Goodreads Review - "The Dogs of Venice"

The Dogs of Venice by Steven Rowley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I marked this book as finished, I noticed my “Read” Goodreads bookshelf now said 555. That’s how many books I’ve read in my life. I looked up the meaning behind 555 and it symbolizes major life changes, transformation, and personal growth which is very fitting for this book.

Here’s my favorite quote from the book:
“Perhaps how to be alone wasn’t even the lesson Paul was seeking; how to be present was. There was music and wonder in life to be had, and yes, sometimes it was nice to experience it with another, but it didn’t come from being with someone else. The world could be appreciated alone, even when it felt scary.”

The reference to Diane Keaton made me a little sad.

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Goodreads Review - "Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 4"

Oz, The Complete Collection, Volume 4: Rinkitink in Oz / The Lost Princess of Oz / The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This volume was one of my favorites so far.

Rinkitink in Oz (4 stars)

I really liked this book in the series after that last few that I have read that I rated 3 stars. There's always an adventure and something to overcome. I'm a bit confused at why the title was about Rinkitink when he wasn't even the main character but the story was still good. The ending for King Gos and Queen Cor was not something I expected. And last, the story line for Bilbil, the goat, was a great twist at the end.

I really did love this quote about Zella who is Nikobob's daughter: "She was a brave little girl and poor people are often obliged to take chances that rich ones are spared."

Side note: It's extremely important to remember that this book was published in 1916 which means that some words are used in a different context like the word 'molest' which was used quite few times in the book. The older definition and the use for the word was: "to bother, interfere with, or annoy." It has since been updated in the dictionary to reflect the current definition.

The Lost Princess of Oz (4 stars)

This story was actually really good. There's always an adventure and something to overcome. Princess Ozma goes missing (along with other magical items) and the characters have to go on a journey to rescue her. I love that a lot of the main characters from the beginning were more present in this story. The Mysterious City was one of my favorites and how they (well it was Scraps) figured out how to get in was quite fun to read.

There was a section in the book where they were comparing beauty and who was the most beautiful and the Lion responded with the following and I loved this: "Were we all like the Sawhorse, we would all be Sawhorses, which would be too many of the kind; were we all like Hank, we would be a herd of mules; if like Toto, we would be a pack of dogs; should we all become the shape of the Woozy, he would no longer be remarkable for his unusual appearance. Finally, were you all like me, I would consider you so common that I would not care to associate with you. To be individual, my friends, to be different from others, is the only way to become distinguished from the common herd. Let us be glad, therefore, that we differ from one another in form and in disposition. Variety is the spice of life and we are various enough to enjoy one another's society; so let us be content."

Another favorite part was when Toto lost his growl and said "But how about my lost growl?" and the Lion responded with, "The growl is of importance only to you. So it is your business to worry over the loss, not ours. If you love us, do not afflict your burdens on us; be unhappy all by yourself."

And lastly this quote from Ugu the Shoemaker said: "For many days of quiet thought have shown me that only those things one acquires honestly are able to render one content."


The Tin Woodman of Oz (4 stars)
This one was another favorite in this series. You would think that as many books as there are in this series, the creativity would run dry but it hasn't yet. This story follows the Tin Woodman's story about a munchkin he was suppose to marry before he got stuck in the woods until Dorothy came to his rescue in the first book. After encouragement from Woot the Wanderer, they go on a journey to find his first love and marry her.

I was not expecting how much would happen and how they linked a lot of it to the books before like the nine tiny piglets and where they came from originally before they now live with the Wizard of Oz. We get to find out what became of his body parts after the Wicked Witch had cursed his axe. And last, the ending to the story was not predictable as I thought it would be and I loved it. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything.

There were a few quotes that I loved in the book so I'll share them here: "When one travels, it is foolish to miss any interesting sight." - the Scarecrow

"I'm glad they didn't invite us in. I hope I'm not too particular about my associates, but I draw the line at pigs." - Captain Fyter

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A Note on Empathy by Jeff Guenther, LPC

It makes sense if you don't feel a deep well of empathy for someone who made a career out of refusing to show it for others. 

I want to normalize that because sometimes when a public figure dies especially in a tragic way, people rush to say, you have to be compassionate right now. Don't speak ill of the dead but if that person spent their life dismissing other people's pain, mocking it, minimizing it, even actively contributing to it, it makes sense that your empathy tank might run dry. 

That doesn't mean you're celebrating. It doesn't mean you're cold hearted. It just means your compassion has limits and those limits are often shaped by how much compassion someone showed in their lifetime. 

There’s actually something psychologically healthy about noticing that boundary. You're not obligated to manufacture sorrow for someone who never extended any to you, your community, or people you care about. 

You can hold both I don't wish this on anyone and I don't feel sad about it either. That's not cruelty. That's honesty and it feels really weird and uncomfortable to hold both of those in your body at the same time. 

This isn't about telling you not to be compassionate. It's about giving you permission to notice whatever you honestly feel or don't feel and trust that it's valid. 

- Jeff Guenther, LPC

Goodreads Review - "The Devil at His Elbow"

The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty by Valerie Bauerlein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I highly recommend this book even if you've already seen documentaries about the Murdaugh family. This is the best book out there on this story. There's so much information on this family and the tragedies surrounding them. The writing was so good and it flowed very well.


There were a few quotes that stuck out to me:

"Alex had his secrets.  So did his forefathers.  Alex’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather could make secrets disappear, and they had taught Alex to embrace the family ethos: To live above the law, you must become the law."

"For more than a century, the Murdaughs had practiced the art of putting a polished sheen over the mess of reality.

"Waters pressed Alex on the magnitude of his success and influence. There was an absurdity to Alex's disputing something so plainly true, as if he were so accustomed to swimming in the water of privilege, he forgot it was water at all."

"A dominant impression, shared by many, was that Moselle felt like a place where the barrier between the living and the dead was very thin."

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my bookshelf....(updated)

 

2024 Reading Wrap Up - Ratings

                            

★★★★★

A Nearly Normal Family - M.T. Edvardsson

Ain't Burned All the Bright - Jason Reynolds

Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle & Dante, #1) - Benjamin Alire Saenz

Barbie: The Screenplay - Greta Gerwig

Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones - Dolly Parton

Beyond the Gender Binary - Alok Vaid-Menon

Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0) - Angie Thomas

Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters - Andrew Morton

Emotional Intelligence: Managing Your Anxiety - Harvard Business Review

Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them (Fantastic Beasts, #1) - J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald (Fantastic Beasts, #2) - J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (Fantastic Beasts, #3) - J.K. Rowling

From Here to the Great Unknown - Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough

Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey

How Ya'll Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived - Leslie Jordan * 

It Ends with Us (It Ends With Us, #1) - Colleen Hoover

Karma - Boy George

Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #3) - Ransom Riggs

Lily and the Octopus - Steven Rowley

Lucille Bell Treasures - Cindy De La Hoz

Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay - Cyndie Spiegel

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit - John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker

Newtown: An American Tragedy- Matthew Lysiak

Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter

Sociopath - Patric Gagne

Taylor Swift is Life - Kathleen Perricone

The Blood of Emmett Till - Timothy B. Tyson

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, #1) - John Boyne *

The House of Hidden Meanings - RuPaul

The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) - Freida McFadden

The Forgotten Chapter (Blaze Collection, #3) - Pam Jenoff

The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle, #2) - Steven Rowley

The Official Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book - Taylor Swift

The Queens' English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis

The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis

The Woman In Me - Britney Spears

The Woman in the Window - A.J. Finn

The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be - Joanna Gaines *

Where Was God? - Jennifer Dawn Turpin

We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie

★★★★☆ 

A Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust - Rachelle Unreich

All the Missing Girls - Megan Miranda

Amelia's Shadow (Blaze Collection, #1) - Marie Benedict

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume

August: Osage County - Tracy Letts

Barriers to Entry (Blaze Collection, #7) - Ariel Lawhon 

Candace (The Fairer Sex Collection, #1) - Michelle Miller

Disney: Winnie the Pooh (Tiny Book) - Brooke Vitale

Eat Drink Nap: Bringing the House Home - Soho House

Fallen Grace (Blaze Collection, #6) - Sadeqa Johnson

for colored girls who have considered suicide - Ntozake Shange

Gray Malin: Coastal - Gray Malin

Great LGBTQ+ Speeches - Tea Uglow

GuRu - RuPaul *

If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer - O.J. Simpson

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Kline

It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us, #2) - Colleen Hoover

Kill Joy (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #0.5) - Holly Jackson

Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

Name Drop - Ross Mathews

Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders - John Glatt

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

The Answer is No - Fredrik Backman

The Art of Drag - Jake Hall

The Beast Within (Villains, #2) - Serena Valentino

The Best Girls (Disorder Collection, #1) - Min Jin Lee

The June Paintings (Blaze Collection, #2) - Maggie Shipstead

The Last Mrs. Parrish (Mrs. Parrish, #1) - Liv Constantine

The One and Only Family (The One and Only Ivan, #4) - Katherine Applegate

the princess saves herself in this one - Amanda Lovelace

The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy. - Tom Rinaldi

Two Women Walk Into a Bar - Cheryl Strayed

★★★☆☆ 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Alicia (The Fairer Sex Collection, #3) - Michelle Miller

All in Good Taste - Kate Spade

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1) - Roald Dahl

Clara (The Fairer Sex Collection, #5) - Michelle Miller

Eleanor (The Fairer Sex Collection, #7) - Michelle Miller

Enemy of the People: The Untold Story of the Journalists Who Opposed Hitler - Terrence Petty

Fires to Come (Blaze Collection, #4) - Asha Lemmie

Fairest of All (Villains, #1) - Serena Valentino

Heartstopper: Volume 5 - Alice Oseman

Natural Selection - Elon Hilderbrand

Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3 - L. Frank Baum

Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villains, #3) - Serena Valentino

The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrik Backman

The Life of Christine Jorgensen - Jennifer Hopkins

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz, #7) - L. Frank Baum

The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe

The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler - William L. Shirer

The Scarecrow of Oz (Oz, #9) - L. Frank Baum

The Summer We Believed (Denim Days, #1) - Shel Delisle

The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman - Ryan Green

The World According to Mister Rogers - Fred Rogers

Tik-Tok of Oz (Oz, #8) - L. Frank Baum

Tune in Tomorrow (Blaze Collection, #5) - Melanie Benjamin

When We Were Friends - Jane Green

★★☆☆☆

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

Heidi (The Fairer Sex Collection, #4) - Michelle Miller

Loam (Disorder Collection, #2) - Scott Heim

Lovers at the Museum - Isabel Allende

Meredith (The Fairer Sex Collection, #2) - Michelle Miller

On Enemy Ground (The Spy Who Vanished, #2) - Alma Katsu

Shaken, Not Stirred (The Spy Who Vanished, #3) - Alma Katsu

The Vanishing Man (The Spy Who Vanished, #1) - Alma Katsu

★☆☆☆☆ 

Anonymous (Disorder Collection, #4) - Uzodinma Iweala 

Cut & Thirst - Margaret Atwood

Hamlet - William Shakespeare

Harry Potter Spells - Prince Vincent

Keridee (The Fairer Sex Collection, #8) - Michelle Miller

Lauren (The Fairer Sex Collection, #6) - Michelle Miller

Mermaid - Jodi Picoult

The Absent-Minded Gentleman - Frank Heller

The Beckoning Fair One (Disorder Collection, #5) - Dan Chaon

Ungirls (Disorder Collection, #3) - Lauren Beaks

Will Williams (Disorder Collection, #6) - Namwali Serpell

* Books that have been read 2 times

† Books that have been read 3 times

2024 Reading Wrap Up

Here’s my 2024 Reading Wrap Up. This year I managed to read 117 books and exceeded my goal of 60 books. This is my first year to ever read over a hundred books. 

“The House of Hidden Meanings” by RuPaul was the overall winner and the non-fiction winner with “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey coming in second. On the fiction side I had “The Guncle Abroad” by Steven Rowley as the winner with “A Nearly Normal Family” by M.T. Edvardsson coming in second.

2024 Books Read:

Non-Fiction - Memoirs:

Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey

How Ya'll Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived - Leslie Jordan * 

From Here to the Great Unknown - Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough

Karma - Boy George

Sociopath - Patric Gagne

The House of Hidden Meanings - RuPaul

The Woman In Me - Britney Spears

Where Was God? - Jennifer Dawn Turpin

Non-Fiction - Audiobooks: 

GuRu - RuPaul *

Non-Fiction - Personal Growth:

Emotional Intelligence: Managing Your Anxiety - Harvard Business Review

Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay - Cyndie Spiegel

Non-Fiction - True Crime: 

If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer - O.J. Simpson

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit - John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker

Newtown: An American Tragedy- Matthew Lysiak

Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders - John Glatt

Non-Fiction - History: 

A Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust - Rachelle Unreich

Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters - Andrew Morton

Great LGBTQ+ Speeches - Tea Uglow

The Art of Drag - Jake Hall

The Blood of Emmett Till - Timothy B. Tyson

The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy. - Tom Rinaldi

The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler - William L. Shirer

Non-Fiction: 

Ain't Burned All the Bright - Jason Reynolds

All in Good Taste - Kate Spade

Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones - Dolly Parton

Beyond the Gender Binary - Alok Vaid-Menon

Eat Drink Nap: Bringing the House Home - Soho House

Gray Malin: Coastal - Gray Malin

Lucille Bell Treasures - Cindy De La Hoz

Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

Name Drop - Ross Mathews

Taylor Swift is Life - Kathleen Perricone

The Life of Christine Jorgensen - Jennifer Hopkins

The Official Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book - Taylor Swift

The Queens' English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis

The Queens' English: The Young Readers' LGBTQIA+ Dictionary - Chloe O. Davis

The World According to Mister Rogers - Fred Rogers

Fiction: 

A Nearly Normal Family - M.T. Edvardsson

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

All the Missing Girls - Megan Miranda

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume

August: Osage County - Tracy Letts

Barbie: The Screenplay - Greta Gerwig

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

for colored girls who have considered suicide - Ntozake Shange

Hamlet - William Shakespeare

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Kline

Lily and the Octopus - Steven Rowley

Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

The Woman in the Window - A.J. Finn

Fiction - Series: 

Kill Joy (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #0.5) - Holly Jackson

Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle & Dante, #1) - Benjamin Alire Saenz

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, #1) - John Boyne *

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1) - Roald Dahl

Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them (Fantastic Beasts, #1) - J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald (Fantastic Beasts, #2) - J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (Fantastic Beasts, #3) - J.K. Rowling

The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle, #2) - Steven Rowley

Heartstopper: Volume 5 - Alice Oseman

The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1) - Freida McFadden

It Ends with Us (It Ends with Us, #1) - Colleen Hoover

It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us, #2) - Colleen Hoover

Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #3) - Ransom Riggs

The Last Mrs. Parrish (Mrs. Parrish, #1) - Liv Constantine

Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3 - L. Frank Baum

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (Oz, #7) - L. Frank Baum

Tik-Tok of Oz (Oz, #8) - L. Frank Baum

The Scarecrow of Oz (Oz, #9) - L. Frank Baum

Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0) - Angie Thomas

The One and Only Family (The One and Only Ivan, #4) - Katherine Applegate

Fairest of All (Villains, #1) - Serena Valentino

The Beast Within (Villains, #2) - Serena Valentino

Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villains, #3) - Serena Valentino

Poetry: 

the princess saves herself in this one - Amanda Lovelace

Short Stories - Fiction:

Cut & Thirst - Margaret Atwood

Harry Potter Spells - Prince Vincent

Lovers at the Museum - Isabel Allende

Mermaid - Jodi Picoult

Natural Selection - Elon Hilderbrand

The Absent-Minded Gentleman - Frank Heller

The Answer is No - Fredrik Backman

The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrik Backman

The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe

When We Were Friends - Jane Green

Short Stories - Non Fiction:

Enemy of the People: The Untold Story of the Journalists Who Opposed Hitler - Terrence Petty

The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman - Ryan Green

Two Women Walk Into a Bar - Cheryl Strayed

We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngoni Adichie

Short Stories - Series: 

Amelia's Shadow (Blaze Collection, #1) - Marie Benedict

The June Paintings (Blaze Collection, #2) - Maggie Shipstead

The Forgotten Chapter (Blaze Collection, #3) - Pam Jenoff

Fires to Come (Blaze Collection, #4) - Asha Lemmie

Tune in Tomorrow (Blaze Collection, #5) - Melanie Benjamin

Fallen Grace (Blaze Collection, #6) - Sadeqa Johnson

Barriers to Entry (Blaze Collection, #7) - Ariel Lawhon 

The Summer We Believed (Denim Days, #1) - Shel Delisle

The Best Girls (Disorder Collection, #1) - Min Jin Lee

Loam (Disorder Collection, #2) - Scott Heim

Ungirls (Disorder Collection, #3) - Lauren Beaks

Anonymous (Disorder Collection, #4) - Uzodinma Iweala 

The Beckoning Fair One (Disorder Collection, #5) - Dan Chaon

Will Williams (Disorder Collection, #6) - Namwali Serpell

Candace (The Fairer Sex Collection, #1) - Michelle Miller

Meredith (The Fairer Sex Collection, #2) - Michelle Miller

Alicia (The Fairer Sex Collection, #3) - Michelle Miller

Heidi (The Fairer Sex Collection, #4) - Michelle Miller

Clara (The Fairer Sex Collection, #5) - Michelle Miller

Lauren (The Fairer Sex Collection, #6) - Michelle Miller

Eleanor (The Fairer Sex Collection, #7) - Michelle Miller

Keridee (The Fairer Sex Collection, #8) - Michelle Miller

The Vanishing Man (The Spy Who Vanished, #1) - Alma Katsu

On Enemy Ground (The Spy Who Vanished, #2) - Alma Katsu

Shaken, Not Stirred (The Spy Who Vanished, #3) - Alma Katsu

Children's Books:

Disney: Winnie the Pooh (Tiny Book) - Brooke Vitale

The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be - Joanna Gaines *

* Books that have been read 2 times

† Books that have been read 3 times

Goodreads Review - "From Here to the Great Unknown"

From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was so good and beautifully written. This was definitely a 5-star read for me. I’ve included my three favorite parts of the book. The first two are Lisa-Marie’s words and the last is Riley’s from a letter to her mom that was read at her funeral.

——————————————————————————————

AT SOME POINT I HAD A BRIGHT IDEA. THE FANS OUTSIDE ALWAYS WANTED ME TO TAKE THEIR CAMERA AND TAKE A PICTURE OF MY DAD. "GIVE ME TWENTY BUCKS, AND I'LL TAKE A PICTURE OF HIM," I'D SAY TO THE UBER FANS BY THE FENCE.
SURE ENOUGH, THEY WOULD GIVE ME TWENTY DOLLARS, THEN I WOULD GO INTO THE HOUSE AND TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FLOOR. I'D GIVE THE CAMERA BACK AND SAY, "HERE'S A PICTURE OF THE DOOR AND THE FLOOR." I STARTED DOING THAT REGULARLY.

- Lisa-Marie Presley

——————————————————————————————

I DON'T THINK MY SPARK WILL EVER COME BACK, TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST.
GRIEF SETTLES. IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU OVERCOME. IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU LIVE WITH. YOU ADAPT TO IT. NOTHING ABOUT YOU IS WHO YOU WERE. NOTHING ABOUT HOW OR WHAT I USED TO THINK IS IMPORTANT. THE TRUTH IS THAT I DON'T REMEMBER WHO I WAS.

- Lisa-Marie Presley
——————————————————————————————

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME STRENGTH, MY HEART, MY EMPATHY, MY COURAGE, MY SENSE OF HUMOR, MY MANNERS, MY TEMPER, MY WILDNESS, MY TENACITY. I AM A PRODUCT OF YOUR HEART. MY SISTERS ARE A PRODUCT OF YOUR HEART. MY BROTHER IS A PRODUCT OF YOUR HEART. WE ARE YOU, YOU ARE US, MY ETERNAL LOVE. I HOPE YOU FINALLY KNOW HOW LOVED YOU WERE HERE. THANK YOU FOR TRYING SO HARD FOR US. IF I DIDN'T TELL YOU EVERY DAY, THANK YOU.

- Riley Keough (from a letter to her mom that was read at her funeral)

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Date Read: 26 Oct - 5 Nov 2024

Goodreads Review - "Oz, Complete Collection, Volume 3"

Oz, the Complete Collection, Volume 3: The Patchwork Girl of Oz / Tik-Tok of Oz / The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Patchwork Girl of Oz (3 stars)
Another new adventure in the land of Oz. It was good but not too exciting. More characters were introduced. How the patchwork girl was created was very creative. On to the next adventure.

Tik-Tok of Oz (3 stars)
Each adventure is exciting to read with new and creative characters and places in the Land of Oz but this one was a bit boring for me. I'm still not sure why this was labeled after "Tik-Tok" because we barely got to see Tik-Tok and when we did, he didn't really do much but that's just my opinion. This review won't stop me from finishing the series because there are a lot of creative stories, characters, and places that I'm excited to see more of.


The Scarecrow of Oz (3 stars)
I love the fact that two new characters appeared from another one of L. Frank Baum's book outside of the Oz collection. The book is titled after the Scarecrow but he doesn't appear until the last half of the book. This books was okay but not one of my favorites. It's important to note that one of the chapter's title has the "m" word when referring to little people so it may be triggering for some.

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Date Read: 19 Apr - 15 Dec 2024

my bookshelf....

Goodreads Review - "The Texas Tower Sniper"

The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman by Ryan Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

History that’s worth learning about…

I read this book in order to understand more about the shooting and the shooter.

I’m a bit disappointed in how the author filled in the story with information that would be impossible to know. He wrote a lot about what the shooter and the victims (those that died) were thinking during the shooting. How could he possibly know what Charlie’s mother was thinking when he got to the house to kill her. I understand that Charlie wrote a lot about what happened to him but he didn’t write about any of it during the shooting and neither did the victims that died.

It’s a book worth reading to get information on what happened so I would still recommend the book.

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Date Read: 12 - 23 Sep 2024

Goodreads Reviews - "A Mother's Reckoning"

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I actually read this book back in 2017 and forgot to add my review to Goodreads. This book was amazing and insightful, to say the least. I encourage anyone who ever faulted the parents of the Columbine shooting, to pick up this book with an open mind and read it. To anyone who has lost a child to suicide, read this book.
•
•
I'll never forget that summer after the shooting in 1999 when our youth group stood outside of the school to pray.
•
•
"The best way to eliminate the belief that people with mental illness issues are violent is to help them so that they're not violent" --Dr. Kent Kiehl

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Date Read: 26 Feb - 26 Aug 2017

Goodreads Reviews - "Lucille Ball Treasures"

Lucille Ball Treasures by Cindy De La Hoz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I grew up watching I Love Lucy and still love the show and Lucy to this day. This book was so lovely. The pictures in the book were so beautiful and the size of the book is perfect for using as a decoration piece on a coffee table.

The only minor issue I had with the book (which did not affect the overall rating) was on pg. 77 when it mentions Desi's military service. It inaccurately states that "...in May 1943, when Desi was drafted. He joined the Air Force and entered..." The Air Force was not created until September 1947 and Desi was released from the military in November 1945 (pg. 81 was correct when it said "Army") so it's not possible for him to have served in the Air Force. It's also somewhat obvious in the picture (pg. 77) that his uniform is an Army uniform by the rank he was wearing, if you're familiar with the military.

My favorite picture in the entire book is on pg. 97. It's just so beautiful! If you grab the physical copy, you get a collection of reprinted memorabilia in the back of the book to keep that includes photographs, movie and modeling advertisements, film stills, and more.

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Date Read: 13 - 18 Feb 2024

Goodreads Review - "It Ends with Us" (It Ends with Us, #1)

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn’t sure if I would like this book because I have been disappointed before when so many people hype up a book but not this time. Some parts were very hard to read but it had to be in there because people need to hear the raw and dark reality of domestic violence and what it can entail.

I always wonder where the naming of the book comes from while reading and when I finally read it, I loved the title even more.

“Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet. It Ends With Us.”

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Date Read: 5 - 13 Jan 2024

Goodreads Review - "The Guncle" (The Guncle, #1)

The Guncle by Steven Rowley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love seeing more and more books with LGBTQ+ storylines because representation matters and I wish I would have seen more of these when I was a child.

When I read books I like to put a face to the person that I'm reading about. If it's already on the screen, then I look up the actors/actresses on iMDB. If it's not on screen yet, I just figure out which person would play the part if it did become one.

I just could not help myself while I was reading this novel. I was able to figure out who Patrick (the guncle) was from the very beginning because Steven Rowley did such a good job with it. I figured out exactly who would be perfect for this role and that's Dan Levy. I kept thinking that Patrick's character was somewhat close to David's character on Schitt's Creek. By doing this, I fell in love with the book even more.

If they make this a movie, I really hope it's Dan Levy as Patrick!! I can't wait for the next book in this series, The Guncle Abroad.

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Date Read: 13 - 17 Jul 2024