Joe Moore recounts his days working undercover for the FBI to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Moore was a lot calmer and certainly more level-headed than I would have been. If I wasn't panicking about the "naturalization" ceremonies while I was wearing a wire, my facial expressions would have given me away. The lingo that these members use is so childish and ridiculous. I could not keep a straight face when someone was calling another person Klexter and Kludd. Greeting each other saying Kigy Brother is so ridiculous, there is no way they wouldn't shoot me.

Living where I live, there are many hate groups. There are several chapters of KKK in my county. They make no effort to conceal their identity, especially over the past 10 years. The scariest part of this book was the confirmation that the KKK was banding together with other hate groups in hopes of inciting another Civil War. The amount of weaponry and inside information these people get is also scary, as they have members in all levels of government. This book was on Audible, and it took me about six hours to listen to at work today. Overall, it was very entertaining for a Monday at work. I learned a lot about ridiculous Klan phrases. 

 What happened to Alydar was disgusting and horrific, and I hate people. I think that every single time I read about him. Otherwise, the book really explained a lot about the rivalry between the camps of Affirmed and Alydar, and I can see why their races were so electrifying. The book was well-researched, and I enjoyed reading it, despite the outcome that Alydar had and how disgusting human beings are. 

 I got this book during the last big sale Audible had. I think I paid less than $2 for it, which is good since it was just two hours long. It did offer some basic facts about the cult, so I suppose it was worth it for the price point. 

 Two ships collided on the morning of December 6, 1917. The SS Mont-Blanc and the SS Imo were the two ships involved in the collision. The SS Mont-Blanc was carrying highly explosive materials, which detonated after the ship caught fire after the collision. The town of Halifax was devastated by the massive shockwave that came from the ship, as well as the debris. Nearly two thousand people lost their lives in this calamity.

This is the second book I have read about this disaster. I cannot say which book I found better, as they were both wonderfully well written and the research was also well done. This book is full of information and would be a good source if one was writing a paper or something about this disaster. If you are interested in disasters, this is a good choice. 

 Sally Hemmings is one of the most well-known slaves. I was exposed to her story by accident, when I found a book in my middle school library, called Wolf By The Ears. Obviously, it was not a historically accurate book, but it sparked an interest in the Presidency and politics of Thomas Jefferson, as well as his relationship to slavery. This book does a wonderful job of tracking the Hemmings family ancestry and provides a lot of information about several members of the family. I really enjoyed this book, and read it at a really good time. I am in my last week of African American History and American Slavery classes, so this was appropriate reading for this. 

 Nathaniel Philbrick is one of my favorite historian authors. I have enjoyed several books prior to this one. This one was equally well written, with impeccable research. I enjoy the way Philbrick was able to bring the story to life, letting the reader get to know these historical figures and the hardships that sea travel brought. 

 Tia Levings is a former member of a fundamental Christian religion, who discusses Church sanction violence and abuse. Many people are familiar with the IBLP thanks to the Duggar family, and the information related in the book was not terribly shocking to me. This book relates the trauma of being raised in oppressive patriarchal religions, and how a woman's value is based on being a virgin and a submissive bride. COULDN'T BE ME. This husband of hers was an absolute scumbag from the beginning, and I hate that she endured the things she endured with him. I hope the rest of his life is as pleasant as he isn't.

I actually had this book on my want to read list, because I always add cult stuff to my want to read list. My sister started reading this book and it so enraged her that she demanded I get it and catch up to where she was so that we could be enraged together. AND BUDDY LET ME TELL YOU I WAS. I do not have the personality or the tolerance for this kind of nonsense, and I can say with certainty that one of the two of us (or both) would have been dead immediately. 

 The author of this books discusses his life as a gay man, who had wound up marrying a woman and having children with her. His sexual preferences were discovered by his wife, and, coupled with an addiction to steroids which she discovered, resulted in the end of his marriage and his coming out. Despite the fact that the author was living a lie with his wife, he seemed like a very loving and attentive father to his daughters. His wife was insufferable, and he put up with her way longer than I would have gay, straight, or otherwise. I appreciated the look inside what it is like to live a lie for so long and have to confront all of that and reconcile it with yourself and your children. 

 

This book was extremely helpful for a paper I had to write this term. Social issues are not something that were discussed in depth or at all in any class about the Civil War or as a person living in the modern South that I have experienced up to this point. This book does a deep dive into changes and issues throughout to society that played into the Civil War as a whole.

 

 

I always feel weird saying that I enjoy books like this, but World War II is my specialization. I appreciate the personal recollections of people who were able to survive and who held Schindler in such high esteem.