The Monopolists

I had no idea behind the origins, evolution, and scandal of this beloved game. It was fascinating to learn more about such a pop culture item. Who doesn't have at least one edition of this board game in their house. I thought the book could have been shortened because the legal aspects towards the end really dragged on - but other than that I really enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at such an "ordinary" item. When the game was first created at the turn of the twentieth century - the creator called it the landlords game and it came with two sets of rules. On one set of rules the goal was to spread the wealth because only when everyone  has the same opportunities does someone wine. The other set of rules was the monopoly version that we all know and loved. The goal was to make people see how bad monopolies are - winning because one person has accumulated all the wealth shows how vile monopolies are... right? Wrong. The "bad" set of rules became an underground sensation. People were making their own canvas boards and adding their own distinctive names and rules. The set we know and love got all the place names from Atlantic City where is took off. Decades passed and a man named Darrow claimed it was his own and sold it to Parker Brothers where it became an international sensation. Only it clearly wasn't his - having been played in pockets all over the country for three decades. The Monopolists gives the inside scoop on all these incidents and ends with the fight over the Anti-Monopoly game - an attempt to go back to the creator's anti-monopolist roots. Fascinating - but a bit long at parts. 

In the Hall with the Knife

This was fun and I really enjoyed this more than the graphic novel adaptation that came out not to long ago. Set in an elite boarding school on a remote island during a horrible storm; "In the Hall with the Knife"focuses on some of the rich kids that get stuck behind in the storm. Mrs. White (the housekeeper) tends to the kids, the janitor, and the headmaster while they hole up in the Tudor House, the all girls dorm high up on the hill and safe from flooding. The first night there, the headmaster is stabbed. At first everyone thinks it's a looter, but soon the kids start to get suspicious of each other. What are their motives? Braniac Scarlett, army kid Mustard, local boy Green, brown noser Plum, tennis star Peacock, and elusive Orchid are all hiding secrets. But are any of those secrets reason enough to kill their headmaster? A good mystery for teens and I would be interested in reading more in this series! It's a little predictable for adults, but still very enjoyable for fans of the classic board game.