This is the personal account of Leah Lax, a girl who grew up in a secular home that eventually left home and converted to become a Hasidic Jew. She goes into detail about the conversion process, how her marriage was arranged, and how she faced motherhood inside this religion. Eventually, she decided to leave this life to find personal freedom, and her reasoning for it was very interesting. I knew virtually nothing about Hasidic Jews before reading this book, and I learned quite a bit about it. I thought the book was boring, and it took me quite a while to finish it. 

This book is about Louis Zamperini, whose story I have read in Devil At My Heels: A Heroic Olympian's Astonishing Story of Survival as a Japanese POW in World War II. The plane Zamperini was in crashed, leaving him stranded at sea. He was captured by the Japanese and went through unimaginable experiences. I knew most of this information in this book from reading Mr. Zamperini's, but I did enjoy reading about it from another perspective. I have heard great things about the movie, and I would like to watch it. I have owned this book for quite some time, and wanted to read it before watching the film. I would recommend this book, as well as Mr. Zamperini's that I mentioned above.

 I bought this book partly because I was interested in this topic and partly because I remembered Portia from Ally McBeal. I didn't know anything about her as a person before I read this book. This wasn't the worst book I have ever read, by far, but it was also not the best one that I have read on this topic. I bet a lot of people, especially those in the celebrity world, suffer from eating disorders and body image issues. Thinking of that is tragic. Society is very critical of other people and the way they look, and it must be a lot of pressure to try to get roles and keep people in the media from being negative toward you. It is a thought provoking book in that respect. 

 It is so sad to think about all of the kids who are treated like the girl in this book was. I thought it seemed interesting, and it was only fifty cents at a thrift store. I had no idea that it was going to be such a heavy read. I am glad that there was some manner of positive resolution in it, but, gosh, I cannot imagine. 

 This book talks about the career of the author, Ellen McGarrahan. She was a private investigator who attended the execution of Jesse Tafero, a man whose execution did not go by the book. That reminded me of the scene in Green Mile with the botched execution. Eventually, evidence came out that suggested an innocent man was inhumanely put to death. The author went on a quest to uncover the truth about this case. I have seen a lot of great posts about this book, so I picked it up with my Audible credit. Perhaps I would have liked it better if I had read the physical book, though the narration didn't bother me. I was just bored out of my mind, and was unsure a couple of times if I could suffer through it. Read it at your own risk, because apparently most people seem to enjoy it. 

 This book is about the Committee of Public Safety, created during the French Revolution. The Revolution was going full force in France, where there was essentially civil war occurring. There were food shortages, supplies and goods shortages, and inflation was astronomical. Trade with foreign nations was a mess, private business and industry was a mess, and the government was in shambles. On top of that, there were outside threats against France during this time. This committee was elected for the defense of France against all enemies. One of the most famous names on the CPS was Maximillian Robespierre, who was involved in the overseeing of political issues.

This was a very interesting book. I really do not know a lot about the French Revolution, other than as it directly related to Marie Antionette. I had heard of Robespierre, but I had never heard of the CPS or anything that really happened in the aftermath of the deaths of the monarchs. This book was very informative, and I now need to read more on this subject. If you are interested at all in the French Revolution, you should pick this up. 

 Twelve Patients tells various stories about patients from all different backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses who are patients at Bellevue Hospital. I did enjoy the descriptions of the patients and their cases. I think a lot of people do not consider the vast amount of people with various issues and situations that go through big hospitals like this. It was really interesting to learn about. I grew up with a nurse mom, and I loved hearing some of her stories when she was pulled into the ER or doing surgery rotation in school. (Don't worry, no privacy was compromised, plus I was also a kid and wouldn't remember anyways.) We also enjoy watching medical shows together, and this book was the inspiration behind the show New Amsterdam, which I now need to watch. The author was a medical director at this facility at one point, so he had a unique perspective compared to other books of this ilk that I have read. He also outlined his own cancer diagnosis and treatment at the same hospital in which he worked. I thought that was a neat tie in.

I did have a couple of issues with this book. The first issue is that I bought this thinking that it was a history of the hospital. That was my mistake. Sometimes, I just buy things without reading the description because it looks neat. It did include a bit of history about the hospital, which I enjoyed. I had no idea that the property was initially a farm, bought to quarantine people that had yellow fever. The first nursing school that was based on Florence Nightingale's teachings opened here, which was also really cool to learn. All I knew about it was that it was an insane asylum, which is why I wanted to buy this book... there was an asylum opened on the property and psychiactric care is still available there today. I need another book that goes more into the history of this place, but, like I said, it was my fault for not reading the description. The other issue that I had with the book was the writing and flow. At times, it was a little difficult to follow and quite scattered. I would imagine that is probably how "a day in the life" of this author was while he was working, so it is probably authentic to the experience, but was slightly annoying to read at times. Other than those two small issues, the book was really neat. If you are interested in medicine or medical history, this might be something to add to your list. 

 This book is a translation of the works of Suetonius, a second century scholar, who was the personal secretary of Emperor Hadrian. He was able to view untold documents within the Roman Imperial archives, and thus wrote small biographies of the lives of the first twelve rulers of Rome. I love this historical account from someone who lived in a time closer to these emperors. It was really neat to hear all the weird stories about Nero and Caligula. This book was really helpful to me for a paper I had to write as well. 

This book is the companion book to Beautiful Boy, written by David Sheff. Tweak is written by the son, Nic Sheff. Nic allows the reader into his life and shares his experiences as a meth addict. I have probably said before on other reviews that I am very interested in the motivations for people to try substances and how they get addicted to them, and this book was no exception. I think anyone who has someone they love that is addicted to meth, or anything else, should read all the books like this they can. They may not make you understand everything about the loved one, but books like this certainly stoke the fires of empathy, and the world can always use more than that.

 TWA Flight 800 took off from JFK Airport for Paris on July 17, 1996. After investigations, it was determined that the cause of the crash was an in flight break up due to a fuel tank explosion. That explosion was caused by a short circuit in the electrical system. Hundreds of witnesses say that they saw an object or streak of light heading towards the plane, an explosion, and then the crash. Hundreds of witnesses say they were never interviewed. Detailed forensic autopsies were not undertaken, as it was deemed more pressing to simply identify the victims of a clear cause of death. A lot of people felt that this was a method of covering up. A US Navy ship was reported in the area at the time of the incident and many people believe that the US Navy shot the plane down with some type of rocket or missile. 230 people died in this crash, making it the third deadliest plane crash in the United States.

I have to say that the position of this book was certainly thought provoking. I made a lot of faces while reading this book. (Or listening, as it is available on the Audible Plus catalogue.) I think that any critical thinking person has to understand that they must take anything the government says with a grain of salt. I think that a coverup about an intentional or mistaken event that ended in catastrophe is certainly possible...even likely. I have no doubt that the HUNDREDS of people saw what they say they saw. They didn't know each other. They had no reason to lie. They certainly didn't have time to organize and get their stories to match exactly. I believe they saw something hit that plane. This was an interesting book, and it would be good for anyone into conspiracy theories, disasters, or planes.