This book discusses the Watergate Scandal of the Nixon presidency, and the legacy left by it. The effects of the Watergate Scandal have rippled through each subsequent presidency, and have fostered a sense of mistrust in government officials....of which there was already plenty to begin with. In our current times, there are striking parallels between more recent presidencies and Nixon's, especially in correlation to criminal activity and media coverage.

To be perfectly honest, I only bought this book because it was .25 at the used bookstore that I spend a lot of time at. I am not super into United States history, and I am also not very interested in the presidents mentioned in this books. I went into this book with a low expectation, and expecting to hate it. I wasn't far off in my assumption. The book might be great to other people who are specifically interested in this particular topic and time period, but it wasn't for me, and that is okay. We do not all share the same interests and like the same things. I will say that the book wasn't terribly written and it was interesting to see how each subsequent presidency was affected by the nonsense and shenanagins of one. 

 Yikes, I am behind on my reviews again between work and school, so if I am flooding your feed (those who follow me) SORRY. I am nearly caught up!

Queens of the Crusades is the second book in this series by Alison Weir. This book covers the time period between 1154 to 1291. I was familiar with several of the women mentioned in this book, thanks to other books written by historians of this time period, but the research and detail that Weir put into this book was exceptional. I really enjoy her writing style, and the ability to tell the stories of these people from so long ago as though it wasn't that long ago. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series, and am going to order that as soon as I can. I highly enjoyed this book. 

 This book gives a brief, yet detailed, overview of the lives of British monarchs. Most of the names mentioned in the book are familiar to the average person, though this would be a good book for someone with some interest in this topic. There are a few people in this book that I would like to learn more about, and some that I have read about fairly extensively. I got this book at a Booksamillion going out of business sale, and picked it up simply because I enjoy this author. While it was not my favorite book by this author, it was sufficiently well written and detailed. 

 Queen Victoria was the reigning monarch of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901. She had nine children, and arranged their marriages for them. She also meddled in the affairs of her grandchildren, arranging marriages for those as well. She denied marriages between two people who really wanted to enter into a marriage based on her political whims or feelings that she knew best what would create a successful marriage. Many of those that she arranged marriages for were expressly unhappy, not that it mattered to her. Many of these children and grandchildren would go on to become rulers of other European countries, causing rifts and creating drama that directly contributed to both World War I and World War II. Many of these children and grandchildren met with unfavorable conditions, such as the Romanov family, being executed.

I have always had mixed feelings about Queen Victoria. I can appreciate her contributions to the historical record, as well as the aesthetic of the Victorian Era. I have always believed that she was meddlesome, and this book certainly helped solidify my belief in that. If you are at all interested in arranged marriages between royals, this is a great book. It is well written and researched and provides a lot of insight and information into how and why marriages were arranged, even as recently at the 1900s. 

 This book discusses the courtship and marriage of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg and Queen Elizabeth II. The issue of people thinking that he was not an acceptable match for her is raised in this book, though both of them were royals in their own right...and related through Queen Victoria. The author of this book personally knew Prince Philip, and was able to get direct quotes and information from him. I would like to say that I sympathize the hardship of being married to someone who is a reining monarch, but I found him to be exceptionally dislikeable as a person. The book was an alright book to read, however. 

 Peter I was born in Russia in 1672. Peter I was the son of Tsar Alexis of Russia, who was succeeded by Peter I's older brother, Fedodor III. After Fedogor III died, Peter I was installed as a joint Tsar, along with Ivan V, his half brother. Peter I was very interested in sailing, finding and restoring a boat, with the help of carpenters and other maritime inclined individuals. He was also educated in mathematics and military science. Ivan V died in 1696, leaving Peter I the sole ruler. Peter I set his sights on reorganizing the military, and creating an impressive Russian Navy. He made a lot of effort to modernize and westernize Russia, from styles of dress and behavior in public, to industrialization and infrastructure. Peter I did a lot of things during his reign, dying in 1725 from a perfectly horrible sounding illness. It was decided that Peter I suffered from uremia, and, upon autopsy, it was discovered that his bladder was gangrenous, causing widespread infection.

This book was absolutely packed with information. It was a long read, so if you are into long biographies, this may be a good one for you to pick up. It gave a very detailed account of the life and activities of Peter I, the state of affairs in Russia during his lifetime, and his personal relationships with others. I was not very familiar with Peter I before reading this book, other than knowing his name in passing. I learned a great deal about his reign from this book, which is terrific since I have had it for a long time and bought it used. I had no idea that it was believed he had some type of epilepsy and had facial tics, and certainly didn't know about the horrible way he died. This was a really educational book. 

 

The Cecil Hotel opened in 1924 as a budget hotel. It was designed in the Beaux Arts style, which is a very beautiful style of architecture, in my opinion. The hotel now serves as an affordable housing complex, but the architecture is being preserved and restored since the designation as a Historic-Cultural Landmark in 2o17. There have been several well known guests that have spent time at the Cecil Hotel, including Richard Ramirez, Jack Unterwerger, and a host of celebrities and musicians. There have been many reports of murders, suicides, and overdoses at this location, which have added to the morbid lore of the location.

This book is written by the former manager of the Cecil Hotel. She discusses her path to the Cecil Hotel and how she found employment there. She also discusses her coworkers and their relationships with each other, both bad and good, and the lasting friendships that she made with some of them. Of course, she discusses some of the history of the Cecil Hotel, which has been grim at times throughout the years. There are also stories about some of the more notable tenants of the building, which were enjoyable. I thought that the book was going to be more paranormal in nature, but I was pleased with the actual content. I bought the Audible version, maybe when it was on sale, and listened to it at work yesterday. It was a fairly short listen, something like just over five hours. If you are into learning about hotels or historical landmarks, this might be a good book for you to check out.

 

 I am warning you in advance, I have some strong feelings about some of the people mentioned in this book.

Britney Spears was born in 1981. She began taking dance lessons at the age of three, and followed that with gymnastics and singing lessons. She was later enrolled in the Professional Performing Arts School. After being cast in The Mickey Mouse Club with many other famous names, she became involved with (scumbag) Lou Pearlman. Her musical career really took off with the release of her first solo album, making her a household name. Britney was then the subject of much discussion about her body, her dress, and (disgustingly) her virginity. Her subsequent relationship and custody issues with her (scumbag) ex-husband Kevin Federline made her a favorite target of the (scumbag) paparazzi. (I passionately despise TMZ in particular.) Her (scumbag) father did everything in his power to gain control of every aspect of her life, placing her under an (unjustified) conservatorship that lasted over ten years. Recently, the world watched as Britney Spears' fans engaged in the #FREEBRITNEY movement, hoping to bring awareness to the unfairness of her conservatorship, while also hoping to encourage her and let her know she was not as alone as it seemed. Britney was finally able to secure proper legal representation and have her voice heard, freeing her from this (disgusting) conservatorship.

My opinions are pretty obvious, but I am going to go on ahead and state a few more. If you don't want to read this part, keep scrolling. I cannot imagine any reason in the universe in which I would have anything to do with any of my family members from the day I secured my freedom from them until I died. That mother of hers is a sneaky little snake. I do not believe for a second she didn't know what was going on at minimum, and most likely had some hand in it. That sister of hers probably did not have the best childhood, and certainly not an easy one, but she is also a sneaky little snake...and ungrateful on top of that. Her managers, doctors, lawyers, team members that were happily sucking her dry while catering to her scumbag father are also scumbags. That scumbag father of hers is one of the most vile creatures I have read about in a while. I hope karma continues to visit him frequently, and having his leg amputated is a good start. That scumbag ex husband of hers was happy to take everything he could get from her. He was so bent on living a life of luxury and wanted to drag himself out of being a nobody to being a somebody so bad that ruining someone's life and helping make her miserable was just a walk in the park for him. Karma needs to visit him too. The paparazzi have historically been scummy when it comes to stalking, harassing, and invading people's privacy. Just because someone is a celebrity does not mean they should be chased and hounded constantly. It is really gross behavior, and very dangerous. It is even worse when they start stalking children simply because of who they are related to. The whole lot of these scummy people need a heaping dose of misery rained down on them.

I have this book on Audible. It is about a five and a half hour listen, and I started it this morning when I got to work. I finished it after lunch. I am so glad I have a job that allows me to listen to things during the work day, because my unfinished Audible list is out of control. If you are looking for a good, short listen in the memoir category, I would recommend trying this one out. Michelle Williams did a great job with the narration. I'm not sure how many pages the physical copy of the book is, but this is a book I would strongly recommend if you are into pop culture, pop music, or celebrity biographies. This book reminded me a lot of I'm Glad My Mom Died in that it shows that just because someone is famous and has a lot of fans and money, doesn't mean they are happy or have the best life. It is a reminded that celebrities are human beings also, and they go through things much like the rest of us do. Being famous does not mean that you have trustworthy people around you, a family that is good to you, a partner that is good to you, or aren't taken advantage of. As terrible as it is to say that this was a good book, it was. 

 This book is the personal memoir of a solider who served at Arlington National Cemetery. There is a lot that goes into funerals and maintaining the grounds at Arlington. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I know there is a full groundskeeping crew working every day at the Chattanooga National Cemetery to keep everything looking nice. So many high profile funerals have been conducted at Arlington. It was interesting to read this book.

I was unable to visit this with the rest of my 8th Grade class who went on the Washington D.C. trip, as it was right after 9/11 and my Mom apparently thought terrorists would fly planes into our buses. At any rate, I would love to visit this cemetery. There are many extraordinary names that I would like to find while there. I appreciated this behind the scenes look at the caretaking and funeral services that are conducted here. The only military funeral I ever attended is not one I ever wish to repeat. This is a place that was always on my bucket list, but is firmly there after reading this book. 

 This book discusses various aspects of royal life, including the relationships between Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. There is plenty of talk about affairs and strained relationships in the book. Clearly this book was written some time ago, and I would consider this to be outdated, though I didn't expect much for a twenty five cent used book. I would also suggest that the author of this book was biased in his assessments. At any rate, I wouldn't say this is the worst book I have read this year, but I would not be recommending this to anyone.