 Exorcising
Your Ex: How to Get Rid of the Demons of Relationships Past by Elizabeth
Kuster is a bit of fun about relationships and their demise. Specifically
structured for straight women, if you convert the pronouns it's quite
applicable to all orientations...except for the references to back hair...wait
a sec, I did have back hair issues in one relationship - so there you
go!! This book just allows us to laugh at ourselves - it was quite refreshing
actually. |
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| Lethal
Intent is the account of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, by Sue Russell.
I have rated it highly because it touches on all of the key issues related
to "Lee's" upbringing, her family issues and her possible
borderline personality disorder, among other things. The book addresses
the differing perspectives of those close to Wuornos and the culpability
of her lover "Ty" - who knew of the first slaying for certain,
and did nothing. It is interesting to compare the issues presented in
this book with those in Nick Broomfield's documentaries and the movie
"Monster." |
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Geraldine
Brooks, Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
- EXCELLENT! |
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| Marley
& Me by John Grogan tugs at the heart-strings right from the
beginning because you absolutely know that this big lug of a dumb-ass
dog is going to weasel his way into your affections and then, presumably,
his fulfilled life is going to come to an end. We should have a poll
to determine at what page each reader starts crying. For me, is was
page 226, on the walk up the hill to the cemetery. I don't think I ever
fully recovered from there... |
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| Well,
I got to the end of Stephanie Nolan's Promised the Moon and see
now why Wally is so upset about this book...the final chapter does not
paint a very nice picture of my friend Wally! I was reading away wracking
my brain: why was Wally so upset with this book? The conflict between
Jackie Cochrane and Jerrie Cobb should not have beenmade public? It
was presented inaccurately? No, it couldn't be that. The personal letters
of both women were referenced, there was no hearsay or anything. And
then,when I got to the final chapter, there it was. Not an attack exactly,
but a prolonged commentary (unnecessary to the point of the story),
about Wally's presentation of herself today...not even related to the
Mercury 13. Sigh. I mean, we are talking about a long-standing FAA accident
investigator and one of the most competent flight instructors in the
U.S. I have heard her flight safety presentations and she is amazing.Ya,
I wondered why she was wearing an airline captains uniform, but because
I had just met her and because of the company that she kept (the group
of American Airlines pilots from Texas and Chicago were her people),
I thought, oh well, maybe she did fly with AA at one point or something.
But no, and Stephanie Nolan points all of these things out. I mean,
give Wally a break, she just happens to be passionate about going to
space. She says so, plain and clear, so what? But now that I've read
the book, I CANNOT BELIEVE that Micheline, one of the Canadians at the
WAI conference in 2003, attempted to discuss the book with Wally (the
conversation is pictured above!). She must not have finished the book
and realized what was in there. Wally flew off the handle and ranted
about her efforts to get the book banned in the U.S. On what grounds
I'm not sure, but that's besides the point. Poor Micheline, she really
stepped in the cow patty on that one. Anyway, that's a mystery solved
for me. |
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 The
Teena Brandon story is so tragic, and so hard to read about because
everyone involved in her life were such rednecks in such a bizarre and
poverty-stricken part of Nebraska. Aphrodite Jones has written the book
All She Wanted in the same manner as so many of the uneducated
and uncultured characters - I presume that this approach was intentional.
Hard to read all around, but such an important story. |
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| Stephen
Williams has followed up his infamous Invisible Darkness with a book
about Karla Homolka called Karla: A Pact With the Devil. This
one focusses on her crimes, how the police handled her plea bargain
(badly) and how she has spent her time in prison. Mr. Williams was given
access to her psychological assessments from the time she made her initial
confession until 2001 when Corrections had to pull a couple of fast
ones to keep her in prison. Rightly so - the woman is a monster. But
she was never officially diagnosed as such - an effort to justify her
plea bargain and maintain her credibility as a witness against Paul
Bernardo. The truth of the matter is that she was as culpable for their
crimes, if not more so, than Bernardo himself. What makes this book
interesting is that Mr. Williams tricked Karla into a series of correspondence
with him by posing as an adoring fan of sorts. Thus, we get a unique
insight into Karla's narcissism and her belief that she will leave prison
and blend into society, never to be bothered or seen again. I don't
think so (I could be wrong given present circumstances since she was
released from prison in 2005.. Finally, the question is posed: will
she reoffend? My opinion: yes. We will hear more of Karla Homolka (or
whatever name she chooses on the outside) in the future. Unfortunately,
Mr. Williams' uses several chapters to vent his own issues related to
breaches of the court-ordered publication bans - and becomes repetitive
in his presentation of the bungled investigation and the subsequent
promotion of the lead Green Ribbon Task Force investigators. Interestingly,
the lead-bungler, Vince Bevan, is now our Chief of Police here in Ottawa
(he just announced his retirement, hallelujah)... |
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| A
Deadly Game by Catherine Crier is a book on the Scott and Laci Peterson
story that condemns Scott Peterson right from the first page. Rightly
so, the man is guilty as sin (I'm so impartial). Lots of good "never-before-told"
info in this work, but Crier is oh-so-proud of that fact and mentions
it in almost every chapter, very annoying. I have to say that this story
always intrigued me, so I was glad to hear even more of the facts that
I previously had known...but now should also read some opposing arguments
(ya right). |
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| I
have to give Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson by Keith Ablow
only three stars because like Crier, he repeats the revelations that
he is oh-so-proud of over and over again. I'm glad that such a book
has been written, and would like to see similar assessments of Karla
Homolka and Paul Bernardo...but I have to admit that some of Ablow's
psychiatric assessments are a bit hard to swallow. Like the fact that
Scott Peterson started out in this world in an incubator battling pneumonia
resulted in his feeling of abandonment, etc. That would apply to me
for goodness sake and I don't think I'm a sociopath as a result! Of
course, there are other factors that led Scott Peterson to do what he
did, all viable, so overall it's an informative read. |
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| Stuart
gave me a copy of Frontier Spirit: The Brave Women of the Klondike
by Jennifer Duncan some time ago, and I just got around to reading
it over my summer holidays. It was a very informative book, but unfortunately
poorly written and edited. Nonetheless interesting, and a great learning
experience for me. |
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 Anne
Bird, Blood Brother: 33 Reasons Why My Brother Scott Peterson is
Guilty is informative, but a bit hard to digest because it really
does seem only to be a "book of opportunity" - there are any
number that have been produced by family members and others associated
with the Scott Peterson case. Anne Bird is a half-sister to Scott Peterson
who had only been back in the families' lives for a few years prior
to Laci's murder. Her 33 reasons make perfect sense; however, they are
only speculative. She does mention Scott's drinking - something that
has not been explored in any great detail - but otherwise this book
does not present any new information or any founded on other than Anne's
"gut-feel" related to the case. |
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 Argh.
Victor Malarek's The Natashas: The New Global Sex Trade was killing
me. It's terrible. How many times does he have to mention that the women
come from various Eastern European countries, but are commonly referred
to as "Russian." And how graphic does he have to be explaining
the finer points of a prostitute's job description? It's like he's getting
his jollies by mentioning it so much. There are portions of the book
that discuss that UN and NATO soldiers in Yugoslavia have contributed
to the sex trade in this region (the reason that I bought the book),
but I never got to these parts. |
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