Funeral and Memorial Service Readings, Poems and Tributes edited by Rachel R. Baum.
I picked up this book expecting some awesome and heartfelt poems and tributes I could use in memory of Grandma who passed into the next life back April 9, 2010. I found several I liked, but the majority of these poems I feel didn't have much life to them. They were just words. I didn't feel they were written for anyone special. I know most of them were, but maybe it was just me.
Anyway, I found several I enjoyed enough to type up on my computer and save for a later project.
Short review, but nothing in this book stood out to me very much. *shrugs* I do miss Grandma very much though... She was the center of our life. She held everyone together...
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
All Gods Children by Rene Denfeld
This is a book that covers a part of society that most people dont know exists. Street families. Not necessarily homeless people, people who choose to live on the streets due to "abusive relationships in the home" or various other reasons. Most say they were raped or abused by parents, kicked out by their parents, or simply just left a difficult situation.
This book follows street families in Portland, Oregon. The main family the book follows is a group called simply, "The Family". It consisted of several members who are usually between the ages of early teens, 13 or 14, to older members who can range all the way up to 26.
Rene delves into these kids minds and follows their stories that seem innocent during the day, but by night, these kids are very, very dangerous. There are several instances where someone in the street family offended someone else, and the entire culture turned against them. The punishment can vary from a simple "taxing" (taking objects valuable to the taxee), to a beating to even death.
The last part of the book covers the story of a mentally disable young woman who befriended these kids. She thought it was all innocent fun, but then she soon found out that they can turn on loved ones as easily as a winter storm.
This last case is heartwrenching and horribly sad. This was the only book I have ever read that actually had me waking up at night. It was mindboggling and just didn't seem like this kind of culture could exist right under our noses.
If you want to see into the darker side of our society, then read this book. Good luck finding anything online that explains any of it though. I haven't found anything. Some pictures, but nothing about the culture itself.
Next book review: A wonderful book by John Walsh called "No Mercy".
This book follows street families in Portland, Oregon. The main family the book follows is a group called simply, "The Family". It consisted of several members who are usually between the ages of early teens, 13 or 14, to older members who can range all the way up to 26.
Rene delves into these kids minds and follows their stories that seem innocent during the day, but by night, these kids are very, very dangerous. There are several instances where someone in the street family offended someone else, and the entire culture turned against them. The punishment can vary from a simple "taxing" (taking objects valuable to the taxee), to a beating to even death.
The last part of the book covers the story of a mentally disable young woman who befriended these kids. She thought it was all innocent fun, but then she soon found out that they can turn on loved ones as easily as a winter storm.
This last case is heartwrenching and horribly sad. This was the only book I have ever read that actually had me waking up at night. It was mindboggling and just didn't seem like this kind of culture could exist right under our noses.
If you want to see into the darker side of our society, then read this book. Good luck finding anything online that explains any of it though. I haven't found anything. Some pictures, but nothing about the culture itself.
Next book review: A wonderful book by John Walsh called "No Mercy".
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker
This book covers several cases from Jack the Ripper to the still unsolved JonBenet Ramsey murder.
All in all, it was a very interesting book. The author essentially profiles all the crimes scenes to tell us what kind of person could have commited the murders. It's very interesting but I cannot post too much about it without giving it all away.
The first part about Jack the Ripper is slightly confusing, but you get the gist of it. He goes through all the suspects and gives reasons they could have done it and reasons they couldn't have done it. His last suspect, (the person I thought could have done it), fits his profile perfectly. But alas, since it's been over 100 years since the murders, we will never know.
He covers the Lizzie Borden killings, which if anyone has researched it will realize that Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the crime, even though there was plenty of evidence to support that she commited the crimes, but they never found the ax that her mother and father were killed with and without a murder weapon the prosecution kindof falls apart. I know Lizzie killed her parents. There's no doubt about that. But alas, we cannot solve this one either.
The Lindbergh Kidnapping is one I had heard of but never looked into. It was a very interesting read and at the end, I found I agreed with the author on his verdict. The man charged with the kidnapping and killing of the Lindbergh baby was not working alone, but the people and police were satisfied with convicting just one man that they didn't look for the rest of his group. Now, I'm not saying that he didn't do it, but I'm sure that he wasn't working alone. He was a german carpenter named Hauptmann.
The Zodiac Killer. This one could have a post all on it's own. This killer was never identified or caught and all the murders remain unsolved to this day. I am currently looking for a book that covers the Zodiac more than this one did, but I can tell you about it a bit. The Zodiac enjoyed shooting couples in their cars and he usually would go to the passenger side of the car and shoot into the car. One man survived the Zodiacs attempted killing, and described him as being in his early 20's, 200 lbs, 5'8", brown crew cut hair. He wore a rain coat like those in the navy and pleated pants. The Zodiac murders remain unsolved.
This book touches slightly on the Black Dahlia murder and the Boston Strangler.
The ending chapter is about the JonBenet Ramsey murder. It was a hard chapter for me to read as I have a niece thats almost 3, but after debating with myself back and forth, I finally gave in and read it. It was a read that was well worth it. You get details from the case in this chapter that you didn't get in the news reports and, actually, the news reports were quite misleading anyway. They automatically assumed that the parents were responsible, but where she was discovered and how she was discovered was in direct contrast to the profile. I am not going to divulge much of the information from this chapter, but I would suggest that you read this one and make the answers for yourself, but take into account the evidence.
Follow the evidence and make the theories fit the evidence. That's the most important part. People have a tendency to make the evidence fit the theory, but that doesn't work and has led many people to the wrong conclusions. Stick with the evidence and facts.
All in all, it was a very interesting book. The author essentially profiles all the crimes scenes to tell us what kind of person could have commited the murders. It's very interesting but I cannot post too much about it without giving it all away.
The first part about Jack the Ripper is slightly confusing, but you get the gist of it. He goes through all the suspects and gives reasons they could have done it and reasons they couldn't have done it. His last suspect, (the person I thought could have done it), fits his profile perfectly. But alas, since it's been over 100 years since the murders, we will never know.
He covers the Lizzie Borden killings, which if anyone has researched it will realize that Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the crime, even though there was plenty of evidence to support that she commited the crimes, but they never found the ax that her mother and father were killed with and without a murder weapon the prosecution kindof falls apart. I know Lizzie killed her parents. There's no doubt about that. But alas, we cannot solve this one either.
The Lindbergh Kidnapping is one I had heard of but never looked into. It was a very interesting read and at the end, I found I agreed with the author on his verdict. The man charged with the kidnapping and killing of the Lindbergh baby was not working alone, but the people and police were satisfied with convicting just one man that they didn't look for the rest of his group. Now, I'm not saying that he didn't do it, but I'm sure that he wasn't working alone. He was a german carpenter named Hauptmann.
The Zodiac Killer. This one could have a post all on it's own. This killer was never identified or caught and all the murders remain unsolved to this day. I am currently looking for a book that covers the Zodiac more than this one did, but I can tell you about it a bit. The Zodiac enjoyed shooting couples in their cars and he usually would go to the passenger side of the car and shoot into the car. One man survived the Zodiacs attempted killing, and described him as being in his early 20's, 200 lbs, 5'8", brown crew cut hair. He wore a rain coat like those in the navy and pleated pants. The Zodiac murders remain unsolved.
This book touches slightly on the Black Dahlia murder and the Boston Strangler.
The ending chapter is about the JonBenet Ramsey murder. It was a hard chapter for me to read as I have a niece thats almost 3, but after debating with myself back and forth, I finally gave in and read it. It was a read that was well worth it. You get details from the case in this chapter that you didn't get in the news reports and, actually, the news reports were quite misleading anyway. They automatically assumed that the parents were responsible, but where she was discovered and how she was discovered was in direct contrast to the profile. I am not going to divulge much of the information from this chapter, but I would suggest that you read this one and make the answers for yourself, but take into account the evidence.
Follow the evidence and make the theories fit the evidence. That's the most important part. People have a tendency to make the evidence fit the theory, but that doesn't work and has led many people to the wrong conclusions. Stick with the evidence and facts.
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