Review Bomb | Getting To Be That Time Of Year...

 

Since summer is nearly upon us I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone that no matter what we as humans try to do to control Mother Nature, she will never be tamed.

(Side note: while these are natural disasters, I consider the Galveston Hurricane to be a man-made disaster as well, seeing as how weather reports from Cuba were completely ignored by the US, due to us thinking we know more than everyone else.)

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Any book by Erik Larson is a must-read for me. I started years ago with Devil in the White City and haven't stopped yet. Dead Wake rivals White City as my favorite, but you can't miss when picking up any of his books.

Isaac's Storm is Larson's first book and I loved it every bit as much as his most recent works - though I still have to get to Thunderstruck (which I own) and The Splendid and the Vile, which I have literally just checked out in ebook form from the library - 'Currently Reading' shelf and overdue ARCs be damned!

I have read several books about the Galveston Hurricane and this is the best. Larson uses much of Cline's own words to paint the picture of a man who, despite his experience, had no idea what he was truly up against that early September day. Through Cline's reports, letters, and telegrams we are given a look into his mind to see what he was thinking.

Cline and his family lived in Galveston where he was the resident meteorologist for the US Weather Bureau. As he observed the unusual weather phenomena the morning of September 8th, 1900, he failed to see what was coming even as the winds and sea swells gave warning. The hurricane barreling down on Galveston would become the greatest natural disaster in the history of the US, with at least 6,000 lives lost and the entire city nearly obliterated.

Larson masterfully blends science and history together, telling the story mostly from Cline's perspective. Cline was sure, based on his experience and knowledge, that no hurricane could really do damage to the city. This alone might be the worst thing about the whole tragedy, except there's more. the US Weather Bureau received warnings from Cuba that the massive storm as on its way, but Americans did what Americans do, and dismissed the warnings because we obviously know everything and what are the chances that someone else might be correct?

It wasn't until late afternoon into the evening that Cline realized something was wrong. In his defense, despite the winds and swells, there were other factors that indicated there was no storm coming - the barometer rose throughout the day. Yet the swells grew bigger and by nightfall they were so huge that structures near the beach were rapidly being demolished. But even before this, the city began to flood in the afternoon.

Yet Cline alone is not to blame, so I do not want my words misconstrued. As we know, bureaucracy is a bitch and it reared its ugly head here just as it does in disasters of our time. Even as the Weather Bureau was ignoring hurricane warnings from Cuba, they were also hamstrung by rivalries within about whether or not to even send out storm warnings. With no warnings issued, no calls to evacuate were ever given. The city was completely blindsided when the rage of the hurricane was suddenly upon them after nightfall. Not a single other person in the city aside from those who worked at the weather station even knew a storm as coming, let alone a hurricane.

As I have read books about this storm, I have wondered if the death toll might have been lower had it occurred during the day and honestly, I am not sure. No doubt that trying to find one's way in complete darkness contributed to many deaths, but the majority seem to have come from people struck by debris or their shelters collapsing on them. That would have happened no matter the time of day. But perhaps some who drowned would have avoided this fate had they been able to see how quickly the water was rising, and made it to higher crowd? This supposes a lot, I know, but I have spent a lot of time thinking about this particular hurricane and thoughts like this continue to pop up in my mind.

Like all of Larson's books, this reads as a novel and the pace is quick as we are taken along on the collision course with the storm. The lead-up is intense because you know what is coming, you have all kinds of information that the citizens did not, and know that many of them will not survive. Through the storm's arrival and its aftermath, you feel as though you are there in the midst of it, there among the remains of once-stately homes, businesses, churches, schools. You witness the desperate search for missing loved ones, and joy when reunions occur and the overwhelming grief and agony when they do not.

Highly. highly recommended.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the terrifying hours that began on April 3rd, 1974 and ended on the 4th, a total of 148 massive tornados would wreak havoc in North America, from southern Ontario down to Alabama, Illinois to Virginia. It is surprising that more were not killed in the fury, given the devastation. In total over 300 lives were lost, but that is still 300+ too many. This "perfect storm" so-called by experts, will happen every 500 years or so, according to their estimates.

Here the author focuses on Limestone County, Alabama. We are given a history of the area and he introduces the people going about their lives until suddenly they aren't anymore because their whole world has changed. Levine focuses here because it is in this county that eight of the tornados touch down. One of the eight is an F5 and another is either an F4 or F5, though it was never fully determined which.

I appreciate the author's use of the science behind what makes a tornado happen and I feel like he explained it in a way that those with less knowledge than weather nerds like me have can still understand. The tornados come, lives change forever, and all the survivors can do is bury the victims and try to move on. It is as heartbreaking as it is compulsive to read. He makes the survivors so real as he sets their lives on these two days against the backdrop of the US at the time. Think of 1974 and all that the US was dealing with, as well as Alabama specifically. He paints quite a picture of figurative upheaval coupled with literal upheaval, and does so with the utmost compassion. There is nothing voyeuristic here as he relates the stories of the people who survived, and what they went through in order to do so.

Highly recommended.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Perhaps the best account of the absolute clusterfuck that was Superstorm Sandy. The storm was so massive, even scientists aboard the International Space Station were singularly focused on it as is stretch for literally hundreds of thousands of square miles. No one knew what to call it after it morphed from a tropical storm into the monster it became and absolutely no one knew how to prepare for it because they could not decide what it was, until it was too late to make any meaningful decisions. NOAA, the NWS, and the Coast Guard were constantly stumbling over themselves in regards to warnings and reports because the storm was so unprecedented.

The author does a fantastic job here of weaving together multiple points of view as those in power grappled with decisions they could not confidently make because the storm was constantly changing and morphing into something no one had ever seen before. As always there are heroes and villains, and everyone in between. The story specifically touches on the crew of the Bounty, a replica of the HMS Bounty that was not completely seaworthy even after some much-needed repairs, yet her captain took her straight toward the hurricane anyway. Some crew survived, bodies were recovered, though his was never found (this story is touched on in A Furious Sky, which I am also reviewing in this post, but much more information was included in this book than that one).

Overall I found this to be a very engaging read, though it was a bit dry in places when I was bombarded with acronyms and some technical aspects. I love weather stories but even I was a little bleary-eyed in parts where I was not sure what was actually being discussed. This is a thorough look at an absolutely devastating storm. I recall feeling that after reading this book there must be a better system put in place, so many lives could have been saved. But after reading A Furious Sky and seeing how many times we have said that exact phrase with each new kind of storm, I don't know that we will ever have a perfect system. Our world is changing rapidly due to climate change and these storms will always get worse. There is always a new big one coming and we honestly have no way to be 100% prepared for any of them that will most certainly follow. However, the author does well to point out that with better funding and better policies, those future situations could at least potentially result in better outcomes for the majority of people impacted. If everyone could just let NOAA do its job and give them the funding and technology to do so, we could be in a bit better shape at least.

 ⭐⭐⭐

This one tells the story of Moore, Oklahoma's complete devastation in May of 2013. The author grew up in Moore and as a child of Oklahoma it makes sense that she wanted to be a storm chaser. Instead, she became a journalist and returned home in the wake of the worst tornado ever recorded to find what was left.

Even as a journalist, certain choices in her writing style bothered me throughout, otherwise this would have easily been a four star read. She's a good writer and journalist, her reporting on the actual facts of surviving this monster are fantastic. Yet there was so much repetition on certain points that it became a chore at times to read. Everyone who has a fascination with tornadoes knows who Gary England is and it was unnecessary to constantly remind us of who he is and what he does. I understand doing so the first time for those who might be unfamiliar with him, but seriously. He's pretty much achieved worship status in Oklahoma.

The most frustrating part of the constant repetition though had to do with the children who were in school when the tornado struck. Everything was tiny.  Tiny tiny tiny. Tiny chairs and tables, tiny bodies, tiny faces, tiny bathrooms. Tiny tiny tiny. This was so unnecessary to convey the complete vulnerability of these children and bordered on ridiculous. Even use of a different word would have been helpful because, GOOD LORD!

The majority of the book, however, is a good read and at times you feel like you are there in the midst of this monster, trying to survive. The lead-up itself was a bit slow but once we are in it, the pace moves quickly and you are whisked from location to location to survey the damage.

Recommended.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Just finished this one yesterday afternoon, could not put it down!

The author dives deep in the US history of hurricanes, going back through historical records to see how these monstrosities were written about, what progress was made along the way and by whom, and with what tools and instruments, and so on.

It is kind of embarrassing to admit that I've never really given a thought to how people hundreds of years ago dealt with this kind of weather phenomenon and how they viewed these storms. I learned much about these early hurricanes that remained nameless - and of the how the naming system we have today functions. I knew previously that lists are drawn up a couple years in advance, containing male and female names. I had no idea that prior to this, hurricanes were given strictly female names - and in that era the headlines about said hurricanes were as gross as one can imagine as misogyny gleeful abounded in the form of all sorts of ridiculous adjectives.

Dolin opened my eyes to just how impactful these storms were in the early days of our country - and the time before we were even that. As a result of hurricanes striking, it seems that this is one of the reasons Spain was unable to get a foothold in any farther than Florida. Not to mention the fact that these storms also played major roles in helping us win the Revolutionary War.

The author does a masterful job tracing the developments of scientists as they worked to understand these live-altering events. So many men who I had never heard of (so you know that there are women involved whose names we will never know as a result) contributed greatly to the field of hurricane study. It will surprise no one that Benjamin Franklin was in on the action as well.

Yet even for all the progress we have made in predicting and tracking hurricanes, we will be our own downfall.

Much like I mentioned in the Hurricane Sandy review, we will never have a perfect system because of our own impact on our planet. Climate change is making these storms deadlier and deadlier each year. If we do not make changes NOW, and some scientists warn we are already past the point of no return, then things will get worse - something likely unimaginable to those who survived the Galveston Hurricane in 1900. The official count remains around 6,000 killed, though given the timing and the fact that Galveston was a perfect summer vacation spot, we will never know how many truly died in what remains the worst natural disaster in our history.

Despite being such a massive undertaking to succinctly lay out our five-hundred year history in relation to hurricanes, I feel Dolin has done a fantastic job with what must have been an overwhelming amount information to work with. With recovery after these major events, there are many societal issues raised as it quickly becomes obvious that there is inequality in the way resources are dispersed among various communities all devastated by the same storm. One must only look to Katrina to see this is full view.

Highly recommended.

Review Bomb | The Best Kind of Reality Shows

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If you are unfamiliar with this first show, allow me to give a little background. Ghost Hunters (not to be confused with the trash that is Ghost Adventures, don't even get me started) came to be because of Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. They founded T.A.P.S. - The Atlantic Paranormal Society and conducted investigations on public properties and in private residences at the request of the owners, and filmed many such investigations. Something I have always appreciated about this team is that they did not go into every case assuming the activity was paranormal. It was their priority to first make their clients feel safe - especially if they were investigating a private residence where there were children involved. The team would debunk everything they could, and even if they could not explain something away, they still hesitated to call it paranormal more often than not. Unfortunately the team is no longer together and only bits and pieces of info are available here and there. Though, I think it is quite telling that Grant Wilson is using the Ghost Hunters show title with a completely new team, while Jason Hawes, Dave Tango, and Steve Gonsalves have gone on to create a new show called Ghost Nation. Tango and Gonsalves were also on the original Ghost Hunters (and are hilarious; great comic relief!).

I liked this trip down memory lane for two reasons, first being that it included cases I loved that aired on television, second being that it included cases that occurred before the series began and so were brand new to me.

Some of my most favorite investigations were here, which was delightful. If you can catch a rerun of the St. Augustine Lighthouse, DO IT. If that episode does not make you believe in the paranormal, that at least there is SOMETHING out there, nothing will. The same could be said for their investigation of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

Side Note: The Stanley is DEFINITELY haunted. I don't want to make this post any longer than it is already going to be, but Eleanor's dad and I stayed there on a trip eight years ago. We did one of the ghost tours, and then investigated on our own after that was done. We heard the children up on the 4th floor say hello after Chase asked if there was anyone there who wanted to play a game of hide and seek. As we left that hallway I heard the sound behind me of a hand dragging along the wall; every time I stopped, it stopped a moment later. I also got a photo where you can see the outline of a child in the reflection off the patio door. Additionally, both Chase and I are incredibly heavy sleepers, but both nights I was woken up by sound coming from the room above us, of what sounded like furniture or something being dragged across a hardwood floor, and of very loud stomping around in what sounded like boots or some other thick-soled show. When I asked at the front desk the morning of check-out, I was informed that when the hotel was the private residence of the Stanley family, the 4th floor had hardwood floors, but as a hotel all the floors had had carpet for many decades now. During the time the Stanleys lived there, the 4th floor had been the nursey and place where the children and nannies played and slept, as well as the maids and their children, I believe. This was such a cool experience, nothing felt malicious. It was so peaceful.

Back to the book though, otherwise I will be telling ghost stories all night.

We do get some backstory on the show regulars, but the main focus remained on the cases that came their way. I can appreciate this on one level, because they are professionals and want to remain recognized as such. We saw their personalities come out on the show, but I was hoping for a bit more in-depth look at how/why they got into the business and what keeps them going. I believe Jason wrote the bulk of the material, as it is written very much the same way that he speaks. Jason is very matter-of-fact and strict, while Grant is a bit more easy going but not totally (especially when a crew member messes up big-time in a way they should not have because they should know better).

You would not necessarily have to be a fan of the show to find this book interesting. They are very thorough and professional, explaining things that one with an interest in the paranormal would already know, such as the equipment most of often used, what it does, etc. The cases are presented in short chapters so you could read quite a few at once if you were interested. You wouldn't even have to read the cases in order, but could find the ones most interesting to you first. I personally wish the chapters would have been a bit longer, with a bit more depth to each case; there is only so much you can see in an hour of television after all, and less than that when you take into account commercials, the lead-up to the investigation, the walk-through, and the final analysis. That leaves you with maybe 20-25 minutes of actual investigation shown, when they record hours, and sometimes on multiple nights.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I adore Josh Gates. He is exactly the person you would want to travel with because first of all, he is a riot; sarcastic and snarky and witty and intelligent. Even if something really shitty happened on your travels, you could count on Josh to at least make you laugh your ass off about it. His current show is Expedition Unknown, but this book deals exclusively with his first series, Destination Truth.

The premise of this show involved Josh and his team investigating various legends (Bigfoot, the Ri, Chupacabra, etc) and various location deemed haunted (holy shit, the episode filmed at The Great Wall of China was fucking lit and I would never in a million years want to be there after dark) to try to come sort of conclusion. This involves the team researching information, heading out, Josh trying all the disgusting food each locale has to offer, the team getting some sort of vehicle that definitely looks like it could explode or break down or both, and some really great footage of beautiful countries that most people will never see in-person in their lifetime. My only complaint is actually about the show, not the book, in that the team did two locations per show. I wanted so much more time at the haunted locations!

So, obviously, the paranormal action was my favorite. I didn't mind the other stuff, but I am always down for a good ghost hunt. There are several episodes where I was not disappointed. The first is the episode at The Great Wall, which I already mentioned. Other great investigations include spending the night in the tomb of King Tut in the Valley of the Kings (Josh totally hates camels and it is hilarious whenever he has to ride one), the ruins of Petra, ruins of once-mighty Incan cities, Easter Island, Angkor Wat, and my most most most favorites: investigations at Masada, Pompeii, and Chernobyl.

What I love most about this book, besides the behind-the-scenes glimpses, the in-depth information on the locations/legends, and the great photos, was Josh himself. It felt like having a conversation with an old friend and as I was reading I could hear him speaking the words, and not my own internal voice going. That is the mark of an exceptional writer, which Josh proved to be. I was a bit cautious at first; just because one is witty and intelligent on camera, does not guarantee the same result in a different medium. Luckily, the book is just as great as any episode. Josh is incredibly articulate and knowledgeable (something obvious if you watch the show for two seconds), and I found myself laughing out loud constantly at his narration of all the things we didn't see when filming, because they are actually on location for days and sometimes week. Yet everything gets condensed down into one twenty-minute segment, two segments per hour-long episode. There were definitely times I was grossed out (same as on the show; the team ate some pretty yucky stuff), and also time a chill ran down my spine remembering some of the spookier investigations.

For Josh, the 'traveler' part is as important as any part of the investigation. He is a world traveler in every sense of the word and stresses the importance of this throughout the text. It is not enough to take in famous tourist traps wherever you happen to be (but I'll be damned if I am not going to the Tower of London on my next trip to the UK), but to truly become a traveler. When it is safe to do so, leave the beaten path and find the hidden gems. It will always be worth it and the memories will last a lifetime.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not simply a rehashing of every single investigation. Josh shares plenty of information about the locations his teams went to, but he is also constantly encouraging people to go out an explore. This does not mean you have to get lost in a jungle looking for velociraptor-like creature; it simply means get out of your comfort zone and find something new about the world you didn't know before. Josh gives tons of advice on how to do this, and perhaps one of my favorite parts of the book is the point where Josh gives the reader a lesson in how to not be a total d-bag when you travel internationally (I would say this is a great lesson for Americans, but those of us who feel the need to travel so desperately would probably not insist everyone speak English to us to begin with, so...)

There are so many one-liners throughout the book, much like on the show, that I wanted to share dozens and dozens. This mini-review has rapidly turned into a regular-sized review, so I will share only this one, which came from their Egyptian adventures:

"To make matters worse, the entire country is an infrastructural disaster. After they erected the greatest civilization in the history of the planet, it's as though the Egyptians said, 'Okay. That's enough. Let's just call it a day for the next 5,000 years'" (page 198).

So perfectly Josh, and I am here for it. I love his dry humor and that is part of what made me love the show so much. Even when I was less interested in whatever monster they were looking for, I could always count on his narration of events to keep me hooked.

Perhaps my biggest take away from all this though is that, despite all the adventures he has had, all the evidence he and his team have captured at dozens of locations all around the world, Josh still can not say for sure where or not he believes in ghosts. The things he has seen and done would make a believer out of me in an instant, and I think this gives him even more credibility. All of that, and he still says he is not sure.

Though it would help to understand some of the stories, and to appreciate his wry and sarcastic humor, it is not necessary to have seen the show. This is as much a travelogue as it is a memoir, and it is deliciously perfect.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The first time I saw an episode of River Monsters was a night that Eleanor's dad was sitting on my couch with Eleanor in his lap while I got in a shower and pumping and everything else I could not do before he came over after work, because I literally held my baby all day and it was glorious.

I took one look, said, "This guy is crazy," and went back to whatever I was doing.

Little did I know, Jeremy Wade would soon become a very important member of our household and I would see the episodes on Netflix so often, I would have them memorized. More on that in a bit.

If you are unfamiliar with Jeremy Wade, I can give you some quick backstory. He is a biologist and basically travels the world in much the same fashion as Josh Gates, looking for monsters of a different kind. He is searching for monster-sized fish, and most of the time he finds them. No location is too remote, not legend or story too dangerous to deter him from catching his fish. This book goes even deeper, and we get great insight into Jeremy's life and career and we see the work that goes into tracking down information, speaking to locals about the specific species, and then how he goes about planning to catch (and release) these mighty beasts. I am not by any stretch of the imagination what you would call an "outdoor girl", so the fact that I could not only watch episode after episode, but read a book on the very same subject, should be pretty telling about Jeremy's ability to tell a great story and keep you coming back for more.

One of the things I appreciate most about Jeremy Wade is that he truly cares about the natural world and these fish he is seeking out. He never sought them out to catch them and kill them or keep them; it was solely to see if there was truth to the legends or myths he had discovered, and to find what creature could be behind such stories. He is a conservationist above all else and he speaks - both on the show and in the book - of these fish in such a way that you can tell he feels this is deeply important. This is his mission, his life's work, to bring attention to these beautiful, deadly, fascinating wonders and show how humans are impacting even those who live in the most out-of-the-way locations. Fish populations are dwindling rapidly and we are 100% the cause. This is not something Jeremy can abide and his passion for his career shines both in the show and on the page.

With this one, like the others, it is not terribly necessary that you see the shows before you read the book. I think anyone who has an interest in travel and remote locations would find Jeremy's stories of interest, even if you are not necessarily into the actual fishing aspect of the show, as was my case. It was so fascinating to watch him collect information, interact with local populations in his pursuit, and - more often than not - come away with footage of the elusive fish he was after that day.

Now, going back to the quick story of how Jeremy Wade and River Monsters became a staple in our household. As I said, Chase would watch it sometimes when he would come over after work in those early days after Eleanor was born. Eleanor was never a fussy baby, there was no time when she would just scream her head of for no reason. She would get restless sometimes, I guess is the best way to describe it? When it happened, she would get very wiggly and honest to God, the only thing that would settle her was River Monsters. It was not just the sound of Jeremy's voice, but also his British accent (she truly is her mother's daughter, I am a total sucker for a beautiful boy with a British accent). I would turn on River Monsters and as soon as she would hear him speak she would become still and listen. She would try to look in the direction that his voice was coming from, and it never failed, BOOM. Calm baby.

I thought it would be really cool if I could somehow contact Jeremy Wade to share my story about Eleanor, maybe even get him to sign a birthday card for her first birthday (I thought of this sometime in the spring; she is a July baby). I scoured the Internet and found an email address for him, but the website did not look like it had been updated in quite a while, so I thought chances were slim that the email would reach him.

Except, IT DID!!!

I had asked if he would be able to sign a birthday card and explained how we called him 'Uncle Jeremy' because it was like he was part of our family, and how he was always be able to calm my restless baby girl. I even sent him a few photos of Eleanor, and a disc with a couple short clips of her watching the show; as she got older and was no longer a restless newborn, she would still drop everything the moment she heard his voice. He responded that this was perfect timing, because he was back in the production office for a very short time before heading back out again to film. I sent off the small package right away and hoped it would arrive before he departed. Within just two short weeks, I received a package back; not only had Jeremy signed the card as well as some smaller promotional photos, he specifically signed the card 'from your Uncle Jeremy', I am forever grateful, because that is a keepsake that Eleanor will cherish forever.

Fish on!

Review Bomb | Mary Downing Hahn Edition

I have loved Mary Downing Hahn since elementary school. My most favorite book of hers has always been Wait Til Helen Comes. I also enjoyed Dead Man in Indian Creek and Stepping on the Cracks, which I read countless times as well.

Last fall at my school's book fair, I was psyched to find the new release from Hahn, The Girl in the Locked Room. I had seen it on NetGalley and been so disappointed to not get approved, so I snatched it right up, along with a few other ghostly stories that I told myself were for my students, but were also pretty much for me too. After that I decided to look up all the book Hahn has written in the years since I last read her books when I was a student myself. here were quite a few and I was so happy to find that I enjoyed most of them just as much now as I had when I was a child.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

A girl finds a doll buried in the garden of a home where she and her mother are renting an apartment space from a crabby old lady who seems to hate everyone. Ghostly time-travel ensues. Great adventure.

 ⭐⭐⭐

The cover of this one is GORGEOUS and had great expectations for it. I liked that it was set during the tragic influenza outbreak of 1918, but I had a hard time liking any of the girls, even the victim, because they were all terrible in their own special ways. Not a terrible story by any means, but not my favorite.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one had me from the start. Watch out for Old Auntie...

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was on the fence about reading this one because I think the whole changeling scenario is weird, but I ended up really liking this one after all. It's still creepy AF though.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hahn doing what she does best, bringing the chills in this murder mystery. I like that she writes kids in such a believable way, and it has always been one of her strengths.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hahn + ghosts = magic. Definitely one of my favorites. Who wouldn't want to go live with family they've never known and be berated and yelled for not being as wonderful as the dead cousin who was actually a major be-yotch.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another spine-tingling, though I did not realize until I started it that I had read this one about ten years ago with one of my classes. Obviously I kept reading it anyway even though I knew how it was going to end. It's easy to feel bad for the boys trapped there, and to want to help them out.

 ⭐⭐⭐

Eh, I did not care much for this one - until the end. I am not much into the time-travel aspect, but I loved seeing how history was changed for this family because of said time travel.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another deliciously ghostly story. I really like how Hahn can make the ghosts be so horrible or rude or mean, and also still make you feel sorry for them because they were not necessarily always that way. Even when they try to kill you.

 ⭐⭐⭐

Not too into the vampire thing here. It was a decent story but the main character was whiny AF. And really, if the vampire is not named Angel, it is super hard for me to care.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book that got me back into reading all the Mary Downing Hahn books I could find at the library. I was so glad to find after reading this one and thinking about it, that Hahn is still a gifted story teller who can provide all kinds of chills and thrills for her readers.

I know these are not much in the way of actual reviews, but I loved most of them and if you have a late elementary/early middle grade reader who is a bit reluctant when it comes to picking out books, you can't go wrong with any of these!

Have you read any of these as a child, or an adult? What's your favorite or least favorite Hahn book?

Happy Reading!

Sarah

Review Bomb | Vikings

Oi! Two drastically different books on the same subject today. Who knew it was possible to make Vikings utterly BORING?!

 Rating: ⭐⭐

I waited so long to finally get this, and it ended up taking me aaaaages to get through. I skimmed a lot. The author is supremely knowledgeable about the subject matter but the book is bone-dry. And that is coming from someone who reads non-fiction almost exclusively. I just could not get into this one, no matter how hard I tried - which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it, because the Vikings are not a boring subject matter at all. Yet, here we are. It did not help that the print was incredibly tiny. Normally that doesn't bother me, but if I am already borderline about picking it up once my boredom has set in, print size becomes an issue.

Ferguson can not be entirely to blame, I suppose, though it is his writing style that nearly had me asleep. A major issue with this kind of history is the lack of written records. The author even addresses this issue early on. We don't have contemporary sources because there are very few, if any, that could be called conclusive. That is why we have non fiction texts today that focus on what we can learn from other records, such as those who were conquered by these warriors. But, as we know, those sources themselves are biased against their enemy. Basically, this book is a snooze-fest and that makes me sad. Definitely NOT a starting point if you know nothing about the Vikings, their history, and/or their impact on the world.

At least the cover is pretty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Despite having a more ridiculous cover, this book covers the topic in a far more engaging way. I am really just chalking this up to be the varying of writing styles. Maybe. My opinion might change in another thirty minutes, who knows.

Either way, this book was better and I read it much more quickly because I wanted to keep reading. That doesn't mean it is prize-worthy, but it is certainly attention-worthy.

What this book does rather well, as compared with the previous one above, is that it works WITH the material available, dealing in the provable and concrete. Though the Vikings are long gone, they left a lasting legacy that survives to this very day, all around us. The reach of the Vikings spanned half the globe and it shows. All the usual gang is here, Ragnar, Ivar, and Erik. But we also meet Vlad, Olga, and a cast of others who each contributed to this legacy. It is a given that we also hear quite a bit about my boy Alfred the Great, and his efforts to hold the Vikings back and retain/build up his kingdom.

Given the lack of primary sources, I appreciated how well the author used what we do have, both from the conquered and the conquerors. The book is told in chronological order, but then breaks down further by region. We see the mighty warriors as clusters of men in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and watch them spread out far and wide, testing the waters of Ireland, England, Spain, Iceland, Greenland, and finally North America to the west. But they went east as well, and from those journeys we get the Rus, the Balkans, Ukraine, and so many places in between. These warriors also travelled to the Middle East, leaving their mark there as well.

When one considers the lasting impact of the Vikings on our world today (such as days of the week named for their Gods, and my fave football team, to name a very very few - you might be surprised if you do a search to find out just how many of our words today come from the Vikings), it is easy to forget how short their era of exploration, raiding, and pillaging actually was. Less than 300 years, to be exact - from that fateful arrival at Lindisfarne in 793, to the felling of my fave berserker, Harald Hardrada, at Stamford Bridge in 1066.

Speaking of the last Viking warrior, I appreciated the attention given to Harald Hardrada. Though I am firmly on the side of the Anglo-Saxons in all matters of 1066 (don't even get me started on William the Bastard, though I recognize he was necessary in order for the rest of history to play out as it did), there is a special place in my heart for this guy. What a life he lived, and how lucky we are to even know anything about it. Before venturing on his ill-fated voyage with King Harold's seriously crazy brother Tostig, Hardrada spent much of his life journeying in the opposite direction. He spent several years in the east and found himself as a commander of the Varangian Guard, mercenaries of the Byzantine Empire. This was an elite group and it was a privilege to become a guardsman. The men in this infantry unit enjoyed great wealth as a result. Given his history, it makes his death at Stanford all the more surprising - his men were simply not prepared for what the other Harold was bringing to the battle.

Recommended.

Review Bomb: Scott Peterson is Lower than Scum

The brutal murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn baby, Connor, captivated the country for years. I personally think Scott Peterson is guilty, and have never wavered from that position. There were too many red flags even in those early days of the search for Laci and Connor, and everything played out on national television. Instead of justice being served in the form of the death sentence being carried out, I firmly believe he should be left to sit in his cell for 24 hours a day; for a sociopath, this is the ultimate punishment: he was caught.

 2 Stars

I read this one because I feel like Frey was treated somewhat unfairly by some in the media, and the public at large. She couldn't have known that the man she was set up with on a blind date would turn out to be a sociopath who would go on to murder his wife and unborn child. I do believe Amber was genuine in her desire to help investigators - and indeed, much of what she recorded of her and Scott's conversations did help the prosecution build their case. 

However, there are two things in this book, both written word and in photographs, that were wholly inappropriate and should never have been included.

The first issue I have with the book is in the photo section. I found it very tasteless to include a picture of investigators carrying a body bag that contained Laci's remains. There was simply no need for it. By the time Frey's book came out, the public had been over-saturated with that tragic image, and it was not Frey's place to include it. (Also, the modeling photos she did when she was younger were kind of pointless.)

The second thing I have a major major major issue with is this quote from page 188: "The day you went to the police, you became Laci's voice. All this time, you've been speaking for Laci."

Seriously? No. No, no, no, no, no. No.

Frey was NEVER Laci's voice, no matter how much she had contributed to the investigation. Laci was denied her voice the moment Scott murdered her, and Connor. To say that anyone is speaking for Laci is wrong, and I feel like it was an attempt to get the public on Frey's side - there were plenty of people who called her a homewrecker and other such terrible names, even when it was clear she had not idea that Peterson was married. For me however, and others I am sure, that strategy backfired, because it is a wholly inappropriate statement to make.

I found it interesting to see how she and Scott met, and some of Frey's own background information was relevant because it showed how vulnerable she was, given her past relationships. Unfortunately she also comes off as not very bright. I can think of one instance in particular, when Scott tells her she can write to him at this PO Box, and he will get her letters. She asks how he would get them when he is traveling, and says the Post Office will forward his mail to wherever he is. Um, really? Because that's not how that works. I feel like she really wanted to believe him and believe in their relationship, so either she ignored things like that, or had no idea that that's not really possible.

The writing is not great. I was not expecting a literary masterpiece, but I could also do without the cliches. A lot of the book was also word-for-word transcriptions of her conversations with Scott. Those actually made me pretty angry, reading all of his lies and bullshit on the page, knowing that he has yet to murder the wife he already claims he "lost". I wanted to be like, "Bitch, you didn't lose her! You put Laci in the bay yourself, you psychopath!" but I restrained myself. Barely. The conversations did reinforce the idea though that Peterson is absolutely a pathological liar, if there is still any doubt. It is terrifying how easily the lies seemed to just roll right off his tongue.

I do truly feel bad for Amber, who was a victim in all of Peterson's lies. But her situation in no way compares to what Laci's family has gone through every moment of every day since Laci and Connor were so cruelly taken from them. And while I understand Frey's want/need to have her story told accurately, please don't go on and on about how you want privacy...but then write a book about the whole experience that put you in the spotlight to begin with.


 2 Stars

This book bordered on ridiculous at times, and I almost quit reading it on more than one occasion, because it is just that fucking nuts.

Anyone who has heard of this case (which would be most of America over the age of 30, as Laci and Connor were murdered in December of 2002) has likely asked themselves at some point, "Why?" As in, why on earth could this seemingly perfect couple be anything other than the image they (meaning Scott) projected? And why on earth did Peterson have to take Laci and Connor from their families forever? That is the most heartbreaking question, one that Laci's mother asked over and over.

The unfortunate fact is, we will never know. Peterson has been convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection. He currently resides in San Quentin, where his cell overlooks the very bay where Laci and Connor's remains washed up. But he maintains his innocence, that he did not kill them. And since he is a sociopath, even though he has been found guilty (and he is most certainly guilty), he will never tell what was going through his mind in those days and weeks leading up to, and after, the murders.

Another unfortunate in this whole situation is that we get books like this, which are absolutely ridiculous. While the book makes some interesting points, in the end it is far too sensational for such a serious topic. The author is a forensic psychologist, true, but he's never interviewed Peterson, though he did interview family members and some ex-girlfriends. The author has this fixation with calling Peterson 'the golden boy/child' (I can't remember which, now), that does make sense in the tangled web of all his theories, but it was silly and annoying after a while. Ablow also makes claims that, because of three generations of trauma in Peterson's family, it made him unable to be empathetic to others. Trauma includes early death, childhood abandonment, and sexual abuse - but just a note, none of these things happened to Scott. They were simply in his 'bloodline' because these things had all happened to family members in the generations before him, I guess. Whatever. There is no question that his family certainly qualifies as dysfunctional, but that does not necessarily make someone a cold-blooded killer.

I also struggled a lot with the author's interpretation of Laci. The way he described her presents a kind of shallow portrait, which is at complete odds with that full picture we get of Laci as described by her mother in the book she wrote for her daughter. He kept coming back to this idea that Laci wanted everything to always be 'pretty', and that the image of things always being pretty and perfect were important to her. He seems to suggest that had Laci not been trying to gloss over the problems in the marriage, she would not have died. I really hope that this is not what he is actually insinuating, and that I have interpreted his statements incorrectly. Laci and Connor are the victims here and neither could have ever done anything to deserve what happened to them. Scott Peterson is the ONLY guilty person here - though, no lie, his family is pretty fucked up.

Even so, Ablow's theories on how Peterson came to be a psychopath are sketchy at best. He claims it is possible that Peterson's root of sociopathy took hold when he was taken from his mom soon after birth and placed on oxygen, and that abrupt separation played a part in turning Peterson into the murderer he became. Yet the details he claims support this don't really make sense, but they're so silly that I will leave you to discover them for yourself should you choose to read this nonsense.

The point the author does make that I think is incredibly valid has less to do with nonsense and more to do with the idea of child abandonment, which is something that Scot grew up knowing plenty about. He has older siblings (one wrote a book about him, go figure) who were given up for adoption after their fathers ended their relationships with Scott's mother, Jackie Peterson. The oldest two were given up, and Jackie would have given her third child up for adoption had her doctor not persuaded her to do otherwise, despite that father also leaving. But then Jackie met Lee Peterson, they had Scott, and the cycle of abandonment ended...until Scott did the exact same thing to Connor, but in a much more tragic and final way. Combine this trend with the so-called 'family sources' the author interviewed who claim that Peterson's mother is basically a big fat liar about everything, and it is easy to see where he gets it from - perhaps they are BOTH sociopaths.

Mostly, a lot of this book is just stupid. The author refers to Peterson as an 'emotional vampire', you know, on account of him being  sociopath who does not know how to show emotion because he has none. Am I the only one who thinks that phrase is weird? BECAUSE IT IS. He also claims that Peterson really was in love with Amber Frey, and if that relationship had lasted, Peterson would not have ever killed again (something the author finds quite possible, if Peterson were ever released. Luckily, he won't be). But, I highly doubt this. Sociopaths don't know how to love, or be in love. They can imitate what they see on television and in real life, but Peterson lied constantly to Frey. He had no choice, of course, in his mind at least. Personally, I think she was just one of many with whom Peterson had affairs with and she was unlucky enough to get caught up in his web at the time that he was preparing to kill his wife and child.

Final Verdict: Pass on both, check out from the library if you feel you must read them.

Review Bomb: Buffy

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the greatest show ever. If you don't think so, we can't be friends.

 3 Stars

I always appreciate when Buffy is taken seriously as one of the greatest shows worthy of our continued interest and discussion, because it truly is one of the most simply complex shows ever. Joss is a genius. (Though, I will never forgive him for 'I Will Remember You'. It hurt TOO MUCH.)

This Buffy book (and there are TONS), looks at the show itself, the scripts, as the primary text and what we can learn from them in that way. That the show is something special can not be denied, even though I am constantly reminding people (It's been gone so long...I worry that Eleanor will grow up somehow not loving it as much as I do.) A wide variety of authors take on a number of subjects, including sisterhood, redemption, folklore, education, patriarchy, and so much more. For the most part I enjoyed the essays, though there were about a handful in particular I could not do more with than skim. And you must know, if an academic Buffy work makes ME skim...it isn't good. Not at all. BUT, I do not want my own personal opinion to color some else's so I have chosen to not share which essays they were.

The essays are divided into four different sections: Power and the Buffy Canon, Buffy Meets the Classics, Buffy, the Scoobies, and Beyond, and Buffy and the Classroom. Some sections were stronger than others, but it was still an interesting read overall. One of the things that is most important to me about Buffy is the idea of what is considered 'canon'. It frustrates me to no end that the comics are considered canon, and I refuse to read them. Once Angel went off the air, their lives have been paused and I wait hopefully that maybe just once, we could get a glimpse into their lives after it all ended.

Anyway.

I think the argument between scripts being canon, vs the actual episode that aired being canon is a really interesting argument. For me personally, I would actually consider the DVDs to be as such. Much like with Friends, there is always something more to those episodes in the unrestricted DVD format, as opposed to reruns or Netflix, where they only air the show as it was shown originally. I can see the argument for the scripts, but to a limited extent. As the show was filming throughout the week, Joss and Company saw what worked and what didn't, and revised from there. I would actually place the scripts as the lowest on the canon totem pole, with second place going to the aired version, and first place going to the DVD version.

One of my most favorite essays came from the second section about Buffy and the Classics. I really liked the essay by Elizabeth Bridges, entitled "Grimm Realities: Buffy and the Use of Folklore". This idea of folklore and fairy tales permeates the show (and one fairy tale reference often gets ignored - the line in Nightmares when the Master says, "A dream is a wish your heart makes" is totally from Cinderella and always seems to get left out. Just needed to point this out). So many people will point to Hush as one of Buffy's finest episodes of the whole series, and good Lord it is. When it first aired, I was in shock over how amazing it was. Even today, I still know the words by heart..."Can't even shout, can't even cry, the Gentlemen are coming by. Looking in windows, knocking on doors, they need to take seven and they might take yours. Can't call for mom, can't say a word, you're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard"...I still get a shudder down my spine when I hear it. This essay was just a really well-thought out response to the show's approach to using folklore throughout the series. And personally, I liked Killed By Death.


 3 Stars

When I first finished this one, I was not quite sure how I felt about it. I initially rated it four stars, but after nearly six months away from it, I feel three stars is sufficient. I disagreed quite strongly with some of the assessments, particularly where Angel was concerned (don't come at me with any Spike nonsense. Buffy and Angel belong together, period). The author approached the show from a "feminist cultural studies" stand point (taken from the book summary), and I feel like a feminist point of view is a given when talking about Buffy. But, it is not only the female characters who are feminists, but the men in their lives as well. (Not the baddies like Caleb, of course.)

One of my biggest issues with this one is that it is the first Buffy book I have ever read that did not totally have my attention for the majority of the time. I still read it all, word for word, but it was simply not like so many of the other academics works I have read. I don't know, perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind to read it and was simply a little burned out, as I received many Buffy books around the same time, and if I were to go back with fresh eyes, things might look a bit differently to me. I don't want to say boring, really truly I don't. Buffy is anything but boring. So, a new look it shall have in the near-future.

Another issue I took related directly to this idea of gender binaries, and how this looked far different on Buffy. I took a lot of issue with the author's idea of New men being fake/pretend men. For me, Buffy has always been about completely dismantling of the outdated notions that a woman must be either feminine or feminist, that males are the only ones who are strong, and that emotion is almost wholly female. Time and again Buffy represented complete gender reversals and that was one of its strengths, the whole premise that the show was built on.

As the book went on I also found that the listing of even minor-minor characters in these various gender groups grew tiresome. it became less about analyzing how each character fit into a specific role, and about how many characters the author could find to prove her point.

Even though the book says it is a primer, I don't know that a casual Buffy fan would enjoy this much at all. And as I also disagree with some assessments, I don't know that I would recommend for anyone but the most loyal and intense of fans.


 3 Stars

If physics had been taught solely like this, I might have actually taken the class in high school. But it wasn't, and I didn't, so, bummer for me.

The author uses, of course, multiple examples from Buffy and Angel to explain various scientific concepts. The only problem here is that you lean closer to the science side of things and farther from the Buffy side, the examples may not appear to make sense all the time. And vice versa if you are like me, and don't really have an interest in science, you might still struggle to understand bits and pieces. Nothing is so complex that I skipped over any parts, but a healthy balance between the two within a reader would not be terrible.

By far the section that interested me the most had to do with any apocalypse we might have approaching. It gave me a healthy fear of how terrible this will actually be when it does happen, and no amount of Big Bads that Joss can create could be scarier than the real thing.

Review Bomb: Tudor History

Before I fell in love with those crazy Plantagenets, I loved the Tudors. I have been incredibly lucky to not only get my hands on such fantastic texts about the rather short dynasty, but to also become friends with several authors who share the love for this family as I do - or who love them far more. Unfortunately some of the books, like with all subjects, are really hit or miss. The Tudors have been done to death practically, and sometimes it seems as though there is nothing new to discover. I hope this is not true, but sometimes it really does feel that way.

 2 Stars

I was really excited to read this one because I am absolutely in love with the clothing from the period - while at the same time incredibly thankful I don't have to dress that way daily. Still, the clothing was lovely and I was interested to see what delights the book would show off. I should have paid much closer attention to the blurb I suppose, because the book was not solely about Anne's clothes, but what she wore at various periods in her life. In that regards then, there is nothing new here, which was disappointing. I was hoping this would be the primary focus, but in the end it was only a regurgitation of Anne's story with the sections each titled by an article of clothing she wore at that time. We do get information regarding all of the layers of clothing Anne wore, as well as documentary proof in the forms of purchase orders and other such records. These provide a glimpse of the types of accessories and clothing Anne was most fond of, as well as the materials used to make up her wardrobe. What could have been most valuable though were sketches of what the articles looked like. Even though none of Anne's clothing survives today, there are enough descriptions of certain articles that belonged to her, which coupled with what we know of general fashion of the time could have provided enough of an idea for an illustrator to fill the pages from section to section. It seems like such an obvious and missed opportunity.

The biggest issue for me was the retelling of her story in the barest bones kind of way. The book is not long at all, just a little over 100 pages. So, it did not do what it set out to do - give clear portrait of her clothing - and because of the short length it could not do what other books about Anne do, which is give a detailed history of those fateful years when Henry went after Anne. It is also quite the pro-Anne piece, and while I have little regard for this particular Boleyn girl, I certainly appreciate good biographies of ALL Tudor figures. Many of the descriptions of the clothing and accessories are taken from contemporary sources, which is great, but again, sketches would have been a huge boost to this little text.

I do like that the author kept the focus directly on Anne. Sometimes histories like this give an overview of the generalities before going into the specifics when they run out of things to say. I can appreciate that the author did not compromise her work in that way, as some might be tempted to do. As such, however, this would not necessarily then be a work for an everyday reader who knows little about the clothing of the time.

Ending on a positive note, there were other aspects of the book I enjoyed that were related to Anne's clothing while not being about the clothing directly. You will find interesting information regarding how the clothing was cleaned and cared for, where it was stored, and other little bits that you might not have considered when Anne was executed.

 3 Stars

This book will best serve those who already have a pretty good idea of Who's Who in regards to the Tudor dynasty. All the Marys and Margarets get confusing if you don't have a decent grasp on which one is which, along with all the others of the same names. Even so, this is not a terrible book, but is certainly not the best I have read on the subject of lesser-known Tudor women. It is misleading to call them 'forgotten' though. All three women played somewhat-to-fairly significant roles at one point or another. Margaret was Henry's niece (and mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots), Mary Howard his daughter-in-law and a Boleyn cousin, and Mary Shelton one of his mistresses and another Boleyn cousin. It is necessary to also note that while they were important, they also managed to stay out of Henry's way, and all managed to die of natural causes instead of on the block for contributing to some perceived plot against the throne. So perhaps in that regard they are forgotten only in terms of being overshadowed by the larger than life personalities of the women most closely associated with Henry.

It's tricky though, to decide who would be best suited for this book. Anyone who is well-versed in Tudor history will already know plenty of information about these three women and would not consider them forgotten. But as I mentioned above, if you don't have some kind of basis to build on, it would be easy to get confused. The author also discusses those in a wider net of relations to the women on the cover - especially in the case of Margaret Douglas. There is quite a bit included on her son, Lord Darnley, and his ill-fated marriage to my girl Mary, Queen of Scots - thus making Margaret the grandmother of James VI/I. It's not terribly in-depth, but there is enough background that at least fleshes each woman out to make them visible.

Mary Shelton is the one I knew least about, which is probably the view of most. I was interested to learn that she was quite intelligent, and a poet. That part is not surprising, but it was interesting to learn her great-grandson is one of the men who signed Charles I's death warrant. I always enjoy learning new little bits of information, especially when it is a topic I think might nearly be exhausted (though I really, really hope it isn't).

Review Bomb: Antiquity

I can't believe how quickly summer is slipping away. In just a few weeks I will have to report back to school for the new year and my baby is somehow going to be in Kindergarten. I can't even.

So, I am in the process of trying to knock out as many reviews as possible while Eleanor is at her dad's for the weekend, while also continuing my own research and writing about Eleanor of Aquitaine. We are also going home to Minnesota for a visit with family for two whole glorious weeks, and I won't be around much at all. Best to get as much done as possible now while I can.

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 3 Stars

I first have to say that the only reason this one is getting a full three stars is because I want so badly for Atlantis to be real. And when you take everything in the book at face value, you can almost believe it too. It is not a terrible book in that it gives the reader exactly what they are hoping for (assuming one is reading it because they, like me, want Atlantis to have been a real place with a thriving culture). Ultimately you will have to decide for yourself whether you believe or not, but the journey toward either conclusion is half the fun.

One of the main reasons that I could not rate this book any higher is due to the author's seemingly disdainful attitude toward those who dismiss Atlantis as merely a myth. In so many words, he basically alludes to those experts who study the ancient world as lacking imagination. This is troubling, because it simply is not true. There are so many discoveries that have been made explicitly because archaeologists, anthropologists, and a whole host of other -ologists DO have imagination, and seek out what they must to find what they believe is there. And truthfully, it weakens his arguments when he wants to present himself as a credible historian, traipsing all over the world to find evidence. What he appears to be saying, whether it was his intention or not, is that HE is right and every other expert in all those previously-listed fields are wrong. Can we really believe that? Not really.

Despite all of that, I still found myself enjoying much of the book, because turning the idea of Atlantis over in one's mind is a fun thing to do. You can't take the book to seriously, but you can enjoy a few hours wondering 'what if...'

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 4 Stars

I was pleasantly surprised by this slim volume. Covering any aspect of Ancient Rome is something that typically demands hundreds of pages. This text is simply dedicated to the facts of exactly what happened in those final days of Rome's existence as the center of the world. The author makes great use of primary sources, but I did not feel bogged down by the amount of those used, in correlation to the length of the text. It is highly readable and succinct, and makes clear Rome's downfall was their arrogance.

The author details Rome's mistreatment of the Visigoths, who were at that time seeking respite from the attacking Huns who were following them. This put the Visigoths in a terrible position, boxed in by the Romans on one side who did nothing to help, and the Huns on the other in hot pursuit. Visigoth leaders sought some land of their own to provide for their people and asked for this from Rome, offering military aid, yet no deal and Rome missed the boat. The empire would see the error of its ways only when it was burning in the aftermath of Rome's sacking.

Serious scholars or those who study Rome and the Ancient World extensively will not find anything new here. But for those who want a better understanding of a complex time and place, this would be an excellent text to start with. My own interest in Rome waxes and wanes, so I found it to be informative, with many things I knew already but more than a few new pieces of information as well.

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 3.5 Stars

This is kind of a weird book. The subject matter itself, and the heart of the issue - whether or not looted items should be returned to their countries of origin - is not the weird part. The author throughout made some really odd statements and assumptions that almost distracted from the main body of work and left me wondering what the purpose was. The prime example pertains to her statement when discussing the Getty and I suppose trying to illustrate the 'wild' and out-of-control behavior of acquiring stolen art by saying that it was to be expected that employees at the Getty were all having affairs with one another, because it was an elite institution with too much money...what?

Luckily the author also managed to stick to facts when discussing the main topic, and that is items that have been stolen from various countries, sold to other countries, and now reside in big fancy museums in wings dedicated to their time period, ripped completely out of context from their place of origin.

Going into this book, I was a firm believer in the fact that those items should be returned. After reading the book, I still stand by that, in most cases. Because, I also want that history to be cared for, and available for future generations to learn from and about. The destruction of Palmyra by ISIS weighed heavily on my mind while reading this though it was published in 2008, because instability is a huge issue when trying to care for these relics of the past. So much of Palmyra has been destroyed, beautiful ancient structures that can never be replaced. What if the same thing were to happen say, to the Rosetta Stone, one of the specific artifacts that Waxman touches on? Without the Rosetta Stone, we may still be wholly unable to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs that this piece of history allowed us to finally read. The stone certainly does not belong to the French or the British, despite their discovering and deciphering. It belongs to Egypt. So, do American and European museums have the right to demand that these items be cared for a certain way, before they are willing to return them? Can they even be forced to return the items? I completely understand the fears of great museums, so worried about being emptied of their treasures, but the items never belonged to the countries where they now reside.

Basically, everyone involved in this whole process is guilty of something - the source countries for creating a climate that allowed looting, the looters and smugglers for stealing the items, and the brokers and buyers for not caring too greatly that the pieces they're acquiring are likely stolen. As long as there is money to be made in this, it will continue to happen, whether the pieces are going to large museums or private collections.

The author also spends a bit of time delving into the strange case of Marion True. Her own saga is no less intriguing than the artifacts in question throughout the book. I wonder what she really knew, and why she was the only person prosecuted when it is clear she could not have been the only one guilty in that case. It hardly seems fair, especially if she was trying to do things the right way. Surely though she had to have realized how suspicious the loans for the purchase of her new home looked? What a mess.

I feel like there is a trade-off: either these stolen pieces remain where they are in these internationally renowned museums where millions of visitors get to view them each year - not in their proper context but accompanied with placards describing the very details one could witness for themselves if seeing the works of art in a museum, or historical site, in their country of origin. The downside to the latter part is, as mentioned previously, the care and upkeep of the returned pieces. What if artifacts were returned, only to be stolen again and then sold off into the hands of a private collector or worse, destroyed like so much of Palmyra and other ancient sites? In either case, those artifacts would be gone forever.