imyourmausoleum's reviews
1689 reviews

 This book is currently available to listen to for free on Audible. It was an interesting book with plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from some well-known metal band members. If you are into metal music, especially older metal bands, this might be a fun one for you. 

 On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger aircraft collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport. The airport is located in Tenerife, Spain, but is operating under a different name now. The collision involved two flights that had been diverted to that airport following a bomb explosion in their scheduled airport. KLM Flight 4805 had begun to takeoff while PAN AM Flight 1736 remained on the runway. The KLM plane did not clear the PAN AM plane, slamming the tail and landing hear into PAN AM. There were no survivors from the KLM flight, resulting in the deaths of 248 passengers and crew. PAN AM fared slightly better, with 335 deaths and 61 survivors.

This whole fiasco was the result of several errors. Obviously, I am not an aviation expert, but having a bunch of diverted planes that are piled up seems dangerous and stressful. If you have people in air traffic control not paying close attention to where planes are...it is asking for a disaster. It is thought that there was a soccer game and other conversations going on in the tower, which may have added to the confusion and distraction. Ground radar was not in use, which would have helped tremendously in the dense fog conditions that were also occurring at the time. Runway lights were not functioning. There has also been blame placed on the crews of both flights for distraction, wanting to rush out of there, and miscommunication. The PAN AM flight did not exit the runway as instructed, though the instruction clarity can be debated. Despite the factors, a lot of people lost their lives. A lot of people lost someone they cared about. A lot of people were injured terribly and traumatized from this event.

This book was very informative. It had statements from survivors and family members of those on the flights. It was really tense to listen to because you knew there was going to be a disaster, but you didn't know when it was coming. Hearing what happened to those people was unnerving. This book is currently free to listen to on Audible Plus, and if you have that option and are interested in this type of subject matter, I recommend this book for you. 

 Glen Taylor Helzer founded a cult, called the Children of Thunder. He declared himself the prophet, and had ambitions to take over the leadership of the LDS cult, which, in his mind, would hurry along the return of their god. Helzer and his followers murdered five people, one of whom was his girlfriend, Selina Bishop. Bishop was the daughter of blues guitar player Elvin Bishop. This book outlines Helzer's history of poor behavior and mental illness, as well as the formation of the cult and the murders he orchestrated.

For anyone who still listens to The Last Podcast on the Left, this is one of the books on their reading list. I have been trying to get through that list for months to be done with it. This was a decently written book that outlined plenty of facts and details about the case. 

 Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were raped and murdered during a gang initiation while they were walking home from a pool party late at night. The bodies were discovered four days later, and due to the weather, the rate of decomposition only allowed for dental identification of the girls. The families of the girl advocated for the right of victims families to view executions. The girls have a memorial dedicated to them in a park with the view of the railroad tracks where they were found in the background.

This case was featured on Dateline, for anyone interest in the Dateline reading list. The book outlined in greater detail the facts of the case. It was a fairly quick read. 

 Captain Marty Theer was murdered in the vestibule of his wife's office building. During the investigation, it was discovered that the wife was cheating on him while he was overseas and away for trainings. The lover of his wife, SSG John Diamond, was convicted of the murder. Investigators believed strongly that his wife had something more to do with his murder and spent the next six years investigating her to get justice for Captain Theer.

This case was featured on Dateline, for those of you interested in the Dateline reading list. It had more details than the episode did, however, I preferred the narration of the Dateline cast. The book was a decent true crime book, providing details in a respectful and unbiased way. 

 Pipestone Training School was established in 1894 to provide academic instruction and occupational training to Native children. The majority of the children were Ojibwa, but the student body became more diverse over the years. The author of this book is Chippewa and recounts his time as a student at Pipestone. It is clear that he did not have an easy life, but his outlook and recollections really show him to be a grateful and positive person.
 
This book is currently available to listen to on Audible Plus. It was around five hours long, and I completed it just after my lunch break today. The physical copy is less than 300 pages. I was actually quite surprised by this book. I assumed that it would be filled with horrific stories like those that came out of Carlisle survivors. The author of this book recounts many of his memories of his time at the school in a positive way. It goes to show you that people often have different perceptions of experiences. The author also gave an interesting perspective about how beneficial the school was for many children. I was genuinely surprised to learn that some people were grateful for the experience of these schools, and really saw the good that it was meant to accomplish. There are so many horror stories of the abuse, assault, murder and forced assimilation of Native children. I would never presume to tell someone how to feel about their own experience, though I am a firm believer that forced assimilation is an unacceptable practice of cultural genocide. I am glad that not everyone experienced the things that so many others have. This was a really good book, and I am glad I got to read it. 

 Richard Matt and David Sweat met in prison, becoming friends. The two of them hatched an elaborate plan to escape prison. Despite several setbacks, they managed to escape from Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6, 2015. They managed to cut a hole in the back of their cells, finding their way through the service tunnels to the outside. The pair's getaway plan was foiled, but they managed to escape into the woods. They broke into several hunting cabins in the mountains, living on food and other things they found in there. Eventually, a man checking on his property ran into them and was able to alert authorities. It was insane to me that the guards were so lax and allowed contraband items to come into the prison and actually delivered them to the inmates. That defeats the entire purpose of prison. They just let them do whatever they wanted apparently and were just oblivious to what was going on...or didn't care.
 
This book is currently available to listen to on Audible Plus. It took me about six hours to listen to, which I was able to complete in one shift at work and annoy my coworkers with my commentary. I thought the book was well written, providing the backstory of both convicts and the people involved with them. I remember this happening, but I didn't know much about either of the men or the escape itself. This book was really informative and also highlighted many things that are wrong with the American justice system. If you have heard of the Vicky White and Casey White story out of Alabama or watched the documentary that is out now on Netflix, you would probably be interested in this book. It's just as wild. 

 Jeffrey MacDonald graduated from medical school in 1968. He joined an internship program for thoracic surgery the same year. He recalled this time as being very stressful, and as being exhausted and mentally drained. He was commissioned in the US Army in 1969, where he applied to become a Special Forces doctor. In the wee hours of February 17th, 1970, he called the military police to report a stabbing in his home. This case took a turn, which I won't spoil here for those who haven't heard of the case. This whole case was wild.

This case is featured on The Last Podcast on the Left for those who follow that reading list. It was also featured on an Unsolved Mysteries special. The book was decent and outlined the case and investigation well. 

 

Space Shuttle Challenger was manufactured in 1978, with the maiden flight being April 4-9, 1983. Challenger spent 62 days in space, orbited Earth nearly 1,000 times, and did 10 flights. Challenger was responsible for several firsts: the first American female astronaut in space, the first American female to spacewalk, the first African American astronaut in space, and also took up the first Canadian astronaut. Challenger launched many satellites for companies and conducted three SpaceLab missions. The final flight was on January 28, 1986. Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff, killing everyone on board. The cause of the accident was determined to be faulty boosters but was also a product of stupidity and negligence. Interestingly, you can view a part of Challenger at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, but the bulk of the wreckage is buried in decommissioned missile silos. Sometimes, people find Challenger debris washed up on beaches, which is collected by NASA and taken to the silos.

This book is currently available to listen to for free on Audible Plus. It was about 15 hours long. If you are interested in the physical copy, it is over 600 pages, which is perfect if you are looking for a longer read. If you are interested in space programs or disasters, this is a good book for you. The author recounts his first-hand experiences working in the space industry, with NASA directly, and his involvement in the Challenger shuttle disaster. It took me several days to listen to this book because some of it was a little tedious at times, but I am also not a super big space nerd, which is probably why. The book was easy to understand, and the author made sure to describe and explain things for those of us who are unfamiliar with the lingo and work. There is also a Netflix series with four episodes about this, if you are interested in documentaries.

 

 Thomas Bartlett Whitaker was born in Houston, Texas, in 1979. His parents, Kent and Trish, spoiled and coddled this child throughout his life. They bought him a townhouse that they paid the utilities for. They bought him luxury cars. They bought him expensive clothes and accessories. They paid for his education, which he lied about. He was in trouble frequently, being convicted of a string of burglaries at age 17. In December 2003, he lied to his parents about graduating from college, getting them out of the house so that two people he hired to murder them could get prepared. One of the men entered the home, shooting and killing the mother and brother. The father was also shot but survived. Of course, this genius didn't plan his actions very well and was subsequently convicted in these murders. His father plead for him to not be sentenced to death, which I think is absolutely stupid.

This book offered plenty of details about this case that were not covered as in depth on the Dateline episode featuring this case. I like this true crime author and was pleased with the book. I just watched the rerun of this episode the other day, and didn't realize I had the book from the reading list. If you haven't heard about this case, it is a solid book.