I thought this book was extremely boring. I don't know why, but I did. The story was about a girl who got herself mixed up with a bunch of kids who were catty and jealous and weird. This poor girl was tortured and murdered in a despicable way. I cannot imagine what she went though. I read this book some time ago, but I just watched an episode on tv about this case. It was easier to watch than to read this book, but the fact is- it was horrific. You never know what teenagers are capable of, and that is very scary as a parent. 

 Book four in the Scarpetta series finds Kay performing an autopsy on a killer that was recently executed. A shot time later, a victim was found murdered in much the same fashion that the recently executed murderer like to kill people, and his fingerprints were even found on the body, despite having been locked up in prison and executed. Lucy, who is now seventeen, helps out on the case because she is a computer whiz. It is so interesting to see the use of pay phones and pagers, and how technology and forensic workings have advanced so much from this point in the series to now. I still find the level of technicality appropriate, and it makes the story very engaging. Of further interesting notation, the former boyfriend of Kay Scarpetta met an interesting end which is discussed in this book. 

This is the story of the author's grandparents and mother who fled Nazi occupied Germany and then France. They wound up living in Cuba for a while before moving on to the United States. During her research, she uncovered a love story between her mother and a Catholic Frenchman. This was a sweet and also dramatic story. I would recommend this book. 

 Edward comes back in this book, which is about the best thing I have to say about it. The gang, Anita and the Harem, travel to Ireland to figure out which vampire is causing shenanagins this time. We met some new characters and creatures, which was also nice. It wasn't the worst book in the series by far, but certainly not the best. Looking forward to a light in this series tunnel. 

 This book is about the crimes of David Parker Ray. I heard about him on one of the podcasts I listen to, and I was certain I had a book about him. This was the book. One of Ray's victims was found wandering the streets in a state, with a padlocked collar attached to her. She told authorities a horrific story about being held captive, tortured, and raped. Eventually, she led them to Ray, who was then caught and charged with several other crimes. There were a lot of characters mentioned in this book, and it was a lot to take in, but it all came together in the end. I've seen some negative reviews about the writing style, but the style was fine with me. I thought it was a pretty informative read about David Parker Ray. 

 The Johnson & Johnson company is a name that is well known all over the world. The company was founded in 1886 in New Jersey. Three brothers, James, Robert, and Edward, came together to create the company. They started off with fourteen employees, and manufactured medical supplies and household products. Currently, the company is ranked in the top 50 of the Fortune 500 list, so it is still doing quite well after all of these years. 

The company manufactured the world's first sterile surgical products, baby powder, at home sterile birth kits, and diapers. They supplied surgical supplies during the Spanish American War, the Galveston hurricane in 1900, and the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. They even developed a mask to quell the spread of influenza during the post World War I Spanish Flu epidemic. They also developed the first prescription contraceptive gel, which was a huge deal in the 1930s. The company began producing various medications, such as Tylenol, antipsychotics (Rsiperdal), various vaccinations, and inhalant medications for respiratory issues.

The biggest takeaway from this book for me was learning about all the scandals that ensconced this family. They used the red cross symbol of Clara Barton without her permission. They used the name of Joseph Lister without permission. (Lister was a pioneer in sterile surgery and medicine. If you are interested, there is a book called The Butchering Art that goes into detail about Lister and his work.) James, one of the founding brothers, died at sea on the RMS MAJESTIC. Robert Johnson I died from a kidney disease. There were several affairs, divorces, childhood diseases and deaths. There were even several instances of sexual abuse, both male and female victims. Of course, as with all families, there were a lot of instances of bickering and disagreement between family members. This especially resulted in several lawsuits and backstabbing moments, which were pretty dramatic to read about. This family certainly had a lot going on in private, and sometimes in public. I really enjoyed this book. 

 Dan Patch was famous during his time period. Standardbred Racing was quite popular in the pre World War I era. Dan Patch was born in 1896, bred and owned by Daniel Messner. Messner purchased Zelica on accident at an auction. He paid $255 for her, and brought her home. She went lame in her first start, and was only estimated to be worth $100. He had planned to use her as a buggy horse to go around town in, but ultimately wound up breeding her to Joe Patchen, a successful racehorse. When Dan Patch was born, his legs were not straight and it was suggested he be put down. He eventually straightened out and was sold to Manley Sturges for $20,000. He was sold again for $60,000 to Marion Savage. He was used as a spokeshorse for Savage's business. His racing career was lucrative, and he remained undefeated. (Harness racing has heat races. The horse must win the majority of the heats to be considered the winner. He never lost a race, and only lost two heats.) He was retired from racing when no other owners would put their horses in races against him. He broke several records that were standing at the time. He also earned substantial money in the millions due to product endorsements, appearances, purses, and stud fees. Dan Patch was inducted into the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in 1953 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2019.

I always love reading about racehorses. I watch horse racing religiously, and I do still watch harness racing when I catch it on. In fact, the only race I have been able to attend at an actual track was a harness race. I had heard of Dan Patch, but never really knew much about him. I learned so much from this book and enjoyed his story and getting to know him. I would recommend this book for those who are fans of racing or sport horses. 

 Simone Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1997. She was placed into foster care when her mother was unable to care for her. Her grandparents raised her from 2000 onwards. She has been very vocal about the importance of good foster families, families stepping up to help out other family members, and the adoption process in the media. She began gymnastics when she was six years old. She began her elite gymnastics career at age fourteen. She made it to the 2016 Summer Olympics, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won four gold medals at this Olympics. After that, she wrote this book. She has done a lot of other things since, but I don't want to talk about a bunch of stuff that isn't in this book. I will say, however, that her speaking out against sexual abuse in the gymnastics community is the best and bravest thing she has done in her life. (In my opinion.)

This was a good book. I like figure skating and equestrian sports, but my sister is a super gymnastics fan. I watched it with her, which is how I really became aware of Simone. She is a very likeable person, at least from what I have seen in the media. She also has a great position to advocate for foster and adoption awareness and sexual abuse. She is a positive role model for everyone, not just girls. If you are into gymnastics and olympic sports, check this book out. 

 I have had this book on my shelf for ages. I picked it up to read after I finished the Audible book about the Vanderbilt family, because I was really interested to learn more about Alva. Her relationship and treatment of her daughter, Consuelo, was really tragic. Alva was extremely controlling over Consuelo, and the pressure she must have felt to be the perfect little pawn her mother wanted. I believe that Alva had her best interest at heart, as far as money and furthering her station was concerned...but I do not believe that happiness and mental health were a priority or even a thought for her. Despite the things that happened between mother and daughter, Consuelo seemed to grow into a very nice and compassionate woman. She endured her marriage for twenty seven years before she was finally able to marry someone for love. This book was really well written and the research seemed quite well done. I really learned a lot from this book, and it was a nice additional supplement to the Vanderbilt book I read not long ago. It was also a dollar at the used bookstore, so I can't be upset about that. 

 I enjoy the work of Gregg Olsen. His cases are always factual and informative. This particular book was about Sharon Nelson managed to get two men to marry her, and then killed them both. Sharon was portrayed as a manipulative bully, who lied and cheated and stole with abandon. She is repeatedly given the stereotype of the dumb blonde, but she did have some level of intelligence to be able to manipulate people so thoroughly. I wonder how many more men she would have sank her claws into had she not been caught? This wasn't Olsen's best book that I have read, but it was good.