NINETY PERCENT OF EVERYTHING : INSIDE SHIPPING, THE INVISIBLE INDUSTRY THAT PUTS CLOTHES ON YOUR BACK, GAS IN YOUR CAR, AND FOOD ON YOUR PLATE
by Rose George

Everything we buy, must be shipped. Freight shipping is what brings the products. Boxes, or containers, are stacked up extremely high (way over the height of Niagara Falls) on humongous ships. Rose George takes a journey on one of these, the 20-story freighter Maersk Kendal. 
This could have been a really interesting book in, perhaps, better hands. It certainly is not captivating nor compelling as some reviewers have stated. I only read sixty pages due to boredom.  The writing is dull and empty. George spends way too much time talking about ships and not much at all about the goods. There is no need to read beyond the cover because what's inside doesn't match. 
Ninety percent of nothing is a much better title.
Not recommended.

THE SIXTEENTH RAIL : THE EVIDENCE, THE SCIENTIST, AND THE LINDBERGH KIDNAPPING
by Adam J. Schrager

Arthur Koehler was a xylotomist with the US Forest Service in Madison, Wisconsin. He was considered the most eminent expert on wood identification. After the Lindbergh's baby was kidnapped, Koehler was tasked to investigate the wood in the ladder by the New Jersey State Police in 1932.
I did not finish this book as I found it to be excruciatingly boring. Unless you're into all the nuances of wood with all of its distinctive markings, you might be interested. The most egregious thing that I thought was disturbing was the amount of times the word "kidnapping" was misspelled. That's pretty pathetic considering that is what the book is about.
It's hard to believe that the author has received numerous journalism awards because I found the writing to be plodding.
Not recommended.

ANNE FRANK : THE BIOGRAPHY
by Melissa Muller

The title of this book is misleading. You have to slough through more than half of the volume before you even have an inkling of what Anne Frank was like. Most of the book deals with her father, Otto Frank, and his businesses.  There is really nothing revelatory nor new about Anne Frank that hasn't been written before. I found the writing to be dry and plodding. The Epilogue was supposed to reveal who betrayed the family but the suspects all denied doing anything wrong and, at best, it's all speculative.
Not recommended.

THE GIRL WHO LOVED CAMELLIAS : THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MARIE DUPLESSIS
by Julie Kavanagh

Marie Duplessis was a courtesan during the 1840s in Paris. The opera La Traviata and the film Camille were inspired by her. She grew up impoverished with an awful father. Her original name was Alphonsine and when she moved to France at the age of thirteen, she totally reinvented herself.
I didn't finish the book because it became very tedious. There's too many characters that come and go and you feel as if you are reading one giant gossip column from the nineteenth century. Marie has many lovers, they shower her with gifts, she lives like royalty. Soon enough, you are completely bored.
Not recommended.

BOY 30529 : A MEMOIR
by Felix Weinberg

When Felix Weinberg was twelve years old, his idyllic world fell apart. His family was Czech and quite respectable. That meant nothing to the Nazis when they invaded. Felix's father had already left for England hoping that he could arrange to have his wife and two sons emigrate there. Unfortunately, it was too late. Over the next several years, Felix would survive five concentration camps and a Death March. He lost his mother and his younger brother in the camps. When he was finally liberated, Felix would reunite with his father in Britain. 
For a sparse book (165 pages), there's enough information to give you an idea of what happened during the Holocaust. The writing, though, leaves a lot to be desired. It's dry and slow-going. There's also numerous editing problems with missing words and misspellings. 
So many books on the Holocaust have been written during the past thirty plus years and only a select few have been highly readable. This book is not one of them.
Not recommended.

QUEEN BEE OF TUSCANY : THE REDOUBTABLE JANET ROSS
 by Ben Downing

Don't believe any of the reviews for this book.  Exhilarating, a page-turner, entertaining, engrossing, is absurd. I only got to page 40 and could no longer stand the book. Janet Ross was supposed to be this dynamic, Victorian woman who for the last sixty years of her life lived in Tuscany immersed in the agriculture. Sounds a bit dry, doesn't it? I like to read books about obscure subjects and if they're written well, they can be quite fascinating. Unfortunately, this one doesn't cut it. There's so many peripheral characters that abound (who cares about them?) that you can't get your head around right in the beginning and never seems to stop. It was all rather boring.
Not recommended.

ITALIAN WAYS : ON AND OFF THE RAILS FROM MILAN TO PALERMO
by Tim Parks

Tim Parks has lived in Italy for thirty-two years. Coming from England, you wonder why he ever left. He doesn't seem to have one nice thing to say about either Italy or the Italians.
The first section of the book he drones on and on about acquiring train tickets with all their nuances. (You get excruciating details.) Parks talks about the interesting people he meets on the train: gypsies (the women beg), immigrants, prostitutes, etc.
I stopped reading at page 60.
What's a shame is that Parks has written quite a good many books, both fiction and nonfiction. Years ago I read his Italian Neighbors and that was wonderful. I don't know what happened. Maybe his style of writing changed.
If you're planning a trip to Italy, there are many other good books that tell you what trains to take or you can just go to www.YouTube.com for priceless information.
Not recommended.