I really enjoyed this book, which is probably a weird thing to say about a book about a hitman who went around murdering people. Tony the Greek really got himself into a lot of nefarious activities. This supposedly solved some crimes that were previously unknown or unsolved. It was pretty interesting, and I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in Mafia related materials. 

 Generally, when one reads about the Civil War, it revolves around causes of the war or battles that were fought. I had not, up to this point, learned very much about women during the Civil War. Many women were battlefield nurses, following the war around. Medicine was at such a primitive stage at this point, that I cannot imagine the revolting scenes they were faced with. It was interesting to see what happened to the women who were left holding down the forts of their own homes, making a living, raising kids, and participating in the war effort. Some of these women were quite notable, yet I had never heard of them. I think this is a subject I would like to learn more about at some point in the future. Not just Confederate women, but all women during the Civil War era. 

 This is a good book for those wanting a quick overview of Adolf Hitler. It covers a wide range of topics in a brief manner, and certainly leaves you wanting to learn more about this complex character in history. I picked this up fairly cheap, and am happy to have it in my collection. I prefer more in depth forays into personalities and characters, but this title clearly said concise so that is what I was expecting. It was good overall. 

 Helen Rappaport is one of my favorite historians. This book detailed Vladamir Lenin's years spent in exile, traveling through European cities and garnering support. The people and ideas he was exposed to bolstered his revolutionary ideas. He was into all sorts of things, including leading a group of other like minded revolutionaries. This book was very interesting, and I learned quite a lot about Lenin. Prior to this, I knew the name, but nothing about the person himself. I didn't know he was into bank robberies and other wild schemes. It is always really interesting to me to see what it is about these people that make other people follow them and give their lives for these leaders. I would recommend this book, and also recommend checking out other books by this author. 

 This was a really good book. This book included personal memories from family members of the Band of Brothers from World War II. It was really personal and moving. I enjoyed it very much. 

 I bought this book because it was a Kennedy book. I have a whole shelf of books about nothing but the Kennedy family, and I saw this one for a dollar at the used book store and had to add it to my collection. Patrick Kennedy is the son of Senator Ted Kennedy. In this book, he outlines his life and career and his ever growing addition to pain killers. The pain killer addiction is gripping people across the country every day. He also happens to have bipolar disorder, and has subsequently done a lot of work as a mental health advocate, as well as introducing legislation and conversation about mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it. I was very impressed with this book, and I am glad that I ran across it and very glad that I read it. 

 This book is written by a mother and daughter duo, Claire and Mia Fontaine, about the journey from addiction to sobriety that the daughter undertook. Addiction does not just affect one person, and it was very enlightening to read both perspectives. People become addicted to substances for many reasons, and that always results in more problems. Both of these ladies had a rough go of it, and their relationship with each other suffered. It was nice to see them be able to work through those problems for a healthier and happier future. I hate saying that I enjoy books like this, but I very much enjoyed this book. 

 I was concerned about the contents of this book when I bought it. I was worried that it was going to be very biased, but it was not. This was a well researched and well rounded tale of the true events of the Columbine High School shooting. I have mixed feelings about situations like this. People always feel terrible for the people who lose their lives and those left traumatized by the events, but people rarely seem to think about the perpetrators. I am always interested in the motivations behind people that commit these crimes and what pushed them to do it. What was the final straw? It is tragic that two teenage boys took the lives of so many and emotionally wounded so many more, but it is also tragic that promising lives took such a wrong turn. They had families too, and people always like to dismiss the pain of their families or blame them. Sometimes, it is truly not the fault of the family, not to mention they have lost someone that is now a villain. The whole situation of mass shootings is terribly common and never endingly tragic. I cannot imagine living through something like this, or losing my friend or classmate. This situation is just beyond my grasp, truthfully. I appreciated the work that went into this book, and I would recommend it for any true crime fan. This book was featured on The Last Podcast On The Left (Episodes 178/179). 

 The Andrea Doria was an Italian ocean liner that frequently carried passengers on Transatlantic trips. The ship was launched in 1951, with her maiden voyage taking place in 1953. The ship collided with the Stockholm, which resulted in massive damage to the side of the ship due to the construction of the Stockholm's prow. The fuel tanks were ripped open, allowing them to fill with water. That, in combination with the construction of the Andrea Doria and the top heavy design, caused the list to become well over the design allowance. The ship eventually capsized and sank. Andrea Doria stayed afloat for eleven hours after the incident, though the list rendered some lifeboats unusable. At the time of the incident, there were 1,706 passengers and crew members on board. 1,660 were rescued, while 46 passengers and crew members died. Interestingly, Cary Grant's wife, Betsey Drake, was on board the ship. She survived. Also on board was Linda Morgan, daughter of Edward P. Morgan, a prominent New York broadcaster. She was traveling with Edward's ex wife, her new husband, and their daughter. His ex wife, Jane, survived, but her new husband and their daughter died. His emotional report on this incident was well remembered for years. The Stockholm was the smallest passenger liner in operation at the time, and was half the size of the Andrea Doria. The maximum passenger capacity for this ship was 548 passengers. The Stockholm often sailed in icy water, and was fitted with an ice breaking prow, which caused the massive damage to the Andrea Doria. The prow actually protected the ship from worse damage to itself, and the Stockholm was able to make it to port under her own power after the incident, but was escorted by the US Coast Guard. The Stockholm was actually on a course that was not recommended for ships leaving the United States, as it sent them into oncoming traffic, however the crew chose this route to save time. After the accident, a congressional review of the time table, actions, and aftermath was held.

I find it interesting to note that even though the Stockholm was traveling against the recommended traffic pattern, most of the fault seems to lie with the Andrea Doria. The book went into great detail about the events on the ships at the time of the incidents, as well as what was found in the congressional hearing. The Andrea Doria was found to have been speeding through fog without using the fog horn. The Andrea Doria did not properly use charts and radar to plot their course and failed to notice the course of the Stockholm because of this. Additionally, they did not follow the general rule of turning to avoid a collision, and turned the opposite way from what they should have if they had followed those rules. They also did not have sea water in their empty fuel tanks to preserve proper ballast, and it appears that a watertight door was missing from the ship. The Stockholm and the Andrea Doria were both experiencing different weather conditions at the same time, which added to the issue. The Stockholm also made errors regarding the radar. This was a very detailed book, which I greatly appreciated. I had heard of the Andrea Doria, but for some reason, I had it meshed in my mind as being the one at the bottom of one of the Great Lakes? I had my facts all messed up, so I learned a great deal from this book about both ships and the incident. This was a really good book. (I have the Audible version.) 

 This book takes an extensive (and extremely exhausting) look at issue that can cause the collapse of society. Some of those factors include climate change, environmental damage, population growth, and poor political choices. Societies all over the world, across centuries, have faced many of these issues. Some survived, some did not. Currently, there are several societies facing these issues, including the United States. This book was recommended to me by someone in one of my Cultural Anthropology classes, and I picked it up because I thought it would be useful. It did have some interesting points and good information, but it bored me to tears. The only reason I gave it two stars was because of the interesting points and good information. Otherwise, I hated it and would absolutely never read it again.