Jessica Lynch was born in West Virginia in 1983. She met a recruiter in 2000, and went to basic training in September 2001, after the terrorist attacks. She also attended Advanced Individual Training for her job as a unit supply specialist. She deployed to the Middle East for the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, serving as a Private First Class. On March 23, 2003, a convoy of the United States Army's 507th Maintenance Company and the 3rd Combat Support Battalion elements made a wrong turn and were ambushed near Nasiriyah. The vehicle that Lynch was in was hit by a rocket powered grenade, knocking her unconscious. She was taken prisoner by Iraqi forces, despite her injuries from the ambush. She was in an Iraqi hospital, where she was protected by kind doctors. The United States military was tipped off to her location, where they went to rescue her. (Along with the bodies of eight American soldiers.)

The author of this book (and several others) claim that Lynch was sexually assaulted while she was unconscious. She states that she has no recollection of that, but if she was unconscious, she would not. Given the history of war in general, that is a strong possibility, though the Iraqi doctors who treated her say they found no evidence of such. There were reports that she was tortured, but she says she was not, and all of her injuries appear to have been related to the vehicle being blown up and crashed. The doctor who protected her and his family were given humanitarian asylum in the United States, which was nice to learn. I wanted to like this book more than I did. I did appreciate learning about Lynch, who I remember hearing about in the news. I think that it is important to remember that there are women in combat roles and they face the same issues that men do. The potential for ambush, kidnap, and torture are real no matter what your gender is. Her story is important, even all of these years later. I wish that the author would have been more neutral in his writing, but the book was well written and an interesting read. 

 The Taliban took over Malala's village when she was ten years old. Because of their rules and beliefs, plus the desire to control everything around them, she was not allowed to go to school, wear certain clothes, listen to music, or anything else that she was once used to. She fought for her right to go to school, get an education and make something for herself. She nearly paid for that determination with her life, when she was shot by the Taliban while riding the bus. She has become an inspirational speaker and an advocate for women and children's rights. I really enjoyed her story and seeing what made her the powerhouse she is now. 

 This book is about the life of Nujood Ali, who was forced into an arranged marriage by her father to a man who was three times older than her. There are so many things about that statement I have just written that disgust me and infuriate me all at the same time. Not only was her husband entirely too old for her and gross, he was also abusive to her. Her family did not help her escape this marriage, not a shock since they pushed her into it to be beaten and raped. I think she was resourceful and courageous in going to the courts to attempt to obtain her own divorce. What a horrible life that so many girls have to endure. I read on another review that any money from the sale of this book goes to Nujood's father, who is just as abusive. I am glad that I got this book at a used book store, but that is something to think about if one plans to purchase this book. 

 The cases mentioned in this book were interesting. That is the only good thing I have to say about it. I found the book to be dry and boring, and the tone of the author was extremely obnoxious. I had to force myself to finish this book to move on to the next thing. It was highly recommended to me, but I just hated it. 

 This was a really interesting account of a German pilot during World War II. I have made myself a goal to read more books by Axis fighters, and this was one of the ones that I ordered for that. This was a really good book, and it was much cheaper to purchase on Kindle at the time. 

 This book was really quite interesting. I did not know that female children were sometimes dressed as males and allowed to do male things in Afghanistan to make up for the lack of sons. This woman's experiences were really enlightening to me. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about middle eastern customs and people. 

 I cannot remember where I got this book from, or why I picked it up, but I am glad that I did. This is not a book for those who are offended by certain language or topics like prostitution and abortion. It wasn't really a book for the faint of heart. I liked reading about his career and things as well. I remember seeing him on tv a long time ago, but I didn't really pay attention to who he was at the time. It was interesting to reconcile that time with what he was writing about going through in the book. 

 I know I have said this before, but I really love Anne de Courcy. Her work is engaging and informative. I love the way she is able to make an interesting story about historical figures and information. I saw her work on a suggested list for people who like the show Downton Abbey. Monied ladies from the Untied States married landed gentlemen from England (and other European countries). It was a quid pro quo arrangement. They needed money to keep their estates afloat after the war, and the ladies wanted to be nobles. I thought the entire thing was very interesting. 

 This book outlines how the Mossad, as well as a few others tracked Adolf Eichmann, fugitive SS man, across the world. He was eventually pinned down in Argentina and arrested. This book detailed his actions during the war as well as how he was finally found. I thought this was a very interesting book, and it is amazing to me that they were able to do all this leg work without technology. I suppose because I grew up in the technology age, with all of these advances. 

 I became familiar with Leslie Jordan through his work on American Horror Story. I followed him on social media after seeing his viral Instagram video. I had no idea he was from Chattanooga (which is about twentyish minutes from my house). He is so funny, and I enjoy his videos and stories. I have been wanting to read this book since I found out it was coming out. Since I have been taking my kids to the summer reading program at the local library, I have been looking for books that are on my to read list that I do not own, and I happened to see this one! I was so excited to get it yesterday. I sat straight down and finished it in two hours. The book is only 192 pages, so it wasn't strenuous reading. I loved all of his stories that he told in the book, and some of the behind the scenes tales from Will and Grace and American Horror Story were pretty interesting. This was a great book for some light reading.