorney, is the murder victim. A message to Dallas is written on the wall at the murder scene claiming it was done for Dallas and that justice has been served.
Dallas and her...