imyourmausoleum's reviews
1679 reviews

 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 departed from Istanbul on a scheduled flight to London. This flight also included a stopover in Paris. The plane was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The plane was carrying 335 passengers and 11 crew members. An incorrectly secured cargo door opened during the flight, causing an explosive decompression situation. The issue with the cargo door was a known issue, one that had previously caused another crash. A remedy was found for this, and documents stated that this was applied to Flight 981...but it had not been. The plane crashed into the Ermenonville Forest in Oise, France. The speed of the plane at impact was approximately 487 miles per hour. There were no survivors, with only 188 bodies being visually identifiable. This crash was the first to exceed 200 deaths. This crash also holds the title of being the deadliest plane crash in France, the deadliest DC-10 crash, and the deadliest single-aircraft accident with no survivors. As you can imagine, there were lawsuits and investigations aplenty after this crash, AS THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN. Accidents happen, nothing is 100% safe, but people should be held responsible for not doing their jobs, fixing problems, or creating a safe environment for the public they serve.

This crash was featured on an episode of Mayday, and this episode also featured a similar story of American Airlines Flight 96, which had the same issue with the cargo door. This book was well researched. There are three books in this Air Disasters series, and I have one left to go. If you are interested in aviation and aviation disasters, I recommend checking out this author. 

 Mount Tambora is a volcano located in Indonesia. The volcano erupted in April 1815, spewing volcanic ash, debris, and lava forth. The eruption was exceptionally powerful, and the dispersion of gas wound up disrupting the climate. This climate change decimated crop production and changed temperatures, resulting in the Year Without Summer. The information about the volcano and the volcano rating scale was pretty interesting, though the book itself was repetitive and pretty dry. I'm glad this was on Audible Plus, because I would have been sad if I used my credit for it. 

 Boy, do I have a lot of thoughts about this book. To start, I will go ahead and say that I got the Audible version of this book, which is read by the author, Shari Franke. Listening to her tell her own story was very moving. The book was well written and cohesive. While many of us know the names of Shari's siblings, she did not use their names in this book as a way to give them some measure of privacy. I will do the same in this review out of respect for her wishes. Shari recounts her childhood in the home of Kevin and Ruby Franke, which seems intensely stressful at the bare minimum. Her mother, Ruby, got involved in family vlogging, turning every single moment into scripted content for their social media. Behind the scenes, the children were emotionally abused, starved for affection, and mistreated in many ways. Her father actively engaged in this nonsense, and eventually passively allowed worse nonsense to occur to his own children while he sat around doing nothing. Ruby would become involved with a wanna be cult leader/prophet, devolving into worse abusive and neglectful behavior. This would result in the severe abuse of the two youngest siblings of Shari's, and the court case that we have all become familiar with.

Ruby Franke most definitely has some type of mental health issue, personality disorder, or both. She is extremely manipulative, abusive, and narcissistic. She was unable to the be the mother that she should have been, and intervention would have been very beneficial to all people in this family early on. I think she is a fascinating case study for those interested in personality disorders. I think part of her problem was likely the way she was raised and the relationship she had with her own mother, but that is pure speculation, as I am not a mental health professional. I do not believe that her little speech in court was sincere, in fact, it struck me as self-serving. In this book, Shari discusses a letter that Ruby wrote to her after her imprisonment, and the content was disgusting. Her lack of care and accountability was blatant.

Kevin Franke is equally to blame for the destruction of the six children's lives. Instead of being a father who protected, taught, and loved them, he engaged in and allowed whatever his wife wanted. He did not stand up for these kids. He was not there for these kids. He wasn't even there for himself, ruining his career and everything he loved and was good at for this woman who, quite honestly, doesn't deserve the air she breathes. Shari Franke is a better person than I could ever be for trying to see the good in this man and forgive him for his massive failings, because I COULD NEVER. I would never speak to this man again as long as I lived. If he has seen the error of his ways, changed, and is attempting to make amends and rebuild his relationship with all of the children and that is what makes them happy and safe, that is their business...but it surely would not be me.

Shari also discusses the role her LDS faith has played in her life and handling of this situation. The LDS faith sets women up for failure. I know that Shari is a firm believer, and so are many other people, but just based on her statements in this book, it is very obvious. This religion is very patriarchal, with women having large families and being mothers the goal in life. If Ruby had been raised in another religion, perhaps she would have been less inclined to have a large number of children to abuse because she did not have the proper tools or personality for mothering. She might not have been exposed to cult mentality, falling into another cult with Jodi, and doing what she did to the children. Shari also has some experiences in which she was made to feel a certain way about certain situations because she was a female in the church. I do not want to spoil the book by discussing that too much, but ICK. This religion and her upbringing really set her up to be used and abused by men and other people, and I am glad that she sees that and put herself in a safe position.

Jodi Hildebrandt is a complete scumbag. That is about all that needs to be said about her. People fall under the spell of people like this so often. It is difficult to imagine, but it happens so often. She deserves to be under the prison with the sewage.

As a person who is interested in true crime and who has grown up in a family of emergency service workers, I read and watch a lot of things. Though it sounds desensitized and rude to say, when this case hit the news, it was just another case. There are so many cases that feature terrible child abuse, mass shootings, and domestic violence that they all tend to run together. I think it is extremely, extremely important to remember that these are real people behind the stories and headlines. These are real victims who have dealt with horrific trauma that they have to work through every day. I think in a world where violence is commonplace, it is good to remember that we should show care and concern for human beings, especially children.

I hope that Shari and all of her siblings and extended family find peace and healing in the future. I am so proud of her for fighting for her siblings, as well as all the other children who are victims of family vlogging and parents who use them. 

 I have been reading this book for a while, as it has been in my desk drawer at work. The author of this book definitely has a personality and sense of humor that shines through. I appreciated the candidness about growing up in her religion and the reasons why she struggled with it. This was a good lunch break book to read. I have another book by this author on my wish list, and I am looking forward to seeing what that is all about. 

 Stella Maudine Nickell was born in Oregon in 1943. She grew up very poor, and found herself living in several abusive relationships.  She never seemed to be a good mother, even being charged with child abuse for beating her daughter with a curtain rod, among other things. Her most recent husband fell ill while at work, dying at the hospital almost immediately. Another death raised alarm, especially when it was suspected to be cyanide related. The investigation would ultimately lead back to Stella Nickell. I was not expecting the twists and turns this case took, despite having watched the Forensic Files episode about it some time ago.

Gregg Olsen is a true crime author who I generally enjoy reading. I appreciate the level of detail and the amount of research that goes into each book. I always learn a great deal about the case being covered, even if I have followed the case or read/listened/watched something else about it. This was a decent true crime read. 

Rachel Hines became another victim of Larry Nassar when she was just fourteen years old. Nassar told her that treatment for her injuries would be healed with "internal massaging" while also recommending that she not get an MRI for what would turn out to be a broken back so he could continue treating her. This man is disgusting. The more I learn about him, the more disgusted I become. Hines discusses why she trusted this man, which makes sense because most people trust doctors, coaches, teachers, and other authority figures. It is shameful that he used his position of power to manipulate and molest girls at will. Hines discusses the trauma she experienced at the hands of this vile creature, and how she worked through it. 

If you are looking for a shorter book, this one comes in at about 140 pages. I hate saying books like this are good reads, but it was certainly worth the time it took to read it, especially if you are a fan of gymnastics, or you have a child in the sport. This book provides some warning signs to look out for, while shedding light on a system and culture that is not about the athlete in the way it should be. I applaud Hines for speaking out about this issue, and hope that she is able to continue finding joy and healing in her life moving forward. 

 

Jeanne Dominico was found dead inside her home on August 6, 2003. Her fiancée, Chris, had notified police, but took an unusually long time to answer the door when they arrived. The investigation determined that Jeanne had been stabbed and slashed with a broken steak knife found in the kitchen, with around 50 injuries total. Suspects included the ex-husband of Jeanne, as well as her current fiancée, Chris. The ex-husband had been known to be physically abusive to Jeanne. The former couple shared two children together, Charlie and Nicole, who were also interviewed by police. This case took a turn that I was not expecting, which I will not relate as to not spoil the book for anyone wanting to read it.

This case was featured on the show Wicked Attraction, (Season 3, Episode 10), if anyone is a fan of that show. The author is a decent true crime writer and always does a good job of conveying well researched facts of the case, while also writing about the people involved in a way that makes you feel like you get to know them. I did not find the book to be salacious in nature. I was pleased with this book, and am looking forward to finishing off the few I have left by this author. I guess I have to pick another house book to read now.

 

 

The author of this book certainly put in work doing the research for this book. The timeline of the insanity that is Evangelicalism and White Christian Nationalism is easy to follow, despite being abhorrent. There were plenty of specific talking points in this book, including televangelists, political figures, media figures, etc. This book explains how all of these people got in bed with each other to push their agenda onto everyone else. (Which really infuriates me when I hear how Christians are so persecuted...they are clearly the ones doing the persecuting and indoctrinating.) It also discussed a bit about that Islamophobia in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent wars in the middle east. Certainly, there was plenty to be said about the hate for LGBTQ, minorities, and women. (These people HATE women, and there is nothing anyone can say that will ever convince me otherwise.) I have never been able to understand why these people have rallied behind Donald Trump, of all people, but they have and continue to do so. I think this book provided some good insights as to why.



I have been listening to this book for several days on my commute to and from work. It is an absolute miracle that people that were next to me at traffic lights did not think I was insane and call the police for the very audible and visible comments I was making. Likewise, it is an absolute miracle that my eyeballs did not detach and roll around the world at some of the things in this book. The tragic part of it all was that I know so many people exactly like the ones discussed in this book. I have never been so glad that I have blocked my entire family on social media and stay away from family function. I have never been so glad that my personality type was not one that ever indoctrinated to their organized religion, and even more glad that I do not participate in such stuff. I said so many times during this book "that explains so much" and "that completely tracks" with the experiences I have had so far in my life. This book was really useful in understanding the current political and social climate that is going on in America today, though I doubt anyone can really comprehend what goes on in these peoples' heads.

 

The only reason I am giving this book two stars is because I appreciate that the author keeps up with the timeline by mentioning current events and new forensic and scientific technologies. The author always does an impressive and extensive amount of research going onto the next book in this series. I would also like to state that I am typically a nonfiction reader, and I only read two series with religiosity- this is one of the two. I enjoyed this series tremendously when I found it several years ago, and I have read every book. If I didn't take my commitment to the series seriously, I would have divorced it by now. I truly hope there is another book in the series and that it goes back to being a three- and four-star review series for me, but this one did not cut the mustard. I wasn't sure my eyeballs could handle much more rolling. The last few chapters of the book were really interesting, though the bulk of the book was spent on Kay thinking about her past relationships, Lucy's past relationships, Marino's past relationships, etc. This book could have been considerably less tedious, and the last few chapters where the case was wrapped up with a cute little bow, though interesting, was somewhat of a letdown. Spoilers ahead.


******SPOILER ALERT BELOW THIS POINT******

Lucy: Slightly less annoying in this book than in previous ones. I really miss the days when she was my favorite character, but that ship has sailed, I am afraid. Her attitude is infuriating, though she was not quite as self-important in this book as in prior ones. 

Dorothy: Still annoying. Still hate her. 

Marino: When you read a fiction book, you typically like to escape the world. Marino is the embodiment of the people in my geographical region I strive to avoid. We have so many people just like that, and now that he has embraced the bigfoot hunting and alien watching, it is just.... he didn't need another quality to make him distasteful. 

Kay: I realize she is the main character, thus the hero of the story, but WOW. I can see where Lucy's sense of self-importance comes from. She absorbed it from this one. 

The Villains: There are plenty of extremely unlikeable characters throughout this entire series, and there were several in this book. Why do none of these people ever die?? And why can we not finally get rid of one of these people for good?? We do not need to resurrect them every few books simply to irritate the masses. 

This memoir discusses an upbringing in the Jewish Orthodox faith. I didn't really know much about this religious group before reading this book. I learned a great deal about the customs and beliefs of those who practice this faith. I can understand why anyone would want to deconstruct and leave any kind of organized religion, but it was really interesting to follow someone else's journey. This was a good book to start the new year, new reading challenge off with.