The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade

Today's nonfiction post is on The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler. It is 354 pages long and is published by Penguin Press HC. The cover is pictures of different girls from the forties and fifties. The intended reader is someone who is interested in women's history. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A powerful and groundbreaking revelation of the secret history of the 1.5 million women who surrendered children for adoption in the several decades before Roe v. Wade.
In this deeply moving work, Ann Fessler brings to light the lives of hundreds of thousands of young single American women forced to give up their newborn children in the years following World War II and before Roe v. Wade. The Girls Who Went Away tells a story not of wild and carefree sexual liberation, but rather of a devastating double standard that has had punishing long-term effects on these women and on the children they gave up for adoption. Based on Fessler's groundbreaking interviews, it brings to brilliant life these women's voices and the spirit of the time, allowing each to share her own experience in gripping and intimate detail. Today, when the future of the Roe decision and women's reproductive rights stand squarely at the front of a divisive national debate, Fessler brings to the fore a long-overlooked history of single women in the fifties, sixties, and early seventies.
In 2002, Fessler, an adoptee herself, traveled the country interviewing women willing to speak publicly about why they relinquished their children. Researching archival records and the political and social climate of the time, she uncovered a story of three decades of women who, under enormous social and family pressure, were coerced or outright forced to give their babies up for adoption. Fessler deftly describes the impossible position in which these women found themselves: as a sexual revolution heated up in the postwar years, birth control was tightly restricted, and abortion proved prohibitively expensive or life endangering. At the same time, a postwar economic boom brought millions of American families into the middle class, exerting its own pressures to conform to a model of family perfection. Caught in the middle, single pregnant women were shunned by family and friends, evicted from schools, sent away to maternity homes to have their children alone, and often treated with cold contempt by doctors, nurses, and clergy.
The majority of the women Fessler interviewed have never spoken of their experiences, and most have been haunted by grief and shame their entire adult lives. A searing and important look into a long-overlooked social history, The Girls Who Went Away is their story.

Review- A deeply moving and troubling book about American history before Roe v. Wade and the girls who were sent away for the shame of being pregnant. Fessler is herself a child from a girl who was sent away and started this journey as a way to understand her birth mother and herself. The interviews in this book are heart-breaking to read. From women who were date raped and then shamed for the pregnancy to girls who were just uneducated about sex. The interviews are raw and very hard to read but the stories these women have to tell are important and enlightening, about stolen futures and life long trauma from their children being taken from them. I would recommend this book. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

I'm Glad My Mom Died

Today's nonfiction post is on I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. It is 320 pages long and is published by Simon & Schuster. The cover is yellow with McCurdy in the center holding what looks like an urn. The intended reader is someone who likes survival memoirs. There is foul language, mild sexuality, and no violence in this book but there is childhood abuse. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the audiobook- A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.
In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

Review- The book opens with McCurdy and her brothers trying to wake their mother up from a coma and McCurdy being sure that she can do it with the news that she has hit her mother's weight goal for her, 89 pounds. McCurdy gives the reader a raw and heartbreaking account of a childhood with a emotional immature and abusive mother. At times hard to read, as McCurdy holds nothing back about her life and career as a child actor, her mother's dream. Her mother wanted to be an actor but didn't have the support to do it herself so she then handed that down to her children, weather they wanted it or not. McCurdy did not want to be an actor, she liked writing and it shows in this memoir. All of her life had been about making her mother happy and then her mother dies and McCurdy is lost. This memoir is not just about the abuse that McCurdy survived but also about finding her life without her mother. I recommend this memoir if you like survival memoirs but the abuse is openly talked about and McCurdy really doesn't hold anything back. 

I give this memoir a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this audiobook from my local library. 

Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere

Today's post is on Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford. It is 287 pages long and is published by Gallery Books. The cover is yellow with Maria on it in a white dress with flowers in her hair and a silly look on her face. The intended reader is someone who likes memoirs. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the audiobook- From “weird, scary, ingenious” (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems—from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Suzuki violin training, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs.
Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.
In Bamford’s signature voice, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, brings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited to: Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.
Singular and inimitable, Bamford’s memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).

Review- A hilarious memoir about a one woman's journey through life, comedy, mental illness, and family. Bamford reads this audiobook and her impersonations of her family and friends are just hysterical. She holds nothing back from her life and her journey with mental illness. Bamford not only has stories about working as a comedian but she includes helpful little recipes from her family about how to handle different problems. Bamford as so many little touches over the course of this book, that make it so very special. I completely recommend this book, I enjoyed it so much. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this audiobook from my local library. 

Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust

Today's nonfiction post is on Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust by Meryl Frank. It is 256 pages long and is published by Hachette Books. The cover is a picture of Franya Winter. The intended reader is someone who is interested in personal histories and the long term affects of the second world war. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A thrilling mystery woven into a beautifully constructed family Meryl Frank’s journey to seek the truth about a beloved and revolutionary cousin, a celebrated actress in Vilna before World War II, and to answer the question of how the next generation should honor the memory of the Holocaust.
As a child, Meryl Frank was the chosen inheritor of family remembrance. Her aunt Mollie, a formidable and cultured woman, insisted that Meryl never forget who they were, where they came from, and the hate that nearly destroyed them. Over long afternoons, Mollie told her about the city, the theater, and, above all else, Meryl’s cousin, the radiant Franya Winter. Franya was the leading light of Vilna’s Yiddish theater, a remarkable and precocious woman who cast off the restrictions of her Hasidic family and community to play roles as prostitutes and bellhops, lovers and nuns. Yet there was one thing her aunt Mollie would never tell how Franya died. Before Mollie passed away, she gave Meryl a Yiddish book containing the terrible answer, but forbade her to read it. And for years, Meryl obeyed.
Unearthed is the story of Meryl’s search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin—her beauty and her tragedy. Meryl’s search reveals a lost world destroyed by hatred, illuminating the cultural haven of Vilna and its resistance during World War II. As she seeks to find her lost family legacy, Meryl looks for answers to the questions that have defined her what is our duty to the past? How do we honor such memories while keeping them from consuming us? And what do we teach our children about tragedy?

Review- Frank grew up on the stories of family members who were 'lost', as her aunt put it. She couldn't get enough of her family history but there were so many questions that no one had any answers for her. So when her aunt dies and Frank becomes the memory keeper for her family, Frank wants to know more and she begins her search. This is a moving story about a woman looking for her family, the past, and the future of her family. On the way, Frank does not just discover what happened but unknown heroes who saved precious information and family mementos. Frank does not gloss over what happened to her family and other Jews in Vilna but she finds hope in the story and shares that with the reader. I truly enjoyed this book and I found it to be beautiful, hopeful story about family and survival. I would recommend this book. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Hitler's Boy Soldiers: How My Father's Generation Was Trained to Kill and Sent to Die for Germany

 

Today's nonfiction post is on Hitler's Boy Soldiers: How My Father's Generation Was Trained to Kill and Sent to Die for Germany by Helene Munson. It is 366 pages long and is was published by The Experiment. The cover is two pictures of boy soldiers and the author's father. The intended reader is someone who is interested in War World 2 history. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and some violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The true, untold story of how Germany's children fought in WWII.
Helene Munson resurrects her father's WWII journals and embarks on a meticulous investigation, exposing how the Nazis trained 300,000 impressionable children as soldiers.
In 1937, Munson's father, Hans was enrolled in an elite German school whose students were destined to take leadership roles in the Reich. At fifteen, he was drafted as an antiaircraft gunner- along with the rest of the Hilter Youth- and assigned to an SS unit. As the was was being lost, Hans and his schoolmates were ordered to the front lines. Few returned.
A personal lens into a nation's shameful past, Hitler's Boy Soldiers documents the history of the largest army of child soldiers in recent memory. Munson explores the lifelong effects on brainwashed children coerced to join a party they didn't understand. Both a modern narrative and an important historical contribution, Hitler's Boy Soldiers grapples with inherited trauma, the nature of being victim or perpetrator, and the burden of guilt. 

Review- A moving story of a boy trying to survive then a daughter trying to understand her father and what made him. Munson did not start investigating into her father's life during the war until after his death. Soon this desire to know her father better became an all consuming quest. She not only read his journals, letters, and other first hand documents; she also sought out others who experienced the same things during the war. If you want to see the war from Germany's perspective but not from a member of the Nazi elite but an innocent child, then you need to read this book. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

My Mother's War: The Incredible True Story of How a Resistance Fighter Survived Three Concentration Camps by Eva Taylor.

Today's nonfiction post is on My Mother's War: The Incredible True Story of How a Resistance Fighter Survived Three Concentration Camps by Eva Taylor. It is 208 pages long and is published by Hanover Square Press. The cover has a woman in the righthand cover with planes overhead. The intended reader is someone who is interested in memoirs, women's history, and World War II history. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and some violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- After her mother’s death, Eva Taylor discovered an astounding collection of documents, photos and letters from her time as a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Holland. Using the letters, she reconstructed her mother's experience in the underground resistance movement and then as a prisoner in the Amersfoort, Ravensbruck and Mauthausen concentration camps.
The letters reveal an amazing story of life during wartime, including declarations of love from her fiancé before his tragic death as a Spitfire pilot, prison notes smuggled out in her laundry, and passionate but sometimes terrifying messages from a German professional criminal who ultimately would save Sabine’s life.
A one-of-a-kind story of survival, My Mother’s War captures a remarkable life in the words of the young woman who lived it.

Review- This is a moving story about a mother and her secret life. Taylor never asked her mother about her life doing the war. After she dies, Taylor finds many documents from her mother during the war. She then discovers what her mother survived, all the loses, the terror, and her bravery. Taylor gets to see and show the reader her mother, a woman who never lost faith in the future. This a moving book, Taylor learned so much about what drove her mother and why her mother acted the way she did when Taylor was a child. I recommend this book. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

The Vanished Collection Pauline Baer de Perignon

Today's nonfiction post is on The Vanished Collection by Pauline Baer de Perignon and Natasha Lehrer  (Translator). The audiobook is 5 hours and 41 minutes long and it is published by Dreamscape Media. The cover is an illustration of a Paris apartment with an empty picture frame. The intended reader is someone who is interested in looted art, World War 2 history, and family memoirs.  There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back- It all started with a list of paintings. There, scribbled by a cousin she hadn't seen for years, were the names of the masters whose works once belonged to her great-grandfather, Jules Strauss: Renoir, Monet, Degas, Tiepolo and more. Pauline Baer de Perignon knew little to nothing about Strauss, or about his vanished, precious art collection. But the list drove her on a frenzied trail of research in the archives of the Louvre and the Dresden museums, through Gestapo records, and to consult with Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano. What happened in 1942? And what became of the collection after Nazis seized her great-grandparents’ elegant Parisian apartment? The quest takes Pauline Baer de Perignon from the Occupation of France to the present day as she breaks the silence around the wrenching experiences her family never fully transmitted, and asks what art itself is capable of conveying over time.

Review- An interesting memoir about family and discovering history. De Perignon learned that before the second world war, her family owned some very precious art and after the war, everything was gone. Then she starts to research what her family had owed and where it could have gone. This became more than just an interest in family history but a search for justice. De Perignon takes the reader from the beginning of her search all the way to a happy ending but this story is more than just about stolen art. It is about De Perignon learning about her family and herself. She had never thought about many things around her family or herself, like did she identify as Jewish or not. The translation is good, the narrator is good, and this is a very nice book to listen to. I would recommend this book both in audiobook and print version. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this audiobook from my local library.

Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly

Today's nonfiction post is on Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly by Jim DeRogatis. It is 330 pages long and is published by Abrams Press. The book is black with the title in white. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and survivor stories. There is some very foul language, discussion of sex, rape, and sexuality, and some violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The Definitive Account of R. Kelly's Action and Their Consequences.
In 2000, Chicago journalist and music critic Jim DeRogatis received an anonymous fax that alleged that R&B superstar and local hero R. Kelly had a problem with 'young girls.' Weeks later, DeRogatis broke the shocking allegations in print- Kelly had groomed, sexually abused, and paid off young girls. Still, Kelly's career flourished, especially after his first trail and acquittal. No one seemed to care: neither the music industry nor the culture at large. But for more than twenty years, DeRogatis stayed on the story. Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly is a work of tenacious journalism and cultural criticism. It tells the story of Kelly's career, the author's conversations with victims, expects, and those in the musician's orbit and, at last, a sweeping conviction for Kelly's crimes in federal court. 

Review- This is a well written account of one journalist's search for the truth and his hope for justice for the victims. It all starts for Jim DeRogatis when he receives an anonymous fax telling DeRogatis that Kelly had a problem with young girls. Of course DeRogatis had heard the rumors about Kelly and his misbehavior with young girls and women. The fax just sits on his desk before DeRogatis starts investigating the rumors and what he finds will haunt him for the rest of his life. DeRogatis and other reporters will spend the next twenty odd years researching and interviewing the girls, the women, and their families about their relationships with Kelly and what happened to them. This book is a tough read at times because DeRogatis does not hold back with the victims and their stories and the video tapes of the acts, as Kelly liked to tapes himself with women and girls. If you are looking for a information about the case against R. Kelly, then you should read this book, DeRogatis does a great job with this very tough material.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

Chosen: A Memoir of Stolen Boyhood

 

Today's nonfiction post is on Chosen: A Memoir of Stolen Boyhood by Stephen Mills. It is 318 pages long and is published by Henry Holt and Company. The cover is a picture of a lake with the woods behind it. The intended reader is someone who is interested in survival memoirs. There is some foul language, discussion of sexual abuse, and mild violence. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- At thirteen years old, Stephen Mills is chosen for special attention by the director of the Jewish summer camp, a charismatic social worker intent on becoming his friend. Stephen, whose father had died when he was four, places his trust in this authority figure, who first grooms and then molests him for two years.
Stephen tells no one, but the aftershocks rip through his adult life, as intense as his denial: self-loathing, drug abuse, petty crime, and horrific nightmares, all made made worse by the discovery that his abuser is moving from cap to camp, state to state, molesting other boys. Only physical and mental collapse brings Stephen to confront the truth of his boyhood and begin the painful process of recovery- as well as a decades-long crusade to stop a serial predator, find justice, and hold to account those who failed the children in their care. 
The trauma of sexual abuse is shared by one out of every six men, yet few have broken their silence. Un flinching and compulsively readable, Chosen eloquently speaks for those countless others and their families. It is a rare act of consummate courage and generosity- the indelible story of a man who faces his torment and his tormentor and, in the process, is made whole. 

Review- This is a moving memoir of survival and healing from great trauma. Mills was already traumatized before he met his abuser, as his mother refused to speak of his biological father at all, in fact she tried to erase him from their lives. So Mills felt cut off from a father figure, then his abuser comes into his life. After follows a tragically standard abuse script and Mills does not hold back on details but he does describe the events from his child's perspective. The reader travels with Mills on his long journey towards the truth and honesty about what happened to him. At times it is very hard to read this book because Mills does not hold back but I was so invested in Mills and his journey, that I could not leave him half-way. I needed to see him deal with his trauma and find life and hope on the other side. I would recommend this book but with a warning about the sexual abuse that Mills survived. 

I give this memoir a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this my local library.

As She Lay Sleeping: A Shadowy Figure, a Brutal Murder, an Anonymous Tip. Will Justice Prevail?

 

Today's post is on As She Lay Sleeping: A Shadowy Figure, a Brutal Murder, an Anonymous Tip. Will Justice Prevail? by Mark Pryor. It is 341 pages long and is published by New Horizon Press. The cover is brown with a bloody hand print on the lower right corner. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and memoirs. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and some violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Savagely attacked as she was asleep on her sofa, Natalie Antonetti's skull was shattered. Bizarrely, she was able to move about her apartment, changed clothes and tried to speak to her son but words never came. Two weeks later she died.
The only lead was a neighbor who described seeing a shadowy figure wielding a child's baseball bat an hour prior to the attack. Despite a wide search and questioning suspects, police were unable to find anyone who matched the description and the trail grew cold. 
Then, out o f the blue, a tip revived the case. With no eyewitness, no DNA, no fingerprints and witnesses who refused to testify, former journalist and rookie prosecutor Mark Pryor committed to delivering justice for Natalie's family. This, his first homicide case, would require him to be a sleuth, investigator and prosecutor. 

Review- An interesting cold case and an in-depth look into the process of prosecuting of a murder case, a must read for true crime fans who want to get a behind the scenes look at a prosecutors office. This book starts that the beginning of the case long before Pryor came to be involved in it. The reader sees what happened from eyewitness, police reports, and newspapers. Pryor walks the reader through the case, then through the prosecution, and to the verdict. At times this can be a bit of a slog to get through when the reader gets to the trail part because Pryor did not skip any part of it but it does give the reader insight into what a real court case with a judge and jury is like, slow and methodical. The case itself is very interesting and twisty to follow, I would like Pryor to write more about his time as a prosecutor and what other forgotten cases he worked on. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

Taking Down Backpage

Today's nonfiction post is on Taking Down Backpage: Fighting the World's Largest Sex Trafficker by Maggy Krell. It is 176 pages long and is published by New York University Press. The cover is a picture of the author with a seedy motel behind her. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime, court proceedings, and internet culture. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex an rape, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- For almost a decade, Backpage.com was the world's largest sex trafficking operation. Seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, in eight hundred cities throughout the world, Backpage ran thousands of listings advertising the sale of vulnerable young people for sex. Reaping a cut from every transaction, the owners of the website raked in millions of dollars. But many of the people in the advertisements were children, some as young as twelve, who are forced into the commercial sex trade through fear, violence, and coercion.
In Taking Down Backpage, veteran California prosecutor Maggy Krell tells  the story of how she and her team battled against this sex trafficking monolith. Beginning with her early career as a young DA, she shares the evolution of the anti-human-trafficking movement. Through a fascinating combination of memoir and legal insight, Krell reveals how she and her team started with the prosecution of street pimps and ultimately took down the largest purveyor of human trafficking in the world. She shares powerful stories of interviews with survivors, sting operations, court cases, and the personal struggles that were necessary to bring Backpage executives to justices Finally, Krell examines the state of sex trafficking after Backpage and the crucial work that still remains. 

Review- An interesting examination of human trafficking from the point of view of the other side of the table. Krell starts with when she was a new prosecutor and noticed all the very young girls who were being taken in Vice stings and were saying the same things when being questioned. Over the years, she put together what was happening and she helped create a task force to stop the biggest internet page that advertising escorts. It is well written and interesting without getting too graphic with details, the average reader can understand what is happening without the gross details of what the girls lived through. I would recommend this book if you like true crime without too many gross details about the survivors. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

When a Killer Calls: A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town

Today’s post is on When a Killer Calls: A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. It is 336 pages long and is published by Dey Street Books. The cover is a black and white picture of a car with a house in the distance and a red newspaper headline. It is the second in Douglas’ memoirs, but you not have to have read the first one to understand this book. There is foul language, discussion of sexual violence and general violence in this book. There Be Spoilers.

From the back of the audiobook- On May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor’s repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled “Last Will & Testament,” in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend, saying that while they would miss her, she knew they would persevere through their faith. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI, which enlisted profiler John Douglas. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari’s body.
Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming the harsh realization that Smith’s murder was no random act. A serial killer was evolving, and the only way to stop him would be to use the study of criminal behavior to anticipate his next move before he could kill again. Douglas devised a risky and emotionally fraught strategy to use Shari’s lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. Dawn and her parents courageously agreed.
One of the most haunting investigations of Douglas’s storied career, this case details how the eerily accurate profile he created—alongside his carefully crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer’s psychology—combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror. As Shari’s family took incredible personal risks to lure her killer from the shadows, Douglas and the FBI pushed criminal profiling to its limits, culminating in one of his most dramatic and effective confrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer. 

 

Review- An interesting and well written book from an FBI agent who worked the case. We start with Shari Smith being abducted from her mailbox near her home and go all the way to the end of the perpetrator’s death. Douglas and the FBI were quickly called in when the perpetrator started calling the family wanting to talk to them. Thus begins a cat and mouse game between law enforcement and the perpetrator. At times this book was terrifying with the perpetrator telling the older daughter that she was to be one with him like her younger sister. But it is interesting to see a case worked from the backend of a profiler. Douglas goes into his processes for creating a profile and how to use it with the local law enforcement. The case is resolved, justice is done but Douglas does not glaze over the pain from the families that were harmed by the perpetrator. Instead, he gives the reader insight into their lives and pain and how they overcame what happened to them in their own ways. I would recommend this book for true crime fans.  

 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review, and I borrowed this book from my local library.  

She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs

Today’s nonfiction post is on She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh.  It is 187 pages long and is published by Scribner. The cover is a black and white picture of Dolly Parton with her guitar. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who is interested in Dolly Parton, her life, and her music. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the back of the book-  Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities—and strengths—of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, “country music was foremost a language among women. It’s how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren’t discussed.” And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton.

Smarsh challenged a typically male vision of the rural working class with her first book, Heartland, starring the bold, hard-luck women who raised her. Now, in She Come By It Natural, originally published in a four-part series for The Journal of Roots Music, No Depression, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such women—including those averse to the term “feminism”—as exemplified by Dolly Parton’s life and art.

Far beyond the recently resurrected “Jolene” or quintessential “9 to 5,” Parton’s songs for decades have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as “trailer trash.” Parton’s broader career—from singing on the front porch of her family’s cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from “girl singer” managed by powerful men to leader of a self-made business and philanthropy empire—offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture.

Infused with Smarsh’s trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, She Come By It Natural is a sympathetic tribute to the icon Dolly Parton and—call it whatever you like—the organic feminism she embodies. 

Review- An interesting series of essays about how Dolly Parton is seen by the people that she writes about in her songs, the rural and working poor. Smarsh grew up working poor and she watched her mother and grandmother listen and live the songs that Parton writes. Smarsh interviews many people, those around Parton herself, Smarsh’s friends, and music industry experts about Patron, her influence, and her business sense. Smarsh has a deep respect and love for Parton and that is reflected in these essays. The book is broken up into different sections about different times in Parton’s life and in the world around her. From when she was the ‘girl singer’ on the Porter Wagoner Show to being the boss and owning her own music label. It is an inspiring journey, about an inspiring and kind woman. We could stand to be a little more like Dolly. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult

Today’s post is on Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult by Faith Jones. It is 384 pages and is published by  William Marrow. The cover is blue with a fish hook and the symbol for female on it. The intended reader is someone who is interested in memoirs, cults, and survival stories. There is mild foul language, lots of sex and sexuality, and some violence in this memoir. There Be Spoilers. 

From the dust jacket- Educated meets The Vow in this story of liberation and self-empowerment—an inspiring and crazier-than-fiction memoir of growing up in and breaking free from the Children of God, an oppressive, extremist religious cult.

Faith Jones was raised to be part of an elite army preparing for the End Times. Growing up on an isolated farm in Macau, she prayed for hours every day and read letters of prophecy written by her grandfather, the founder of the Children of God. Tens of thousands of members strong, the cult followers looked to Faith’s grandfather as their guiding light. As such, Faith was celebrated as special and then punished doubly to remind her that she was not.

Over decades, the Children of God grew into an international organization that became notorious for its alarming sex practices and allegations of abuse and exploitation. But with indomitable grit, Faith survived, creating a world of her own—pilfering books and teaching herself high school curriculum. Finally, at age twenty-three, thirsting for knowledge and freedom, she broke away, leaving behind everything she knew to forge her own path in America.

A complicated family story mixed with a hauntingly intimate coming-of-age narrative, Faith Jones’ extraordinary memoir reflects our societal norms of oppression and abuse while providing a unique lens to explore spiritual manipulation and our rights in our bodies. Honest, eye-opening, uplifting, and intensely affecting, Sex Cult Nun brings to life a hidden world that’s hypnotically alien yet unexpectedly relatable. 

Review- An interesting, at times horrifying, story of one young woman’s life and escape from the cult she was born in. Faith Jones was a second generation child of the Children of God with its founder as her grandfather. She was raised believing that the end of the world was coming soon and she needed to help save as many ‘sheep’ as she could. One of the ways ‘sheep’ could be saved was by flirty fishing, where female members of the sect would have sex with men to then preach to them about God’s love. Jones was raised to think that all women should be free with sex with all men who asked or demanded in too many cases. At times this book is very hard to read, as Jones talks about being molested at a young age and those acts being good and godly. The reader follows her from her earliest memories to coming into her own and free from the cult. If you think that you can stomach the darker parts of Jones’ story, then I would recommend this book. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist

Today’s Nonfiction post is The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist by Anthony M. Amore. It is 272 pages long and is published by Pegasus Crime. The cover is a picture of the stolen Vermeer and Dugdale. The intended reader is someone who likes true crime, art history, and memoirs. There is some mild foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- The extraordinary life and crimes of heiress-turned-revolutionary Rose Dugdale, who in 1974 became the only woman to pull off a major art heist.
In the world of crime, there exists an unusual commonality between those who steal art and those who repeatedly kill: they are almost exclusively male. But, as with all things, there is always an outlier—someone who bucks the trend, defying the reliable profiles and leaving investigators and researchers scratching their heads. In the history of major art heists, that outlier is Rose Dugdale.
Dugdale’s life is singularly notorious. Born into extreme wealth, she abandoned her life as an Oxford-trained PhD and heiress to join the cause of Irish Republicanism. While on the surface she appears to be the British version of Patricia Hearst, she is anything but.
Dugdale ran head-first towards the action, spearheading the first aerial terrorist attack in British history and pulling off the biggest art theft of her time. In 1974, she led a gang into the opulent Russborough House in Ireland and made off with millions in prized paintings, including works by Goya, Gainsborough, and Rubens, as well as Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid by the mysterious master Johannes Vermeer. Dugdale thus became—to this day—the only woman to pull off a major art heist. And as Anthony Amore explores in The Woman Who Stole Vermeer, it’s likely that this was not her only such heist.
The Woman Who Stole Vermeer is Rose Dugdale’s story, from her idyllic upbringing in Devonshire and her presentation to Elizabeth II as a debutante to her university years and her eventual radical lifestyle. Her life of crime and activism is at turns unbelievable and awe-inspiring, and sure to engross readers. 

 

Review- A great memoir of the only woman who planned and pulled off a major art heist. Amore is a good writer and researcher, he does more in this book than just telling the reader about Dugdale or the heist. He breaks out the world that Dugdale grew up in, he explains the political climate that was around her as a child and young adult, and how all these things influenced her. Amore takes the reader from Dugdale’s childhood on a farm in the British countryside to after her heist and jail time. Along the way we learn about Vermeer, the IRA, and the general political scene of post World War 2 Britain. Dugdale is an interesting figure, if difficult to understand and she defies the world by refusing to get into a particular box. I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it. 

 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

 

Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America's Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt

Today’s post is on Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America's Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt by Daniel Barbarisi. It is 348 pages long including notes. The cover is a picture of the mountains north of Santa Fe. There is mild foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who likes memoirs and adventure stories. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- A full-throttle, first-person account of the treasure hunt created by eccentric millionaire art dealer—and, some would say, robber baron—Forrest Fenn that became the stuff of contemporary legend.

When Forrest Fenn was given a fatal cancer diagnosis, he came up with a bold plan: He would hide a chest full of jewels and gold in the wilderness, and publish a poem that would serve as a map leading to the treasure's secret location. But he didn't die, and after hiding the treasure in 2010, Fenn instead presided over a decade-long gold rush that saw many thousands of treasure hunters scrambling across the Rocky Mountains in pursuit of his fortune.

Daniel Barbarisi first learned of Fenn's hunt in 2017, when a friend became consumed with decoding the poem and convinced Barbarisi, a reporter, to document his search. What began as an attempt to capture the inner workings of Fenn's hunt quickly turned into a personal quest that led Barbarisi down a reckless and potentially dangerous path, one that found him embroiled in searcher conspiracies and matching wits with Fenn himself. Over the course of four chaotic years, several searchers would die, endless controversies would erupt, and one hunter would ultimately find the chest.

But the mystery didn't end there.

Review- A fascinating and well written story about an incredible treasure hunt. Barbarisi had a friend tell him about this treasure that a man in Santa Fe set up. When Forrest Fenn was given a cancer diagnosis, he decided that he was going to do something a little crazy. Over the next five years, Fenn picked things from his personal collection and made a modern day treasure chest. Then he went into the mountains north of his home in Santa Fe and hid it. Fenn created a riddle that if you applied yourself to, then you could figure out where Fenn had hidden the treasure and it would be yours. This is a very interesting story not just about Fenn but about the people who become obsessed with the hunt itself. I knew nothing about this hunt or Fenn so I was a blank slate going into this story and I was fascinated from the first page until the end. I would highly recommend this book, it is well written, the story is fascinating, and the adventure is very exciting. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country

Today’s post is on Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch. It is 379 pages long and is published by Random House. The cover is a picture of Lissa Yellow Bird. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and memoirs. There is mild foul language, discussion of sex and sexuality, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- When Lissa Yellow Bird was released from prison in 2009, she found her home, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, transformed by the Bakken oil boom. In her absence, the landscape had been altered beyond recognition, her tribal government swayed by corporate interests, and her community burdened by a surge in violence and addiction. Three years later, when Lissa learned that a young white oil worker, Kristopher "KC" Clarke, had disappeared from his reservation worksite, she became particularly concerned. No one knew where Clarke had gone, and few people were actively looking for him.

Yellow Bird traces Lissa's steps as she obsessively hunts for clues to Clarke's disappearance. She navigates two worlds--that of her own tribe, changed by its newfound wealth, and that of the non-Native oilmen, down on their luck, who have come to find work on the heels of the economic recession. Her pursuit of Clarke is also a pursuit of redemption, as Lissa atones for her own crimes and reckons with generations of trauma.

Review- This is less of a true crime book from a kind of memoir. Murdoch is a reporter and she met Lissa Yellow Bird when she was reporting on fracking on the reservations and how it was affecting the local communities. Lissa was investigating the disappearance of a young oil rig worker. Murdoch got interested in Lissa and here is our book. I was expecting more of a true crime story than I got but it was this interesting. Lissa Yellow Bird has lived a very colorful life, from a colorful family, and she is an engaging person to see the story from. Murdoch does her best to give the reader the truth without too much of her personal opinions coloring the narrative. But I think that this book would have been better if it had committed to either being a true crime or a memoir of Lissa, instead of straddling the line between the two.

I give this book a Three out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer

Today’s Nonfiction post is on The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan. It is 341 pages long and is published by Atria Books. The cover is a picture of a deserted beach. The intended reader is someone who is interested in true crime and memoirs. There is foul language, sex, sexuality, and rape, and lots of violence in this book. The story is told in two parts: first person narrative of Rodman as she remembers her childhood and third person close of Costa. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1960s, Liza Rodman was a lonely little girl. During the summers, while her mother worked days in a local motel and danced most nights in the Provincetown bars, her babysitter—the kind, handsome handyman at the motel where her mother worked—took her and her sister on adventures in his truck.

But there was one thing she didn’t know; their babysitter was a serial killer.

Some of his victims were buried—in pieces—right there, in his garden in the woods. Though Tony Costa’s gruesome case made screaming headlines in 1969 and beyond, Liza never made the connection between her friendly babysitter and the infamous killer of numerous women, including four in Massachusetts, until decades later.

Haunted by nightmares and horrified by what she learned, Liza became obsessed with the case. Now, she and cowriter Jennifer Jordan reveal the chilling and unforgettable true story of a charming but brutal psychopath through the eyes of a young girl who once called him her friend. 

Review- An interesting memoir of an abused childhood with a serial killer on the side. Rodman was an adult when she discovered her favorite babysitter was a serial killer and that discovery led her down memory lane. Rodman doesn’t hold back on her past, sparing no one, not herself, not her parents, and not Costa. But I liked the memoir part of this book better. It was a very compelling look at a child surviving a narcissistic parent as the scapegoat. The parts about Costa were well written and well researched but not as drawing to me as Rodman’s story itself. I would like to read more about her and her life after and into the functioning adult she became. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics

Today’s Nonfiction post is on Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton, Robert K. Oermann. It is 380 pages long and is published by Chronicle Books. The cover is a close up picture of Dolly Parton. The intended reader is someone who is interested in Dolly Parton and country music history. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead. 

From the dust jacket- Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics is a landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend.

As told by Dolly Parton in her own inimitable words, explore the songs that have defined her journey. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished images from Dolly Parton's personal and business archives.

Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 175 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics.

• Packed with never-before-seen photographs and classic memorabilia

• Explores personal stories, candid insights, and myriad memories behind the songs

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics reveals the stories and memories that have made Dolly a beloved icon across generations, genders, and social and international boundaries.

Containing rare photos and memorabilia from Parton's archives, this book is a show-stopping must-have for every Dolly Parton fan.

• Learn the history behind classic Parton songs like "Jolene," "9 to 5," "I Will Always Love You," and more.

• The perfect gift for Dolly Parton fans (everyone loves Dolly!) as well as lovers of music history and country

Review- A fascinating look into one of the most famous singer and songwriter of modern country music. Parton brings her special touch to this book about her music and her life. We follow her from childhood all the way to being very famous and in demand. Parton includes pictures, the lyrics, and written insights into why she wrote what she did at that time. The essays are interesting and well written. I had a good time with this memoir and if you are a fan of country music history or Dolly Parton herself, I would recommend this book.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and borrowed this book from my local library.