Real Mad Men; Midnight Dreary; Why We Broke Up; Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics

Okay, so I'm obsessed with the TV show "Mad Men". And, I think, for good reasons. It's a fantastic show, the characters are awesome, and I wish I could afford Joan's wardrobe. I read Andrew Cracknell's "Real Mad Men", about the real life men and women of Madison Avenue during the 1960s. It was neat to see all the old advertisements and hear about how they used to work back then. I love thumbing through old magazines to see the old ads. It was an interesting look back at how things used to be. I saw the new John Cusak movie "The Raven" a few weeks ago, about Edgar Allan Poe. It's getting absolutely slaughtered by critics and moviegoers alike, but what can I say? I must have terrible taste because I actually thought it was very good. So I was curious as to what sort of theories were bounding about as to his death, and I read John Evanglist Walsh's "Midnight Dreary". Walsh's theory is that Poe was beaten up and made to drink until he was completely drunk by the three brothers of the woman he was planning on marrying, Elmira Shelton. Apparently her brothers and her own children so disapproved of their relation marrying Poe that drastic measures were taken and the brothers followed him on a trip from Richmond to Philadelphia, waylaying him in Baltimore, where he died from his injuries. It was an interesting theory, but I'm not totally convinced. You know I love a good real life mystery! I'll have to read more on the subject as soon as I have time (hahahaha...) "Why We Broke Up" by Daniel Handler is a YA novel told in note form from Min to her ex-boyfriend Ed. She has put together a box of all the mementos of their relationship and writes him to explain exactly why they broke up. It was very sentimental, and worked about 3/4 of the way through. The ending was disappointing, to say the least. All along Min is saying they broke up because they were so different, etc., but in the end it turns out Ed was cheating on her. Um...okay, well, sure. Side note: this book is super heavy. It's got pretty color illustrations throughout. I think if I were younger I'd probably like it more, but now I'm too far removed from the high emotions of teenagers. "Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics" by Loretta Lynn chronicles her life through her song lyrics. It's definitely for the hardcore Loretta fan; while I like most of her greatest hits, a lot of these songs I had never heard. But it was interesting to learn the back story to her lyrics. I must say, of all the songwriters out there, Loretta really stands out as one who pours her heart into her music, and it shows.