That Lonely Section of Hell: The Bothched Investigation of a Serial Who Almost Got Away by Lori Shenher

from goodreads

4 stars

Well, school is in full swing and that means illness. First my husband, then Miss P and then Mr S. And now it finally got to me. Lucky! What is with school time and illness. All our kids were healthy before school and then they get sick after the first week. Are illness causing germs on summer vacay too and then they think to themselves "schools on, let's get back to work boys". Or maybe their thinking "that mom looks like she is getting her life a little too organized, better bring her down a notch, ha ha ha."

Whatever the reason whenever the kids are sick I just keep my book close at hand for when I need to snuggle with a sick child and then when I get sick I hope I feel good enough to read. Might as well enjoy the downtime.

Synopsis
Lori Shenher was working on the case of missing women in Vancouver. This is her story about the pains of trying to solve the mystery and the tolls it took on her life both personally and professionally. We learn how easy it was for serial killer Robert Pickton to get away with murder.

My Thoughts

To sum this book up in one word I would use heartbreaking. This was such a heartbreaking read. Here you have a police officer trying to do her best by these women who don't have a lot of advocates and getting stonewalled by so many factors.

This is a tale that shows a broken policing system that still operates in a chauvinistic "atta boy" type culture. The disturbing apathy towards the addicts and prostitutes and other street people that was shown was so sad. The assumption that these people weren't worth the effort to look into their disappearances was sad and rather disgusting. We all have problems, some are more apparent than others. But no matter what our problems are we should be treated with dignity and respect. We should be helped not shoved aside.

The lack of co-operation between police forces was also disturbing. Who cares who gets credit. Why can't people just work together. It also is frustrating how a lot of this investigation came down to no money available, and because of that a murderer was going free.

It was rather ridiculous how long it took to get onto Robert Pickton's farm, especially after he had stabbed a woman and she got away. What did he have on government officials or cops that made them not want to go forward into looking into him. This book really shows how some people are more interested in keeping the status quo of their own life than to do the right thing even if it might affect them.

I really liked how she showed how this affected her. She was stressed and traumatised She showed how hard cases, like this, can lead to burn out and paranoia. It shows the need of mental support for these police officers. Mental illness is not a sign of weakness. Sometimes we don't see the personal sacrifices police officers go through because of their jobs. This gives us an appreciation for some of the hard things they do. To a lot of cops it is not just a job. It is personal.

As with any memoir or autobiography you need to take it with a grain of salt. This is one person's thoughts on what happened. But, even if there are some biases, this book is excellent at showing flaws in the legal system and allows us to question what ineptness we think is acceptable.

Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent and the McFlys Teach Us about Raising a Family by Stephen H. Segal and Valya Dudycz Lupescu

from goodreads

5 stars

Parenting is a hard gig. Even if you think you know what you are doing or feel like you have a lay of the land, something inevitably comes along to make things seem crazy again. The one thing that never changes with parenting, no matter what the age of your children, is that mom is always wrong. For example, you make tacos because you know your kids love tacos, they ate them up two weeks ago so they will for sure love and eat them tonight right? Wrong!!! Tonight tacos will become the most vilest of foods. How could you even think this would be acceptable to their discerning palates? Are you trying to poison them?

Often times we feel like we are alone in this great struggle. That all the other parents never have issues like this. That they have some secret magic wand that allows them to have children who always eat whatever is served with gusto and children who are always polite and brush their teeth and hair without being reminded. Isn't it a relief when we find out that all the other parents have some sort of struggles, whether they are the same or not. Your fellow parents are the best ones to commiserate with. They get it! No need to hide your parental short comings from them because they have short comings too. If they say they don't have any they are lying. Parenting. We're all in this together.

Synopsis

This is a book of parenting advice. The advice given comes from our favourite sci-fi, fantasy and comic heroes and families.

My Thoughts

I loved it! I am not a complete geek. There were many characters talked about that I had no clue who they were, but, that didn't matter because the advice or situations were so relatable.

This book of mini-essays touched on everything.

• accepting children's differences
• helping them learn for themselves
• knowing when to swoop in and protect them and when to let them be and figure it out themselves
• weird friendships
• allowing them to grow
• and more

This book helps us know that we are not alone in the parenting realm as these themes seem to be universal. The book shows us what sci-fi does best. It looks at the state of humanity, but with an other worldly lense, which allows us to look at situations at an arms length and helps to make connections about society you might not have made otherwise. 

I am really tempted to buy a copy of this book so I can always have their words of wisdom close at hand. This book is like your very own cheerleading section helping you feel like you can do this and you will do great!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

from goodreads

4 stars

I can't believe it is already past the half-way mark of September. Seriously, where did the time go. Since school has started I am starting to get into a bit of a familiar groove. Having two little ones at home is a nice change, though I do miss my older ones. During the day I only have one child coming with me with demands and desires instead of three. (The baby doesn't count, while he likes to eat he isn't super demanding.)

Now I just need to get into the groove of doing things for me again. Get into my schedule. I am looking forward to that!

Synopsis

Jacob loved hearing the stories behind his grandfather's pictures but that is what they were to him, stories. When his grandfather is horrifically killed Jacob decides to go to the orphanage, on an island off the welsh coast, where is grandfather grew up to find out more about him. What he finds is not what he expects.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure I would. The cover made me think it might be more creepy or more of a horror genre, which I am not into, but it wasn't and I was able to really get into the story.

The story was simplistic but there was a depth to it. You didn't get lost in details but there was a depth in character and story line that I liked.

I loved the concept that the author used of taking old pictures and then putting a story around them. Some of the photos were incredible and even though they didn't seem that they were connected Riggs was able to do it in such a clever interesting way that made complete sense.

Jacob's father was an interesting character, definitely an anti-hero. He was a good juxtaposition against Jacob.

The time loop thing was a bit wonky. I got confused by it a little bit. But I'm sure, if you are into time loops and know a lot about them it would make complete sense.

There are two more books in the series and I am excited to read them... I will have to stick them into my never ending to read list!

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Hugette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.

from goodreads

3 stars

Have you ever looked at houses or buildings and wondered what it's like inside? I have been doing that for as long as I can remember. Growing up I had a few houses that I would pass that I always tried to envision what it would be like inside or what it would be like living there. My neighbour's house went up for sale recently and I waited with bated breath for the listing to be put up on realtor.ca so I could look at the inside. (I thought going to the open house might be a bit too creepy.)

I know I am not the only person with this curiosity of what goes on behind closed doors. Many cities now have an open door day where different businesses or unique houses open their doors for the public to go in and view the inside. This really has been going on for centuries as even the great heroine Elizabeth Bennett went voyeuring around Pemberley. Who knows what our fascination with houses is. I guess it is the whole seeing how the others live thing. It could be our whole comparing nature. All I know it is a societal quirk that will most likely not go away anytime soon.

Synopsis

Hugette Clark is the heiress to a large fortune yet was most mysterious. Many of her employees had never met her. This book looks at her life, her properties and what she did with her wealth.

My Thoughts

I went into this book with no preconceived notions. I had no idea who she was or who her father even was. For being one of the wealthiest men in the U.S.A. and having a county in Nevada named after him, I had no idea he even exsisted. The name Rockerfeller I have heard of but Clark, nope.

Hugette came across as being very generous and kind hearted but very eccentric. She was one who seemed to live with her heart and not so much with her head. She was someone who seemed to like being able to help others out and was one who lived with money just always being available (which in her case it was). It was crazy to hear some of the amounts of money she put towards her dolls. And how exacting all her miniatures had to be. She was definitely some one with a great eye for detail.

Hugette was very reclusive. It would have been interesting to know if this was because of phobias or if she was just content with her own company or if her father instilled a fear of other people and how they would only like her for her money and not her.

I loved the pictures in the book. Hugette's art work was beautiful.

If you are reading this book you will definitely get some helpful advice from it. The first is watch out for taxes, they are going to get you. The amounts she had to pay on property taxes each year alone was insane. But in the U.S.A. there is also a gift tax, so anytime she gave large sums of money to friends or employees as a gift she had to pay tax on that amount and man... that came to a hefty bill too. The second is make sure you have a will, don't wait until you are old and feeble. That will give your crazy family an in to being able to contest it. Her family was a bit nuts. Those people didn't even have a relationship with her yet all of the sudden showed care and concern as she went into her centennial year.

Near the end of the book a lot of focus goes onto her care in the hospital where she lived out the rest of her life (for like 10 years of it). She had a nurse that was there every day for over 12 hrs a day. Yes, that woman should have been well compensated and there was probably genuine love and trust between them. But okey smokes. The amount of money Hugette gave her nurse and the nurse's family. It seems sort of suspicious. Perhaps nothing nefarious was going on but, perception needs to be taken into account and to me, well the jury is still out on it.

All in all this was an interesting book about an eccentric recluse. There were parts that were thoroughly riveting. There were parts that were down right dull. But this was a great view into someone's life. Though she lived differently than most would choose to, especially given her financial status, she was not portrayed as a weirdo or as someone who was not all there. The author portrayed her as simply a woman, who had an interesting upbringing, an interesting time in her adulthood and has someone who lived as she wanted to live. And for that lack of judgement I thank the author.

Stalker by Lars Kepler

from goodrerads

5 stars

I don't know what it is about Nordic Crime novels, but I can't get enough. I try to read a variety of things, you know, to keep things fresh. But, I think if I was stuck on a desert island and only had one genre of books to choose to have with me, it would definitely be Nordic Crime. Perhaps I like it so much because I secretly (okay to anyone who knows me it really isn't that secret) wish I lived in Norway or Sweden. I think their government set up is neat, the landscapes are amazing and come on, ABBA is from Sweden. How much cooler can Sweden get. It is the birthplace of IKEA, another love  obsession of mine.

I think I really like these novels because they are creepy but not in a horror movie way just in a ick way. I love how the main characters have complex back stories (at least the ones in the series I have read do). They are not your run of the mill beefcake cop. They have troubled pasts, issues they are trying to get over themselves, secret lives. I like that. It makes it all the more real.

So, if you haven't picked up a Nordic Crime novel in awhile I definitely recommend it. I really like the Department Q series, the Rebecka Martinsson series, and of course the Joona Linna Series.

Synopsis

There is a serial killer on the loose in Stockholm. Joona Linna, comes out of hiding and is on the case.

My Thoughts

I loved this book. I had been waiting a while to read it. It had been on order at my library for a long time and I put it on hold so long ago that it got to the point where I wouldn't have been able to delete it or freeze it or anything. (I didn't know the that could happen). The publisher must have been pushing back the date. But after the long year or so of having it on hold I finally got to read it and man, it was worth the wait. It was definitely Lars Kepler at their finest.

This book was a perfect blend of character development, twists, and creepiness. Just when I thought I knew how something was going to happen, a twist happened and I was like whaaat?! In some books the amount of twists and turns would definitely get annoying and old, but in this book they were awesome and kept you on the toes. They held your interest.

The book was suspenseful and scary. It was little bit graphic in the mode of murder but nothing that made me feel too icky. I may never look into my backyard at night in the same way again, but other than that I am not loosing too much sleep over some plot points.

I liked how the beginning wrapped up the previous book. It allowed all the characters to move on. I wasn't sure how they were going to wrap it up because they could have gone down a completely different path and story line with the characters. In the end I am glad they did what they did, it made everything that much more believable.

I wished there was more about Joona's personal life, but then it makes sense that there wasn't. He is just getting back into the swing of things and hasn't established a personal life again yet. So I'll just wait for the next book.

This was a thoroughly engaging, edge of your seat book. Definitely read it. While it is in a series you don't need to read the other books to enjoy this one. Though you should read them because the rest of the books are pretty awesome too!

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

from goodreads

4 stars

It can be hard seeing your parents age. You still remember them vividly as strong people capable of anything and then one day they are more frail, slow and dependant on others. They look similar to who they once were but they aren't the same and won't be.

That is what happened to me this year. At Christmas I was almost sure that my mom was not long for this earth. Thankfully I was proven wrong but she will never be back to what she was health-wise. My dad, his mind has been going for awhile but his body still seems to be in tip top shape. Being the youngest and since my parents had me so late in life I knew growing up that this would be my reality. It is still crazy to see my once strong willed mother feeling anxious and scared, but I know we are doing the best for them and she knows that too. Seeing them age just means we need to make and share memories while we still can, something I am excited to do.

Synopsis

The author's mother is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They decide to spend the chemo time talking about life and books.

My Thoughts

This was a thoughtful and beautiful homage to Schwalbe's mother and the power of reading. What an interesting lady. The books that they read sound interesting too. Some I had read myself others I had never heard of but they sound really cool. I liked how the books they read seemed to really add texture to their life and to the situations they found themselves in. Isn't that the same for us?

At times when I was reading this I asked myself, would it have been as interesting if she hadn't been so dynamic in her own life? She had been a world traveller working tirelessly to help refugees around the world. She new lots of people and was constantly trying to make a difference. This added another dimension to this book. I don't think this book could be written about any other familial book club and have the same result. It was definitely person specific to make it work.

I liked how this book made you think about what you were doing in life to make the world better. You don't have to do a lot to make the world even a little teeny bit better, but that is what we should be striving for. You don't know where these acts of making the world better will lead.

I liked how this book basically said that we are all in an end of your life book club. We know our time on earth is finite and that we will go the way of the dodo at some point. We just need to read, glean what we can from it and become the best us we can.

This is a great book, it has given me a ton more books I want to read. It is sad to know I will never read all the books I want to in this life, but I am excited for the challenge.