Henry VIII is one of the most popular historical figures that we read about, or that is features in shows and movies. He made a huge impact on the world in many ways, specifically with his religious shenanagins. Obviously, he is very well known for his six wives and their various demises, as well as his daughters. This book takes a deeper look into the various mistresses and offspring produced by those illicit liaisons, and also helps drive home the point that this man was a notorious womanizer. The book attempts to show that he was a monogamist, but that is not a point that I particularly agree with. I do believe that he spent his life searching for the perfect female companion, especially one that would provide him with a son. I also think he was probably terribly romantic at heart, as evidenced by some of his letters and behaviors. The fact remains that he took several mistresses, and acted in ways that are abhorrent.

This book wasn't terribly long, just around 300 pages. I have had this book for a while, and finally worked my way to it. I did like learning more about the various mistresses of Henry VIII and the children that were fathered by him. I have learned so much about his six wives, and less about these women on the side. I do appreciate the level of research that went into this book, and thought that it was written in a very engaging way. 

 John Charles Gilkey is an American thief, who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rare books, manuscripts, and maps. He stole from people, libraries, book fairs, and pretty much anyone else if there was an item that caught his eye. The way this man went about his elaborate stealing methods was wild. In this book, it says that he felt like he deserved the stolen items, which also blew my mind.

This book is currently available on Audible Plus, which is the version I used. The narration was decent. There have been a couple of books that I have ran across that I did not finish solely based on the narration, and I am pleased to say that this was not one of those. Before reading this book, it really never crossed my mind that there were book thieves. This book was exceptionally interesting, in that it went through a lot of details given to the author directly from Gilkey himself. This was a pretty decent book and not terribly long to listen to. 

 Anne Isabella Noel Milbanke was born in England in 1792. She was educated by a tutor from Cambridge University, showing a keen interest in learning and a sharp mind. She was very religious and deeply moral, so it was particularly shocking to those who knew her when she developed an obsession with the notorious Lord Byron. She met him for the first time in March 1812, and saw him on many occasions after that. They became engaged in 1814, marrying the following year. Lord and Lady Byron had a daughter, who would be a very influential woman in her own right. Lady Byron also cared for the daughter of Lord Byron and his sister, born out of their incest relationship. I knew a pretty good deal of information about Lord Byron and his daughter, but I never really knew much about Lady Byron. She went through a lot dealing with him, and it was fascinating to see how she managed all of that while trying to be a mother.

I have had this book on my shelf for a while, and finally got around to finishing it. It was well worth the dollar I paid for it. It wasn't my favorite book that I have read this year, but it wasn't the worst either. It was informative, and was a fairly quick read. If you are interested in lives of poets and their families, this would be a really good one to pick up. 

 Felice della Rovere was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II. Her mother was Lucrezia Normanni. She was well educated, moved in high society circles, and had some very well known friends. One of her friends happened to be Catherine de' Medici, who had even came to stay with her for a time as a child. Her father made a lot of provisions for her, including wealth, education, and an arranged marriage. She had her own money and assets independent of her husband, including business in the grain trade. She also played a role in peaceful negotiations between France and the Papal States. She had several children, who went on to be well known people in their own right.

I would like to mention that it had simply never crossed my mind until I moved out of my parents house and began reading more things and beginning my college education in history that Popes and other religious figures would have illegitimate children. Obviously, we all know that people who are in trusted positions often get up to all sorts of shenanagins, and that has been made even more clear in the news recently. This type of thing is exactly why I do not agree with forced indoctrination and the insistence that religious figures are abundantly moral people. They most certainly are not. (Of course, there are decent people, but they are still people and are still flawed. The ones who commit "sins" and sexual assault on people should not be able to hide being a curtain of religion and get away with that.) Education and open dialogue are so important to people who need to be aware that things aren't always proper and that people are capable of anything.

The research on this book was done in an organized and thorough way. The subject matter was very interesting, especially since Felice was less well known than some of the other women in her time. (At least to me.) This book has excited me for the class on the Renaissance that I still have to take to finish this degree, and I am really looking forward to when that pops up in my schedule. The only real issue that I had with this book was that Felice was portrayed as a good, wholesome girl. While she may have been, it is also very important to remember that she is a human being and has flaws of her own. I think it is vital that we stop viewing historical figures in strictly black and white terms. Obviously, some do more good than others, but painting them to be completely wonderful isn't doing it for me. Overall, the book was educational and enjoyable and there isn't much negative to say about it. 

 John Quincy Adams was born in, what is now, Massachusetts in 1767. His parents were President John and Mrs. Abigail Adams. John Quincy served the United States in several different capacities, including as a Senator, Dean of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State, and 6th President of the United States. When he beat out Andrew Jackson for the presidency, Jackson posited that the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, rigged it so that Adams would win. I had never heard that conspiracy theory before. While there is apparently still no substantial evidence that occurred, it is interesting to note that Henry Clay was appointed Secretary of State after Adams was elected. Anyone with any sense knows that politicians and government officials are always up to some type of shenanagins, so this might be a pretty believable theory. There were a few takeaways from this book that I feel are important. One is that he was opposed to slavery, which was pretty interesting to me. I have to admit that I have the assumption that most of the early Presidents were pro-slavery and/or slave owners at the least, so it was interesting to note that he wasn't for the enslavement of human beings. The second is that he behaved more favorably to Indigenous people than Jackson later would. The third is that he proposed the annexation of Texas, swearing it would cause a Civil War....and that is especially interesting in today's climate where all of our Southern states, including the one I live in, are behaving in such an unhinged and destructive manner towards the people living and working in them.

I had read another book a while back about John Quincy Adams, and I felt that this one provided many more details than the other one I read. This book did a pretty hard look into his life and service. I also learned from this book that he was a member of several political parties, a couple of which that I had never heard of before now. (Not that I would have, because I have never been a fan of [whitewashed] US history.) The book was very obviously researched well, and conveyed a lot of good facts. I learned a lot about this President that I had not known before, so it was worth the time it took for me to read this one. I am also glad to have it off my TBR shelf. 

 In 1780, the Gordon Riots took place over the course of several days in London. The riots were led by Lord George Gordon, who was the head of the Protestant Association. The riots began in direct protest of the Papists Act of 1778, which was intended to stop the discrimination of Catholic citizens. This whole riot situation was very interesting for me to learn about, and was the best part of the book. I had already known about the lack of response from monarchs at the time, as well as the origin of the hatred between the two groups. I had never heard of this specific riot, so I learned a great deal from this book.

To be completely honest, the only reason I picked this book up to read is that I am trying to get through my unread things before I move so I can downsize. As an American living in America currently, I am so sick of any topic revolving around religion and discrimination, I cannot stand it. I would not have read this book right now solely based on that, but I am glad that I buckled down and read it. It was well researched and well written. I enjoy Antonia Fraser and her works, so I knew I would not be disappointed in the book, and I wasn't. If you want to know more about the Gordon Riots, or the division between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and the UK, this is a good book to help you along in that. 

 This book takes a look at the psychology behind various cultures and religions and their use of human sacrifice. Of course, this book speaks heavily on Satanism, but there are a lot of other religions throughout history that used human sacrifice for various purposes. Two negative things I have to say about this book are:

1. This is very short, and not as comprehensive as I had hoped.
2. While I do not support human sacrifice, there were times that the author seemed a bit condescending towards people who practiced this.

This book is currently available to listen to on the Audible Plus catalog, which is the version that I had. This book appealed to be from an anthropological perspective. There are a lot of cultures and religions that have used human sacrifice for various reasons. I appreciated that this book took a look at why groups of people utilized this method. I really enjoyed this book, and other books like it. Learning about cultures and religions is very enjoyable to me. If you are into that subject, this is an okay selection, though it is short and doesn't go as in depth on things and I would have liked. 

 This book discusses the case of Thomas Gilbert Junior, the son of a wealthy financier. Growing up in this environment, he lived in a very nice home and got essentially anything and everything he could have wanted. He was educated at some elite schools, including Deerfield Academy and Princeton University. He began to show signs of mental distress, complete with extreme paranoia and delusions. He also began showing an extreme hatred of and anger toward his father. Unfortunately for him, he chose to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, which did not help his distresses. He eventually murdered his father, for reasons that are debatable. Is it possible that Junior was suffering from untreated mental illness? Yes, in fact, it is certain. Could this have led to the murder? Absolutely. Was being a coddled, affluent youth part of the reason he was not receiving treatment that could have prevented this? Most likely. Another theory put forth by the prosecution was that he was a coddled, affluent youth who did not want to grow up and do adult things at the age of 30, so he took his anger out on his father. That is also a possibility. My personal opinion is that is was a combination of all of the above, with no comprehension or care of consequence.

I really enjoy books by this author. John Glatt is always a stickler for details, providing an adequate look at all of the key figures in this case. His coverage of the facts and the courtroom portions are detailed, yet not dry and tedious like a lot of other true crime authors. I had never heard of this case, which surprised me since it is fairly recent. (This crime occurred in January 2015.) His mother is a strong advocate that he did not premediate this murder, despite having purchased a weapon months before. She maintains that he has mental health issues, which I do not dispute, and that he should get an appeal since his insanity plea was rejected. Overall, this book was very informative about the case, and if you are interested in it, it is currently available on Audible Plus if you prefer that over a physical copy. 

 Pretty much everyone is aware that George H. W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, were both former Presidents of the United States. This book goes into detail about their time in office, as well as how they got to be political powerhouses in the Republican Party. It discusses other members of the family as well, including their wives and ancestors. It really goes into detail about the shady doings in the oil industry as well as the wars in the Middle East.

I liked that this book included personal interviews with various members of the family. It is always interesting to see how people respond to questions or situations. I also liked that it included pictures. One of my favorite things about history books are that they generally include pictures. I like putting faces or properties with what I am learning about. I am really about over anything that talks about politics, because it is such a horrible time currently for that, but I am trying to get all of these things on my shelf read. I learned many things about this family that I did not know, and it was a valuable book in that sense. If you are interested in Presidents or family dynasties, this may be a selection for you to look into. 

 Leonard Lake was born in California in 1945. He had a very odd upbringing, and became obsessed with pornography at a young age...even going as far as photographing his own sister naked. He ultimately joined the United States Marine Corps, serving two tours in Vietnam. During this time period, he was diagnosed with a personality disorder. Lake met Charles Ng, also a former Marine, through a magazine. Ng was born in Hong Kong in 1960. He was dishonorably discharged from the Corps for desertion and theft. The two of them began a crime spree of rape, torture, and murder. Eventually, their kill count reached 11 confirmed and dozens more suspected.

This book is part of The Last Podcast On The Left reading list, and the episodes about this particular duo was really dramatic. I learned a great deal from this book. If you are a fan of the show, absolutely pick this book up and read it as a companion. If you are a true crime fan, this book has an exceptional amount of details about both men and their pasts, as well as the crimes and the court case. I wasn't let down by this at all. I personally have the Audible version, and it was a pretty long listen, but the page count for the physical copy is average.