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Acquisitions ~ And WHAT ARE YOU READING? 2017 ~ the Sequel
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Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa
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Aug 07, 2017 02:21PM
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I'm reading "the collector" for the first time!!I'm quite excited about it...
I've started "A short hitory of nearly everything" because I like to have a fiction and non fiction going at the same time but I'm thinking of putting it down for "Ted Bundy: Conversations with a killer"
Just picked up Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde
and
The Devil's Rooming House: The True Story of America's Deadliest Female Serial Killer
from the library.
I just started reading Badge of the Assassin by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Phillip Rosenberg. Looking really good so far.
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I started The Sinatra Club: My Life Inside the New York Mafia by Sal Polisi. I'm at page 72. Not sure if I want to keep going. Has anyone else read it? Should I quit or keep going?
Fishface wrote: "Just started Mean Justice. It's starting out very good."Oh good, I just put Mean Justice on my new order! Thanks Fishface!
Koren wrote: "I started The Sinatra Club: My Life Inside the New York Mafia by Sal Polisi. I'm at page 72. Not sure if I want to keep going. Has anyone else read it? Should I quit or keep going?"Koren, if it were me then I would quit reading it. Reading anything about the celebrities in a book has to be with a really good author otherwise I don' bother.
I just started reading Echoes In The Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh. So far so good...
I really liked that one, Rita. Thought it was well-done, although you definitely have to appreciate Wambaugh's somewhat cheeky tone at times.After not being all that thrilled with my last choice, I'm now 2/3 of the way through Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde and I'm finding it extremely well done. Chronological for the most part, which I find easier to follow, and with enough regional and time-period detail to give you a feel for the era without getting side-tracked into other events. Amazingly detailed, referencing unpublished diaries and memoirs, the author manages to provide reasons for the events without being particularly sympathetic to the perpetrators. I can imagine myself getting pretty disgusted with Clyde in a less-well-done book, to the point where I might not want to read any more, but this one's done well enough to keep me hanging in there. Should be done soon.
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Rita wrote: "I just started reading Echoes In The Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh. So far so good..."Just be aware that part of this story is fictional. For the complete, corrected story read either Principal Suspect: The True Story of Dr. Jay Smith and the Main Line Murders, Updated and Expanded or (my favorite) Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case.
I couldn't even finish Principal Suspect. I didn't think it was well done at all. I read about 3/4 of it and finally just went, 'bleah'. I don't remember finding anything particularly edifying in it.
Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other one myself, but if you had persisted you would have found out exactly the same information Smith presented. As criminal memoirs go, Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case is remarkably frank.
Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "I just started reading Echoes In The Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh. So far so good..."Just be aware that part of this story is fictional. For the complete, corrected story read either ..."
You know what Fishface, I hadn't opened the book when I posted what I was starting but this book is marked up, underlined with red ink all the way through. I don't know if I will ever finish it. I am starting to get bored as well. DANG...! You are saying part of it was fiction? Holy Cow...I should never have ordered it. DANG and DOUBLE DANG!!!!! Thanks for telling me.
K.A. wrote: "I couldn't even finish Principal Suspect. I didn't think it was well done at all. I read about 3/4 of it and finally just went, 'bleah'. I don't remember finding anything particularly edifying in it."What book are you read K.A.? Is Principal Suspect the title? If so thanks for posting this 'bleah' book which I won't buy.
Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other one myself, but if you had persisted you would have found out exactly the same ..."K.A. wrote: "I really liked that one, Rita. Thought it was well-done, although you definitely have to appreciate Wambaugh's somewhat cheeky tone at times.
After not being all that thrilled with my last choice,..."
Fishface, where does this guy Bill Bradfield fit into this scenario? I thought he was on trial as well as Jay Smith? I am confused with this whole story and what I did was I just read the lines that were highlighted in red which took me to the end. Because I didn't read alot of the book I still don't know what role Bill Bradfield played outside of conning women all his life proclaiming his higher powers, so to speak. I am not even going to post a review because I am tired of it. Do you suggest I try Joseph Wambaugh and Jay Smith Case book? It is quite a story and a tragic one at that but if you've read something better then I will get it. This one was coming apart.
Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other one myself, but if you had persisted you would have found out ..."Bill Bradfield is the reason there is a TC book about the Main Line murders. Nobody would have gotten killed without his sorry butt making it all happen. Get yourself a fresh copy of the book from the library or someplace and read it without all the red marks. It's a great read. Just not very complete. I think you will not get a complete picture of how it all went down unless you read Echoes in the Darkness and then fill the gaps by reading Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case.
Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other one myself, but if you had persisted you would ha..."Thanks Fishface. I put it on my wish list for now. The paperback is $25. right now but it will come down.
Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other one myself, but if you had persi..."Were you looking at the used copies?
Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other one myself, but if ..."Fishface, I very seldom pick the new paperbacks just the used ones which can be .01 cent but not always but I wait for it to drop.
Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with the other on..."That's the value of your "want to read" shelf here at GR or -- sniffle -- the one you had at Shelfari. You can't forget to get the book unless you never look at that shelf again.
Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Well, Jay Smith wrote Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case himself. I wasn't thrilled with..."I know Fishface....sniffling at the mention of Shelfari, and for some reason I forget to look. downer Deb. Thanks Fishface.
I just started reading Naked Addiction by Caitlin Rother. Dang, this is another I missed.
I've just finished reading Crack House by Harry Keeble. I really enjoyed it and now I feel like I need something to fill the void.
Crack House covers the rise of cocaine and crack in the UK through the 90's and 00's. Showing the effects of gang culture and drugs on ordinary people.
I read his other book Baby X before this thereby reading the books in the wrong order but they are very good .
Mean Justice was not holding my attention -- even though it was very well-written -- so I moved on to Dead of Night: The True Story of a Serial Killer. It's really hard to put down. Man, you know a guy is bad news when he creeps out a felon named WAYNE so thoroughly that he goes to the police about him!
Traded in 4 bags of books for these:My own copy of Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America
A new, hardcover copy of Echoes in the Darkness to replace the one that was borrowed and not returned
A Child of Christian Blood: Murder and Conspiracy in Tsarist Russia: The Beilis Blood Libel
Another City, Not My Own
Innocent Victims
Body Parts
The Wrong Man
Die, My Love: a True Story of Revenge, Murder, and Two Texas Sisters
A Wealth of Evil: The True Story of the Murder of Martha Moxley in America's Richest Community
Steel Ashes
Property Of Folsom Wolf
I have to say the TC section at that store is getting smaller -- and more crowded with uninteresting books about the Mafia -- every time I go in.
Now, for the monthly challenge, I'm re-reading Against Her Will. I haven't opened it since I first read it after her dad went on 'Oprah' in the 1990s. There's a whole lot more to this case than I remembered.
The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions by Sister Helen Prejean3 stars
I've read enough books about death row prisoners being falsely accused of crimes to know that this happens more often than we would like to admit. This book is not as well-written as some others I read, basically focusing on 2 crimes. The book is more about her experience, and while she does talk about the crimes and gives reasons why the investigation was flawed, I thought her personal experience seemed to drone on and on at times.
Dang, I feel silly! I posted earlier that I started reading Caitlin Rother's Naked Addiction which I did and I fell in love with the lead detective and it was a great on-your-seat who done it. As it turned out So when I read the author's notes and acknowledgments I learned that it was a NOVEL of all things. I won't bother posting a review but now I must find out whether the book is a true crime story. ***headbang***
Okey dokey....I just started reading ZODIAC by Robert Greysmith. This one should be really good. eh?
I am greatly enjoying A Wealth of Evil: The True Story of the Murder of Martha Moxley in America's Richest Community. Where Fuhrman's book about the case simply looks at the evidence, this one is written from the POV of the people who lived there, were passing around theories and rumors like mad, and knew the victim.
Sounds like the two should be read together? Maybe complimentary.
K.A. wrote: "Sounds like the two should be read together? Maybe complimentary."Maybe so. I often burn out on a case and decide to come back to it years later. It would be way too much, for example, to read all the books on the Main Line murders, but if I had known up front just to read Echoes in the Darkness back to back with Joseph Wambaugh and the Jay Smith Case I would have happily dispensed with the others.
Talking with Serial Killers: The Most Evil People in the World Tell Their Own Stories just arrived via ILL. Can't wait to start it!
So, I've just finished reading "The Spider and the Fly: A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder", which I kind of liked. Now I'm going to read "Secrets of the Cellar" by John Glatt. My current quest is to find out how family, friends, neighbors, etc., can be "totally unaware" of horribly nefarious goings-on in their homes, their neighbors' homes or the local vicinity, for lengthy times. My gut feeling is that it is not true unawareness, rather denial, which requires multiple conscious decisions made many times a day, albeit by disordered minds. Thus, culpability may be considered.
Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I wouldn't notice most comings and goings. I don't know most of my neighbors at all. I might be able to hear loud screaming from one of the side neighbors, but maybe not if I was inside with everything closed up and the air on or if it was windy (which isn't unusual). There's a big community park down the road and I have no idea what's going on there or who's using it at any given time. There are maybe five vehicles I recognize on a regular basis. So it doesn't surprise me that people in a neighborhood might not know about 'nefarious goings-on' perpetrated by their neighbors.
I think you'll find, Hari, that the heaviest denial in Secrets in the Cellar is emanating from the dungeon master himself, as evidenced by the title of this book about him: I'm No Monster: The Horrifying True Story of Josef Fritzl.
K.A. wrote: "Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I wouldn't notice most comings and goings...."Gosh K.A., I am the total opposite because I listen to everything that is going on. I am usually quietly reading so I perk up when something happens. I always wanted to get a police scanner but I think now it is illegal here. Dang everything is illegal here. DOUBLE DANG!!!!
The scanners themselves probably aren't illegal, but you might have a hard time tuning in to police channels, as many of them are scrambled now that a lot of departments have gone to digital. Also, some departments have gone to 800mghz, which is a different set of frequencies altogether. So it's a lot more complicated to listen in nowadays.
K.A. wrote: "The scanners themselves probably aren't illegal, but you might have a hard time tuning in to police channels, as many of them are scrambled now that a lot of departments have gone to digital. Also,..."Gosh K.A., thanks so much for letting me know. Well, I guess I have to put that dream to bed. Dang...lol
Oh, Rita, just hold your nose and join the RCMP!I'm most of the way thru Talking with Serial Killers: The Most Evil People in the World Tell Their Own Stories and I feel kind of split down the middle. He's giving me all kinds of new insights into cases I thought I knew about, but the book is clearly also full of mistakes, so I don't know how much I can believe. He has quite a tin ear and makes all the Americans -- killers, cops, surviving victims -- sound British. (One cop says "I'd got myself in a spot of jeopardy there," for instance -- something no American would ever say.) He also makes obvious factual errors, like his statement that one of Aileen Wuornos's victims celebrated his 50th birthday in January of 1990, quickly followed by a statement to the effect that she murdered him in 1989. He also overlooks the fact that she -- like Butch DeFeo, another killer covered in this book -- is not a serial killer according to the standard definition. So what are those two mooks even doing in here?
Fishface wrote: "Oh, Rita, just hold your nose and join the RCMP!I'm most of the way thru Talking with Serial Killers: The Most Evil People in the World Tell Their Own Stories and I feel kind of spl..."
***doing the Happy Dance***
Rita wrote: "K.A. wrote: "Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I wouldn't notice most coming..."I'm with you, Rita. I'm outside a lot in the nice weather, and even when I'm inside, can't avoid seeing, for example, the FEDX and UPS deliveries. I know, again for example, that the house around the corner has 5 people in it, so why would a delivery truck be delivering groceries every day, as if there were 7 or 8 people needing food in the house? Wouldn't the butcher that supplied the family with meat wonder why the family needed more meat after the one daughter disappeared than before she left?
Or, when the guy was constructing the basement: why did he suddenly need an elaborate basement, anyway? Why all the activity, and supplies arriving, even in the middle of the night (as has been postulated). And why at night, anyway? What is this guy hiding, is what I would be thinking.
It's just a matter of being aware of your surroundings, which is hardwired into the primate psyche. And neighbors talk among themselves, too. It's called gossip; the grapevine.
Forgive my ranting: I feel strongly about the issue of stewardship and all...
Hari wrote: "Rita wrote: "K.A. wrote: "Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I wouldn't notic..."Absolutely Hari! I was watching late a night this house in the middle of our block. The front face is north so I could just see the lane way and the back of this house. There was an unusual amount of cars pulling up very close to the garage of this house and one would leave and another would come up the lane. There were cars parked on my end of the lane on the side and they would drive up and park, ten minutes later they were gone. So I deduced that it was a crack house. I called the non-emergency Police Depart. and they knew what was going on. A short time later they pounced and the owner sold it. Yes, we have to be aware for sure.
Hari wrote: "Rita wrote: "K.A. wrote: "Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I wouldn't notic..."Just FYI, I belong to the human species, too, even if I am an ex-cop. And I spend a lot of time outdoors - in the back, not in the front of the house, or away from home. I can't imagine keeping track of the deliveries your neighbors get. I guess I just have enough to do to keep me busy with other stuff.
K.A. wrote: "Hari wrote: "Rita wrote: "K.A. wrote: "Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I w..."Hi, K. A.,
Even so, I feel like your antennae would perk-up eventually, precisely because you used to be a cop.
K.A. wrote: "Hari wrote: "Rita wrote: "K.A. wrote: "Hmm. I have to say, I have no idea what's going on in most of my neighbors' homes. I'm not out front much, just to pull the car in & out of the garage, so I w..."Bravo, Rita!
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Obsessed with True Crime
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