The author graduated from Humboldt State College with a degree in forestry. As a professional forester for the U.S. Forest Service, he pioneered the first Wilderness Management plan in the nation that set limits on human occupancy. He left that job and began fighting wildfires. This book documents his training and experiences fighting the fires over a twenty seven year career. Growing up in a fire family, I have always enjoyed reading about other people's experiences. I would think that this book would be a really good one to read if one was interested in having a job fighting wildfires, or even becoming a firefighter in general. This is a really challenging job, and I really appreciated the sharing of these experiences and perspectives. 

 John Glenn was born in Ohio in 1921. He became interested in planes and flying at age 8 after flying in a plane with his father. During high school, he was very athletic, playing football, tennis, and basketball. He studied chemistry at Muskingum College, and was also on the football team and in a fraternity. He also found time to obtain a pilot's license. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, then switched to the United States Navy as an aviation cadet during World War II. He served as a pilot in the Korean War, and then became a test pilot. He made the first supersonic transcontinental flight in 1957. He applied to NASA, where he had an illustrious career. One of the most important moments of his NASA career was the Friendship 7 flight. He also entered politics, doing campaigns for Senate and President. He died at age 95 in 2016.

One of the things that I find personally distasteful is that he was quoted as saying that women had no business in space, but then turned around a few years later and said they deserved an opportunity to be taken seriously in science and space. My opinion of him went right into the toilet, but I do realize that people say things or think things and then change their perception after they learn better. I hope that was the case for him. He had a very long and interesting life, with a lot of opportunities and adventures that most people do not get to take. Reading his story about his remarkable life was really interesting, especially since we learned about him briefly in school. If you are a fan of space or a fan of John Glenn in general, do pick up this book. I left out a lot of interesting thing in my brief synopsis that were very notable achievements. 

 Joan was born in France around 1412 to a peasant family. She had three bothers and one sister. Her parents were farmers, but her father did hold an official position in the town, collecting taxes. At the time of her birth, France was in the middle of the Hundred Years War, which was a time of death and upheaval. Her particular area had feudal ties that switched back and forth frequently. Around the time when she turned thirteen, she said she started having visions. She continued to say that she had visions of various saints for the rest of her life. She claimed her visions told her that she must help the prince win his battles, so she armed herself and went off to war. This was not a common thing to have happen, especially for Christian women in this time period. Eventually, she was captured. She was put on trial for her political motivations, but much was made about her scary supernatural powers. They decided to try her for heresy, threaten her with torture, and trip her up. They were actually unsuccessful, because she was very intelligent and did not submit or fall for their traps. They did actually convict on heresy, but I do not believe she was a heretic at all. They did not like her political inclinations, they did not like her courage, her outspokenness, or the fact that she was a female.

After her conviction, she agreed to sign an abjuration, which essentially said she agreed to being called a heretic but was repenting. She was never allowed to wear men's clothing as she had when she was riding to war. They shaved her head. They made her deny having her visions of saints. She was mistreated greatly in a lot of ways, including attempted rape, which may or may not have been successful, depending who you ask. The guards in her prison only gave her male clothing, so she would be forced to wear them, and then tattled on her. They refused to let her out to go to Mass, even though she was supposed to have been allowed to. When she was questioned about why she was wearing male clothing again, she explained. They asked about her visions, and she said she would not deny them again. Because of that, they decided to deem her a relapsed heretic (utterly ridiculous) and execute her. She was excommunicated from the church, tied to a stake and burned, and her body was thrown into the Seine.

Joan was beatified in 1909 by Pope Pius X, and was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. Pope Pius X declared her to be a secondary patron saint of France. Her feast day is the date of her execution, which is extremely morbid. The Church of England also views her as a "visionary" but both of these religious factions were happy to murder her for nonsense reasons to facilitate their military and political goals. Despite the fact that she is now a religious icon for a religion that threw her out and murdered her, there have been other causes for her visions put forth over the years. Epilepsy, Schizophrenia, and fungal poisoning have all been suggested. Anything is possible, but the fact of the matter is, it cannot be proven now.

In school, Joan was briefly mentioned, and we were taught she was burned at the stake for hearing voices from God (not saints) and being a witch (when it was actually a heretic). We have to love that Southern education. I know that a lot of people are struggling in this current day and age with religious oppression from so called Christians, but Christians in the Middle Ages were a whole other breed. They were particularly horrible to their own kind, which makes no sense at all. Still are, actually. I think they misunderstood some of the basic Christian tenets and went wild, weaponizing their religion against people that believed differently, worshipped differently, or who were politically different. (A lot like today.) This book was easy to read, and contained a lot of information and source material. I am glad that I took the time to learn more about her life and trials, if for no other reason than to correct my miseducation. I was happy with this book, especially since I got it for a dollar. 

 I had this book shelved in Cults, because it was on a list of books about cults. I am not sure I would really call this a book about a cult. The mother in this book was a grade A "holy roller" (which is not a complimentary term here in Tennessee, at least), and they certainly lived in a "Christian" area. She was obsessed with her standing in the Christian community, and adopted two black kids to make herself seem like a compassionate woman of the Word. I personally know people like this, and I can't stand them. I am certain I would have not been able to stand this mother. One of the adopted children did terrible things to the author, though she did have a good bond with the other adopted child. She was sent to a Christian type of military school, which you can imagine did not make her want to have a relationship with anyone's God. The physical and mental abuse that this girl went through is revolting to me. I've seen a couple of reviews with people complaining about the author using these particular words for her title because they "mean something different to people with a value system" and her language in the book "not being very Christian or ladylike" which is literally the entire point of the book. I sincerely hope that a lot of the people mentioned in this book had a hot date with karma and are now living the lives they deserve. (Also not a compliment.) 

 I wouldn't recommend this to those looking for in-depth history on COG/TFI or the 'Jesus People' movement. I was hoping Lattin would delve further into the early history & cultural environment in which high-demand groups like this one were able to flourish.

This book seems to sell itself on the sensationalism of already-sensational events, which makes me wonder why many reviewers seem shocked at the content, knowing in advance what the themes are.

Hopefully this book's existence serves as a small sort of victory for (instead of a simple exploitation of) those who were victimized. 

 This book completely revolved around Jason, sex, and relationship problems. There were a few things that we learned about Jason and his girlfriend, but this was mostly incessant talking through relationship problems and nonsense. Not what I signed up for. I am quite disappointed. Again. 

 This book was given to me as a gift, and I was glad to get it. I, unfortunately, did not learn much about Unit 731 and Japanese experimentation while I was in school for my history degree. I have read vast amounts of things about the Nazi experiments, and this was only briefly mentioned as an aside. There were some truly horrendous experiments perpetrated on people, which this book delves into. It wasn't as long or as detailed as some of the books that I read about the Nazi aspect, but it was informative. I would like to find some more books about Unit 731. 

 This book is the first memoir written and published about the Gulf War by a frontline infantry Marine. I read this book after seeing the movie. I watched it with my exboyfriend who wanted nothing more in his life to be a Marine. (He did grow up to become one.) This book is sentimental to me for this reason, but it was a good book. It was a moving account of someone suffering through wartime. I did like the book better than the movie, but this is just really sentimental to me. 

 This is the story of Kathy McKeon, who was hired as Jackie Kennedy's personal assistant. She was employed during the courtship of Aristotle Onassis and Jackie, and also around for the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Her story was really interesting, and it was neat to read a less formal account of life with Jackie. 

 I got this book as supplemental reading to a class I was taking on World Civilizations. Of course, this city was Constantinople in my course, but nevertheless. This is a city full of history, points of interest, and stories. I would truly love to see it in person one of these days. This book was really very detailed and researched about the city since it became Istanbul. I really enjoyed reading it, and was able to use it as a source in a paper for my course. The only thing I hate about reading about Constantinople/Istanbul is the fact that I ALWAYS WITHOUT FAIL get that song stuck in my head. Just like it is right now. So if I have to think about it, so do you.