I hate to say stuff about books of this nature, but this is the most boring thing I have read in quite some time. 

 I have this book on Audible, and I bought it as part of a group of books about famous buildings. This one is obviously about The Sands casino in Las Vegas. It was really interesting to see all of the big names that played shows at this venue- Frank Sinatra being the most interesting as he had a financial stake in the casino and alleged ties to organized crime. (I very much believe in those alleged connections to organized crime.) There were also some really big underworld names associated with this place, including Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello. This casino was in operation for 44 years, and so many high profile people came in and out. This was a really interesting book, and I would highly recommend it for anyone who loves famous building, celebrity stories, or mafia connections. 

 This is the personal diary of Gerhard Engel, who was Adolf Hitler's Adjutant from 1938 to 1943. He includes a lot of the conversations and thought processes that were behind some of the most notable decisions that were made by Hitler and the Nazi regime. He talks about Hitler's personal qualities and his thoughts about the Jewish people. I think these personal memoirs from Nazis are so important to read. I thought this was an interesting book. 

 The is the memoir of George Tenet, former Director of Central Intelligence. He was appointed the Deputy Director in 1995, but served as Director after the resignation of John Deutch in 1996. Some notable instances from his career include the bombing of two United States embassies in Africa in 1998, the 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, breaking the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire in 2001, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and plenty during the subsequent war on terror. He officially resigned in 2004, citing wanting to be a family man. There was a lot of speculation that it had to do with disapproval from President George Bush regarding all of the missteps in the invasion of Iraq and the War on Terror, but President Bush offered public praise and support for him.

I went into this book thinking that George Tenet would laud himself as a perfect guy with a perfect track record. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he did seem accountable for a lot of the shenanagins that went on. I feel that he tried to make sure his experiences were recorded as accurately and honestly as he could have, and did not displace blame or undue criticism on other people. I appreciated the inside look into the CIA and how it was operating during this time period. I truly believe that he enjoyed this job, and tried his best at it. The book itself was written in such a way that made it an easy, engaging read, even if it was 500 pages of CIA talk. That may not be for everyone, but if you are interested in 9/11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan war era, I would strongly suggest reading this book for that purpose alone. 

 Moriz Scheyer was born in 1886 in Romania. The family had moved to Vienna while Moriz was still attending school. He was in secondary school at the outbreak of World War I, and wrote about that and the aftermath of the war. He avoided service in that war, due to a health condition. Between the wars, he traveled all over the place, got married, and adopted two children. When the Nazi's began their rise to power, he lost his job as the arts editor for the Neues Wiener Tagblatt. He escaped to Paris, where he rode out the war. He had some really close calls, narrow escapes, and dramatic experiences that he outlined in this book. I found the book to be page turning at certain points, especially when I was concerned about how he made it through a situation. I cannot imagine living like this. It is so important that we have these historical accounts to really get a sense of what like was like almost 80 years ago. 

 Moriz Scheyer was born in 1886 in Romania. The family had moved to Vienna while Moriz was still attending school. He was in secondary school at the outbreak of World War I, and wrote about that and the aftermath of the war. He avoided service in that war, due to a health condition. Between the wars, he traveled all over the place, got married, and adopted two children. When the Nazi's began their rise to power, he lost his job as the arts editor for the Neues Wiener Tagblatt. He escaped to Paris, where he rode out the war. He had some really close calls, narrow escapes, and dramatic experiences that he outlined in this book. I found the book to be page turning at certain points, especially when I was concerned about how he made it through a situation. I cannot imagine living like this. It is so important that we have these historical accounts to really get a sense of what like was like almost 80 years ago. 

 Natalee Holloway disappeared while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba in 2005. She was last seen by her classmates on leaving a restaurant/nightclub with with some local boys. She was reported missing by classmates when she failed to show up for her flight the next morning to return to the United States. The three boys who she was last reported to be with were picked up and brought in for questioning. Obviously, they denied doing anything to her. They were all released due to lack of evidence. Her boy has yet to be recovered, and I highly doubt it ever will. She was officially declared dead in 2012, when she would have been 25 years old, though everyone knows she died in 2005, aged 18.

This book was written by her father, and is fairly out of date since things have happened with this case and suspects since the book was published. I did like the personal feelings about the case, which were a welcome change from the podcasts and media that I had been exposed to up to this point. I was in my Junior year of high school when Natalee went missing, and I remember it being in the news very heavy. We also had lectures several times at school about how to be safe when we went out, which I thought was nagging at the time, but now I realize how important those lectures were. Some kids did not have parents to teach them that there are awful people in the world and how to attempt to keep themselves safe and really needed to hear that from someone. I saw this book on display at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee when I went in 2020. I happened across it at my local library and decided to pick it up. It was decently written, and you can really get a clear picture of how hard it is to go through a criminal investigation regarding your missing child, and how it works with foreign governments. I think that this book is valuable for a lot of reasons, and if you are interested in this case, you should check it out.

This is a reminder to yourself to really take a look at the decisions you are making when you go out, and to speak to your children about being safe in public. Half of the time, you cannot even trust the people you know, and you certainly cannot trust random people. You never leave your drink or food unattended, you always let people know where you are going, you never leave your friends for any reason, you never let them go off alone, and you always make sure they at least get in their door before you pull off. People can be snatched in an absolute hot second. Women, especially, need to be vigilant at all times. The world cares much less about women than we like to admit to ourselves, but this has always been an issue and it is especially prevalent lately. I do not believe in living in fear, but I also do not believe in making it easy to be snatched. Natalee's story is a great talking point for these things, as well about safe travel in foreign countries. 

 I picked this book up yesterday at the library when I took my girls to do an activity for the summer reading program. I have no idea why in the world I got this book, because this case makes me absolutely rage. Nevertheless, I got it, and I read it all last night. (This has it marked as 400 pages, but the edition that I have is less than 300 if you do not include the index pages.) Guess what? It made me so angry.

Andrea Kennedy Yates was born in 1964 in Texas. As a teenager, she suffered from bulimia and depression. She once even spoke to her friend about suicide. She did well in school, going on to become a nurse. She worked in that capacity until she met her husband, unfortunately marrying him. They decided they were going to have as many children as God would allow, which is a religious position that irritates me. If you cannot mentally handle having children, which is noticeable after the first one or two, (especially in this particular case), then you do not need to have four or five more.... you put yourself and your wellbeing at risk, not to mention the lives of the children involved, even if they aren't murdered. Anyway, I digress. That husband moved them into an RV, as though being crammed in an RV with babies while you are having a mental breakdown is helpful. He then decided he better get them a little bitty house to pack five kids into for "her health" as though continuing to have kids against all reason was for "her health".

Andrea Yates is portrayed in the media as this absolutely evil woman who murdered her children. When I first became aware of her case, I was shocked by her ability to drown five children one after another. In fact, I probably thought she was absolutely diabolical. I was wrong, and a lot of other people are wrong about her as well. She is not evil. Not by any stretch. Did she kill her children? YES. Is she guilty of doing that? YES. She is not evil. Andrea clearly suffered from mental illness. This book has a very useful timeline in the front of significant dates, which I appreciated. She had a baby in 1994 and 1995. Being pregnant and having children back to back creates a lot of changes in your life-mentally and physically. (I personally have some mental health issues, and I know they were worse when I was unmedicated during pregnancy and post partum depression was no joke.) She had a miscarriage in 1996, which creates a whole host of other feelings and changes. She has another baby in 1997. She has yet another baby in 1999. She was hospitalized for trying to overdose, and was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. She tried to kill herself again after that hospitalization. She is off and on medications and seeing therapists from that point onward. She has another baby in 2000, as though that was a great idea, since her therapist told them to stop having kids because it was making her mental issues worse. Her father died in 2001, right around the time that she was hospitalized for a third time with postpartum depression and recurrent major depression. In the spring of 2001, Andrea filled the bathtub with water, and thought about drowning her children, but did not because her mother in law and husband were home. She was hospitalized again. Two days before she killed her children, she saw her therapist. The woman was given medications and then taken off of them so much, I cannot imagine how she could regulate. She had also become obsessed with the Bible, the mark of the beast, and doing a sacrifice.

Andrea called 911 to report what she had done, but she never did confess over the phone. When the police arrived, she told him that she had killed her children. She sat on the couch and calmly waited until they finished with their crime scene stuff, and went calmly to jail. She confessed what she did. She was put on trial, which was delayed due to the attacks on the World Trade Center. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity, as she should have been. She was clearly disturbed and not thinking properly at all. Her mental illnesses were clearly documented prior to this event, and it was clear it wasn't a last ditch made up effort of a defense for trial. She has been incarcerated in a low security mental health facility since. She is reportedly doing quite well and is medicated, and she has no desire to leave the facility. I cannot imagine how she must feel about all that has happened when she is thinking clearly and not in the throes of a breakdown.

Something that really gets on my nerves is how everyone feels sorry for the husband. Yes, it is sad for him that he lost all of his children in one day. That's about all the sympathy he gets from me. He married this woman, and then was completely irresponsible. He could clearly see that she was struggling. He could clearly see that something was wrong. He claimed he was concerned for her wellbeing, yet he sure kept her pregnant as though that was helping the issue. He claimed he was concerned for the children, enough to have his mother come babysit his wife to make sure she didn't hurt them or herself. He wasn't concerned enough to stop having them. He wasn't concerned enough to listen to the medical professionals that explained to them that having children was setting off her schizophrenia and post partum psychosis. He just kept her pregnant and isolated. He is trash, and there isn't a soul on the planet that will change my mind from that stance. I have seen his interviews on various shows and documentaries, and he absolutely disgusts me. He filed for divorce from Andrea, because he just couldn't stay married to her after she had did that to their children, as though he bears no accountability for it. He remarried and his new wife filed for divorce from him.

The case is sad. It is sad that five little kids were brought into this world and had to live in such a strain for their short lives. It is sad that Andrea has suffered from mental illness for essentially her entire life. It is sad that she murdered her children, and it is sad that the children were murdered. It is sad that her husband was irresponsible and hid behind organized religion to fuel his own personal desires. It is sad that the media vilified someone who clearly should have been committed a long time ago, spreading misinformation about post partum psychosis and the onset of schizophrenia after childbirth. I hope that everyone involved finds some peace, even that husband, and that this case serves as a reminder that these issues are real and should not be glossed over with that "baby blues" term. 

 This is the horrific story of a North Korean boy and his family. He tells about how his family came to be, how they wound up in North Korea, and how they wound up in on of the "secret" concentration camps. At the time this story came out, it was shocking. The more stories like this that get out, the worse life appears to be. I cannot imagine having to live in a leaky hut with no way to warm myself, no clothes, no shower. I cannot imagine having to eat rats and suck down salamanders. It's awful to think they can treat children this way, especially, but whole families?? This was a heartbreaking story to read, and even more so knowing that there are thousands more just like it or worse that have not been told to the world. Absolutely horrendous behavior. 

 Apollo 8 was the first mission to orbit the moon with a live human crew. The Apollo 8 mission was launched in December 1968. The crew consisted of three astronauts: William Anders, Frank Borman, and James Lovell. The crew orbited the moon ten times before returning back to Earth. They were picked up by the USS Yorktown, which I was also fortunate enough to visit in South Carolina. I thought that was a cool tie in to this book. I was fortunate enough to see a Saturn V rocket in Huntsville, and this book included illustrations and information about that, so that was very interesting.

I bought this book after we visited the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. I attended Space Camp in 5th grade, and I love looking at space images. My daughter is space obsessed, so I thought this would be a good book to read to have something to discuss with her. I found it on clearance at Booksamillion, so I figured I would go ahead and get it. There were a lot of facts about the Apollo 8 mission, crew, and equipment. My lack of interest in space did not matter as much, because the book was written in a way that was engaging to the reader and I did enjoy learning new information.