The author of this book was sent a strange lamp by his friend, who had found it at a rummage sale. His friend purchased the lamp for $35, which is an amazing price. For the purchase of a historical artifact, that is cheap. For the purchase of a used lamp, that is sky high. I suppose it depends on how you choose to look at it, but I think that it was an amazing price for a historical artifact. Especially considering the story behind it. The author made it a mission to research the lamp as best he could, and the story of that research is an intriguing read. There have been many reports from both Jewish survivors and former Nazis about the making of various leather products from the skin of murdered Jewish people, in particular from the Buchenwald concentration camp. This is one little grain of horror in a beach full of them during the Nazi years, or even over the course of history. People just simply do some abhorrent things.

This book was wild. I have been to a lot of antique stores, yard sales, garage sales, and flea markets in my 35 years of life. I also collect oddities. I have never ran across a piece like this in any of those places, though I have found some Nazi items for sale at extraordinary prices. I cannot imagine coming across something like this- an item made from the skin of a murdered person. I found this book to be fascinating, partly because I am a war historian, and partly because the sheer morbidity and atrocity is staggering. If you are interested in the Holocaust or World War II, I would strongly suggest picking this up. It was one of the better World War II books that I have read in quite some time. 

 Thomas Jefferson and his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton, had two daughters that survived to adulthood. Martha was born in 1772, and Mary was born in 1778. Martha and Mary lived a very rich lifestyle, and were educated in that manner. Thomas Jefferson oversaw their education and activities, with the hope that they would become well-educated and proper ladies. Martha traveled with her father, residing in Paris for a time. Martha married Thomas Mann Randolph in 1790, and went on to become the First Lady of Virginia. Mary, known as Maria as an adult, married her cousin John Wayles Epps in 1794. They had three children, though only one lived to adulthood. She died after giving birth to her last child, at age 25. Harriet Hemmings was Jefferson's daughter by his slave, Sally. Harriet was also born at Monticello, like her white half sisters. She was born a slave, thus she did slave labor on the property. She eventually escaped slavery, supposedly helped by Jefferson, though he did not legally free her.

I just learned that the descendants of Sally Hemmings have been granted the right to be buried at Monticello, which is great if that is what they choose to do. I read a book called Wolf By The Ears in elementary school, and they ignited my interest in Jefferson and Hemmings. I thought this book would be a tremendous asset since it compared the lives of his free and enslaved offspring. It was. I am really looking forward to reading The Hemmings Of Monticello that I have on my TBR, but it is further down on my pre-selected books to read for this year. This was a really well researched book, and it was really interesting to learn about their lives and the differences between them. It also covered how women, even free white ones, were severely limited in what they could do during this time period. I saw several comments about this book feeding the feminist agenda, and I do not think I would go that far with it. It is just simply a fact that white men controlled entirely too much about everyone else's lives. I enjoyed this book a lot. 

 I had read several books about Jacqueline Kennedy prior to reading this book. Her relationships with John F. Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis were not new information to me. I also knew about her relationship with her sister, but I got a lot of details about that from this book that I had not known before. Most of my reading has centered around the Kennedy family, as opposed to the Bouvier family. I hadn't known very much at all about Janet until this book, so it was really valuable to be because of that. I have other books by J. Randy Taraborrelli, and I enjoyed all of those. This one was no different. The facts and stories were told in a way that made the book a very interesting and entertaining read, and I always feel that this author does his due diligence on research for his books. 

 

This is the personal account of a helicopter pilot and her husband, who was an officer. She discusses what life was like for them, with deployments and wartime activities. I picked this book up for .75 at my favorite used bookstore, and it was a good enough book that it was worth the money. I typically like memoirs and, as a military historian, war books. This was not really doing it for me, but I do not want to drag on someone's personal experiences. It just simply wasn't for me.

 

 Richard Nixon was a Republican candidate in the 1960 Presidential election. Nixon appeared haggard and unkept during the televised debates, especially in comparison to his Democratic opponent, John F. Kennedy. (I looked up footage of this debate, because much was made about his appearance, and I must admit I can see why people had that opinion.) He did not give a very rousing performance during debates, in my opinion, and ultimately wound up losing to Kennedy. After that loss, he entered the 1962 Governor of California, again losing that political race. Many people were convinced that his political career was over after two high profile losses, coupled with the fact that Nixon promised not to run in the 1964 Presidential election. He campaigned fiercely for the Republican candidate, Barry Goldwater, despite not thinking he would win. (Spoiler alert: he didn't win.) Seeing how he handled all of that stuff and eventually had a successful Presidential run was very interesting. It is really striking that he went through all of that to obtain the Presidency and then disgraced himself.

I didn't know very much about Richard Nixon prior to reading this book. I have to admit that US History is not my favorite historical topic, despite being an American. I went through a phase where I bought a bunch of US History books, especially about Presidents. I only picked this up to read because I am downsizing my collection, but there are a lot of interesting parallels in this book with some goings on in our current era. I thought the book was well written and contained a lot of valuable information about Nixon and his campaigns. I learned a great deal from this book, so it was worth whatever I paid for it at the used bookstore I frequent. 

 Hurricane Katrina was an Atlantic hurricane that made it to Category 5 strength before making landfall in New Orleans. Other areas were damaged severely by this Hurricane, but this book has a specific focus on New Orleans. The strength of the storm did decrease in the hours before inundating New Orleans in many ways. The storm did plenty of damage from being a strong storm, but the flooding caused by the storm was the real killer. Levee walls and other flood protection systems failed. The city is below sea level to begin with, and water rushing in from the failed levees and then having no place to dissipate left the city in a state that would be the equivalent of sticking it in a bowl of water. Lack of preparation and warning were also factors in this catastrophe, and the response from the government was underwhelming, to put it nicely.

I have read several books and watched several things about Hurricane Katrina in the years since it happened. This happened my senior year of high school, which really dates me, but I remember it very clearly. We had a lot of students transfer in after the storm, because they had to leave Louisiana. I remember all of the images on the news, but hearing the personal stories is even more devastating that seeing everything on television. I thought this book did an amazing job relaying the personal experiences of human beings that lived through this event and suffered in the squalor afterwards. It is unreal to me that, even today in 2023, people are still not finished with cleanup from this particular storm or are still living in FEMA trailers. I just watched something about that not long before I started reading this book. The author did a lot of work to write this book, and the comprehensive nature of it is evident. I got this because I like disaster books, but it is a very valuable book about this event for the historical record. 

 This book covers The Great Plague, also known as The Black Death. Europe was hit with the first wave of this in the 14th century. It was carried via fleas, but it is believed to have also been passed from person to person in pneumonic fashion. It resulted in the deaths of 1/3 of the entire population of Eurasia. The horrific symptoms and millions of deaths that came from this pestilence caused huge upheavals in society at the time. This book did a terrific job detailing that. This is still a thing that has not been eradicated, and there are a few cases every year. I believe that they occur mostly in the West/Southwest portion of the United States, though I am sure other places also have this problem and I am simply unaware of it.


If you are a fan of The Last Podcast On The Left, this book is included on the reading list for that show. I have been slowly working my way through the reading list, or at least the stuff that I deemed interesting and wanted to know more about. This was actually good timing, as I am doing a class on Modern European history, and the Plague is mentioned in that text. I can definitely see why this book was on the reading list, as it is full of information as well as historical context about society at the time of the Plague. I will be keeping this book handy until I finish these courses, because this would be a terrific reference text for a paper or project. If you are studying this era of history, I would suggest grabbing a copy of this. 

 This book takes a hard look at the idea that the Christian god created women to be submissive servants of men, an idea that has always given me the ick. The societal construct of subjugated women has been around for centuries, and the shift to patriarchal societies can be tracked with ease. This type of nonsense has seeped into church doctrine and teachings in all types of religions, but certainly the Christian one. Biblical Womanhood as a concept is not about the teachings of Christianity. Biblical Womanhood is simply a man made idea used to keep women submissive and easy to control.

This book is extremely relevant in the times we are currently living through in the United States (and elsewhere). Men, and brainwashed women, are determined to weaponize their religion to keep women under control. As someone who was raised in an evangelical, conservative household, and as someone who has went through deconstruction, this book is RELEVANT. Being in a partnership with a man, or any other person, is simply that- a partnership. It is not a master/servant relationship, unless those terms are negotiated. This whole thing is disgusting to me, and more of these Bible Belt women need to educate themselves on societal constructs and develop some critical thinking skills. This book is currently available to listen to on Audible Plus with your membership if you do not want to spend the money on a physical copy, and I strongly suggest taking advantage of that. It isn't a terribly long book, and it isn't a terribly long listen. I picked it up simply because it sounded interesting, and I am glad that I did. 

 This book takes the reader on a journey across the world, through different countries, and to the bottom of the ocean. The search for artifacts and wreckage from ships that sank during the transport of kidnapped people for enslavement was simultaneously exciting and emotional. I think people who are confronted with the history of slavery, at least in the United States, simply think of it in terms of the people who were actually on land at these plantations and such. I cannot recall ever hearing about sunken ships, and life aboard the ship was never mentioned beyond it was crowded and unsanitary and sometimes they died aboard. (Then again, I was educated through high school in the State of Tennessee, and I do not hold a high opinion of that education.) I was staggered by the information that this book presented, and would strongly encourage others who are interested in slavery or the Transatlantic Slave Trade to pick up this book. I have the Audible version, and it was decent to listen to. The narration wasn't unbearable, and it was a moderately long listen.

Apparently, there is a documentary series that stars Samuel L. Jackson that the authors of this book wrote. I am going to have to look for that, because I am very interested in seeing it. I really liked learning more about Diving With A Purpose, who are mentioned heavily in this book. I think they are doing wonderful work and adding tremendous information to the historical record. Learning true and accurate history about the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the enslavement of people in general is so important to how we understand cultural experiences and the things that are still going on today. I wanted to be an archaeologist and a historian when I grew up, and only have accomplished the latter goal. I love books that focus on the archaeological aspect, and I also love shipwrecks. This book was right up my alley for a lot of reasons, but the actual research and narrative of the book was well done and informative. 

 Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born in England in 1900. Her parents were Cecelia Cavendish-Bentinck and Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She spent much of her childhood at Glamis Castle, a beautiful castle that belonged to her father's family. She received a very decent education, both in public and with a private tutor. With the outbreak of World War I, Glamis Castle was turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, and she did her part to aid in the war effort by helping run that. She also led the rescue effort for the contents of the castle when a fire broke out in 1916. She married Prince Albert, Duke of York in 1923. The two would go on to have two daughters, Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. Eventually, Elizabeth and Albert would become the reigning monarchs of England when his brother, Edward VII, abdicated the throne. During World War II, Elizabeth once again served the people by visiting troops and hospitals, though she was met with some negativity for doing so. In her later years, she did a lot of public appearances and charity work that I was previously unaware of. She was very into horse racing, which gave me a common interest with her. She died in 2002.

I didn't really know much about Elizabeth before reading this book, other than she was the mother of Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. I actually got this book because I started watching The Crown on Netflix and really wanted to lean more about the people behind the characters. Plus, I have an interest in royals and family dynasties. I thought this book was well written, and I enjoyed getting to know this person and all of the things that she did and experienced. I can see why she wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I found her to be a fascinating person. If you are into royals or just historical figures in general, I think you would like this book. It was tremendously well researched, in my opinion, and very entertaining to read. I know people feel like nonfiction books are boring in a lot of cases, but this one was engaging.