Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in 106 BCE in Italy. He was educated in Greek philosophy, language, and history. He also spoke Latin fluently. He often translated texts from Greek to Latin, so that they might reach a larger audience. He was a bright student, which led to him studying under Quintus Mucius Scaevola, an expert in Roman Law. He began his career as a lawyer when he was about age 26. He ended up with several appointments, including that of Consul in 63 BCE. He put down a conspiracy, known as The Catalina Conspiracy, in which Lucius Sergius Catilina was trying to overthrow the Roman Republic. He also attained the governorship of Cilicia in 51 BCE. He did a lot more things that I won't mention in my little summary, but suffice it to say, the man was BUSY. He died in 43 BCE, executed on the orders of Marc Antony.

This was a really good historical biography of Cicero. I had never heard of him before, as we mostly only covered the rulers in my course in college. I had no idea that he was alive at the same time as Marc Antony, and certainly did not know they were enemies. If you are interested in Roman history, this is a good one to have in your collection. I really enjoyed this book. 

 This book is the personal account of Flora Jessop, who was born and raised into the FLDS cult. She born into a family that consisted of her abusive father, three moms, and twenty eight children. Just writing that overwhelms me! Her father sexually molested her, and then began raping her. She would be forced to marry a man of the leader's choosing. She had to submit to the will of her mothers and elders. At one point she tried to leave, and the police ignored her reports of abuse and returned her. It is disgusting how the systems that are in place to protect these kids fail so many of them. It is good to see that she committed herself to helping other people get out of the same situations. 

 This was a comprehensive look at the life and crimea of Vincent The Chin Gigante. I learned quite a bit from this book. It was interesting and well written 

 This book told the story of the blizzard of 1888 that struck North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Featured prominently, as the title suggests, were children who had walked to school, some miles, on this particular day. Many of the children were without gloves and proper coats, as the temperature had increased to a pleasant enough degree. Unfortunately, the blizzard caught everyone basically unawares. Teachers made poor decisions to send the children out to walk home in whiteout conditions, which irritated me endlessly. As a result, around 500 people died out in these conditions trying to seek shelter, and a good majority of them were children. This part of the story was very engaging and I read it rapidly. The first half of the book focused on the weather and the phenomena of blizzards. It was very informative, but I found it boring. Overall, the book was good. 

 This is a collection of conversations with the children of Holocaust survivors. A lot of people left Europe when the war ended. They left their history, the left their struggle, they moved somewhere else to start over. In a lot of cases, they changed their names when they immigrated and pretended nothing ever happened. A lot of children grew up never knowing their history, why they didn't have a lot of family members, or learning anything about their religion or culture. It is so so tragic to think of all the interpersonal connections that never got to happen because of the Holocaust and the aftermath. This was a good book, and, I think, very important for everyone to read. 

 Josef Mengele was an abhorrent character who conducted medical experiments on live human beings without consent. He is known for doing all manner of terrible things, but the focus on this book is his studies on both identical and fraternal twins that he managed to snatch away from their families during death selections. A lot of these twins were children, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 of them. Typically, he used one twin to test on and one as a control subject. One twin was subjected to injections of diseases, surgeries, disfigurements, and painful conditions to see how much they could tolerate. Some were even forcefully impregnated via insemination, abortions were performed, and sterilization techniques were practiced. They were often also subjected to unnecessary amputations. This man was vile. I cannot imagine what these people went through and thought, and how terrible it would be to be experimented on without consent or knowing what may happen to you. This book was gross and terrifying, but was a good read. 

 This book was very interesting to me. I am always curious about children of Nazis, especially the high ranking ones. Some of the children view their parents as heroes, and are still heavy into Nazi ideology. Some of the children have ran as far from that as humanly possible. I like learning what motivates these children, now adults, to stick with one side or the other. This was a very good book. 

 This book covers the lives and reigns of the heirs of King Henry VIII of England. This was a fairly short book, and I read it quickly. I did learn a decent amount about Jane Grey, which I found very valuable. I did not know very much about her, other than the fact that she reigned for just over a week. I think Alison Weir did a decent job on her research, and the book was not boring to read. Below is a brief synopsis of each heir to the throne.

Mary I: Her mother was Catherine of Aragon. She was born in England in 1516. She took the throne after her brother Edward died, and implemented a reign of terror. A lot of people were killed due to religious persecution and uproar during her reign. She was considered to be a ruthless ruler. She had several issues, which some think may have been some type of uterine or cervical cancer. She had problems conceiving and having periods. She also was weak, nauseous, and complained of stomach pains. She died in 1558 at age 42. Her reign lasted five years.

Henry FitzRoy: His mother was Elizabeth Blount, mistress of Henry VIII. She was a maid to Catherine of Aragon, which is seemingly how Henry liked to find his next female companion. He was born in 1519. This was the only child not born to one of his wives that he ever acknowledged, though there could have been more. FitzRoy was given his surname, which means son of the king, so that everyone would understand that he belonged to Henry VIII and he accepted him. He was given the title Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Lord High Admiral of England, Lord President of the Council of the North, Governor of Carlisle, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He died in 1536, possibly from tuberculosis, at age 17. He never achieved the throne.

Elizabeth I: She was born in 1533 to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her mother was executed when she was a toddler. She never married and had no children. She took over from Mary I, reigning for 45 years. She died in 1603 at age 69.

Edward VI: Edward was born in 1537. This was the only surviving son Henry VIII ever had. He was younger than both of his sisters, but he was elevated to the throne first, thanks to the fact that he was a male. His mother was Jane Seymour, who died not long after giving birth. He was elevated to King when he was ten years old. He was on the throne for five years. He died at age 15 in 1553, after some type of lung illness.

Lady Jane Grey: Jane was the great granddaughter of Henry VII, and as such she had a legitimate but distant claim to the throne. Edward VI nominated her as his successor because she was a Protestant. His sister Mary I was a Catholic, which he did not appreciate. Jane reigned for nine days, before Mary I took the throne. She was charged with high treason and executed at age 16. 

 Jankele Kuperblum came home one day to discover that basically everyone he knew- friends, family, and neighbors- had been rounded up by the Germans and disappeared. He never saw any of them again. He wound up changing his name, forgetting his religion and heritage. He was forced to wander around, looking for someone to take him in and care for him, and to hide him from the Germans. What a stressful and traumatic way for a child to live! Personal accounts like these, especially those from wars or other major historical events, are so important. Having accounts like this one is invaluable to the historical record. I found this memoir to be absolutely heartbreaking, but very engaging. 

 This book is a personal account of Alfons Heck, who was a German boy living during World War II. He was inducted into the Hitler Youth, and tells of his experiences as a member of that group. I haven't really read many books like this, personal accounts from Hitler Youth members or children of Nazis. I saw this and had to get it. There are so many accounts from other groups during the war years, and I feel like it is biased to only read those accounts. This war and ideology impacted everyone, from all degrees of society. I thought this book was very interesting, and I hope to find some more like it.