This book was written by Lorenzo Carcaterra about his life and the life and crimes of his father, Mario Carcaterra. I thought this was a great book, especially since it cost me fifty cents at the thrift store. I googled Mario Carcaterra and learned that he was arrested for murder. I appreciated the glimpse inside the life people lived in Hell's Kitchen. I think people forget how rough it was for Italian Americans in the past. I would recommend this book to others. 

 Saddam Hussein was born in Iraq in 1935. He had a pretty rough start to life. His father and sibling died before he was born, and so distressed his mother that she tried to abort her pregnancy and kill herself. Once he was born, she did not have any desire to bond with him or care for him, and he was subsequently taken in by an uncle. In the meantime, his mother remarried. Once Saddam returned home, his stepfather beat him mercilessly. I would imagine that may have had something to do with his later personality, but I am no expert in psychology.

Saddam attended a very nationalistic high school before enrolling in a law school in Iraq. He studied law for two years, and dropped out to join the Ba'ath Party, which was a socialist party. His uncle was a member, which is probably why he joined this party instead of some of the other more established and far reaching socialist parties. He got up to plenty of activities while he was having to do with this party, which would really be classified as low level crime and domestic terrorism. He began building a reputation for himself, especially in the late 1960's and early 1970's. He made a big move into politics, putting himself out there as a very progressive socialist who was going to fix all the infrastructure and make the standard of living better for everyone in Iraq. In actuality, he did do a lot using oil funds to repair roads and develop industries. Of course, he also used terror tactics against members of his own government, family, friends, and the Iraqi people as a whole. He was notoriously corrupt and untrustworthy. If he thought anyone said a word against him or his policies, they vanished to a prison or worse. If he suspected a coup or any dissent, gone.

I really did not know a lot about Saddam Hussein's political life and ideas. I knew that he was a dictator, and a very cruel person. I knew that he caused a lot of turmoil for his own citizens. I remember his capture and trial being in the news, but it didn't really mean a lot to me at the time. I think I was about 14 when that occurred. This book really went into great detail about his political interests, and I found it to be educational but still maintained interest. It wasn't boring to read, as political biographies can sometimes be. I learned a lot about the state of affairs prior to the Iraq Invasion post 9/11. 

 The author was told about some documents that were found when someone took a chair to be upholstered. The documents belonged to Doctor Robert Griesinger, a lawyer who joined the Nazi party. He was employed by the Ministry of Economics and Labor in Prague. It was really interesting to learn about this person, his life, and how his documents wound up inside a chair. I liked this book a lot. 

 Ruth Bell Graham was born in China in 1920. Her parents were missionaries serving in China at the time of her birth. She attended high school in Pyongyang, North Korea, which is strange to think about now. She finished high school and graduated back in North Carolina. In 1937, she enrolled in college, where she met her future husband Billy Graham. Her husband is a famous, fanatical evangelical, but Ruth remained humble and still continued to teach Sunday School and raise their children mostly on her own while her husband was out crusading. She became a well known Christian author in her own right, and did a lot of work for children. She contracted meningitis, and eventually contracted pneumonia. Her husband took her off life support, and she died on June 14, 2007.

I did not care for this book at all. I did learn about the subject in question, so it was not a complete waste. I just didn't like it. 

 This book is about highly successful Thoroughbred filly, Ruffian. Ruffian was born at Claiborne Farm, Kentucky, out of some pretty well known blood lines. Her dam was Shenanagins, out of Native Dancer. Her sire was Reviewer, out of Bold Ruler. She was owned by Stuart and Barbara Janney, and trained by Frank Whiteley. She got her start in 1972 at Belmont Park, and had ten consecutive undefeated starts. She broke several track records, and competed in several high profile races- including the Filly Triple Crown. At one point, she had a splint after a race, but seemed to recover. Her regular jockey, Jacinto Vasquez, rode her in her final race- a match race held against Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. During this race, she broke both sesamoid bones in her right leg. Vasquez attempted to pull her up immediately, but she fought hard to continue running, as she hated a horse in front of her. In doing this, she caused the damage to be worse. Surgery was attempted, and was not successful. She did a lot of record making and breaking things in her eleven starts over two racing seasons. There is a lot of speculation about why she broke down. Some say she took a bad step after breaking poorly, or after being startled by a bird. Others think it was a genetic issue, as her parents both had minor injuries that retired them from the sport. (In fact, another breakdown in a later horse who also had some of these same horses in her pedigree makes this theory seem quite plausible. The horse is Eight Belles.) Others suggest that the fact that she had to run over varying surface types over a longer distance played a role. In truth, it could have been all of these things. Ruffian brought more people into the sport because of her domination on the track, and had a lot of fans. Her accident and death resulted in the call for more humane treatment of racehorses and their medical care. Over the years, veterinary science has improved and the way these types of injuries are handled are a lot different than they were in the 1970s. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Equine sports. It was really good, even though I knew what the outcome would be. It offered a deep inside look at how horses are trained and move through the racing world, what jockey's go through, and how horses affect all those that work with them. 

 I love Augusten Burroughs. This was the first book I ever read of his, and I thought it was simultaneously tragic and hilarious. I certainly became a fan after this book. I also own the film, which is alright, but not nearly as good as I hoped that it would be. 

 This book has been on my to read list since I became aware of it. I always wonder what gets people enticed into joining cults, which Scientology certainly is. (I might also call it a scam, because it is also that.) This book tells the personal journey in Scientology of Ron Miscavige and his family. His son, David, ultimately became the leader. It is tragic that people let this religion destroy their families and their finances, and even the leader's family isn't safe from him. He used domestic terror tactics on his own father. It is disgusting. This book goes hand in hand with so many personal accounts of members who have finally escaped this cult, which gives it all the more credit. I found this to be a really interesting look inside not only the cult, but the leader himself. If anyone was ever due some bad karma, David Miscavige must have a tidal wave of it coming at him. 

 Hitler and the Nazi regime managed to get their ideals and claws into many notable figures, especially those belonging to various European royal and noble families. This book specifically gets into the roles that the Princes of Hesse played in the Nazi regime. The Princes of Hesse, were the great grandsons of Queen Victoria. It was very detailed and thoroughly researched. I very much enjoyed this book. 

 I found out about this book because I saw it shared on Twitter and started following the author. I preordered it, and was excited to read it when it arrived. I loved learning more about the nobility and the ties to witchcraft and legends therein. It is so interesting to me how people like to accuse others of witchcraft because they are different or pagan or simply to get them into trouble, and, of course, that is usually directed at women. I highly recommend this book, and am hopeful to see more from this author again. 

 George III was born in 1738 in England. He was a grandson of King George II, and the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He was born prematurely, and everyone thought it was likely he would die any moment, but he proved everyone wrong. Like all royal children of the time, he was educated by private tutors. (I found it interesting to note that he was the first monarch in British history up to that point to be able to study science properly.) George III became heir to the throne after his father, the Prince of Wales, died from a lung issue. Despite the fact that King George II disliked his son and didn't really have much to do with his grandchildren, he decided he better get interested and start preparing George III for his role as King. He gave him the title formerly held by his father, Prince of Wales. He attained the throne at age 22, and shortly married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, having only met her at the wedding. They went on to have fifteen children together, which is an excessive amount in my opinion.

As far as policies go, he did some pretty unpopular things. There were disagreements over the Seven Years War. He placed a limit on expansion in the American colonies, which really caused tremendous issues. Of course, the Revolutionary War certainly did not help his cause any. He was accused of favoring one political party over the other, and rewarding certain people with money. Another unpopular thing was the Royal Marriages Act, which caused some issues later on down the line for Princess Margaret. One of his most notable policies was the abolishment of slavery. He never bought or sold a slave, and he never invested in any companies that supported the slave trade or used slave labor. (Unless there has been something uncovered that I am not aware of.)

There were a few things that stood out to me. One was the fact that he did not have a mistress. Most royals had mistresses, and it is more uncommon to find one that did not. By all accounts, he and his wife really had a decent relationship up until the point where he began to act unstable. Religion was a huge thing back in those days, and George III was exceptionally devout. He spent HOURS every day praying. I had read several times that he probably suffered from porphyria, a genetic disease that affects the skin and nervous systems. Arsenic poisoning can cause liver issues that could result in porphyria, and arsenic was used in cosmetics and clothes making at that time. It is quite possible that he had this, but it is also highly probably that he had an actual mental illness, such as bipolar disorder.

I thought this book was really interesting. I learned quite a bit about George III, especially about his relationship with his wife. I do not think that he was the worst monarch that Britain ever had by any stretch. The thing with monarchs and politicians is that they are human. They are not experts in everything, despite what they may think or people may believe. The purpose is to make the best decisions that give the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people. You cannot please everyone all the time, and you are going to have bad policies and make mistakes. Another thing that you will have are enemies. If you are looking to learn more about George III, this is a great place to start.