Category: Non-Fiction

The Underachieving Ovary – JT Lawrence Narrated by Jennifer Swanepoel

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The Underachieving Ovary

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Find it on Audible – Narrated by Jennifer Swanepoel

This book is a twist and turn of emotions! From the beginning I was brought right along with the ugly ride that is endometriosis and infertility. The hope and the despair. It was done with such wit and sarcasm that it wasn’t a whiny tale, which would have been so easy to turn into. Her journal of infertility is such an emotional and personal journey, that I feel like I’m a friend of JT Lawrence and she’s kept me updated all along. The book was more like getting letters of updates than something that was written for public consumption. I found myself rooting for Her and Mike so much that every heartbreak and setback they encountered, I was in my car crying right along with them. Sometimes the road to parenthood is rocky. Sometimes easy. Sometimes it never makes it there. I am in love with JT’s sense of humor. I so wish she could be my friend!

It wasn’t until I was pregnant with my daughter that I realized what an ordeal getting (and staying) pregnant is for a lot of us out in the world. It really is a miracle anyone has babies!

This is the first audiobook I’ve listened to narrated by Jennifer Swanpoel. I am a new fan! I have such a hard time with female narrators, because I feel like they are over produced and robotic. This is so not the case with Jennifer! She truly made it sound as if she WAS JT reading her journal. She had such emotion, like she was feeling it herself! I really really enjoyed her narration, and I will definitely be looking into other audio narrated by her!

The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of Madness, Fire, and the Hunt for America’s Youngest Serial Killer – Roseanne Montillo

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The Wilderness of Ruin

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Once again, I was roaming the “True Crime” section of my library.

This book really irritated the shit out of me. Mostly because the title is so misleading. There was no “hunt” for Jesse Pomeroy. Not really. Everyone seemed to know it was him who was guilty, and he was working in his momma’s store. Wasn’t like he was on the run. He was an evil kid. No arguing that. He is billed as America’s “youngest serial killer” because he killed more than one person. It was rough reading about the kids he killed. It reminded me a lot of the case of James Bulger 120 years later in England. What makes some kids evil? And can they help it? Can they stop themselves? Seems questions asked by people who are much smarter than me!

The book spent a lot of pages on others other than Pomeroy and what he had done. I feel like it told more of Herman Melville’s life than it did of  Jesse Pomeroy. As someone who has read ‘Moby Dick’ and hated it, I don’t really care for Herman Melville, honestly. I don’t understand how the book became a classic – which was how I was duped into reading it. I found it bloody and unnecessary. I do want to read ‘Billy Budd’ now that I’ve read about more about Melville and I’m curious how his mental illness affected the book. I have added it to my TBR.

I did like the questions and new perspectives about mental illnesses. Especially the way they were perceived in the past.  Also the differences of how people with mental illnesses were/are treated based upon their station in life. Some things don’t change.

 

Lying in Wait – Ann Rule

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lying in wait

Crime Files Vol. 17

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Damn, I don’t know why I keep reading Ann Rule books! All’s it does is fuck me up and make me not trust anybody and think everyone is out to get me. Why? Because everyone is out to get me!! Aaaack

The Baby Seller- Fuck a bunch of that! The idea that a mothers love for her babies be used against her! No! Being a mom myself, I could only imagine how Geneva and Sally felt once they realized that things were going sideways :/. And poor Tracy! Seeing your momma shot in front of you and your baby brother taken. I can not imagine the damage done. People truly are crazy.

Secrets of the Amorous Pizza Man – Well, Al Baker was just a douchebag. That’s what that boils down to. Talk somebody into being a relationship with you, then kill them? What the fuck is the point of that?! Dumbass mother fucker. That is all I have to say about him!

A Road Trip to Murder- Except for Red Pederson,  everyone that Joey and Holly killed were innocent people and it was stupid senseless killings. I have mixed feelings for Red, because it seems that he sexually abused Joey when he was a kid, so I can’t feel bad about the fact that Joey ended up killing him and giving him what he deserved. For real.

Murderous Epitaph for the Beautiful Runaway – This story is so sad. Perhaps because I feel a sense of wanderlust sometimes. Britt just wanted to get out and explore the world. Doesn’t everyone dream of doing that at 18 (and 30, honestly)? Growing up in one place and wanting to experience life before too many responsibilities drag you under into adulthood. The whole thing is super sad that she had her whole life ahead of her, and some douche took it away because he wanted to get his dick wet.

Tracks of a Serial Rapist –  Speaking of douchebags who just want to get their dick wet. Here is another asshole who thinks that his cock is more important than any fucking things else. Too bad rapists don’t lose their cocks as punishment. I firmly believe that if you rape someone, chemical castration should be your punishment. 100%

Take a Lifer Home to Dinner…with Murder for Dessert –  This was the story of a career criminal that highlights how flawed and fucked up the justice system is. This dude couldn’t even be contained in jail. They kept letting this asshole out. “Take a lifer to dinner”. What the fuck? Sounds like a good program for people who deserve to be in jail and have been convicted and sentenced to life to get out and have some free dinner time. I hope whoever thought that shit up and implemented it in Washington jails got fired. Fuck a bunch of that nonsense.

 

I always say I’m not going to read anymore Ann Rule books. And then I see one in the library that I haven’t read, and I have to grab it. I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess!!!

 

The Anatomy Murders – Lisa Rosner

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The Anatomy Murders

The Actual Title :

The Anatomy Murders: Being the True and Spectacular History of Edinburgh’s Notorious Burke and Hare and of the Man of Science Who Abetted Them in the Commission of Their Most Heinous Crimes

That was too much for my heading! Eek!

Find it on Amazon

This was another book that I got from the library! Again, dragging around in the “True Crime” section and came across it. I liked it, but there was a lot of information. There was some stuff that I just didn’t understand easily. A lot of information is written in accounts and just the differences in language from then to now had me slowing down and really having to pay attention. Because of that, it wasn’t an easy read and I found myself grabbing other books to read to relax rather than this one.

It does have a lot of medical procedures, especially in regards to autopsy’s and how they were done then. I really enjoyed that. It was interesting to read how things were done by the pioneers of the medical (surgical) occupation.

It does raise good points in how coming across bodies to “practice” on were and should have been procured. Even now, If you ask the majority of people if they would donate their bodies to science after they were gone for physicians to learn how to operate on living people, people are going to be against that. If that wasn’t the case, then graveyards wouldn’t be needed anymore.

I don’t know that I could actually do it. I mean, it’s a good thing. And, surgeons now need to learn how to operate and work on things like fine motor skills, but the idea creeps me out. Organ donation individually, I’m all for. But, just being like “Here’s my fat body.” to science, No.. And yet, the idea of a funeral/viewing with an open casket freaks me out. I mean, who is going to shave my face after I die so that I don’t have a beard in the casket? Nobody, that’s who. And, I read somewhere that the embalming practice adds 200-300lbs to your body. I’m already fat. Shit like that freaks me out. It shouldn’t, but it does.

Anyways, one of the points in the book to consider was if people who died indigent and in the care of the hospitals because they had no money, should be made to have their bodies taken to the medical schools for teaching purposes. I don’t know what the right answer to that is. I can’t say yes knowing how I feel about the idea of that for me, but on the other hand, again, surgeons need to learn the art somewhere.

 

I really found the murders in the book to be at the end of the list of what this book was really about. I mean, honestly. We didn’t really learn much. From the 16 victims, I would have expected more. But, really, who knows what really happened. What they do know was from someone who talked to be able to escape prosecution. People lie and make up stories all the time.

I was surprised at the brunt of the blame that Dr. Knox took. It seemed that in that day and time, everyone just kind of turned their heads, and Dr. Knox and his assistants did the same. But, it seemed to follow him around for the rest of his life. Had he asked any number of questions, maybe some of the victims wouldn’t have died. Or, maybe they would have just been taken to other anatomists. Who knows?

 

Worth More Dead and Other True Cases -Ann Rule’s Crime Files: Vol. 10 – Ann Rule

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Worth More

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Another Library Book!

I love True Crime books, and Ann Rule is one of my favorites. She has had contact with EVERYBODY! She’s like the heroine in mystery books that you know if she’s around, someone is going to die *Think Murder, She Wrote*.

With the exception of one story, the rest of them are stories about crazy fuckin exes or soon-to-be exes. Holy Shit! If I wasn’t married, I’d stop dating and just be by my damn self. People are crazy!!

*Worth More Dead – A prime example of why you shouldn’t cheat on your spouse. The dude you cheated with could be a fucking sociopath! Of course, his wife fared no better than his girlfriends’ husband. Asshole just be killing everybody.

*”It’s really weird looking at my own grave” – In case you’re curious, don’t be getting in a car with strangers either! And, a promise to my husband. If you just disappear one day with all your stuff here, I’ll be concerned. The boyfriend of Jackie Plante is a douchebag. Him not being a douche wouldn’t have saved her – or maybe it would have, since at least part of the circumstances took place because he was too busy to walk across a party and check on her.

*Old Man’s Darling – It’s not that I don’t feel bad for Justyn Rosen, but damn. Don’t be dating crazy bitches way younger than you while you’re married. And, stay away from bitches who will ship their kids off to live with their dad, just so you’ll pay their bills. Not that I’m victim blaming. But, I’m fucking victim blaming. Sometimes when bad shit happens to you, it’s your fault. He didn’t deserve to get shot by Teresa, but he sure deserved to get his ass kicked by his wife!

*All for Nothing – Larry Sturholm and Debra Sweiger were killed because Bill Pawlyk was obsessed with Debra. Larry just happened to be in the wrong place. The fact that he was a married newscaster who had lied to his wife about where he was going to be at the time, made that tragedy much more public! While no one comes out and says that he was having an affair with Debra, no one can really say he wasn’t either.  He was stabbed so many times that the coroner couldn’t even get a count!  It did talk about a book that Larry had written about the 1923 D’Autremont attempted train robbery.  The story sounded good, so I got on Amazon and found a copy. I’m excited about reading it!

*A Desperate Housewife- Bob Durall sounded like an asshole from the word go. So of course once Carolyn Durall finally was ready to leave him, he killed her. How could someone kill the other parent of the children? And though it looks like the timing of the kill was random, he had been planning to do it for some time! That is truly a pathetic person.

 

After finishing the book, I told my husband that I promised him that I would just leave him if I wanted out, that I would never kill him. He told me that was the nicest thing I’ve ever said to him. hahahaha

Shocking Cases From Dr. Henry Lee’s Forensic Files – Dr. Henry C. Lee and Jerry Labriola, MD

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Shocking Cases

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This is another book I picked up at the library while browsing the ‘True Crime’ section. I had a hard time reading it. I’m more of a Law & Order girl, I guess. Or even True Crime shows on TV that walk you through all of it and explain everything. While I found the cases interesting, I had a hard time following some of the jargon and details. I’m not a lawyer or involved in any kind of police investigations, so parts of it I found myself scanning – and if I’m scanning, I’m not really absorbing or understanding anything. :/

It was especially difficult to make it through Case #5, which gave a lot of background on different regions and how countries came together and then failed to become other countries. How many countries can be called the “Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)”?! At least 3.  I can not wrap my head around social studies any more now than I could when I was in school. I will never be able to tell you who the Axis powers were. Ever. I hope my kids pick up on that lots more than I ever could!

It was really neat to see how the advancement of scientific techniques help catch people who evaded capture for so long.  When DNA and and Fingerprinting databases weren’t a thing, to now everything gets loaded into a computer!  We watch a lot of  ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ around here, and I imagine it was so hard to solve any crime without a witness or catching it in action. Once upon a time I wanted to be a forensic photographer, no crime-solving skills required!

The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America’s Deadliest Hotel Fire – Sam Heys and Allen B. Goodwin

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Winecoff Fire

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I had never heard of the fire of The Winecoff Hotel. I’m from the south, but not Atlanta, so it’s not surprising that I’ve never run across it. I was looking for some True-Crime books at the library, and I saw this, so I grabbed it.

Billed as a “Fireproof Hotel” much like the Titanic was the “Unsinkable Ship”. Seems to me a tempt of fate! 119 people died.

It was really interesting reading the stories of the people who survived, and sad to read about the ones that didn’t. All those kids! 1946 was not equipt with all the safety laws that we have now. There is no way a hotel would operate now without fire exits! And odds are we have the Winecoff and other tragedies to thank for that!  While lots of folks died inside the hotel, many jumped – some to safety some to death.

I can’t imagine. I don’t think I would be able to do it. To climb out of a window and jump and hope for the best?! Gah. I’m sure I would have been paralyzed with fear. — In fact, off topic, but I just 2 days ago watched the Super Bowl episode of ‘This is Us’. Fire’s are definitely on my mind after that! Oh Jack! Why didn’t they have an oxygen mask on him at the hospital?! I know this was 20 years ago and a tv show, but Damn! —

It was also interesting to read about how the owners of the hotel  reacted to the fire and what came after. Just goes to show greed was just as rabid in the 1940’s as now, just no social media to call them out on!