Barbara Pierce Bush was born in New York in 1925. She had three siblings. Her father was the president of a publishing cooperation, which published well known magazine Redbook. She was also a distant relative of President Franklin Pierce and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which I found really interesting. She was an avid reader, and also enjoyed swimming and tennis. She met George H. W. Bush when she was sixteen years old at a Country Club dance. They dated for 18 months before becoming engaged, shortly before he shipped off for service in World War II. They eventually married in 1945. The couple had six children together. One of those children would become President George W. Bush. Another child, Pauline Robinson Bush, died at age three from leukemia. She did a lot of work for literacy, partly because of her love of reading and partly because one of her sons was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was also prochoice on abortion and supported equal rights for everyone, which I love about her. She supported AIDS awareness campaigns, which was a really notable accomplishment due to the stigma of the disease and the lack of understanding. In fact, because of her stance on civil rights, abortion, LGBT rights, and AIDS awareness, she received more threats than her husband, the President. She did differ with her husband on a lot of issues, but was a great support to him on his campaign and while in office. She loved her family and spending time with all of them, and very much enjoyed all of her grandchildren. She died in 2018, after a host of medical issues. She was 92.

People have often commented on her humor and wit, and I have to say that it really came through in this book. She was a very intelligent lady. She did a lot of work for the causes that she believed in. She did make some controversial remarks, but I think people forget that public servants are just people. They don't always get things right, and, sometimes, they grown and see things in a different way than they did in years before. She was respected by a lot of people and leaders all over the world for her activism and kind spirit. She came across as very honest and straightforward in this book, and didn't try to paint herself in any particular picture. She lived a really interesting life, and if you are interested in strong women or Presidents and First Ladies, check this book out. 

 As the title clearly states, this book is about the Westboro Baptist Church. The WBC is pretty prominent in the news media for their protests and disgusting behavior at the funerals of service members. I understand that the children that grow up in cults do not really know any other way to live, but it amazes me how people who have lived out in the world get sucked into these principles. This book is the personal account of Lauren Drain, whose father joined the WBC. The way this girl was treated was unreal to me. I hope more people leave this cult and expose them, though the rest of us know they are hateful people. 

I was motivated to read this book, because it kept popping up on Facebook and Instagram. I had never heard of Tony Costa until I read this book. I had to Google what he looked like, as no images were included in the Audible version that I purchased. This book was written by a woman who spent a lot of time with Tony Costa as a child. What was striking to me was the amount of trust people had in each other in the 1960's. People really just left their kids with anyone, answered the door for anyone, and went out and did things with anyone. It was also striking to me how little her mother seemed to care about her and like her. Tony was a sometime handy man at the motel where her mother worked, which is how she came into contact with him. This book also includes a lot of personal information about Tony Costa and his crimes and trial, which I enjoyed from a true crime stand point. It was very interesting, and I would highly recommend this book.

 This book covers the case of Lisa Montgomery, who murdered a pregnant woman and stole her baby. This seems insane to me, like something one would just watch in a movie. Not too long ago, there was a similar case a couple of hours away from where I live. Someone shot a woman and cut out her baby. That whole concept is just too much for my mind to grasp. Diane Fanning is a pretty good true crime writer, based on the couple of books of hers that I have read. Overall, it was an interesting book and the facts of the case were presented in a manner that was engaging and easy to follow. 

 I cannot believe that I have made it to book 25 in this series. The first book I got was Book Of The Dead, not realizing this was a series, on my lunch break and work. I know that I have been severely disappointed in the second half of this series, especially the last couple of books. I didn't really hold high expectations for this one, based on how irritated I was at the last ones, but I have committed to this series, and I am a faithful reader. To begin with, two people that I do not like did not appear in this book, and I thought that was a great omen. It has been five years since the last book came out, and I have either forgotten something that happened with Marino or it is a new development, but ugh. WHY. Lucy did not infuriate me for once, which I was grateful about. She used to be one of my favorite characters until the last five or so books, and I was really starting to hate her. The three main complaints I have about this book are as follows:

1. I completely understand mentioning coronavirus/riots/presidents because it helps the timeline, is necessary for the story, and are ongoing events, but I am just tired of all that mess and prefer to read to get a break from that. (That being said, I generally do not read fiction books or series and stick to nonfiction and history books, so I shouldn't complain I guess.)
2. For it to take five years to put this book out, I feel like there could have been some better character names. August Ryan. Maggie Cutbush. Boone Cotton. Cliff Sallow. I mean....
3. The book was interesting and then all of a sudden *bam* the last two pages tried to tie up all the little spiderweb storylines with nice little bows. I was really disappointed in the quick wrap up after investing in all this stuff. It was a wham bam thank you maam type of ending, and I hate that.

For those above reasons, I did not give it a 4 rating that I originally planned. I hope that if she puts out another on in this series it continues to get better. Perhaps she will kill off Dorothy. I would celebrate that. 

 This book is about the struggles of Lucy Grealy, who was diagnosed with childhood cancer. She endured the cancer treatments, which I can imagine were horrible, especially for a child. She had surgery to remove part of her jaw. When she returned to school, she had to endure the stares and unkind words of her classmates. It is a world obsessed by beauty, and anyone who looks different than what people think everyone should look like often receive some cruel words. This book really made me want to be sure that I teach my children that people are different and that kindness goes such a long way. Differences and defects do not mean that people aren't amazing, interesting people. How boring would the world be if everyone looked the same, liked the same things, and behaved in the same way! 

 This book features historical documents, interviews from survivors, and also interviews from former Nazis. This goes through the entire history of the camp, the buildings, the workings, etc. I thought this book was very comprehensive. This should be a staple in any World War II collection. 

 This book was horrifying. Miklos Nyiszli was a Jewish doctor who was sent to Auschwitz. He was spared from the gas chamber for the gruesome task of performing autopsies on Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Most of those were experimental victims of Joseph Mengele. The things that he experienced were staggering. The things he saw, I cannot even imagine. This was an amazing and important book. I highly recommend. 

 Dr. Lynne Fenton attended Chicago Medical School, using a scholarship provided by the United States Air Force. She served as Chief of Medicine at Lackland Air Force Base until she left the Air Force. After that, she moved to the University of Colorado, where she completed her psychiatry residency. She was employed in the capacity of director of the student mental health center on the Anschutz campus. It was here that she took on a new patient, James Holmes. She mentioned several times throughout the book that she met him a little over 100 days before the shooting. She mentioned several times that he made her nervous, that he was odd, that he was not opening up. She claimed that she didn't have enough to place him on a psychiatric hold, though she did inform others of his comments about wanting to kill a lot of people. She also broke protocol to call his mother to discuss his weird behavior. She was absolutely crucified in the media once it was uncovered that she was his therapist, and got smacked with some lawsuits as well.

James Holmes was born in 1987. (It is so odd to think that we are the same age.) His father was a scientist and mathematician. His mother was a registered nurse. It has been reported that he began to enter a mental and social decline around age twelve. He claimed there were ghosts hammering his walls all night. He decided to go to the University of Colorado to obtain a degree in neuroscience. His dating life was pathetic, though he did have one girlfriend. He apparently hired sex workers and reviewed their services online on a message board. He was awkward and made jokes and puns that nobody got or thought were funny. He didn't try very hard in school. He became obsessed with the Joker and the game Doom. He was also obsessing over killing people. He began purchasing weapons and practicing at the shooting range. Nothing ever came up on a background check for him.

Holmes went to the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012. He snuck out the exit, propping it open. He went to retrieve his weapons and put on the body armor that he bought before going back inside. The film that was showing was the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, which makes sense, given his obsession with the first film and the Joker. He set off tear gas and shot into the audience. 70 people were injured, 58 of those were injured from gunshots. Others were injured trying to escape. Twelve people were killed. He was given twelve life sentences for each person he killed, and he received 3,318 years for attempted murder of everyone else.

This book was wild. I remember this event happening, and I remember the aftermath of it. I recall a few details from the trial, but there are so many people that do not know how to act that go out and do things like this in the United States that it is (sadly) hard to keep track. I cannot believe that this guy is the same age as me. I also mentioned to my sister that we had a strange kid in our school who talked about shooting everyone with this same name. I think people do not understand the limitations that there are regarding reporting and what you can legally do as far as placing someone on a psych hold. I think that it is unfortunate that this doctor got ripped apart in the media and got so many death threats. I think people need to direct their anger and outrage when things like this happen and need someone to blame. The people who sold the weapons to him did what they were supposed to do. They checked his ID and background. Nothing showed up. The people that were treating him did what they legally could, which was not enough, obviously, but there are standards and rules. If the standards and rules do not work, they need to be amended. The school allowed him to enroll, but they are not responsible for his actions. He is. It was a disgusting situation and so tragic and traumatic for all of those people who experienced it, and are still experiencing it every day. The book offers a perspective from someone directly involved in the case, who was not able to speak or defend themselves at the time due to a gag order. It offers some interesting thought about mass shooters in general, and this particular one. I thought it contained a lot of information about this guy and the case, as well as the parameters for treating someone in the mental health field. If you are interested in this subject, this might be a good book for you to look into. 

 This book is about Athenais de Montespan, who was the mistress of King Louis XIV of France. She found herself a comfortable life, thanks to her looks and talents of manipulating people in bed and out of it. I listened to a podcast about her, and read short biographies about her in other books. I was glad to find an in depth biography about her. She led a very interesting life. I thought this book was very well researched and it kept my attention. I would recommend it for anyone interested in her, the French Court, or Louis XIV.