Adolfo Constanzo was the leader of the Narcosatanists, a group of people who trafficked drugs and participated in occult rituals. Constanzo was a practitioner of Palo Mayombe, an African religion that involves the sacrifice of animals. Constanzo met up with some others, and together they operated a business based on the practice of Palo Mayombe. They charged people decent sums of money for what boils down to good luck charms. People would pay for his magical/religious knowledge to bring them good fortune in family or business dealings. Constanzo began raiding cemeteries for body parts, placing them in a cauldron. The Narcosatanists believed the spirits of the dead whose parts were bubbling in the cauldron would protect them and bring them fortune, and eventually decided to add parts from live human sacrifices to the mixture. This led the gang to kill upwards of 20 people for parts. During their rituals they would drink from this fermented, festering slime in the cauldron as a way to gain power and prestige. Police were determined to find out what happen to an American student who was kidnapped by the Narcosatanists, which uncovered a lot more than they bargained for.

This book was very interesting. I learned a lot about a religion I had never heard of, which I liked. I am always interested in learning about other cultures and religions. I can say with certainty that I would not wish to drink anything out of any cauldron with fermented corpse parts. I had briefly heard about this group from a podcast I used to listen to on Spotify, called Cults. I also believe this was mentioned on another podcast that I used to listen to, The Last Podcast on the Left. This was thoroughly researched and provided a lot of information about the case and all those involved. I am sure my roommates at work loved all the faces I was making at this book. 

 

I liked that this book hit on two important topics: the Civil War and women's history. I am hoping to read some more books that focus on women for the rest of the year. I am certain I must have several that I haven't yet read. I thought this book was exceptionally well researched, and I enjoyed this author very much. The book was really informative and gave a great perspective on the role of women in the Civil War.

 

 This book discusses several women who fought during the Civil War. These women passed for men, as women were not thought to be suitable for battle. It was really neat to see how these women were able to endure on the battlefield under these extreme conditions, with one of the women even giving birth. They were just as able as their male counterparts to conduct warfare, spy, and support the war effort.

I have owned this book for some time but have not gotten around to reading it until now. I am currently taking two classes, African American History and American Slavery, and have been encouraged to read some of these books I have had sitting around. Despite my low interest in this topic, I found this book very interesting. In a time where women are facing reduction in society, it is refreshing to read about women who prove they have value other than popping out babies for mediocre white men. This was a very interesting book. 

 

Fort Sumter is located near Charleston, South Carolina. The fort is built on an artificial island, with the purpose of protecting the interests of the port and the harbor from invasion. The fort was constructed after the War of 1812, with construction being completed in 1829. The fort was bombarded by the South Carolina militia on April 12-13, 1861. The goal was to get federal military forces out of South Carolina, as it was one of the states that had ceded from the Union. The United States Army eventually surrendered, and the Civil War began. This book discusses all of the political issues and the key figures of this battle, which was extremely educational to me.

I was fortunate enough to be able to tour Fort Sumter a few years ago, and I was looking forward to reading this book to give more context to the experience that I had. I do have a lack of interest in US History, despite that being one of my majors, but I decided to bite the bullet on this since I am in two classes that surround this topic. I thought the book was very informative, especially for someone like me who isn't super into this topic. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

 

 This book seeks to answer the question of what caused the South to lose the Civil War. The author of this book claims that Confederate nationalism was weak, causing Confederates to simply lack the will to win. I find that claim to be a bit silly. I live in the South, and I can tell you for free that a lot of these people still subscribe to Confederate nationalism, are involved in hate groups, and align with modern political parties who advocate racial violence and other disgraceful rhetoric. The nationalism is alive and well. That is not the reason the South lose the Civil War. In actuality, the widespread devastation to infrastructure, farmland, supply chains, and loss of life due to war and disease had a massive impact on the outcome of the Civil War. Other issues that the South faced were military tactics, inadequate leadership, and desertion.

I have had this book on my shelf for a while and have avoided reading it due to lack of interest. I am currently taking an American Slavery class and hoped that this book would be useful for a couple of assignments, so I went ahead and read it. Unfortunately, I found it lacking. I cannot recommend this book. 

 

This book follows twelve US military personnel who were assigned to guard Saddam Hussien. Saddam Hussien was a high value prisoner, accused of crimes against humanity. This book does attempt to change the perception of Saddam Hussien and his humanity; however, I am disinclined to buy everything that is being sold here. I have read other books and articles by members of his extended family that attest to his cruelty, as well as Iraqi citizens who have outlined specific treatments and general life under the dictatorship of Hussein. People are complex creatures, and one person can be multiple things...but when people to tell you who they are by their day-to-day actions, my experience is to believe that. Despite that, the book was extremely interesting, as it gives a behind the scenes look at how this assignment was carried out and the topics that were discussed during this time period.

 

 Carolyn Bessette was an interesting person. She was a light in the lives of her friends. She was talented and determined at her job. She was strong, she was vivacious, and she was a person in her own right. It is sad that people only remember her as the wife of John F. Kennedy Jr, and even sadder that some people didn't know they were married at all and just assumed she was some little plaything of his. People have a really unhealthy obsession with celebrities and families like the Kennedy family, and the tabloid coverage of her was disgraceful in 99% of the cases. She could have done better than this, and probably still been alive and thriving.

The book was exceptionally well researched. I learned a great deal about her life and career, as short as it was. The only real complaint I have about this book is that it seemed like every five sentences the author was waxing poetic about how otherworldly her beauty was. While she was an attractive woman, there was no need for all of that. She wasn't astonishingly beautiful, the likes of which the world has never seen. I thought the constant mention of her great beauty was unnecessary and overkill. Otherwise, it was a solid book. 

 

Val Kilmer is a pretty famous American actor. He played Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Iceman in Top Gun, Jim Morrison in The Doors, and Batman. The format of this book is a little wild and scattered, but it works. It is a telling of stories, not necessarily in chronological time. I really enjoyed reading this book and learning about the life of the actor that plays some really iconic characters.

 

 

Lana Turner was born in 1921 in Idaho. She was discovered by a talent scout in 1936 while visiting a soda shop. She began her career in show business, landing several major roles. She was a very attractive woman and had a pretty public love life. She was married to Artie Shaw, a musician. After their divorce, she married fellow actor Steven Crane, with whom she had one child, Cheryl. She married Bob Topping, a wealthy socialite, next. During this marriage, she went through issues with the film studio, gave birth to a stillborn child, financial problems, a suicide attempt, and another divorce. After this, she married another actor, Lex Barker, and had another stillborn child. She had three other marriages after this before her romance with gangster Johnny Stompanato. He was physically abusive towards Lana, which was nothing new to her, considering her past marital problems. During one argument, Stompanato found himself stabbed to death, with Lana's daughter, Cheryl, taking the blame. This book discusses the life, career, and relationships of Lana, but the last part of the book focuses heavily on this murder case.

I thought the book was very interesting. I didn't find a boring part in it. I love Mafia books, so reading about gangsters and film stars of yesteryear was right up my alley. This book was for sale at CrimeCon 2024, but I bought the Audible version. If you are interested in either of the aforementioned things, or just looking for an interesting murder case, this was a solid book.

 

This book discusses the various experiences of people who grew up in different cults. There are personal statements from six different people about rules, experiences, and life in and out of the cult they grew up in. This isn't about one specific cult, but features several different ones, such as the Children of God and others. It was a pretty short listen, and I finished it in one day at work.