American Kingpin by Nick Bilton

  My Rating: 4.5

Ross Ulbricht, a 26 year old Libertarian programmer launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road. A clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything—drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons—free of the government’s watchful eye using untraceable bitcoin. After the media started sharing stories on this illegal unmonitored website, the 
Federal Government launched a manhunt for the site's owner who went by the moniker The Dread Pirate Roberts.

While this book went in to a LOT of detail, it helped you understand all the of the Government agents involved and their frustration in trying to capture someone that only existed online. It was a crime unlike any other, both in it's caliber and anonymity. I definitely recommend listening to the audio version to keep you engaged.

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

 My Rating: 4.9

Woodrow Nickel is 105 years old and flashing back to when he was young. It was 1938 in the Great Depression. Woody finds himself driving two giraffes across country from New York to the San Diego zoo.  Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. 

This was a beautiful book. It is part adventure, historical sage, coming of age, love story and most of all, about people and animals. An absolutely delightful read. 

Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General by Bill O'Reilly

 My Rating: 4.6

General George S. Patton, Jr. died under mysterious circumstances in the months following the end of World War II. For almost seventy years, there has been suspicion that his death was not an accident--and may very well have been an act of assassination. Killing Patton takes readers inside the final year of the war and recounts the events surrounding Patton's tragic demise, naming names of the many powerful individuals who wanted him silenced.

This was fascinating learning about Patton's career and the many battles. This is very detailed but, about his career. The actual 'killing Patton' part was one brief chapter. If you go in to this with appropriate expectations, I think you would enjoy it. The audio book narrated by O'Reilly was excellent.