So, as far as I know, this is the second time reading this book. I've said - ever since I read it the first time - that this was one of my all time favorite books. After rereading it - eh. It's still a great book, it was definitely worth rereading - especially since the third book is coming out this fall - but, one of my all time favorite books? Maybe in my top 50 or 100 - but definitely not in my top 25.

So, this is a huge chunkster of a book - which I LOVE - the main storyline is about the building of a church, but there is so much more to do. There's a huge cast of characters, but really, not so many you can't keep track of them all (a pet peeve of mine). You do totally get swept up in the storytelling, the character's lives, their anguish, heartbreaks, the lows and the highs of their lives... but in rereading this, I wasn't as emotionally involved as I was the first time (I'm curious, if you've reread the book too, did you feel the same way?). Which, admittedly - took away ALOT of the joy in reading this book. For me, I read to get swept away, I want to be involved and care about the characters. I didn't quite care as much this time around.

Honestly, I felt like the characters were the same as in every other book - the bad guys were really really bad, and the good guys weren't even really all that good; they were just normal guys. There are a lot of strong women in this book, which is great to see.

The church itself is fascinating - how corrupt its leaders could be, but also, how wonderful and fantastic the good guys really were. I know - from reading a lot of history - about how ambitious church leaders could be, but had forgotten how ruthless they could be.

The plot moves along at a good pace - though some sections did drag, which I think is normal for a large book. There is some foreshadowing, which you pick up on much more so on the second read.

So when I was recovering from surgery, I watched a LOT of youtube videos. I started off watching Plan With Me Videos (for the non planners among us, yes that's a thing), which morphed into watching documentaries saved on my "watch later" list, which morphed into this girl talking about what happened to the dead bodies from the Titanic. And five hours later, I think I watched every single YouTube video Caitlin Doughty made (Ask a Mortician). At the end of several of her videos, she mentions her book. Being a book blogger, naturally I had to get a copy from my fantastic local library and then read it as quickly as possible.

Naturally - the timing sucked. My uncle Paul had recently passed away - heart attack in his truck in the Walmart parking lot (seriously) and there was a ton of mix-ups in dealing with his death. My dad had been told he was executor of the will, come to find out he had been my uncle's Power of Attorney. His brother Bobby was against cremation, saying it was against their religion, when Paul had asked to be cremated. Paul wanted to be buried on top of his mother's plot - the cemetery refused to do that, saying it was "illegal" (it's not). Everyone thought there was life insurance - guess what, no life insurance. The problems just went on & on, because there was no real concrete burial plan in place.

If nothing else, this life lesson taught me the importance of it, and this book casts a - often blunt - light at the realities of death. There were a few parts that are not for the faint of heart, but it was fascinating to me to read about what actually happens after death. No one really thinks about the reality of the people behind a funeral home.

It's definitely not a book for everyone, but also well worth the read if you can handle the subject matter

(TW: infant death)

This is another book I requested to read from netgalley on a whim - I honestly saw "goats" and translated that to "fiber" in my head, so I thought it was a book about raising fiber animals. That being said, this wasn't exactly the book I thought it was going to be, but I agreed to read the book, and so I read the book. It was more interesting than I thought it would be, even though I'm not going to be raising a goat anytime soon.

The book begins on explaining how to buy a goat, what to look for, what things to consider, the different breeds of goats. Niemann explains why raising a goat for a dairy animal is easier, simpler, and smarter than buying a dairy cow. There is a small section about fiber producing animals, but the bulk of the book is on the milk and meat products.

Every aspect of care is discussed, from parasites, to housing / shelter, bedding, fencing, food, companionship (goats like to be with other goats, not just other animals), protecting from other animals, and so on. There's lots of photos to help you on your journey of goat ownership.

Though not as enjoyable as the first book, Seven Will Out is a lighthearted romp through the later Tudor period, as seen through the eyes of the Tudor women, long after they are dead. The book is filled with puns (many of which were already used in the first book) and jokes. Just like the first book, most of the puns weren't all that funny to me, and unfortunately, most of the jokes were just a little too silly for me.

That being said, one can't help but enjoy Spear's book. It's meant to be fun, poking fun of the seriousness of the Tudor period and the people (like me) who are obsessed with it. You can't take Seven Will Out seriously, and the things that Spear's thinks of for her characters make the book worth reading, and if she ever comes out with a third, you'll bet I'll read that one too! It's great fun to see the ladies let down their hair and just have fun (see, after reading her book i can't help but come up with bad lines, too!)

I've read a bunch of similar books before - and they are horrifying. I always say the same thing in these reviews - even if only HALF the stories are true - then there are no words for what these people have lived through. My mind simply can't imagine it, based upon my own privilege of being born a WASP.

 

I was a little disappointed to find out the author left the FLDS when she did - she was this major witness to major court cases and lived through such a traumatic period in our history, yet she left the FLDS before so many events most of us know about actually occurred. I admit there's at least part of me who wonders if she was speaking out only for the fame. On the other hand, speaking out and the other sacrifices she made in order to be in court on a continuing basis was just so terribly brave.

I also found it very interesting to read about the FLDS from the point of view of a female who was (relatively) well off, cared for, "rich". She certainly had money to go horse back riding, had decent clothes to wear, could fly frequently on a Lear Jet. Yes, that money was stolen from others in order to support a prophet, but she still lived a pretty good life and from what I could tell, was a heck of a lot (financially) better off than I am. On the other hand, no privacy - I can't even imagine never having any privacy at all. I work in retail which means there are cameras on me every where I go except the bathroom, and that stresses me out sometimes even though I'm not doing anything wrong - like the author. To be constantly watched....This review was originally posted on Rambling Reviews

I'm a space nut. I've read other Apollo related books; I wanted to be an astronaut; I wanted to be Christa McAuliffe. I watched the Challenge on TV, I bawled through the Punky Brewster-related special. I've followed NASA all my adult life and know way, way more then the average person does about spaceflight, though the technical jargon is way over my head.

I loved this book! It's written for someone who doesn't know anything about the history of Apollo, so there were sections that should have been boring for me since I've read about it before, but it was so well written that I was never actually bored. The author brought info that was new to me to light, and I cried all over again for the three astronauts that died in the Apollo 1 disaster. (why has hollywood never made a movie about that? Because it's too horrifying?)

If you enjoy history or want to learn about our history of spaceflight, this is a great book to start (I feel like I'm trying to sell you something lol)This review was originally posted on Rambling Reviews

So, this is the second time reading this, and just like the Pillars of the Earth series, it's not quite as good as I remembered.

It's still a great read - just not quite as amazing as the first time through. Isn't that always the case with anything one loves?

This is the type of book/series I love, that was so popular in the 70's and 80's, and I don't see a lot of today. It's a multiple generational series, spawning multiple wars, over the globe, so you get different viewpoints and see different parts of the action (John Jakes was so good at this in his prime, as was Michnener!)

The characters in the book are, for the most part, very normal people. Sure you've got the nobility, but we are supposed to relate to these individuals, and we do. Their normalacy is how we relate to them so well. Do I find myself falling in love with them and crying when they do? Well, no. There's just SO many characters - you have to have a lot in a book like this - but it's hard to keep them all straight sometimes (even with Follett's cheat list in the front) and it's hard to get really involved.

There are some other issues with the book as well. Follett I think has his own bias in the book and that shows through in the entire series in the "working class" verses "aristocracy" fight. It gets tiresome. Life isn't that simple. Follett also seems determined that everyone reading his novels are idiots, feels the need to explain every little tiny thing in great detail, and repeats himself throughout, often within the same paragraph. The characters speech is especially bad / unrealistic with the over-explanation of details that wouldn't happen in real life. If I was talking to my mother about the President of the United States, I wouldn't say "Donald Trump, the President of the United States who lives in Washington, D.C. our nation's capital", I'd say "Trump is ..." and make my point.This review was originally posted on Rambling Reviews