unfinished

I haven't posted in over a month! That doesn't mean that I haven't been reading.

I started E.B. White: A Biography. He was interesting to read about because he never grew out of his five year old viewpoint of the world. His love for exploring nature and writing took him all over. After traveling all over the country trying unsuccessfully to find a journalism job he settled back in NY, where he started. What I just stated in a few sentences, Scott Elledge tells in over 200 pages (half the book!). Elledge loves to tell the story of E.B. White, but I think he could have written this book with atleast 100 pages less. I got bored of Elledge's rambling, so I put it down. 

I started A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash. The first half was incredible. It was so interesting to read about John Nash's upbringing, his schooling and how he found his love in math. About 150 pages in, the book turned into math symbols, theories, Mathematicians, and that's when I stopped. Sorry John, I'm just not as smart as you.
 
I started The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America for my book club. Timothy Egan's prologue jumped around a lot and gave un-relevant background information. I pressed on and the writing got better. I thought it would be about Teddy Roosevelt's presidency and his desire to save the National Forests-- as the title suggests-- it was; however, it was also about Gifford Pinochet and his role in the saving of the forests. It seemed as if Egan maximized Pinochet's work and left Roosevelt in the shadows. I don't know if this is factually accurate or not, but if you are going to write more about Pinochet- than don't put Roosevelt in the title! Needless to say, this frustrated me and I never finished this for my book club.