To begin, I will provide a little background on the author of this book. Richard Clarke was born in 1950. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in 1972. He began working for the United States Department of Defense in a management role, while obtaining his Master's Degree in management. He worked for President Reagan in the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence. Under President Bush, (George H. W.), he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs. He coordinated diplomatic efforts to support the 1990–1991 Gulf War and security arrangements. President Clinton kept him on staff, even though he was a Republican, and he served as National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism for the National Security Council. He was also still serving during the administration of President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001. He left service in 2003.

I feel that it is important to note the author's career of service in several different roles in the government. He had Cabinet level access to multiple administrations. His education and experience gave him a unique understanding of the issues regarding cyber security and counter terrorism. He worked closely with President Clinton on terrorism, and was ready to meet with President Bush about the same al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, but President Bush did not grant him a prompt meeting. They were obsessed with Saddam Hussein, who was also a miscreant, but as we all know now, bin Laden had some horrific plans. The author made some really scathing comments about the Bush administration, and I cannot say that they were not well deserved comments.

This book was really eye opening. We never know what kind of nonsense is going on behind the scenes. I suppose it is the same way at any job, one lower level person knows what they are talking about, and the higher ups think they know everything and do not listen, or listen to people who are sucking up to them. It is unfortunate that the decisions made my the Bush administration cost so many lives, and that there were underlying schemes going on as well. This is a good book, and the content should really be carefully considered food for thought. 

 I really liked the personal interviews from people who survived the Holocaust. The personal photos that were saved or found later were so moving to see. This was a really good book. 

 This book was written by Helen Fremont, who was curious about her family history and began to do a deep dive into it to discover more about her family history and her identity. Her parents did not seem to be happy with her efforts, because they had tried to move on from the past and forge a new life with new identities. I feel like the author was disrespectful of their privacy and their feelings about what they went through. I found the book very interesting, however, and would recommend. 

 In this installment of the Anita Blake and her sexual partners saga, Micah's mother calls Anita with an emergency. Does anyone ever call anyone else besides Anita? Her phone must ring nonstop. I'd throw it in a river. Micha's father has been bitten by a zombie and is in the hospital dying from some nasty rotting funk. Anita takes some of her fellows and they zoom out to Colorado so that Micah can attempt to make amends before his father totally succumbs to his rot. Once there, they discover this mystery rot has happened to several others, and Anita is determined to track down the root with the help of Jean-Claude and Edward. One of the better books in the past 10 or so of the series, and I am always happy to see Edward again. 

 I love the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I bought this book specifically because Flea is a member of the band. I think Flea would be an extremely interesting person to have a conversation with. He has done and experienced some really cool and off the wall stuff in his life. I liked reading this book and getting to know one of the members of my favorite musical groups. I liked his candor and the stories from his life. 

 This was an interesting book. I remember seeing this woman on the news, as I am in the Chattanooga viewing area. It was interesting to see how the case played out. Coming from this area, I can believe everything she says about small town politics. People in small towns here are notoriously obnoxious and back stabbing. I recommended this book to my sister, as I know she would enjoy it. It was an alright read, and got me through this week of waiting for my kids at dance. 

 Gregg Olsen is one of my favorite true crime writers. In this book, Olsen covers the case of a young child, whose body was found by a hunter in a cornfield. Eventually, the trail led back to the father of the boy, Eli Stultzman, who was involved in some nefarious activities. I found this book particularly interesting, because I read a lot of material about different religions and cultures. It is very interesting how religion plays such a big part in the motivations for people's activities. Some of the book seemed a little hard to follow, as though it flip flopped around. Overall, the book was really good, but if you are not into graphic details of sexual stuff, you may want to avoid. 

 I listened to this on Audible, and found it to be very interesting. The psychology was presented in a way that even someone without a basic understanding would be able to grasp the concepts. I am always curious about what makes people decide to commit staggering crimes such as this, and the short answer is that there is no simple answer most of the time. This was an interesting book into the mind of James Holmes. The only complain that I have was that the book seemed to drag a little in a few parts, but it was not unbearable. 

 I listened to this book on Audible, as it was included in my Audible Plus catalog. I knew about this event, but not very much about it. This event occurred in May 1970, when students that were protesting actions in Vietnam and the Ohio State National Guard clashed. This book included personal accounts from both students and guardsmen, and it was really interesting to see what the situations were on both sides of the conflict, and how everyone was feeling during and afterwards. I learned a lot from this book, and would suggest it to anyone who is interested in learning more about this. 

 I picked this book up from the sale table at my local library. It is full of short stories from various people who experienced the events of Kristallnacht first hand. I think it is important to read material like this so that one can get a sense of what life was life during World War II and the Holocaust. It was a short book, which took no time at all to read, and historically valuable.