I bought this book, because I thought it would be interesting to see which topics were covered as being whitewashed or spun to fit a certain narrative. When I got into college to start my history degree, I began to see how many things were told in half truths. I found this book to be quite disappointing. I had no problems with the research or the writing style, it was specifically the material and explanations. I hate to say that I would not recommend this book. 

 Apparently, half of the people in both courts are on the verge of insanity. The King of the Seelie court loses his mind. The Queen of the Unseelie court throws a crazy fit. The race to produce an heir is still on, but seems to be nearing fruition. Charges were brought against some of Merry's men, which were unfounded, and that issue had to be resolved. It was a great book, thought my least favorite because there was as specific event involving one of my favorite characters that hurt my feelings. 

 This book goes into the life and thought process of Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon just hours after getting his autograph. He just shot him four times on the street and hung out until the police arrived to arrest him. He was absolutely obsessed with The Catcher In The Rye, which he claimed was his manifesto and that he saw himself as the main character of the book. I have watched some interviews with Chapman, and he seems like he has some serious mental problems of some variant just from those tapes. Learning about him in this book confirmed that theory of mine. There is an episode on Mark David Chapman on The Last Podcast On The Left, and this book was featured on the reading list. The book was written nicely, but reading some of the drivel that Chapman came up with eventually got irritating to me. 

 This book was heart wrenching. I cannot fathom how it is possible for genocide to continue in this day and age. The world has become more modern, but it has certainly not become more civilized. Nearly a million people in Rwanda were murdered, mostly by being hacked up with machetes. They were raped. They were beaten. They were discriminated against. They had their property stolen, their jobs taken away. It was truly disgusting behavior. This is the personal account of one such Rwandan woman, whose family was murdered during the genocide. She and a few other women managed to hide out in the bathroom of a sympathetic pastor. During this time, she came to know God and decided to forgive the people who had caused her so much pain. I hate to say I liked a book with this subject matter, but it was a good read. I found it very informative on the subject of the Rwandan genocide. I know a lot of people hate the books that have to do with religion, but it didn't bother me at all. 

 This book is the personal experiences of Nick Ward (Grimalkin) during the 1979 Fastnet race. The Fastnet race is a 605 mile course that is raced by yachts every two years. This particular race began on August 11, 1979, and the weather forecast determined nothing out of the ordinary. Things began to change rapidly by the third day of the race, and the weather forecast reported Force 8 winds. That was later amended to Force 10, but plenty of crew from various yachts swear it was a solid Force 11. 303 yachts were participating in the race, and it came out that 24 were abandoned, another 5 were lost (likely sank), and 75 capsized. The Grimalkin, with Nick aboard, faced a treacherous time in the storm that I cannot imagine. His personal struggles and the mental and emotional scars it left on him are horrible to think about. I don't want to spoil the book by talking about what he went through, but I am not sure that I would have made it at all. I am really shocked that there wasn't more loss of life out of 303 yacht crews than there were, however there is a memorial to those that did die in this storm/race on Cape Clear Island, Cork, Ireland.

I got this book during the most recent Audible sale they had at Halloween. There were several disaster books, and, as we all know, I enjoy a good disaster book. For some reason, I have been getting a lot of sea disasters lately, and I am unsure if I am in a phase or that just happens to be what is available to me when I am purchasing books. (Also, I need to stop purchasing books because I am meant to be reading my unread stuff to downsize for moving....yet here I am.) I know virtually nothing about sailing or yacht races, so this was an interesting experience for me to read about. I love the ocean, but after reading books like this, I have such an appreciation for the dangers that seafaring people face. While this book was about personal experiences, he did include information about the sailing of yachts that made it where people like me that know nothing could have a general idea of what he was talking about. If you are interested in disasters or boat racing, this might be a good one for you to check into. 

 The second book in the Anita Blake series, which takes place a month after the events in Guilty Pleasures, begins with more necromancy work. Anita finds herself called in to help out in another bizarre supernatural murder, which results in a host of mysteries and attacks. Her relationship with Jean-Claude is becoming more complicated in this book. Overall, a great supernatural crime mystery. 

 Lisa Halaby started out her life as the daughter of a wealthy family. Her family is Arab-American. She was very smart, and wealthy enough to go to Princeton, with the first class that allowed women! She graduated with a degree in architecture and urban planning, which is an interesting career in itself. She met King Hussein of Jordan while visiting her father, and a relationship developed between them. This book goes into all that happened during that meeting and how she became a queen in the Middle East. It was a really interesting story, and her experiences were unusual. 

 This is the personal account of James Salant and his journey with his Crystal Meth addiction. I know I have said this before, but I am so interested in all the aspects of addiction and what makes people get involved with substances. It is so inspirational to see people change their lives and get themselves out of their addiction and bad situations. I thought this book was a great read. 

 This was a great book, and I am glad to have this addition to my collection. In it, there are recollections from citizens about the prisoners of the camp, the way they were moved from the railway to the camp at night, how people had babies in neighboring towns to avoid having Dachau on the birth certificates. I have often wondered how people in these towns near to where the camps are located are able to ignore what is going on. So many people said they never knew what was happening, and I have always wondered how it would be possible to ignore the smell, the people, the trains, etc. I thought this book was really enlightening. 

 This book discusses the Battle off Samar, which was a two and a half out naval battle fought on October 25, 1944 between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. This was one of the largest naval battles fought. Admiral Halsey was tricked into taking his fleet after a decoy fleet of Japanese ships. His fleet was caught unawares, and wound up facing many Japanese cruisers and battleships. The Japanese lost three ships, had four damaged ships, lost 52 aircraft, and somewhere between 200-700 men. Ultimately, the US lost 1,161 men, with a further 913 wounded. Four USN ships were lost during this battle, and those that survived floated around at sea, hoping for rescue. (The ships that were USS HOEL, USS JOHNSTON, USS SAMUEL ROBERTS, and USS GAMBIER BAY.) A plane spotted them, but radioed back the incorrect coordinates, preventing their rescue for some time. Admiral Halsey was immensely criticized for his leadership and mistakes during this battle, which he staunchly defended.

This book was gifted to me by a friend in the Navy. (Thanks Nika for all of the Naval books you sent me!) If for no other reason than that, I liked the book. This book was very dramatic and action packed, which I expected. It's hard to have an underprepared group up against impossible odds and a skilled enemy and it not be dramatic. This really was a last stand. I think the criticism that Admiral Halsey got was justified. I also think that the survivors were very deserving of the awards they got. Check this book out if you are interested in Pacific Theatre battles of World War II.