Lost in the Stacks: The Summer of Death

There were countless ways to die from the heat in the brutal summer of 1936. You could die from plain old heat stroke, of course, but the possibilities really were endless. You could drown in a gravel pit, a lake, a pool, or your own bathtub; you could faint from the heat and topple from a building or be run over by a car; you could be attacked by a dog, or squirrel or a fellow human crazed by the unrelenting heat.  

In Summer of Death Geoff Williams crisscrosses the sweltering states and chronicles how people lived with the record-breaking heat of 1936 or died from it. Imagine living in Topeka in August 1936 with 19 consecutive days over 100 degrees (“It’s hot in Topeka” was never more true!). Now take away air conditioning and add several layers of clothing – ladies, no halter tops, please – and prepare to suffer.  

By now you may be thinking that a book about thousands of people dying in terrible ways is a hard no for you. But Geoff Williams lightens up Summer of Death with his morbid sense of humor. For example, a man trapped in a chicken coop is “broiled to death.” And even though this reads like the author cherry-picked the most bizarre local news stories he could find and strung them together, I found the slice-of-life stories to be quite interesting. My favorite was the cheeky account of “Father Smith vs. The Hussy.” 

Still can't get enough nonfiction? Here are two more titles I recommend this month:

American Alt: a True Story of Madness and Friendship in a Fractured Country

A glimpse into the mind of an American conspiracy theorist, the schizophrenia, trauma and misinformation that drove him to the brink, and the friendship that brought him back.

"A mesmerizing, compassionate, and deeply meaningful exploration of a perilous corridor of American life." - Robert Kolker, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Hidden Valley Road

Named a Best Summer Read by The Los Angeles Times, The Millions and Alta Journal

Unreasonable Women: Three Stories of Violence, Imprisonment, and Extraordinary Survival

“Unreasonable Women is a masterful deep dive into the keen survival instincts of three women who were pushed far past the edge, and a no-holds-barred indictment of a legal system that fails survivors by design. Trust me, you should read this book.” - Roxanna Asgarian, author of the National Book Critics Circle Award Winner We Were Once a Family