Reviews

The Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World by Nathaniel Philbrick Philbrick (In the Heart of the Sea) masterfully details the colorful story of the gold rush, which is also the story of the chaotic birth of California statehood—from the 1848 discovery of the first few shiny flakes by carpenter James Marshall to the mania of the fortune-seekers who flooded the West Coast, hungry for a golden windfall. (October 6)

Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes by Lindsey Fitzharris A must for fans of Sherlock Holmes or true crime, this fascinating history is centered on Joseph Bell, a 19th-century surgeon in Edinburgh, Scotland, who used his uncanny deductive skills to diagnose maladies and investigate crimes. Bell taught Arthur Conan Doyle, who later used Bell as the living prototype for the fictional detective. (October 20)

Redemption: Faith, Justice, and Sisterhood on Death Row by Lawrence Wright The Pulitzer Prize winner’s thought-provoking book describes how a group of contemplative nuns, who lived mostly in silence, built a remarkable relationship with women on death row in a Texas prison. They all lived severely constricted lives—some voluntarily; others, Wright suggests, perhaps unjustly. (October 20)

The Tiny Slice

“Locked inside his memory lay the eyewitness experience of one of the great untold stories of World War II.”

—From Tidal Wave by Adam Makos (November 3), describing Lt. Ernie Poulson, a survivor of the dramatic air raid on Hitler’s Romanian oil refineries in 1943 who assisted with the book at age 97

Willie’s Words

Willie Nelson plays a different riff in The Last Leaf: Reflections on Late-Life Creativity and My Longest Love Affair (November 10). The book is in part a lovely tribute to Annie, his adored wife of 35 years. Nelson also describes the inspiration behind his music-making, in the past and today at age 93. “Like love,” he writes, “creativity can never die.”

Star Struck

This fall is packed with celebrity memoirs. Among them: Sylvester Stallone, 80, relates his early life story in The Steps (September 29). There’s also Ms. American Dream by comedian Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams-Lee, 54 (September 29); frank reminiscences from Michael Douglas, 82, in One Helluva Ride (October 6); and Look at Me by Dustin Hoffman, 89, which includes his trials while filming The Graduate (November 10). —Christina Ianzito

For our interview (Oct. 20) with the great American novelist Ann Patchett, go to aarp.org/patchett