imyourmausoleum's reviews
1674 reviews

I went through a phase where I really wanted to learn about each US President, because often what we are taught about them are only the "good" things about them. Unfortunately, Presidents are human beings and are often flawed and fallible. I am disgusted with Presidents currently, so thought it would be nice to get to know some of the First Ladies for a while instead. This book was really in-depth and informative about the life of Edith Wilson, which I thought was wonderful. I knew nothing about her, really, other than she was the First Lady from 1915-1921. A few really neat facts about her are that she was related to Pocahontas, Thomas Jefferson, and Martha Washington. During World War I, she observed gasless Sundays, meatless Mondays, and wheatless Wednesdays to set an example for the federal rationing effort. Similarly, she set sheep to graze on the White House lawn rather than use manpower to mow it, and had their wool auctioned off for the benefit of the American Red Cross. After President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke, she had a strong hand in the political aspect of the White House, much to some controversy. If you are looking to learn more about her, this is a good book to start with.

Sidney Reso was kidnapped from his driveway in New Jersey in 1992. A couple, Arthur and Irene Seale, kidnapped Reso in hopes of extorting ransom money from his family or employers. At the time, Reso was the Vice President of International Operations for Exxon. The Seale's put Reso inside a wooden box, where he died in captivity. Despite his death, they continued requesting ransom money. This book describes both the kidnapping and the motivations behind it. I do not want to spoil it for those who have not read it, but the motivation is a classic motivation for actions against a company. Also, the wife flipped on her husband and led police to the Pine Barrens to recover Reso's body. (Because of course it was in the Pine Barrens.)

This book has been on my shelf for quite a while. I am glad that I have finally got around to reading it and getting it off the shelf. My goal for this year is to finish reading all of my unread things I have purchased at thrift and used bookstores so I can free up space for moving eventually. The book was informative, as I had never heard of this case prior to stumbling across this book. If you choose to read this book, please look into what happened to the Chief Justice of New Jersey after this. It was a wild turn of events. Another update is that the wife, Irene, has since been released from prison and her supervised parole ended around 2014.

This book covers the murders of Calyx and Beau Schenecker. The children were found murdered in their home in Tampa, Florida on January 28, 2011. Police had received a call from the grandmother of the children in regard to a disturbing email sent by their mother, Julie. The father, a Colonel in the US Army, was overseas at the time of the incident. Police found Beau, 13, dead from a gunshot wound in a vehicle in the garage. Calyx, 16, was shot in her bedroom. Julie was located on the back porch, covered in blood. This book outlines the investigation of the murders and was decently researched and easy to follow.

 Italia was a semi-rigid airship that was property of the Italian Air Force. This airship participated in a scientific expedition to the North Pole, under the leadership of General Umberto Nobile. The airship departed on April 15, 1928, facing several instances of bad weather and some delays. After participating in the North Pole mission, the airship planned to return home but suffered some serious failures that ultimately led to it crashing. Several crew members died from the initial crash and exposure while waiting for rescue. This book outlines the construction of the airship, the mission, and goes into considerable detail about the circumstances surrounding the crash and the subsequent rescue efforts. I found the book to be decently informative and engaging enough to keep me reading. 

Shergar was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse by Great Nephew out of Sharmeen. He was foaled in March 1978, and was owned by Aga Khan. He showed some promise as a racer, winning the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, and other notable races. He was retired to stud in 1981. The horse was kidnapped in 1983. Thieves demanded a ransom of two million dollars, which Aga Khan refused to pay. In 1999 a supergrass, formerly in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), stated they stole the horse. The IRA has never admitted any role in the theft. There are a lot of conspiracy theories about who stole him, why, and why the ransom was not paid. There are just as many about his whereabouts and what had happened to him. Shergar was never recovered. This case hurt my horse girl heart for so many reasons, and I hope that Shergar did not meet a violent or terrifying end. The book was decent enough to read, if you are interested in the facts of the case.

This book is a traumatic memoir from a person who went through the Troubled Teen Industry. If you are interested in the TTI, this is a great book to give you an insider's experience. You need to be very aware that there are some extreme instances of abuse of children recounted in this book, and if that is something that you are not in a place to read about...choose something else.

I saw another review that really rubbed me the wrong way for several reasons. One of the reasons was that this reviewer made sure to negate every experience that the author of this book had. Nobody has the right to tell someone that their experiences are exaggerated or that they did not happen. Memories are the person's own. They lived the experience, you did not. Memories can be flawed, perhaps the time frames or who did what could be wrong, but if you did not experience an event...hush. There are countless witnesses' statements and people living who have had experiences that are shockingly similar across decades, across states, and across unaffiliated "schools" that this type of abuse absolutely did and does occur. People have testified in front of all levels of government for years about this. This is not new information, and negating the people that had these experiences is disgusting. Also, people that say they attended these schools and do not remember this...we are all very glad that you did not experience it (or you have trauma blocked it out) but just because you did not, does not mean thousands of other kids were so lucky.

I really wanted to review this book in order of events, but I do not want to spoil it for those reading it. The staff members at this location are disgusting creatures. They all need to vanish to the bottom of a river. There seems to be no end to what staff in places like this will do to a child. I recently watched a Netflix doc that was created by a girl who had went to one of these schools. The staff there gaslit these kids, they abused these kids, and then they left all the files and CCTV videos of their abuse. This was in the 2010s. This is still happening. These schools charge fees and prey on parents who want to get rid of their kids for any number of reasons, including doing something as trivial as drinking a Mike's Hard Lemonade or not liking a stepparent. They destroy families, they destroy lives, and the impact of their cult-like tactics on these kids lasts a lifetime. There are so many stories of suicide and drug abuse amongst kids who got out of these schools. There are instances of kids dying at these places. It is FOUL that people are still buying into this nonsense and PAYING to have people abuse their kids.

The author made a comment in this book that Indigenous people were subjected to much the same treatment in residential schools, people who were remanded to orphanages or religious boarding schools fared no better. There is another book called We Carry Their Bones about "bad kids" dying at a facility in Florida who suffered much the same abuse. This is not a new game. People have ignored children's pleas for years. Justice is slow to come, if it comes at all. Celebrity children, like Paris Hilton, also found themselves in schools in Provo and other places. Thankfully, Paris was able to use her celebrity for good to bring light to this issue and help other survivors of this industry, because an industry of raking in money, power plays, and plenty of victims to abuse, is what this is. It is a shame that voices are so often ignored unless a famous name is attached, but I appreciate her using it for something that the US really needs-trying to find a way to stop this. I am so proud of every kid who made it out of these places, who is there for other kids, who fights for this cause, and who made it another day. I hope every kid trapped in a situation like this is able to get out.

I would also like to mention that some reviews I have read about this book have criticized the book for saying it was a memoir about healing when the author clearly hasn't healed. I think that is a little bit bold. There is no time limit on healing. Healing can be a life-long process. You do not get to judge the way a person chooses to process their trauma or how long it takes them to heal. Do I personally agree with the author stalking these former staff members? No. Would I do that? I cannot say, as I have never been in that situation. I can say that I would be interested in following them to see if they were ever brought to justice. I can say that I would also be working tirelessly to do anything I could to ruin them in a court of law the way they ruined me. I can also say that I would have absolutely NEVER laid eyes on my parents again after they treated me such a way and sent me to a place like that and then had the audacity to tell me to stop looking at the past and grow up and be an adult and so on. Parents who are unwilling to listen to their children's experiences and admit they were duped, lied to, used, and manipulated...that they wronged their child, are unfit to be called parents any longer. There is nooooo way I would have ever spoken to them again.

Also "Dr" Phil can fuck all the way off for feeding this machine and feeding off people.

This book and the work on the ground that has been done by this author and others is tremendously vital to the understanding of the Troubled Teen Industry. I am glad that I started searching for books about this after watching that Netflix documentary and reading Paris Hiltons book.

 Frank William Abagnale Jr. was born in the Bronx, New York City, on April 27, 1948. He became involved in a host of crimes... stealing cars, wracking up credit card debt, impersonating a pilot, cashing fraudulent checks. This memoir is really interesting, as it gets you inside the mind of a (largely) white collar criminal. This was also made into a movie feature Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Overall, it was an alright read, and I am glad to have it off my shelf. 

 The South Canyon Fire, also known as the Storm King fire, originated on July 2, 1994, when lightning struck Storm King Mountain in Colorado, igniting vegetation. The fire was not considered a concern, as it was away from private property, but after burning for a couple of days, action was taken on July 5. The terrain and changing weather conditions made this fire very difficult to fight. The fire managed to surpass the fire breaks and began burning out of control. The fire eventually overtook some of the fire personnel, killing 14 of them. For anyone living in the area, or those who are traveling though, there are several memorials you can visit. The Storm King memorial follows the trail hiked by the fallen fire fighters with plaques along the way.

This book was well done. I grew up in a family of firefighters and first responders, so this book was very moving to me. While they did not fight wildfires, there were some very scary situations they found themselves in. Disasters can show you the best in people during the worst of times. It is also heartening to see that the loss of this crew implemented some changes in the way other generations approached wildfires. I enjoyed this book, despite the sad topic. 

 Police responded to a call about a robbery on November 8, 2010. When police arrived at the home in question, they found Hann Pann severely injured. Hann would become permanently blinded from his ordeal. Bich Pan was shot to death. The daughter of the couple, Jennifer, was found unharmed but shaken up. The investigation revealed involvement on Jennifer's part. I do not want to go into much detail about how the cause unfolded or what happened to Jennifer for those of you who are interested. People make some really wild choices and ruin their lives for no reason though.

This case was featured on a Netflix documentary that I watched a couple of months ago. If you are interested in the documentary, it is called What Jennifer Did. This book was recently on sale on Audible, which is where I got my copy. The physical copy is around 330 pages for those who prefer physical books. The writing was decent, and the case was research appropriately. It was easy to follow. 

 This book was actually really interesting. I wasn't too sure about it, but it gave a really good history of how buffalo were hunted and how low the numbers got. It also discussed how important buffalo are to Indigenous populations. I was actually really engaged by this book, which I did not expect at all. This was a decent and even moving book.