Category: Nonfiction

Cover for Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peters

Review: Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson

November 27, 2021

Content Warnings: sexual assault, underage sexual attention, abusive mother, drug and alcohol use, domestic abuse, homelessness, murder, suicide, stalking, panic attacks, miscarriages, and friends and family death. “We all have our own scars. Let them be a blessing and not a curse.” Wow, what a life!  Cassandra Peters, aka Elvira, started her life as a … More Review: Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra Peterson

Cover for Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo

Review: Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo

November 12, 2021

Trigger Warnings: drug use, cheating, gang violence and murder, criminal acts, abusive childhood, family death Danny Trejo is an actor that I have watched on screen since I was a child. He is an iconic actor with his looks and personality. When I saw that he wrote a memoir, I knew I needed to read … More Review: Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo

Cover for Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. Freeman

Review: The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. Freeman

October 15, 2021

In The Field of Blood, Joanne Freeman traces the history of physical violence on the floor of the U.S. Congress leading up to the Civil War. Drawing on a range of historical sources, Freedman shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict, duels, and lifelong grudges.  This was a fascinating look at Congressional history. While … More Review: The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. Freeman

Cover for Human Sacrifice: A Shocking Expose of Ritual Killings Worldwide By Jimmy Lee Shreeve

Review: Human Sacrifice: A Shocking Expose of Ritual Killing Worldwide by Jimmy Lee Shreeve

October 7, 2021

Human Sacrifice investigates some recent cases of human sacrifices and ritual killings throughout the world. With the use of police reports and interviews, Jimmy Lee Shreeve tells the history of these cases.  This book was interesting. I didn’t realize ritualistic killings and human sacrifice was still happening around the world. Certain cultures still use human … More Review: Human Sacrifice: A Shocking Expose of Ritual Killing Worldwide by Jimmy Lee Shreeve

Cover for Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Various

Review: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

September 5, 2021

Four Hundred Souls is a collection of essays and poems chronicling 400 years of African American history. The essays began in 1619 with the ‘White Lion’ in Virginia and continued until 2019 when a white nationalist was the President.  I actually own this as an eBook but when I found that the audiobook is narrated … More Review: Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

Cover for The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife

Review: The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife

September 4, 2021

Until a few years ago, I didn’t realize that the Tower of London had ravens or that there was a whole rumor that the city would fall if the ravens left. Christopher Skaife takes us through the history of the position of Ravenmaster and what it means to be a Ravenmaster.  As an American, I … More Review: The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife

Cover for The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America by Ann Neumann

Review: The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America by Ann Neumann

August 21, 2021

In The Good Death, journalist and hospice volunteer Ann Neumann examines what it means to die in the United States. She discusses end-of-life care, right to die, medical ethics, starvation deaths, and other aspects of what it could mean to die in America.  This book was very interesting because it looks at how your wishes … More Review: The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America by Ann Neumann

Cover for White Rage by Carol Anderson

Review: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

August 14, 2021

“White rage is not about visible violence, but rather it works its way through the courts, the legislatures, and a range of government bureaucracies. It wreaks havoc subtly, almost imperceptibly. Too imperceptibly, certainly, for a nation consistently drawn to the spectacular—to what it can see. It’s not the Klan. White rage doesn’t have to wear … More Review: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

Cover for The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line by Major General Mari K. Eder

ARC Review: The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II by Major General Mari K. Eder

August 3, 2021

Trigger Warnings: rape, miscarriage, death of a spouse, depression, attempted suicide, antisemitism, death, genocide, starvation, violence, racism, torture, concentration camps and ghettos, forced sterilization  “They broke all the rules, including some not even written yet. They invented, they advanced, and they persisted.” The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line tells the story of the women … More ARC Review: The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II by Major General Mari K. Eder

Cover for Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywoods Dracula by Koren Shadmi

ARC Review: Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula by Koren Shadmi

July 29, 2021

This is a comic biography detailing the rise and fall of the horror film icon Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is a household name because he brought to life Dracula and embodied the role multiple times during his career. Unfortunately his life was not all wonderful. This was a wonderful and heartbreaking comic that tells the story … More ARC Review: Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula by Koren Shadmi

Cover for The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Review: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

July 11, 2021

“The United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, dwarfing the rates of nearly every developed country, even surpassing those in highly repressive regimes like Russia, China, and Iran.” The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is an informative and well researched book about the prison system … More Review: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander