This book discusses the career of Caitlin Doughty, who works in the underappreciated field of mortuary science. One of my favorite things to do is visit cemeteries, the older the better, and see the amazing history and design that these places have. I think a lot of people are morbidly curious about what goes on behind the scenes in funeral homes and crematoriums, as well as curious why people are drawn to that particular profession. I have been wanting to read this book for a while, and I was lucky enough to catch it on Audible Plus. I listened to it during my shift at work, which has become a great way to pass the day and not listen to a particularly obnoxious coworker I have. This was around six hours to listen to, but the book is around 300 pages if you are interested in that format. Overall, it was a pretty enlightening book, and I appreciated the humor of the author as well. 

 This book follows the tour around World War II sites where events of the Holocaust took place. The author visited Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Dachau, as well as some other places. He discusses the people on the tour, some of whom I found to be very disrespectful and am sure that I would have been in a fist fight with. As a history major who focused on World War II history, I would love to take a tour like this, which is why I got this book.

This book was a little less than six hours to listen to, so I finished it today at work. I like these books that I can listen to in one shift. The physical book is just under 300 pages if you are interested in that. I will say that I would have preferred a different narrator, but it wasn't unbearable to listen to. Overall, I found it to be an interesting recollection of both the author's life and his experiences traveling through sites related to the Holocaust. 

 

Priscilla Presley was born in 1945 in New York. Her biological father died in a plane crash, and she her name was changed from Wagner to Beaulieu when her mother remarried. The family moved several times due to military service, and Priscilla was living in Germany at the time she met Elvis Presley. Her parents made several choices, all of which I deem insane and would not be making for my daughter, enabled her to spend late nights with Elvis Presley at just fourteen. He was twenty-four. The two were eventually married in 1967 and had one child together. The couple later divorced in 1973.

I have the Audible version of this book. It took me about six hours to listen to at work today. The physical book is around 300 pages, if you prefer that medium and are interested in reading this book. I didn't know very much about Priscilla Presley, but I thought this would be an interesting book to read. It definitely helped to pass my workday, and I did learn a good deal about her childhood and her relationship with Elvis Presley, which is...distasteful... to me. I am going to add some other opinions below but if you do not wish to read them until you read the book, stop now.

******SPOILERS AHEAD********
1. The fact that Priscilla was 14 years old when entering a relationship with an adult is gross. The fact that her parents allowed that is wild to me.
2. Elvis Presley could not keep his pp in his pants. I am unsure if he wound up catching some disease, but I can't see how he didn't.
3. He was emotionally and mentally abusive to Priscilla, and nothing anyone says will change my mind on that.
4. The fact that he called her "my little girl" was gross.
5. Why was this girl not in school?!
6. The weird obsession he had with his mother, and then the weird behavior he exhibited towards Priscilla after she had a baby was...ick.
7. I do believe that they both loved each other, but this was as toxic as nuclear waste.
8. Elvis Presley was an egotistical cad, and I am not impressed by him.

 

 Crystal Harris was born in 1986, which is just a year younger than my older sister. The whole time I was listening to this book, I kept thinking about how weird it would be to imagine my sister becoming involved in the Playboy lifestyle. At any rate, this memoir details aspects of Crystal's life before and after Playboy. She seems like a smart and savvy person, and you can see her growth throughout the book. I have always felt that Hugh Hefner was a pathetic little man, who had to surround himself with pretty women and people who fawned over him so that he would feel important. This book had me agreeing with that assessment more than once. I have read other books by former Playmates and it was interesting to note that everyone had the same general feelings about the shabby condition of the mansion. As much money as Playboy raked in, general updates and upkeep were apparently not in the budget. It is sad that the mansion was filled with mold that made people sick on top of everything else going on. This book definitely gave a glimpse into the Playboy lifestyle of the later years, and I am glad I was never fit to be part of that.

I listened to this book today at work, which took about six hours. Crystal narrated the book, so it was easy to tell through her voice which things really got to her and which things really excited her. She was well spoken and pleasant to listen to. If you are interested in a physical copy of this book, it is around 200 pages. If you are going into this expecting a glorification of this lifestyle, you will not find it. I appreciated the growth that Crystal showed in her personal life, because she deserves a good life with some happiness. I was not disappointed in this book at all. 

 Lizzie Halliday was born in Ireland around 1859. Lizzie moved to the United States with her family as a young child. Lizzie was married several times. Her first husband, Charles Hopkins, died, leaving her with one son. Her second husband, Artemus Brewer, died a year after their marriage. Her third husband, Hiram Parkinson, abandoned her due to her behavior before they had been married a year. She next married George Smith, hoping to cash in on his war pension. She tried to poison him, failed, and ran away to marry some other unsuspecting fool, named Charles Playstel, but ran away again after a couple of weeks. Her final husband was Paul Halliday. Lizzie went wild, murdering several people before she was finally brought to justice.

This book is free to listen to in the Audible Plus catalog, and I listened to it in one shift today at work. It was around six hours to listen to. The physical book is about 250 pages. I had never heard of this woman or her murders, so this was a very informative book. I just recommended it to my sister. 

Geraldine Largay was a hiker in her 60's. She was known by the trail name Inchworm, due to the fact that she hiked slowly. Largay was a former nurse, and there are conflicting reports about her experience as a hiker. Some say that she was a skilled and experienced hiker, while others say she often got turned around and wasn't great with her sense of direction. Regardless of her experience, or lack thereof, Largay chose to hike the popular Appalachian Trail. She began hiking a particular section of the Trail, entering at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Her husband had agreed to meet her at various points along the Trail to restock her supplies. When her husband arrived at the predetermined meeting spot, Largay was nowhere to be found. An extensive search yielded no results. Two years passed before her remains and her journal were found.

I learned a few things from this book. The first is that people really need to take a survival class before undertaking major hikes like that. Electronics are great and useful...but there isn't always signal in the middle of nowhere mountains. Hiking with a partner is the best way to go, in my opinion. I also learned that people use trail names like truckers or people with cb radios use handles. I never knew such a thing happened. As unfortunate as the situation with Largay was, it was a stark reminder of the dangers of hiking alone while underprepared. This book was free to listen to on Audible Plus, and I listened to at work yesterday. It was something around five or six hours. The physical copy of this book is about 200 pages if you are interested in that format. 

 This was required reading for my Ancient Greece and Rome class, and I found it to be full of information that I did not previously know. It was very helpful during the class for getting coursework completed. 

 This was required reading for my Ancient Greece and Rome class, which is the only reason I endured reading it. I did not enjoy it at all, which is a shame, because I was really interested in it. I did enjoy the part about the battle of Thermopylae, which is what my paper was about. The issue with Herodotus is that his histories have been refuted, so one must read this with a grain of salt. 

 This book discusses the correlation between race laws in Nazi Germany and the United States. A lot of people are unaware that Nazis took inspiration from ideals and laws enacted in the United States. I think a lot of Americans in general aren't receptive to assessments like this, which is unfortunate. To be fair, I have read a good deal about Jim Crow laws, and was previously aware that Nazis took inspiration from them, but it never occurred to me that some of these things were occurring simultaneously. This book was very useful in discussing that, as well as key figures related to these issues in both countries.

This book is currently available on Audible Plus, which is the copy I had. I listened to this in one shift at work. The narration was pleasant, and the content of the book was interesting. I learned a lot about race laws and stereotypes in the United States pre-World War II, and how other nations viewed those actions and ideals. If you are interested in the physical copy, it is about 200 pages long. I wish that I would have read this some time ago, as it would have been a very useful reference in my World War II class. 

 This is the personal memoir of Alexandra Aldrich, a descendant of William B. Astor, Sr. This particular group of Astors fell by the wayside when their parents died close together. The family was removed to a deteriorating mansion in the Catskills, and this is Alexandra's recollection of a childhood on the outs and her escape from the mansion. It wasn't the greatest book I have read this year, but I did appreciate learning about this part of the Astor family.