Cindy's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:08:50 -0700 60 Cindy's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Her Mother's Hope (Marta's Legacy, #1)]]> 6926176 2011 Retailers Choice Award winner!
The first in an epic two-book saga by beloved author Francine Rivers, this sweeping story explores the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters over several generations. Near the turn of the 20th century, fiery Marta leaves Switzerland determined to find life on her own terms. Her journey takes her through Europe and finally lands her with children and husband in tow in the central valley of California. Marta's experiences convince her that only the strong survive. Hildie, Marta's oldest daughter, has a heart to serve others, and her calling as a nurse gives her independence, if not the respect of her mother. Amid the drama of WWII, Hildie marries and begins a family of her own. She wants her daughter never to doubt her love, but the challenges of life conspire against her vow. Each woman is forced to confront her faulty but well-meaning desire to help her daughter find her God-given place in the world.]]> 512 Francine Rivers 1414318634 Cindy 4 I am going to try to read the sequel.]]> 4.31 2010 Her Mother's Hope (Marta's Legacy, #1)
author: Francine Rivers
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves:
review:
The book is definitely not your “typical� Christian fiction. Overall, it’s pretty sad. Seems like many things just kept repeating-different time, different people, different place but same issues. Really wanted to put 3 1/2 stars but that was not working.
I am going to try to read the sequel.
]]> <![CDATA[The Color of Rain: How Two Families Found Faith, Hope, and Love in the Midst of Tragedy]]> 11521523 288 Michael Spehn 0310331978 Cindy 5 4.33 2011 The Color of Rain: How Two Families Found Faith, Hope, and Love in the Midst of Tragedy
author: Michael Spehn
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hadassah: One Night with the King]]> 900379 Bestselling author Tommy Tenney expands the extraordinary story of Esther like no novelist has done before. Both a thriller and a Jewish woman's memoir, Hadassah takes readers to ancient Persia (now known as Iran), into the inner sanctum of the palace and back out into the war zones of battle and political intrigue. This gripping drama of a simple peasant girl chosen over many more qualified candidates to become Esther, Queen of Persia, captures the imagination and fires the emotions of men and women alike.

]]> 351 Tommy Tenney 0764229435 Cindy 0 4.19 2003 Hadassah: One Night with the King
author: Tommy Tenney
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:

]]> The Arrivals 9584244


It's early summer when Ginny and William's peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt.

First, their daughter Lillian arrives, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, their son Stephen and his pregnant wife Jane show up for a weekend visit, which extends indefinitely when Jane ends up on bed rest. When their youngest daughter Rachel appears, fleeing her difficult life in New York, Ginny and William find themselves consumed again by the chaos of parenthood -- only this time around, their children are facing adult problems.

By summer's end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family -- and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true.]]> 336 Meg Mitchell Moore 0316097713 Cindy 4 3.49 2011 The Arrivals
author: Meg Mitchell Moore
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:
Not a page turner but surprisingly I found it a good read.
]]> Wish You Well 87745 432 David Baldacci 0446699489 Cindy 1 3.98 2000 Wish You Well
author: David Baldacci
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
Very rarely do I stop reading a book. I am about halfway through and decided I just do not want to take time to finish. Way too wordy for one thing and just seems to drag. I do not have a lot of time to read so I am done with it without finishing it.
]]> Summerland 12799058
As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents--secrets kept, promises broken, hearts betrayed. Elin Hilderbrand explores the power of community, family, and honesty, and proves that even from the ashes of sorrow new love can take flight.]]> 400 Elin Hilderbrand Cindy 3 3.86 2012 Summerland
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> A Man of His Own 17286765
Ěý

Keller Nicholson is the soldier who fought the war with Pax by his side, and the two have the kind of profound bond that can only be forged in war.Ěý Pax is the closest Keller has to a sense of family, and he can’t bear the thought of returning him to the Stantons.Ěý But Rick and Francesca refuse to give him up.Ěý Instead, an arrangement is made: Keller will work as Rick’s live-in aide. And thus an unlikely family is formed, with steadfast Pax at the center.ĚýĚý As they try to build a new life out of the ashes, Keller and Francesca struggle to ignore their growing attraction to each other, and Rick, believing that he can no longer give Francesca what she needs and wants, quietly plans a way out.

Ěý

All three of them need healing. All three of them are lost. Pax, with his unconditional love and unwavering loyalty, may be the only one who can guide them home.


]]> 368 Susan Wilson 1250014360 Cindy 2 4.10 2013 A Man of His Own
author: Susan Wilson
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:
I actually only read part of it. Just seemed very unrealistic.
]]> All the Forgivenesses 46015263 Set in Appalachia and the Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century, this exquisite debut novelĚýpaints an intimate portrait of one resilient farm family’s challenges and hard-won triumphs—helmed by an unforgettable heroine. Ěý Growing up on their hardscrabble farm in rural Kentucky, fifteen-year-old Albertina “Bertieâ€� Winslow has learned a lot from her mama, Polly. She knows how to lance a boil, make a pie crust, butcher a pig, and tend to every chore that needs doing. What she doesn’t know, but is forced to reckon with all too soon, is how to look after children as a mother should . . . When Polly succumbs to a long illness, Bertie takes on responsibility for her four younger siblings and their dissolute, unreliable daddy. Yet the task is overwhelming. Nine-year-old Dacia, especially, is resentful and stubborn, hinting at secrets in their mama’s life. Finally, Bertie makes the only choice she can—breaking up the family for its own survival, keeping the girls with her, sending the boys off to their grown brothers, long gone from home. Ever pragmatic, Bertie marries young, grateful to find a husband willing to take on the care of her sisters, and eventually moves to the oil fields of Kansas. But marriage alone cannot resolve her grief and guilt over a long-ago tragedy, or prepare her for the heartaches still to come. Only by confronting wrenching truths can she open herself to joy—and learn how to not only give, but receive, unfettered love. Ěý“This emotional story of deep hardship is told in Bertie’s distinct voice and is recommended for readers who enjoyed Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell, and Jane Hamilton’s Book of Ruth.â€� —Library Journal Ěý]]> 371 Elizabeth Hardinger 1496720466 Cindy 3 4.32 2019 All the Forgivenesses
author: Elizabeth Hardinger
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
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review:

]]> A Girl Called Samson 58769584 From New York Times bestselling author Amy Harmon comes the saga of a young woman who dares to chart her own destiny in life and love during the American Revolutionary War.

In 1760, Deborah Samson is born to Puritan parents in Plympton, Massachusetts. When her father abandons the family and her mother is unable to support them, Deborah is bound out as an indentured servant. From that moment on, she yearns for a life of liberation and adventure.

Twenty years later, as the American colonies begin to buckle in their battle for independence, Deborah, impassioned by the cause, disguises herself as a soldier and enlists in the Continental Army. Her impressive height and lanky build make her transformation a convincing one, and it isn’t long before she finds herself confronting the horrors of war head-on.

But as Deborah fights for her country’s freedom, she must contend with the secret of who she is—and, ultimately, a surprising love she can’t deny.]]> 405 Amy Harmon 1542039738 Cindy 5 4.48 2023 A Girl Called Samson
author: Amy Harmon
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed it. Good historical fiction.
]]> Making Faces 27237358 405 Amy Harmon Cindy 0 to-read 4.18 2013 Making Faces
author: Amy Harmon
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Little Liar 112975105 333 Mitch Albom 0062406655 Cindy 5 4.54 2023 The Little Liar
author: Mitch Albom
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Night We Lost Him 207299448
Though the authorities rule Liam's death accidental, Nora and her estranged brother, Sam, believe otherwise. As they form an uneasy alliance to unpack the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

With Laura Dave’s “signature blend of pulse-pounding suspense� (PEOPLE) and “trademark emotional heft� (The New York Post), The Night We Lost Him is a “propulsive� (Oprah Daily) must-read, with a heartbreaking final twist you’ll never see coming.]]> 298 Laura Dave 1668002930 Cindy 3 3.56 2024 The Night We Lost Him
author: Laura Dave
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dog Who Saved Me 21853631 Rescue comes in unexpected ways for one man and his dog in this moving and redemptive novel, The Dog Who Saved Me, by New York Times bestselling author Susan Wilson

Cooper Harrison, a member of the Boston K-9 unit, never thought he would ever go back to his hometown, Harmony Farms. But when his faithful canine partner, Argos, is killed in the line of duty, Cooper finds himself mired in grief. Jobless, on the verge of a divorce, and in a self-destructive rut, Cooper has little choice but to accept an offer for the position of animal control officer in Harmony Farms.

And so he finds himself back where he started. Where his father, Bull, was once known as the town drunk. Where his brother, Jimmy, was a delinquent and bully. Where he grew up as "one of those" Harrisons. Forced to face the past while dealing with the present-including his brother's continued involvement in the drug business-Cooper does his job with deliberate detachment, refusing to get emotionally invested in another dog the way he had with Argos. Until he finds himself trying to rescue a wounded and gun-shy yellow Lab gone feral...

Cooper never thought he'd find himself going back in order to move forward, yet Harmony Farms is the one place where Cooper must learn to forgive and, only then, to heal. All with the help of a yellow dog, who has a history-and secrets-that Cooper must uncover.]]> 339 Susan Wilson 1250014344 Cindy 5 3.96 2015 The Dog Who Saved Me
author: Susan Wilson
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2018/07/09
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:
Loved it, was hard to put down.
]]> Pony Express Christmas 638922 160 Sigmund Brouwer 0842340181 Cindy 5 3.77 2000 Pony Express Christmas
author: Sigmund Brouwer
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog]]> 113012 hilarious (USA Today) national bestseller, Pulitzer Prize winning humorist Dave Barry pens one of the warmest, most delightful Christmas stories ever.

The year is 1960, and the Christmas pageant at St. John's Episcopal Church is a very big deal. Doug Barnes is a shepherd this year, which is better than being a Three King, because you get to carry a stick. There are problems, however. The girl he likes is playing Mary opposite a Joseph who is depressingly smart, athletic, and cute; the family dog is doing poorly, and they have no idea what they're going to tell Doug's little sister, Becky; and his dad's just gotten a flat tire, which means they might not even get to the pageant. But Christmas is a time of miracles. And for Doug and his family, this will be the most miraculous Christmas of all.]]> 117 Dave Barry 0399154132 Cindy 4 3.93 2006 The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog
author: Dave Barry
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bite Me: Tell-All Tales of an Emergency Veterinarian]]> 27787442
Bite Me gives a rare insider's view of the frustrations, the joys and the heartbreak that veterinarians experience on a daily basis and exposes the reasons why the veterinary profession is currently facing some dire and frightening challenges. From page to page you will find yourself laughing, crying, angry, shocked, laughing again, and then eager to know more.

Bite Me is a must-read for any pet owner, any person aspiring to be a veterinarian, any veterinary student, and any person who has an interest in the welfare of both animals and people.]]> 286 Laura Lefkowitz Cindy 3 4.24 Bite Me: Tell-All Tales of an Emergency Veterinarian
author: Laura Lefkowitz
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:
Good but had a hard time sticking with it.
]]> One True Thing 176839 320 Anna Quindlen 0812976185 Cindy 2 4.04 1994 One True Thing
author: Anna Quindlen
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1994
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
After reading Every Last One, I thought I would enjoy another one of her books. Too wordy and it really dragged out. Not a fan at all, not sure if I will even pick another by her up.
]]> <![CDATA[A Hunger to Kill: A Serial Killer, a Determined Detective, and the Quest for a Confession That Changed a Small Town Forever]]> 195790536 In this fascinating & profoundly chilling account, Detective Kim Mager , a real-life version of Clarice Starling, reveals how she closed in on―and broke―one of Ohio’s most infamous serial killers.

On September 13, 2016, in the small town of Ashland, Ohio, emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a terrified woman who claimed to be kidnapped. The man holding her hostage was Shawn Grate, a serial killer whom the press later dubbed “The Ladykiller.� A key to his conviction and death sentence were Grate’s extensive recorded confessions—all extracted by one woman: Detective Kim Mager.

As an experienced specialist in sex offenses, Detective Mager was one of the officers assigned to Grate’s case upon his arrest. Grate immediately latched onto her, repeatedly demanding to speak to her and presumably convinced that he could somehow exercise his power over her in much the same way that he’d overpowered and controlled his female victims.

He was wrong.

Over a period of eight days, Mager conducted one interview after another, risking her life by sitting alone in the interview room with a malevolent predator. Using brilliant psychological strategy in a lethal game of wits, Mager successfully elicited his damning confessions to five murders, kidnapping, and multiple sexual assaults of women across Ohio.

Deeply personal and shocking, A Hunger to Kill takes listeners behind the scenes of one of the most appalling criminal cases in American history from the woman who stopped his murderous rampage in collaboration with New York Times bestselling author Lisa Pulitzer.]]> 320 Kim Mager 1250274885 Cindy 4 3.75 2024 A Hunger to Kill: A Serial Killer, a Determined Detective, and the Quest for a Confession That Changed a Small Town Forever
author: Kim Mager
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> All the Colors of the Dark 203019740
Amerika, 1975. In het dorpje Monta Clare, Missouri, wordt tiener Joseph 'Patch' Macauley ontvoerd. Saint Brown, zet alles op het spel om haar beste vriend te vinden.

Patch ligt alleen in een pikdonkere kamer totdat hij een hand in de zijne voelt. Ze heet Grace en in het donker is haar stem zijn redding. Als Patch ontsnapt, is er echter geen bewijs dat ze ooit heeft bestaan, dus begint hij een grootse zoektocht om haar te vinden.

Terwijl jaren decennia worden en hoop een obsessie, jaagt Patch's jeugdvriendin Saint op de man die de twee ontvoerde en daarmee de enige jongen van wie ze ooit heeft gehouden een doel in het leven gaf.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Cindy 3 4.23 2024 All the Colors of the Dark
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
While I do believe it is well written, it just seemed to drag on & on. I did not care for Charlotte’s character at all. I know many people do not find this troublesome but I am tired of all the crude language in books lately.
]]> Every Last One 7468160
In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times" bestselling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions.

Mary Beth Latham has built her life around her family, around caring for her three teenage children and preserving the rituals of their daily life. When one of her sons becomes depressed, Mary Beth focuses on him, only to be blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterwards is a testament to the power of a woman's love and determination, and to the invisible lines of hope and healing that connect one human being with another. Ultimately, as rendered in Anna Quindlen's mesmerizing prose, Every Last One" is a novel about facing every last one of the things we fear most, about finding ways to navigate a road we never intended to travel, and about living a life we never dreamed we'd have to live, but find ourselves brave enough to try.]]> 299 Anna Quindlen 1400065747 Cindy 5 3.85 2010 Every Last One
author: Anna Quindlen
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Between You & Me 36502037 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs delivers a riveting story that challenges our deepest-held beliefs.

Caught between two worlds, Caleb Stoltz is bound by a deathbed promise to raise his orphaned niece and nephew in Middle Grove, where life revolves around family, farm, faith—and long-held suspicions about outsiders. When disaster strikes, Caleb is thrust into an urban environment of high-tech medicine and the relentless rush of modern life.

Dr. Reese Powell is poised to join the medical dynasty of her wealthy, successful parents. Bold, assertive, and quick-thinking, she lives for the addictive rush of saving lives. When a shocking accident brings Caleb Stoltz into her life, Reese is forced to deal with a situation that challenges everything she thinks she knows—and ultimately emboldens her to question her most powerful beliefs.

Then one impulsive act brings about a clash of cultures in a tug-of-war that plays out in a courtroom, challenging the very nature of justice and reverberating through generations, straining the fragile threads of faith and family.

Deeply moving and unforgettable, Between You and Me is an emotionally complex story of love and loss, family and friendship, and the arduous road to discovering the heart’s true path.]]> 368 Susan Wiggs 0062425536 Cindy 3 3.99 2018 Between You & Me
author: Susan Wiggs
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade to Make Medical Care Safe]]> 18945305 288 Sorrel King 0802198988 Cindy 3 4.17 2009 Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade to Make Medical Care Safe
author: Sorrel King
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:

]]> A Gift of Grace 16110610 Sometimes good can come from the worst moments...

In a moment of grief, Caleb Tucker made the biggest mistake of his life. He gave away his wife's baby, born under the most tragic circumstances.

Three years later he gets a second chance. All because Sophie Owens walks into his feed store with her little girl - a little girl who looks a lot like his late wife. But in order to get his second chance, he'll have to ruin Sophie's world.

Perhaps, though, a gift of grace could save them both.]]> 304 Inglath Cooper 1459218485 Cindy 5 4.22 A Gift of Grace
author: Inglath Cooper
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Michigan Murders: The True Story of the Ypsilanti Ripper's Reign of Terror]]> 29870198 Edgar Award The terrifying true story of savage murders, a terrorized midwestern town, and the serial killer who could have lived next door

ĚýIn 1967, during the time of peace, free love, and hitchhiking, nineteen-year-old Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen alive walking home to her apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. One month later, her naked body—stabbed over thirty times and missing both feet and a forearm—was discovered, partially buried, on an abandoned farm. A year later, the body of twenty-year-old Joan Schell was found, similarly violated. Southeastern Michigan was terrorized by something it had never experienced a serial killer. Over the next two years, five more bodies were uncovered around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. All the victims were tortured and mutilated. All were female students.
Ěý
After multiple failed investigations, a chance sighting finally led to a suspect. On the surface, John Norman Collins was an all-American boy—a fraternity member studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University. But Collins wasn’t all that he seemed. His female friends described him as aggressive and short tempered. And in August 1970, Collins, the “Ypsilanti Ripper,� was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole.
Ěý
Written by the coauthor of The French Connection, The Michigan Murders delivers a harrowing depiction of the savage murders that tormented a small midwestern town.
Ěý
Ěý]]> 360 Edward Keyes 1504025598 Cindy 4
Merged review:

Confused why James Armstrong is the murderer throughout the book but the murderers name Norman Collins never shows up?]]> 3.88 1976 The Michigan Murders: The True Story of the Ypsilanti Ripper's Reign of Terror
author: Edward Keyes
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/02
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves:
review:
Confused why James Armstrong is the murderer throughout the book but the murderers name Norman Collins never shows up?

Merged review:

Confused why James Armstrong is the murderer throughout the book but the murderers name Norman Collins never shows up?
]]> The Last Season 214091 The Last Season is to lose oneself in a mesmerizing story about a place few could survive in and even fewer have visited—the unforgiving backcountry of the Sierra Nevadas. Blehm narrates this true account of the disappearance and search for Randy Morgenson, a National Park Service ranger who, one morning after 28 seasons on the job, failed to answer his radio call.

The introverted Morgenson was more comfortable with the natural world than with people. A gifted photographer and a lyrical writer, he dropped out of college to begin a career that would send him into the remote parts of California's Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Passionate about the mountains, he excelled at his responsibilities, which ranged from clearing away garbage left by careless campers to rescuing injured hikers. Dedicated to keeping the wilderness undisturbed, he was proud of his ability to leave no trace of himself wherever he camped.

That skill would prove costly when, at age 54, he went missing. Blehm seamlessly combines a detective story with a celebration of nature that calls to mind the works of classic American writers like Thoreau and Emerson. His gripping narrative will cause readers' hearts to ache at the disappearance of this undervalued soul. But their spirits will soar at the grandeur and mysticism of nature expertly captured in its most primal state.]]> 335 Eric Blehm 0060583010 Cindy 4 4.09 2006 The Last Season
author: Eric Blehm
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Daddy's Curse: A Sex Trafficking True Story of a 8-Year Old Girl]]> 38769682 - Reader's Favorite 5-Star Award


A Harrowing True Story of an Eight-Year-Old Girl Human Sex Trafficking and Organized Crime Survivor

Have you ever experienced total despair? Yuna was just an eight-year-old girl when she experienced total devastation. Growing up in the Mongolian countryside, she wasn’t ready to face the darker side of the world. And yet she had to.

After she was kidnapped by an organized crime gang, Yuna had to overcome her fears at a young age and start taking care of herself. She tried to escape from slavery, but everybody that she encountered wanted to take advantage of her. Yuna and other girls just like her were constantly abused, beaten, raped and sold as sex slaves. Human trafficking is the worst kind of humiliation, especially for a young woman. She tried to escape and find freedom, but it wasn’t easy.

In this emotional and heart-shattering true story, author Luke G. Dahl will let you behind the curtains of sex trafficking gangs and into the soul of abused women, who try to glue the broken pieces of their soul together, in order to survive. By understanding what they have had to endure, you can find a new perspective and respect for life.]]> 124 Luke. G. Dahl 9163970368 Cindy 4 3.84 2017 Daddy's Curse: A Sex Trafficking True Story of a 8-Year Old Girl
author: Luke. G. Dahl
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/23
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Once Upon a Farm: Lessons on Growing Love, Life, and Hope on a New Frontier]]> 35540976 National Bestseller

Sometimes it's not only what we plant but where we're planted.

Now raising their four-year-old daughter, Indiana, alone, after Joey's passing, Rory Feek digs deeper into the soil of his life and the unusual choices he and his wife, Joey, made together and the ones he's making now to lead his family into the future.

When Rory Feek and his older daughters moved into a run-down farmhouse almost twenty years ago, he had no idea of the almost fairy-tale love story that was going to unfold on that small piece of Tennessee land . . . and the lessons he and his family would learn along the way.

Now two years after Joey's passing, as Rory takes their four-year-old daughter Indiana's hand and walks forward into an unknown future, he takes readers on his incredible journey from heartbreak to hope and, ultimately, the kind of healing that comes only through faith.

A raw and vulnerable look deeper into Rory's heart, Once Upon a Farm is filled with powerful stories of love, life, and hope and the insights that one extraordinary, ordinary man in bib overalls has gleamed along the way.

As opposed to homesteading, this is instead a book on lifesteading as Rory learns to cultivate faith, love, and fatherhood on a small farm while doing everything, at times, but farming. With frequent stories of his and Joey's years together, and how those guide his life today, Rory unpacks just what it means to be open to new experiences.

"This isn't a how-to book; it's more of a how we, or more accurately, how He, God, planted us on a few acres of land and grew something bigger than Joey or I could have ever imagined."]]> 248 Rory Feek 078521674X Cindy 4 4.27 Once Upon a Farm: Lessons on Growing Love, Life, and Hope on a New Frontier
author: Rory Feek
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Very Private School: A Memoir]]> 176442861 In this poignant memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at age eight to attend boarding school.

A Very Private School offers a clear-eyed, first-hand account of a culture of cruelty at the school Charles Spencer attended in his youth and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding system. Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, he reflects on the hopelessness and abandonment he felt at aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness and the appalling inescapability of it all. Exploring the long-lasting impact of his experiences, Spencer presents a candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood.]]> 304 Charles Spencer 1668046385 Cindy 5 3.94 2024 A Very Private School: A Memoir
author: Charles Spencer
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves:
review:
Eye-opening and very sad! Well-written.
]]> <![CDATA[This Life I Live: One Man's Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever]]> 30649467 The Love Story that Captured a Nation’s Heart

Joey and Rory Feek were enjoying a steadily growing fan base in country music when Joey was diagnosed unexpectedly with a rapidly spreading cancer. This vibrant and beautiful young woman would soon be on a unique journey for which no one is ever fully prepared. Her husband, Rory, and children, Heidi, Hopie, and Indiana, were beside her each step of the way. Rory, a prolific songwriter, entrepreneur, farmer, and overall tender man, has seen God bless his life in countless unexpected ways and had started a blog, thislifeilive.com, not really knowing its purpose other than he needed to write. That purpose soon became clearer when Joey’s cancer battle hit.

By inviting so many into the final months of Joey’s life, this astounding couple captured the hearts of millions with their powerful love story, the manner in which they were handling the diagnosis, and the inspiring simple way they had chosen to live their lives.

In this vulnerable book, Rory takes us into his own challenging life story and shows what can happen when God brings both his presence and the right companion into our lives. He also gives never-before-revealed details on what he calls “the long goodbye,� the blessing of being able to know that life is going to end and taking advantage of it. Feek shows how we all are actually there already and how we can learn to live that way every day. He then goes into detail toward the end of the book on what it’s like to try to move on with your life once you’ve “had it all.”]]> 252 Rory Feek 0718090195 Cindy 0 4.36 2017 This Life I Live: One Man's Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever
author: Rory Feek
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Lineage of Grace (Lineage of Grace #1- 5)]]> 95626 537 Francine Rivers 0842371109 Cindy 0 currently-reading 4.44 2001 A Lineage of Grace (Lineage of Grace #1- 5)
author: Francine Rivers
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Blinded (Dr. Alan Gregory) 144921649 0 Stephen White Cindy 0 1.00 Blinded (Dr. Alan Gregory)
author: Stephen White
name: Cindy
average rating: 1.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration]]> 8171378
Wilkerson tells this interwoven story through the lives of three unforgettable protagonists: Ida Mae Gladney, a sharecropper’s wife, who in 1937 fled Mississippi for Chicago; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, and Robert Foster, a surgeon who left Louisiana in 1953 in hopes of making it in California.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous cross-country journeys by car and train and their new lives in colonies in the New World. The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration� within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is a modern classic.]]> 622 Isabel Wilkerson 0679444327 Cindy 4 4.45 2010 The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
author: Isabel Wilkerson
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
review:

]]> Butcher 197516630 From one of our most accomplished storytellers, an extraordinary and arresting novel about a women’s asylum in the nineteenth century, and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world

In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,� as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns. There, he is allowed to continue his practice, unchecked for decades, making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state—women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery, Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit, who becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject, but also the agent of his destruction.

Narrated by Silas Weir’s eldest son, who has repudiated his father’s brutal legacy, Butcher is a unique blend of fiction and fact, a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the American psyche conjoined, in its startling conclusion, with unexpected romance. Once again, Joyce Carol Oates has written a spellbinding novel confirming her position as one of our celebrated American visionaries of the imagination.]]> 352 Joyce Carol Oates 0593537777 Cindy 0 to-read 3.75 2024 Butcher
author: Joyce Carol Oates
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> You Belong Here Now 54427166 In this brilliant debut reminiscent of William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land and Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours, three orphans journey westward from New York City to the Big Sky Country of Montana, hoping for a better life where beautiful wild horses roam free.

Montana 1925: Three brave kids from New York board the orphan train headed west. An Irish boy who lost his whole family to Spanish flu, a tiny girl who won’t talk, and a volatile young man who desperately needs to escape Hell’s Kitchen. They are paraded on platforms across the Midwest to work-worn folks and journey countless miles, racing the sun westward. Before they reach the last rejection and stop, the kids come up with a daring plan, and they set off toward the Yellowstone River and grassy mountains where the wild horses roam.

Fate guides them toward the ranch of a family stricken by loss. Broken and unable to outrun their pasts in New York, the family must do the unthinkable in order to save them.

Nara, the daughter of a successful cattleman, has grown into a brusque spinster who refuses the kids on sight. She’s worked hard to gain her father’s respect and hopes to run their operation, but if the kids stay, she’ll be stuck in the kitchen.

Nara works them without mercy, hoping they’ll run off, but they buck up and show spirit, and though Nara will never be motherly, she begins to take to them. So, when Charles is jailed for freeing wild horses that were rounded up for slaughter, and an abusive mother from New York shows up to take the youngest, Nara does the unthinkable, risking everything she holds dear to change their lives forever.]]> 368 Dianna Rostad 0063027895 Cindy 4 3.85 2021 You Belong Here Now
author: Dianna Rostad
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/06/05
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review:
Book was good but a little far-fetched with the characters. Also things would happen that supposedly had been talked about before yet weren’t. Ending was a little too unrealistic the way it wrapped up.
]]> <![CDATA[Chasing the Dime (Harry Bosch Universe, #12)]]> 32507 Pierce has just been thrown out by his girlfriend and moved into a new apartment, and the company he founded is headed into the most critical phase of fund-raising. He's been "chasing the dime" - doing all it takes to come out first in a technological battle whose victor will make millions. But he can't get the messages for a woman named Lilly out of his head:

"Uh, yes, hello, my name is Frank. I'm at the Peninsula. Room six twelve. So give me a call when you can."

Something is wrong. Pierce probes, investigates, and then tumbles through a hole, leaving behind a life driven by work to track down and help a woman he has never met.

The world he enters is one of escorts, websites, sex, and secret passions. The beautiful Lilly is an object of desire to thousands. To Pierce, she becomes the key that might fix a broken life. But in pursuing Lilly, Pierce has entered a landscape where his success and expertise mean nothing. He is a mark, an outsider, and soon he is also the victim of astonishing violence, the chief suspect in a murder case, and fighting for his life against forces he can barely discern.

]]> 448 Michael Connelly 044661162X Cindy 4 3.95 2002 Chasing the Dime (Harry Bosch Universe, #12)
author: Michael Connelly
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/16
shelves:
review:

]]> The Frozen River 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 Cindy 5 4.37 2023 The Frozen River
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/04/29
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]]> Broken for His Glory 141814098 321 Judith A. Updike Cindy 0 0.0 Broken for His Glory
author: Judith A. Updike
name: Cindy
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/23
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]]> We Begin at the End 50279680
Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.

Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.]]> 384 Chris Whitaker 1250759668 Cindy 5 4.10 2020 We Begin at the End
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/04/14
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review:

]]> When You Are Mine 55703024
'Why won't he let you go?' I ask.
'He thinks he owns me.'

To Philomena McCarthy, being a police officer means never turning your back on someone in trouble. So when a decorated detective beats his girlfriend and the case is covered up, Phil secretly helps her.

But as Phil lets her new friend deeper into her life, sinister things start happening.

And by the time she's truly afraid, it's already too late . . .

'With each new book, I say it's his best. Well, THIS is his best' LINWOOD BARCLAY

'Superb. Twists the knife with skill and precision' GLOBE AND MAIL

'A heart-clutching psychological thriller' PEOPLE

'An astonishing, captivating story' READER REVIEW

'Unputdownable. Thanks for a sleepless night!' READER REVIEW

'Superbly entertaining' READER REVIEW

'Dark, intense and pulse-pounding' READER REVIEW

WHEN YOU ARE MINE was a No.1 Fiction bestseller in Australia in June 2021]]> 365 Michael Robotham Cindy 4 3.86 2021 When You Are Mine
author: Michael Robotham
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/09
date added: 2024/04/09
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]]> <![CDATA[True Bear Tales : True Stories from Michigan's Upper Peninsula]]> 1968421 175 David E. Young 0962366447 Cindy 4 4.10 1992 True Bear Tales : True Stories from Michigan's Upper Peninsula
author: David E. Young
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/04
shelves:
review:
Good but a little redundant. It is a pretty good reminder of how dense people can be!
]]> <![CDATA[A Dog Called Hope: The wounded warrior and the dog who dared to love him]]> 29473517 337 Jason Morgan 1784295477 Cindy 5 4.45 2016 A Dog Called Hope: The wounded warrior and the dog who dared to love him
author: Jason Morgan
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/01
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy]]> 57578392 With her popular blog, Finding Cooper's Voice, Kate Swenson has provided hope and comfort for hundreds of thousands of parents of children with Autism. Now, Kate shares her inspiring story in this powerful memoir about motherhood and unconditional love

When Kate Swenson's son Cooper was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism, her world stopped. She had always dreamed of having the perfect family life. She hadn't signed up for life as a mother raising a child with a disability.

At first, Kate experienced the grief of broken dreams. Then she felt the frustration and exhaustion of having to fight for your child in a world that is stacked against them. But through hard work, resilience and personal growth, she would come to learn that Cooper wasn't the one who needed to change. She was. And it was this transformation that led Kate to acceptance--and ultimately joy. In Forever Boy, Kate shares her inspiring journey with honesty and compassion, offering solace and hope to others on this path and illuminating the strength and perseverance of mothers.
]]> 288 Kate Swenson 0778311996 Cindy 5 4.59 2022 Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy
author: Kate Swenson
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/01
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]]> <![CDATA[No Stray Bullets: The Making of an American Hero]]> 40026158
Where do these heroes come from? In No Stray Bullets, Gunnery Sergeant Price’s mother Ruth tells the story of a church-going, homeschooled boy who went from the fields and barns of Michigan to fierce battles in the cities of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan. Along the way, he developed world-class physical, mental, and operational skills without ever losing the faith and values that were the source of his strength. When he came home, his whole hometown honored his heroism.

Dan Price’s courage and accomplishments were not products of mere chance, and neither was his death. Ruth Price celebrates her son’s life, because in God’s wisdom and providence, there are no stray bullets.]]> 136 Ruth Price Cindy 5 4.08 No Stray Bullets: The Making of an American Hero
author: Ruth Price
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.08
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/03/25
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]]> E.R. Nurses 57007762 James Patterson and Matt Eversmann present the medical frontline heroes who work to save our lives every day: E.R. Nurses.

Around the clock, across the country, these highly skilled and compassionate men and women sacrifice and struggle for us and our families.

You have never heard their true stories. Not like this. From big-city and small-town hospitals. From behind the scenes. From the heart.Ěý

This book will make you laugh, make you cry, make you understand.

When we’re at our worst, E.R. nurses are at their best.Ěý]]> 304 James Patterson 0759554269 Cindy 5 4.10 2021 E.R. Nurses
author: James Patterson
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/23
date added: 2024/03/23
shelves:
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]]> Mercy (Atlee Pine, #4) 57892302
For her entire life, FBI agent Atlee Pine has been searching for her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Mercy’s disappearance left behind a damaged family that later shattered beyond repair when Atlee’s parents inexplicably abandoned her.

Now, after a perilous investigation that nearly proved fatal, Atlee has finally discovered not only the reason behind her parents� abandonment and Mercy’s kidnapping, but also the most promising breakthrough yet: proof that Mercy survived her abduction and then escaped her captors many years ago.

Though Atlee is tantalizingly close to her family at last, the final leg of her long road to Mercy will be the most treacherous yet. Mercy left at least one dead body behind before fleeing her captors years before. Atlee has no idea if her sister is still alive, and if so, how she has been surviving all this time. When the truth is finally revealed, Atlee Pine will face the greatest danger yet, and it may well cost her everything]]> 432 David Baldacci Cindy 0 4.36 2021 Mercy (Atlee Pine, #4)
author: David Baldacci
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/16
date added: 2024/03/16
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]]> Mad Honey 59912428 A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind.

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business.

Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.

And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .

Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.

Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.]]> 464 Jodi Picoult 1984818384 Cindy 5 4.05 2022 Mad Honey
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/19
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review:

]]> Pumpkin's Story 53085283
Luckily, Pumpkin and her mom were rescued by Twist of Fate Farm and Sanctuary. The sanctuary's founder knew that Pumpkin was special. She would do whatever it took to help her.

Pumpkin got lots of love from her animal and human families--plus the support of thousands of online fans from across the globe. Together they helped Pumpkin beat the odds and learn to run!

This true story told in novel form was in partnership with the The Dodo, maker of lovable animal videos, and Scholastic. Find it at your local Scholastic Book Fair or Book Club!]]> 224 Aubre Andrus 1338575651 Cindy 5 4.06 Pumpkin's Story
author: Aubre Andrus
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/12
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]]> <![CDATA[Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]]> 27161156 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062300546.

Hillbilly Elegy recounts J.D. Vance's powerful origin story...

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate now serving as a U.S. Senator from Ohio and the Republican Vice Presidential candidate for the 2024 election, an incisive account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class.

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.'s grandparents were "dirt poor and in love," and moved north from Kentucky's Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.

A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.]]> 264 J.D. Vance Cindy 4 3.81 2016 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
author: J.D. Vance
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Year of Wonders 4965
Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition.

As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love.

As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. ]]> 304 Geraldine Brooks 0142001430 Cindy 5 4.00 2001 Year of Wonders
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/02
date added: 2023/11/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[His Bright Light: The Story of My Son, Nick Traina]]> 82816
From the day he was born, Nick Traina was his mother's joy. By nineteen, he was dead. This is Danielle Steel's powerful personal story of the son she lost and the lessons she learned during his courageous battle against darkness. Sharing tender, painful memories and Nick's remarkable journals, Steel brings us a haunting duet between a singular young man and the mother who loved him--and a harrowing portrait of a masked killer called manic depression, which afflicts between two and three million Americans.

Nick rocketed through life like a shooting star. Signs of his illness were subtle, often paradoxical. He spoke in full sentences at age one. He was a brilliant, charming child who never slept. And at first, even his mother explained away his quicksilver moods. Nick always marched to a different drummer. His gift for writing was extraordinary, his musical talent promised a golden future. But by the time he entered junior high, Danielle Steel saw her beloved son hurtling toward disaster and tried desperately to get Nick the help he needed--the opening salvos of what would become a ferocious pitched battle for his life.

Even as he struggled, Nick's charisma and accomplishments remained undimmed. He bared his soul in his journal with uncanny insight, in searing prose, poetry, and song. When he was finally diagnosed and treated, it bought time, but too little. In the end, perhaps nothing could have saved him from the insidious disease that had shadowed him from his earliest years.

At once a loving legacy and an unsparing depiction of a devastating illness, Danielle Steel's tribute to her lost son is a gift of life, hope, healing, and understanding to us all.]]> 409 Danielle Steel 0385334672 Cindy 4 4.18 1998 His Bright Light: The Story of My Son, Nick Traina
author: Danielle Steel
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death in Glacier National Park: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness in the Crown of the Continent (Death in the National Parks)]]> 26336945 240 Randi Minetor 1493024000 Cindy 4 3.67 2016 Death in Glacier National Park: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness in the Crown of the Continent (Death in the National Parks)
author: Randi Minetor
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/10/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire & The Mystery of Little Miss 1565]]> 441954 324 Don Massey 1930601247 Cindy 3 3.79 2001 A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire & The Mystery of Little Miss 1565
author: Don Massey
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Diary of an Anorexic Girl 389624 192 Morgan Menzie 0849944058 Cindy 5 3.53 2003 Diary of an Anorexic Girl
author: Morgan Menzie
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/09/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Walk for Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition for Charity on the Appalachian Trail]]> 1903833 288 Jeff Alt 0967948223 Cindy 2 3.77 2000 A Walk for Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition for Charity on the Appalachian Trail
author: Jeff Alt
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/09/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder Thy Neighbor (ID True Crime Book 4)]]> 50371503 As seen on ID, these two true-crime thrillers follow a neighbors' quarrel that turns violent and cyber-bullying that explodes in a double murder.Murder Thy Ann Hoover is a nice woman but she's come to hate her neighbor. Roy Kirk moved in next door with plans to renovate. But as the weeks go by, his DIY construction turns to shambles. When Ann takes him to court, Kirk's retaliation will be shockingly gruesomeĚý(with Andrew Bourelle).Murder Jenelle Potter has always been better at connecting with people through social media. With overprotective parents, she hasn't had very many options to meet people, until she links up with Billy. But her feelings for Billy are unreciprocated, causing Jenelle to start a virtual war—a war that enters the real worldĚý(with Max DiLallo). Ěý]]> 321 James Patterson 1538752433 Cindy 3 3.92 2020 Murder Thy Neighbor (ID True Crime Book 4)
author: James Patterson
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/26
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Paralyzing Summer: The True Story of the Ann Arbor V.A. Hospital Poisonings and Deaths]]> 29633385 Paralyzing Summer presents a gripping account of the baffling case, following the incredible twists and turns that unfolded over a two and a half year period starting July 1975.
Ěý

]]> 238 Zibby Oneal 0472053213 Cindy 4 3.67 Paralyzing Summer: The True Story of the Ann Arbor V.A. Hospital Poisonings and Deaths
author: Zibby Oneal
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself]]> 61349370 272 Luke Russert 0785291814 Cindy 0 to-read 3.66 2023 Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself
author: Luke Russert
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival]]> 18600 Touching the Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1985. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that that Joe was dead.

What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship.]]> 218 Joe Simpson 0060730552 Cindy 4 4.22 1988 Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
author: Joe Simpson
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/16
shelves:
review:
Amazing story but so much detail to wade through.
]]> <![CDATA[The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph]]> 59366242 The Hard Parts is Oksana Masters' account of overcoming extraordinary Chernobyl disaster–caused physical challenges to create a life that challenges everyone to push through what is holding them back.

Oksana Masters was born in Ukraine—in the shadow of Chernobyl—seemingly with the odds stacked against her. She came into the world with one kidney, a partial stomach, six toes on each foot, webbed fingers, no right bicep, and no thumbs. Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right, and she was missing both tibias.

Relinquished to the orphanage system by birth parents daunted by the staggering cost of what would be their child’s medical care, Oksana encountered numerous abuses, some horrifying. Salvation came at age seven when Gay Masters, an unmarried American professor who saw a photo of the little girl and became haunted by her eyes, waged a two-year war against stubborn adoption authorities to rescue Oksana from her circumstances.

In America, Oksana endured years of operations that included a double leg amputation. Still, how could she hope to fit in when there were so many things making her different?

As it turned out, she would do much more than fit in. Determined to prove herself and fueled by a drive to succeed that still smoldered from childhood, Oksana triumphed in not just one sport but four—winning against the world’s best in elite rowing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and road cycling competitions. Now considered one of the world’s top athletes, she is the recipient of seventeen Paralympic medals, the most of any US athlete of the Winter Games, Paralympic or Olympic.]]> 336 Oksana Masters 1982185503 Cindy 5 4.58 2023 The Hard Parts: A Memoir of Courage and Triumph
author: Oksana Masters
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/30
date added: 2023/06/30
shelves:
review:
This is an amazing book. Amazing story and well-written!
]]> Sam: The Boy Behind The Mask 260663 Sam: The Boy Behind the Mask tells the true, heart-wrenching story of Sam Lightner. Born with a rare disfiguring growth that covers and distorts the left side of his face, skull, and neck-Sam is determined to live a normal life. For fourteen years, doctors refuse to operate on Sam, until an elite team of surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital undertake a risky thirteen-hour operation to remove the malformation. Sam nearly dies on the operating table, but survives, and returns home to begin his freshman year of high school. However, when doctors discover excess fluid around his brain, Sam slips into a coma, and is not expected to live. As the family and doctors begin to give up, one doctor-pediatric neurosurgeon Monica Wehby-keeps believing, even as all hope seems lost. The only female in the boy's club of neurosurgery, Dr. Wehby is scorned for refusing to accept facts and for allowing her emotions-as a woman-to cloud her medical judgment. But she perseveres, staying by Sam's side, until he moves first a finger, then a foot, and finally, begins to interact with those around him.

Tom Hallman's Pulitzer prize-winning series on Sam Lightner in The Oregonian touched the city of Portland so profoundly that it generated more than ten thousand letters from readers. Now Tom Hallman takes us far deeper into the world Sam inhabits, encompassing startling and inspirational events up to the present day. A human story of hope in the face of tragedy, and the compassion to attempt the impossible, Sam: The Boy Behind the Mask shows how one boy-wanting nothing more than to be part of the regular world-is helped along his journey by medical miracles, and by the generosity of the human heart.]]> 256 Tom Hallman Jr. 0425191745 Cindy 5 An amazing story! 4.09 2002 Sam: The Boy Behind The Mask
author: Tom Hallman Jr.
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/06/21
shelves:
review:
An amazing story!
]]> <![CDATA[Addicted to Life & Death: Memoirs of an EMT and Deputy Coroner]]> 6494583 296 Janice Ballenger 1601261438 Cindy 5 Very interesting. 4.12 2008 Addicted to Life & Death: Memoirs of an EMT and Deputy Coroner
author: Janice Ballenger
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/06/18
shelves:
review:
Very interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir (P.S.)]]> 15818233 —Matthew Logelin, New York Times bestselling author of Two Kisses for Maddy Bloom is an inspiring and heartfelt memoir that celebrates the beauty found in the unexpected, the strength of a mother’s love, and, ultimately, the amazing power of perspective. The author of the popular blog Enjoying the Small Things—named The Bump’s Best Special Needs Blog and The Blog You’ve Learned the Most From in the 2010 BlogLuxe Awards—Kelle Hampton interweaves lyrical prose and stunning four-color photography as she recounts the unforgettable story of the first year in the life of her daughter Nella, who has Down syndrome. Poignant, eye-opening, and heart-soaring, Hampton’s Bloom is ultimately about embracing life and really living it.]]> 304 Kelle Hampton 0062045040 Cindy 3 3.80 2012 Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir (P.S.)
author: Kelle Hampton
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/21
date added: 2023/06/18
shelves:
review:
Initially I was pretty disappointed in this book but, as someone else said, it did get better towards the end. She clearly loves her little girl! ❤️
]]> <![CDATA[Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir (P.S.) by Kelle Hampton (2013-04-02)]]> 138335680 Kelle Hampton Cindy 3 3.33 Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir (P.S.) by Kelle Hampton (2013-04-02)
author: Kelle Hampton
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/18
date added: 2023/06/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938]]> 608952 304 R.A. Scotti 0316832111 Cindy 3 4.03 2003 Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
author: R.A. Scotti
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/14
date added: 2023/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Forgiven: The Amish School Shooting, a Mother’s Love, and a Story of Remarkable Grace]]> 26212914
On October 2, 2006, a gunman entered an Amish one-room schoolhouse, shooting ten girls, killing five, then finally taking his own life. This is his mother's story. Not only did she lose her precious son through suicide, but she also lost her understanding of him as an honorable man. It was a trauma that none should ever have to face.

But the biggest headlines came when her Amish neighbors did the unimaginable, reaching out to the family of the shooter with comfort and forgiveness. Today Terri lives in harmony with the Amish and has built lasting relationships beyond what anyone could have thought possible. From the grace that the Amish showed Terri's family from day one, to the visits and ongoing care Terri has given to the victims and their families, no one could have foreseen the love and friendship that have been forged from the fires of tragedy.]]> 240 Terri Roberts 0764217321 Cindy 5 4.15 2015 Forgiven: The Amish School Shooting, a Mother’s Love, and a Story of Remarkable Grace
author: Terri Roberts
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/07
date added: 2023/06/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting]]> 17679333 320 Marie Monville 0310336759 Cindy 5 4.12 2013 One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting
author: Marie Monville
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/17
date added: 2023/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Finding Gobi: The True Story of a Little Dog and an Incredible Journey]]> 34627187 In 2016, Dion Leonard, a seasoned ultramarathon runner, unexpectedly stumbled across a little stray dog while competing in a gruelling 155 mile race across the Gobi Desert. The lovable pup, who earned the name â€Gobiâ€�, proved that what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in heart, as she went step for step with Dion over the treacherous Tian Shan Mountains, managing to keep pace with him for nearly 80 miles.

As Dion witnessed the incredible determination of this small animal, he felt something change within himself. In the past he had always focused on winning and being the best, but his goal now was simply to make sure that his new friend was safe, nourished and hydrated. Although Dion did not finish first, he felt he had won something far greater and promised to bring Gobi back to the UK for good to become a new addition to his family. This was the start of a journey neither of them would ever forget with a roller coaster ride of drama, grief, heartbreak, joy and love that changed their lives forever.

Finding Gobi is the ultimate story of hope, of resilience and of friendship, proving once again, that dogs really are â€man’s best friend.â€�

]]> 281 Dion Leonard 0008227977 Cindy 5 4.09 2017 Finding Gobi: The True Story of a Little Dog and an Incredible Journey
author: Dion Leonard
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/05/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere: Tales of Humor and Healing from Rural America]]> 27304491 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award GOLD Winner in Humor

Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere: Tales of Humor and Healing from Rural America is a collection of humorous and poignant stories from a veterinarian in a small, dusty farming and ranching community in rural West Texas. Dr. Brock gives you an intimate look into his small-town and big-hearted perspective on life, animals, and their owners. His unique perspective and tales of doctoring beloved pets, cantankerous livestock, and occasionally their owners will make you smile, laugh, cry, and evoke every other emotion under the sun.

Introduction. Otis, or Why I became a veterinarian --
Family --
West Texas integrity --
Mentors, colleagues, and peers --
Veterinary (mis)adventures --
Adventures in the field --
Cowboys, old men, and oddballs --
Cowgirls and old women --
Look for the moments --
Unconditional love --
Leonard --
About the author]]> 248 Bo Brock 1626342644 Cindy 4 4.16 Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere: Tales of Humor and Healing from Rural America
author: Bo Brock
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/09
date added: 2023/05/09
shelves:
review:

]]> Mark of the Grizzly 4286115 260 Scott McMillion 0762721820 Cindy 5 4.10 1998 Mark of the Grizzly
author: Scott McMillion
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/13
date added: 2023/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> The Children's Train 53175334 Based on true events, a heartbreaking story of love, family, hope, and survival set in post-World War II Italy—written with the heart of Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours—about poor children from the south sent to live with families in the north to survive deprivation and the harsh winters.

Though Mussolini and the fascists have been defeated, the war has devastated Italy, especially the south. Seven-year-old Amerigo lives with his mother Antonietta in Naples, surviving on odd jobs and his wits like the rest of the poor in his neighborhood. But one day, Amerigo learns that a train will take him away from the rubble-strewn streets of the city to spend the winter with a family in the north, where he will be safe and have warm clothes and food to eat.

Together with thousands of other southern children, Amerigo will cross the entire peninsula to a new life. Through his curious, innocent eyes, we see a nation rising from the ashes of war, reborn. As he comes to enjoy his new surroundings and the possibilities for a better future, Amerigo will make the heartbreaking choice to leave his mother and become a member of his adoptive family.

Amerigo’s journey is a moving story of memory, indelible bonds, artistry, and self-exploration, and a soaring examination of what family can truly mean. Ultimately Amerigo comes to understand that sometimes we must give up everything, even a mother's love, to find our destiny.]]> 304 Viola Ardone 0062940503 Cindy 3 3.86 2019 The Children's Train
author: Viola Ardone
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Hello Beautiful 61771675
But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters� unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?]]> 416 Ann Napolitano Cindy 5 4.14 2023 Hello Beautiful
author: Ann Napolitano
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/10
date added: 2023/04/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Walk the Blue Line: They Walk the Line between Life and Death]]> 61237037 They risk their lives every day to protect and serve our homes, families and communities. Here are their most dramatic true stories, in their own unforgettable words.

From the police academy to the precinct,ĚýWalk the Blue LineĚýis a first-person tour through the days and nights of American policing.Ěý

PROTECT
Ěý
These men and women are our eyes. Our ears. Our protectors. Those who wear a badge, doing their best to help people.
Ěý
SERVE
Ěý
These officers serve their community. They serve their country. They’re in the business of saving lives—even at the risk of their own.
Ěý
DEFEND
Ěý
These patrol officers and K9 handlers, sheriffs and detectives, reveal what it’sĚýreallyĚýlike to wear the uniform, to carry the weight of the responsibility they’ve been given.Ěý
Ěý
This is a calling. This is the job]]> 352 James Patterson 0316406600 Cindy 3 4.15 Walk the Blue Line: They Walk the Line between Life and Death
author: James Patterson
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/04/02
shelves:
review:
Just had a hard time connecting because the stories were so short.
]]> Demon Copperhead 60194162 "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver 0063251922 Cindy 4 4.46 2022 Demon Copperhead
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/03/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Tobacco Wives 58262041
“Myers brilliantly seduces us with her setting—a North Carolina town of beautiful socialites, opulent dresses, and elegant soirees—before revealing a terrible secret that threatens the entire community. This is a story of courage, of women willing to take a stand in the face of corporate greed, and most definitely a tale for our times.� —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who’s just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.

When a series of unexpected events thrusts Maddie into the role of lead dressmaker for the town’s most influential women, she scrambles to produce their ornate gowns for the biggest party of the season. But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn’t quite the carefree paradise that it seems: A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems. Although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise.

Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn’t know who she can trust—and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.

Shedding light on the hidden history of women’s activism during the post-war period, at its heart, The Tobacco Wives is a deeply human, emotionally satisfying, and dramatic novel about the power of female connection and the importance of seeking truth.]]> 344 Adele Myers 0063082934 Cindy 4 3.77 2022 The Tobacco Wives
author: Adele Myers
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/14
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy]]> 351219 A Prayer for the Dying brings all his narrative gifts to bear on this gripping account of tragedy and heroism-the great Hartford circus fire of 1944.

Halfway through a midsummer afternoon performance, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus's big top caught fire. The tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and gasoline; in seconds it was burning out of control, and more than 8,000 people were trapped inside. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, O'Nan skillfully re-creates the horrific events and illuminates the psychological oddities of human behavior under stress: the mad scramble for the exits; the hero who tossed dozens of children to safety before being trampled to death.

Brilliantly constructed and exceptionally moving, The Circus Fire is history at its most compelling.]]> 384 Stewart O'Nan 0385496850 Cindy 4 3.94 2000 The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy
author: Stewart O'Nan
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/04
date added: 2023/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell]]> 35995489
Sam believed it was God who sent Ernie Cantwell, the only African American kid in his class, to be the friend he so desperately needed. And that it was God’s idea for Mickie Kennedy to storm into Our Lady of Mercy like a tornado, uprooting every rule Sam had been taught about boys and girls.

Forty years later, Sam, a small-town eye doctor, is no longer certain anything was by design—especially not the tragedy that caused him to turn his back on his friends, his hometown, and the life he’d always known. Running from the pain, eyes closed, served little purpose. Now, as he looks back on his life, Sam embarks on a journey that will take him halfway around the world. This time, his eyes are wide open—bringing into clear view what changed him, defined him, and made him so afraid, until he can finally see what truly matters.]]> 448 Robert Dugoni 1503949001 Cindy 2 4.37 2018 The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
author: Robert Dugoni
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2023/02/22
date added: 2023/02/22
shelves:
review:
Not impressed with the writing or the content.
]]> Night of the Grizzlies 1357414 book, used novel 221 Jack Olsen 0943972485 Cindy 4 4.19 1969 Night of the Grizzlies
author: Jack Olsen
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/02/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tested By Fire: A True Story of Courage and Faith]]> 3174164 Book by 128 Merrill Womach 0800707826 Cindy 5 4.25 1976 Tested By Fire: A True Story of Courage and Faith
author: Merrill Womach
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1976
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/01/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Great Alone 34912895 Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents� passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights� lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]> 435 Kristin Hannah Cindy 0 to-read 4.44 2018 The Great Alone
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls]]> 59788674 The first full account of the Slenderman stabbing, a true crime narrative of mental illness, the American judicial system, the trials of adolescence, and the power of the internet

The Slenderman stabbing of May 31, 2014, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, shocked the local community and the world. The violence of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, two twelve-year-old girls who attempted to stab their classmate to death, was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they had done so under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called “Slenderman.� Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved were suffering from undiagnosed mental illness, was often overlooked in coverage of the case.

Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls tells that full story for the first time in deeply researched detail, using court transcripts, police reports, individual reporting, and exclusive interviews. Morgan and Anissa were bound together by their shared love of geeky television shows and animals, and their discovery of the user-uploaded scary stories on the Creepypasta website could have been nothing more than a brief phase. But Morgan was suffering from early-onset childhood schizophrenia. She believed that she had been seeing Slenderman for many years, and the only way to stop him from killing her family was to bring him a sacrifice: Morgan’s best friend Payton “Bella� Leutner, whom Morgan and Anissa planned to stab to death on the night of Morgan’s twelfth birthday. Bella survived the attack, but was deeply traumatized, while Morgan and Anissa were immediately remanded into jail, and the severity of their crime meant that they would be prosecuted as adults. There, as Morgan continued to suffer from worsening mental illness after being denied antipsychotics, her life became more and more surreal.

Slenderman is both a page-turning true crime story and a search for justice.]]> 348 Kathleen Hale 080215980X Cindy 4 3.94 2022 Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls
author: Kathleen Hale
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> A Long Way Home 18111281 Saroo had become lost on a train in India at the age of five. Not knowing the name of his family or where he was from, he survived for weeks on the streets of Kolkata, before being taken into an orphanage and adopted by a couple in Australia.
Despite being happy in his new family, Saroo always wondered about his origins. He spent hours staring at the map of India on his bedroom wall. When he was a young man the advent of Google Earth led him to pore over satellite images of the country for landmarks he recognised. And one day, after years of searching, he miraculously found what he was looking for.
Then he set off on a journey to find his mother.]]> 288 Saroo Brierley 0670077046 Cindy 4 4.05 2013 A Long Way Home
author: Saroo Brierley
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/11/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys]]> 59028580 Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates of the notorious Dozier Boys School--the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys--and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families.

The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school's management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions.

In the wake of the school's shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school's graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school's poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school's property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle's work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering--one she continues to investigate to this day.

We Carry Their Bones is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it. It's also a fascinating dive into the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families--an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America.]]> 256 Erin Kimmerle 0063030241 Cindy 4 3.84 2022 We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys
author: Erin Kimmerle
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/09
date added: 2022/11/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America]]> 58673054
On a moonless night in the summer of 1793 a crime was committed in the back room of a New York brothel―the kind of crime that even victims usually kept secret. Instead, seventeen-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer did what virtually no one in US history had done: she charged a gentleman with rape.

Her accusation sparked a raw courtroom drama and a relentless struggle for vindication that threatened both Lanah’s and her assailant’s lives. The trial exposed a predatory sexual underworld, sparked riots in the streets, and ignited a vigorous debate about class privilege and sexual double standards. The ongoing conflict attracted the nation’s top lawyers, including Alexander Hamilton, and shaped the development of American law. The crime and its consequences became a kind of parable about the power of seduction and the limits of justice. Eventually, Lanah Sawyer did succeed in holding her assailant accountable―but at a terrible cost to herself.

Based on rigorous historical detective work, this book takes us from a chance encounter in the street into the sanctuaries of the city’s elite, the shadows of its brothels, and the despair of its debtors� prison. The Sewing Girl's Tale shows that if our laws and our culture were changed by a persistent young woman and the power of words two hundred years ago, they can be changed again.

New York Times Editors� Choice
Winner of the Bancroft Prize
Winner of the Gotham Book Prize
Winner of the New York Society Library's New York City Book Award
Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year
Winner of the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History]]> 384 John Wood Sweet 1250761964 Cindy 4 3.78 2022 The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America
author: John Wood Sweet
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> I Almost Lost Her 61244961
On the other end, his wife Charlie heaved in breathless panic.
Come quick.
There’s been an accident.

André jumped into action and found his way to the hospital Charlie had been airlifted to. There, he would learn his wife was alive, but just barely. To the sterile backdrop of beeping, whirring machines, André learned that Charlie had survived a workplace accident, causing severe burns covering 85% of her body. Her road to recovery would be a long and winding one and she would need André’s support every step of the way. This would require André to evolve to meet the challenge of being Charlie’s unwavering partner and advocate.

I Almost Lost Her is the story of Charlie’s ongoing healing and André’s acceptance of his own vulnerability. Readers follow the couple’s journey through adversity, the highs and lows, and everything in between. Ultimately, in the face of great suffering, Charlie and André learn to feel fear and pain, then release it so they may remain focused on their new and beautiful life. In their highly-anticipated debut book, André and Charlie remind us that strength, faith, and love are the cornerstones of enduring partnerships—no matter how bleak the circumstance. No matter how difficult the fight.]]> 200 Andre Xavier Cindy 0 to-read 0.0 2022 I Almost Lost Her
author: Andre Xavier
name: Cindy
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/09/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> Remembrance 45046609 Remembrance by Rita Woods is a breakout historical debut with modern resonance, perfect for the many fans of The Underground Railroad and Orphan Train.

¸é±đłľ±đłľ˛ú°ů˛ą˛Ôł¦±đâ€�It’s a rumor, a whisper passed in the fields and veiled behind sheets of laundry. A hidden stop on the underground road to freedom, a safe haven protected by more than secrecy…if you can make it there.

Ohio, present day. An elderly woman who is more than she seems warns against rising racism as a young woman grapples with her life.

Haiti, 1791, on the brink of revolution. When the slave Abigail is forced from her children to take her mistress to safety, she discovers New Orleans has its own powers.

1857 New Orleans�a city of unrest: Following tragedy, house girl Margot is sold just before her 18th birthday and her promised freedom. Desperate, she escapes and chases a whisper.... Remembrance.]]> 416 Rita Woods 1250298458 Cindy 5 3.69 2020 Remembrance
author: Rita Woods
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/08/18
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review:
It seems many did not care for this book. I had a hard time putting it down. I have been reading a lot on non-fiction but I picked this up at a resale store and really enjoyed it.
]]> <![CDATA[Confessions of a Funeral Director: How the Business of Death Saved My Life]]> 33991757 Confessions of a Funeral Director—włó˛ąłŮ Time magazine called a "must read"—reflects on mortality and the powerful lessons death holds for every one of us in this compassionate and thoughtful spiritual memoir that combines the humor and insight of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes with the poignancy and brevity of When Breath Becomes Air.

Death. It happens to everyone, yet most of us don’t want to talk about this final chapter of existence. Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde intimately understands this reticence and fear. The son of an undertaker, he hesitated to embrace the legacy of running his family’s business. Yet he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones profoundly changed his faith and his perspective on death—and life itself. "Yes, death can be bad. Yes, death can be negative," he acknowledges, "but it can also be beautiful. And that alternate narrative needs to be discussed."

In Confessions of a Funeral Director, he talks about his experiences and pushes back against the death-negative ethos of our culture, opening a thoughtful, poignant conversation to help us see the end of life in a positive and liberating way. In the wry, compassionate, and honest voice that has charmed his growing legions of blog readers, Wilde offers an intimate look inside his business, offering information on unspoken practices around death such as the embalming process, beautiful and memorable stories about families in the wake of death, and, most importantly, a fresh and wise perspective on how embracing death can allow us to embrace life.

Confessions of a Funeral Director is the story of one man learning how death illuminates and deepens the meaning of existence—insights that can help us all pursue and cherish full, rich lives.]]> 208 Caleb Wilde 0062465244 Cindy 3 3.73 2017 Confessions of a Funeral Director: How the Business of Death Saved My Life
author: Caleb Wilde
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/08/07
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Becoming Grandma: The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting]]> 26025983
From one of the country’s most recognizable How becoming a grandmother transforms a woman’s life.

After four decades as a reporter, Lesley Stahl’s most vivid and transformative experience of her life was not covering the White House, interviewing heads of state, or researching stories at 60 Minutes . It was becoming a grandmother. She was hit with a jolt of joy so intense and unexpected, she wanted to “investigate� it—as though it were a news flash. And so, using her 60 Minutes skills, she explored how grandmothering changes a woman’s life, interviewing friends like Whoopi Goldberg, colleagues like Diane Sawyer (and grandfathers, including Tom Brokaw), as well as the proverbial woman next door.

Along with these personal accounts, Stahl speaks with scientists and doctors about physiological changes that occur in women when they have grandchildren; anthropologists about why there are grandmothers, in evolutionary terms; and psychiatrists about the therapeutic effects of grandchildren on both grandmothers and grandfathers.

Throughout Becoming Grandma , Stahl shares stories about her own life with granddaughters Jordan and Chloe, about how her relationship with her daughter, Taylor, has changed, and about how being a grandfather has affected her husband, Aaron.

In an era when baby boomers are becoming grandparents in droves and when young parents need all the help they can get raising their children, Stahl’s book is a timely and affecting read that redefines a cherished relationship.]]> 288 Lesley Stahl 039916815X Cindy 5 The only thing that really bothered me was her concern that if her daughter would have a baby that had special needs-how would she be able to have her career. ]]> 3.69 2016 Becoming Grandma: The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting
author: Lesley Stahl
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/01
date added: 2022/08/01
shelves:
review:
It is pretty interesting. It was interesting how she felt their daughter really needed a nurse/nanny when she was going back to work. That only comes with wealth.
The only thing that really bothered me was her concern that if her daughter would have a baby that had special needs-how would she be able to have her career.
]]> <![CDATA[Where the Children Take Us: How One Family Achieved the Unimaginable]]> 58677486 224 Zain E. Asher 0063048833 Cindy 5 4.39 2022 Where the Children Take Us: How One Family Achieved the Unimaginable
author: Zain E. Asher
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/07/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees]]> 40000705
Meredith May recalls the first time a honeybee crawled on her arm. She was five years old, her parents had recently split and suddenly she found herself in the care of her grandfather, an eccentric beekeeper who made honey in a rusty old military bus in the yard. That first close encounter was at once terrifying and exhilarating for May, and in that moment she discovered that everything she needed to know about life and family was right before her eyes, in the secret world of bees.

May turned to her grandfather and the art of beekeeping as an escape from her troubled reality. Her mother had receded into a volatile cycle of neurosis and despair and spent most days locked away in the bedroom. It was during this pivotal time in May’s childhood that she learned to take care of herself, forged an unbreakable bond with her grandfather and opened her eyes to the magic and wisdom of nature.

The bees became a guiding force in May’s life, teaching her about family and community, loyalty and survival and the unequivocal relationship between a mother and her child. Part memoir, part beekeeping odyssey, The Honey Bus is an unforgettable story about finding home in the most unusual of places, and how a tiny, little-understood insect could save a life.]]> 336 Meredith May 0778307786 Cindy 5 The author’s childhood was a very difficult one. Had more people “stepped in� to help, maybe a cycle of abuse could have been changed. Thankful her grandfather did the best he knew how!
It would be a good book to read if somehow is interested in or already does beekeeping. It is quite fascinating!
The only thing I wonder about is a friendship that started in middle school and it was never said what became of that.]]> 4.26 2019 The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees
author: Meredith May
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/17
date added: 2022/07/17
shelves:
review:
While it is not a page-turner, it is a good book.
The author’s childhood was a very difficult one. Had more people “stepped in� to help, maybe a cycle of abuse could have been changed. Thankful her grandfather did the best he knew how!
It would be a good book to read if somehow is interested in or already does beekeeping. It is quite fascinating!
The only thing I wonder about is a friendship that started in middle school and it was never said what became of that.
]]> <![CDATA[Castaway Kid: One Man's Search for Hope and Home]]> 1077846 272 R.B. Mitchell 1589974344 Cindy 5 4.16 2007 Castaway Kid: One Man's Search for Hope and Home
author: R.B. Mitchell
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/07/10
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Loving Edie: How a Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me to Be Brave]]> 57938946
Meredith May had a difficult childhood, with a mother who was physically present but emotionally absent. She learned early on to fend for herself, and never had to care for anyone else. When she and her wife, Jenn, adopt Edie, a sweet golden retriever puppy with saucer brown eyes and buttery white fur, Edie wins their hearts immediately. But it isn’t long after Edie joins the family that the problems begin.

Edie is an unusually anxious dog. She cowers around most people and the slightest noise sends her into a frenzy. Edie’s fears become so intense that Meredith and Jenn can’t leave the house. Is this normal puppy behavior or something more? Meredith grows determined to fix Edie, but what will she do if Edie can’t be fixed?

In this poignant and heartfelt memoir, Meredith shares her unforgettable journey with Edie, and the lessons about selflessness and unconditional love that she learns along the way. From treating Edie with CBD gummies to visiting a dog medium, Meredith shows just how far she is willing to go to save her dog. But maybe Edie is secretly the one doing the saving—if Meredith will only open her heart.]]> 304 Meredith May 077831202X Cindy 5 3.91 Loving Edie: How a Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me to Be Brave
author: Meredith May
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/06
date added: 2022/07/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love]]> 9484793
Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. After years of long-distance dating, the pair finally settled together in Los Angeles, and they had it a perfect marriage, a gorgeous new home, and a baby girl on the way. Liz's pregnancy was rocky, but they welcomed Madeline, beautiful and healthy, into the world. Just twenty-seven hours later, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and died instantly, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited.

Though confronted with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt did not surrender to devastation; he chose to keep moving forward-to make a life for Maddy.

In this memoir, Matt shares bittersweet and often humorous anecdotes of his courtship and marriage to Liz; of relying on his newborn daughter for the support that she unknowingly provided; and of the extraordinary online community of strangers who have become his friends. In honoring Liz's legacy, heartache has become solace.]]> 272 Matthew Logelin 0446564303 Cindy 3 4.02 2011 Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love
author: Matthew Logelin
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/01
date added: 2022/07/01
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]]> <![CDATA[One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey]]> 124718
Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country. One Man's Wilderness is a simple account of the day-to-day explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of nature's events that kept him company.

From Proenneke's journals, and with first-hand knowledge of his subject and the setting, Sam Keith has woven a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.]]> 224 Sam Keith 0882405136 Cindy 3 4.32 1973 One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
author: Sam Keith
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1973
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/29
date added: 2022/06/29
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]]> <![CDATA[When a Killer Calls (Cases of the FBI's Original Mindhunter, #2)]]> 57094287
From John Douglas—the legendary FBI criminal profiler, #1ĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author, and inspiration for the Netflix showĚýMindhunter—comes a chilling journey inside the mind and crimes of Larry Gene Bell, one of the most dangerous serial killers Douglas confronted, and the desperate effort to identify andĚýcatch him.

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 tauntingĚýcalls 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,â€� 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.

ThenĚýnine-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 hisĚýnext 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 eerilyĚýaccurateĚýprofile he created—alongside hisĚýcarefully 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 effectiveĚýconfrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer.]]> 336 John E. Douglas 0062979795 Cindy 5 3.98 2022 When a Killer Calls (Cases of the FBI's Original Mindhunter, #2)
author: John E. Douglas
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/06/19
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]]> <![CDATA[The Chimpanzee Whisperer: A Life of Love and Loss, Compassion and Conservation]]> 58438308
Stany Nyandwi’s gift for communicating with chimpanzees is so special that world-renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall has called him a “chimpanzee whisperer.â€� His skills and devotion to these creatures—our closest living relatives, with whom we share 98.7 percent of our DNA—have earned him international awards and sent him on travels within Africa and around the world. But he began life in poverty, born and raised in a dirt-floor, straw-roofed hut in rural Burundi. The Chimpanzee Whisperer Ěýis the story of his astonishing life journey.

It is also an African story. Receiving only an elementary education before he quit school, he suffered injustice and tragic loss because of his ethnic group. He began caring for orphaned and rescued chimps in Burundi. When the country descended into civil war and genocide, he was forced to flee with the chimps and endured long separation from his family. Continuing to work with and learn about chimpanzees in Kenya, Uganda, and later South Africa, he made himself into an incomparable authority.

His memoir has adventure, danger, and many unique and touching stories about chimpanzees that show his bond with and understanding of them. As told to award-winning author David Blissett, it reveals a remarkable man who has refused to let circumstances defeat him. Conditioned by hate, wounded by loss, he has lived for love, faith, and compassion, giving new life, as Dr. Jane Goodall writes in her foreword, “to so many chimpanzees whose families, like his own, were torn apart by violence.”]]> 232 Stany Nyandwi 1950994325 Cindy 3 4.26 The Chimpanzee Whisperer: A Life of Love and Loss, Compassion and Conservation
author: Stany Nyandwi
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/06/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Snake Catcher: True Stories and Reptile Facts]]> 25463788
Tony has spent his whole life surrounded by reptiles. His work and his animals are regularly featured on TV and in movies. That means he has a tale or two to tell. In Snake Catcher, Tony shares entertaining and informative stories, written by award-winning Australian writer, David Blissett. You are part of the action as Tony enters a suburban bedroom to bag a large and lethal Eastern Brown Snake. You will meet Tiger, the Lace Monitor who is afraid of heights. And you will find out what happens when you try to flush a venomous snake down the toilet.

However, more than telling great stories and showing great pictures, this book has another purpose. Tony wants to dispel the myth that 'the only good snake is a dead snake.' He shares his insights into some truly fascinating reptiles, and gives common-sense advice about living safely with them.

Snake Catcher includes information
* The most commonly encountered Australian reptiles, complete with stunning full-colour photos.
* What to do if you encounter a snake at home or in the bush.
* How to discourage dangerous snakes from entering your property.
* The benefits of having some snake species living nearby.
* How to treat a snake bite.
* How to protect your pets from run-ins with snakes.
* Some of the rules about keeping reptiles for yourself.]]> 144 Tony Harrison 1922129615 Cindy 0 to-read 4.60 2014 Snake Catcher: True Stories and Reptile Facts
author: Tony Harrison
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[You Might be a Crazy Cat Lady if ...]]> 43183529 144 Janet Vormittag Cindy 5 4.19 You Might be a Crazy Cat Lady if ...
author: Janet Vormittag
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/05/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Impossible Mile 59003633
In The Impossible Mile, told with candor and lightened with humor, Johnny shows what is possible time and time again. His story starts in a Michigan hospital, where he is born eleven weeks premature. An ultrasound reveals bleeding on his brain, and he is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition that hinders a person’s ability to control muscle movement. Doctors say he will likely have intellectual disabilities and that he will never walk. Despite the pending challenges, Johnny’s parents choose to raise their firstborn without limitations on his abilities. This decision would forever shape Johnny’s life, his enduring belief in himself and his dreams.

Growing up, Johnny aspires to be an athlete like his father, Jeff, once a professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers organization. Sports was in the young boy’s blood. But how could he become an athlete? He can’t walk unassisted, and his muscles have a mind of their own. To give Johnny a taste of competition, the father and son start participating in 5K road races, Jeff pushing Johnny in a modified wheelchair.

Until one day Johnny has a bold idea. He will chase his dream—literally—of becoming an athlete by walking part of a race. More than just the few steps he has taken in therapy, he decides that to truly become an athlete he needs to go further. Assisted by his father, Johnny trains for his first impossible mile. What he doesn’t know is that his bold idea will do more than change just his life forever.

Johnny’s story shows the impact of a life lived to its fullest, from the first difficult steps in training, to becoming a brand ambassador for global apparel company Under Armour. He now serves as an inspiration for not only other professional athletes, but for anyone facing their own impossible mile. Come walk a mile in Johnny’s shoes, and realize, as Johnny did, you never walk alone, and anything is possible, if you’ll just take on life one step at a time.]]> 272 Johnny Agar 1947297376 Cindy 0 to-read 4.40 2021 The Impossible Mile
author: Johnny Agar
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[A Millionaire's Dream: a novel]]> 59351025 Can the pure love of a dog change a boy's destiny?

Life is cruel to James Crockett. He has lost nearly everything he has ever known, and at seventeen, that isn’t very much. He is lonely, broke, and mourning the death of his mother on what is left of their 1950’s farm. His future looks dark and empty until he meets a gifted English setter puppy and an unlikely mentor who competes in field trials. James deals with the struggles of life, love, and growing up while helping his mentor attempt to fulfill the dream of competing for the highest honor on the western field trial circuit—The Western Championship Field Trial.]]> 253 Bret Wonnacott 1952816793 Cindy 0 to-read 4.77 2021 A Millionaire's Dream: a novel
author: Bret Wonnacott
name: Cindy
average rating: 4.77
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy]]> 2181621
AĚýgripping story of a boy's dramatic encounter with Christ on the cross, this book is a classic work of fiction that has inspired thousands of Christians for decades.Ěý This newly repackaged classic is sure to be a hit with all kids and adults too.]]> 224 Alberta Hawse 0802465889 Cindy 0 to-read 3.99 1970 Vinegar Boy: Encounter Christ Through the Dramatic Story of Vinegar Boy
author: Alberta Hawse
name: Cindy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>