SOLSTICEPOINT
| TOP 10 BOOKS TO READ |
|
Books chosen for their staying power. Read any of these and you may think about them for weeks, months or even years afterwards. The TOP TEN BOOKS include non-fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery genres. BOOK # 4 TOP 10 BOOKS The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (born March 10, 1967 in New York City) Classification: Non-fiction, history, adventure, South America This is non-fiction that reads like a mystery/thriller novel. The book revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a seasoned explorer in the Amazon jungles back in the days when media sensations were people such as Stanley and Livingston who appeared in newspaper headlines and on movie theater news reels. In 1925 the disappearance of British Percy Fawcett in the Amazon jungles was headline news. In the years to come numerous expeditions set out to find Fawcett and some people did not survive the trip. This author put together an expedition of his own to see the actual places where the famed real-life explorer vanished with his son. Many who searched for Fawcett did not return from the dangerous South American jungles. The book meanders from Fawcett's training as an explorer to David Grann's own personal challenges putting together an expedition. He makes the bugs, diseases and wildlife that infest the Amazon come alive because he experineced them firsthand and vividly describes the conditions under which Fawcett labored to receive backing. Grann had access to private family papers and brings life to a mystery and tragedy that has intrigued people for years. This is a thoroughly researched and exciting book that brings up serious questions of whether there was a civilization in the Amazon before the Spaniards brought diseases that wiped out huge segments of the population. Intriguing artifacts were found that might make an argument for a powerful civilization that was swallowed up by the Amazonian jungle. An enthusiastic thumbs up.
|