Julie ~ "Lucky" 2013 ~ Booklist

[julie]

Thank you kindly ,my friend. Thought I'd try to spice things up a bit for the coming year .

[Devi]

I too just wanted to say, I love your challenge lists! Makes my ABC one look boring!

 

I can't wait to read your progress next year!!

Edited December 21, 2012 by Devi

[julie]

Thank you Devi -

You are welcome to use any of my ideas you want. I don't mind a bit . The latest one I added to my "extras" list has me the most intrigued right now. Trying to come up with 5 books to fit those questions,so it may be the first one I do .

Thanks for stopping in .

[Devi]

I really like the sound of the 5 w's challenge!

[julie]

Thanks Devi

 

That's the one I decided to go with first . Will update as I get a good start on it. The WHO will be easy -- lots of books with the name of a person in the title .

[julie]

Fatal Friends,Deadly Neighbors by Ann Rule 3/5

 

If any of you have read any of Ann Rule's true crime files,you'll know about what you get with these. She's a good writer,but these books have several stories all in one book . The main ones she takes the longest discussing are the Susan Powell case ,then the one about the little boy who fell ? off a balcony in his home, and his dad's live-in girlfriend was found hanging in the same house the next day .

I've seen both of these on several tv shows, so a big part of the book was a repeat,so to speak,but still good since it's Ann Rule's writing .

 

 

He Killed Our Janny 4/5

 

This book was another typical husband kills wife story,sadly becoming an all-too-familiar scenario . Frustrating that the lady stayed with the guy for decades of abuse,the kids suffering the worst in the long run from it .Still a well written book,that's why the higher rating .

 

 

Almost Perfect: The True Story of the Crawford Family Murders 4/5

 

This book was about a true crime that took place in australia, I think in 1970 . An entire family comes up missing from their home,but soon,someone spots their car hanging off a cliff over the ocean . The police step in,haul the car up the cliff,and find MOST of the family members inside .They easily determined that their injuries were not from the car accident .

The writer could have done a bit better job on piecing the story together , but it was still an interesting case ,and reamains (sort-of) an unsolved crime this many years later . They are 100 % sure they know WHO dunnit, they just have never found him . Good story .

Edited January 12, 2013 by julie

[pontalba]

Most of the family members...? /shiver/ Sounds scary.

[frankie]

Hi Julie, I hope you have an amazing reading year in 2013! Bring on them good reads

[julie]

Pontalba

Yea, this guy in the book was a real nut-job .. Very odd .It never ceases to amaze me what one person will do to another to "dispose" of them . I read a book many years ago by a coroner called Dead Men Do Tell Tales ,and it wouldn't be for the weak -stomached . This guy goes into all the ways he has seen of how a person kills another person . Pretty graphic and gorey in spots, especially the pictures . Most of these books don't get to me when I'm reading them . I can sit and eat a sandwich while reading most of the stuff ,but the pictures are sometimes a little too over the edge .

 

 

Frankie

Thanks for the well wishes and happy reading for the year to you too !

[julie]

Well I picked up a paper book that I got last week at the used bookstore called Book Lust : Recommended Reading for Every Mood,Moment and Reason .

 

She talks about her Rule of 50 --

If you are under 50, you should give a book 50 pages to see if you are going to like it. If it hasn't captured your interest by then, then put it aside .

 

If you are Over 50, subtract your age by 100 --this is how many pages you should give a book before moving onto the next.

 

What is YOUR rule when reading a new book that is sluggish at the beginning ?

 

I know I don't give a book 50 pages if it's sluggish. I give it about 5 .

[frankie]

Almost Perfect: The True Story of the Crawford Family Murders 4/5

 

This book was about a true crime that took place in australia, I think in 1970 . An entire family comes up missing from their home,but soon,someone spots their car hanging off a cliff over the ocean . The police step in,haul the car up the cliff,and find MOST of the family members inside .They easily determined that their injuries were not from the car accident .

The writer could have done a bit better job on piecing the story together , but it was still an interesting case ,and reamains (sort-of) an unsolved crime this many years later . They are 100 % sure they know WHO dunnit, they just have never found him . Good story .

 

This one sounds interesting, and it's an added bonus that it's a case from Australia. I can't believe I almost missed this! Thanks for the review Julie, I'm adding this to my wishlist

[Athena]

What is YOUR rule when reading a new book that is sluggish at the beginning ?

I generally read quite a few pages before I abandon a book, I hardly ever abandon books. I could also be lucky in that the books I pick to read, I like a lot most of the time. There are a few books I've abandoned over the years, but they are really few. Generally I read them about half-way or something, before I abandon them.

[chesilbeach]

What is YOUR rule when reading a new book that is sluggish at the beginning ?

 

It depends on the book - if it's not one I've chosen, say for my reading group for example, then it could be as few as 10 pages, but on the whole I try to give a book either 100 pages or a third of the book (whichever is less), but I have to really dislike it for me to give it up.

[julie]

Frankie

Do you ever recall hearing a news story or anything about this case ? It happened in 1970,but has never really been officially wrapped up,since the killer is still missing. I thought maybe they had tv shows over there like here,where they show cold cases ? I'd sure like to know where this guy went .

It reminds me of a case that happened over here that was almost identical . I can't remember what state it happend in,but a man did the same thing,and came up missing for decades. They showed the case on America's Most Wanted,with an aged picture of the killer,and someone actually called in saying this guy was their neighbor. He had started a whole new life, been married, lived I think 30 years without being caught .

I had it for my Kindle ,or I would have been happy to send it to you .

 

 

 

Athena

You have a lot more stamina than I do. I envy people who stick with a book even if they arent enjoying it,because you stick with it and see it through to the end,and probably are glad you did .

 

I also wish I could be a person who reads several books at once,but I'm not good at that either . One track mind .

[julie]

Claire

That's a good rule to have,too. The 1/3 rule .Are you usually glad you kept reading,or have you had times where you kept slogging your way through and finished it,thinking it was just as dull at the end as it was at the beginning ?

[chesilbeach]

There are occasions when the book ends up being much more interesting that I thought it would after the start, but even if they finish brilliantly, I still feel a bit cheated by the beginning! Having said that, I've also been known to give up on a book after reading three quarters of it, so it does depend on the book. I've also occasionally skim read some of the book, and just read the end properly, so at least I know the gist of the story if I need to discuss it in a group. Basically, Julie, I'm fickle and it all depends on my mood!

[chaliepud]

i generally use the 100 page rule but I adapt it according to the size of a book. Occasionally though I just know when I am not going to like a book, last year it was The Slap as the language put me off almost immediately...

[julie]

Chalie

I've run across a few like that too,that are too graphic, too much foul language or something will rub me wrong from the first page,so it goes straight out . Not very often,but once in a great while .

I can't remember the last tme it happened or what book it was .

[pontalba]

Julie, I wanted to mention a book I'm reading, Dangerous Instincts, Use An FBI Profiler's tactics to avoid unsafe situations by Mary Ellen O'Toole, Ph.D. You might like it, some interesting anecdotes about serial killers are given too. A lot of what she says is common sense.

 

I have no hard and fast rule as to when I stop reading an uninteresting/boring/graphic/irritating book, it varies from a few pages in to half way through. I'm fickle like that.

[Devi]

Pontalba

Yea, this guy in the book was a real nut-job .. Very odd .It never ceases to amaze me what one person will do to another to "dispose" of them . I read a book many years ago by a coroner called Dead Men Do Tell Tales ,and it wouldn't be for the weak -stomached . This guy goes into all the ways he has seen of how a person kills another person . Pretty graphic and gorey in spots, especially the pictures . Most of these books don't get to me when I'm reading them . I can sit and eat a sandwich while reading most of the stuff ,but the pictures are sometimes a little too over the edge .

 

It makes me sick to think what some people do to others, it's worse when it's someone you know. Someone i went to primary school with was murdered November last year. It wasn't his first killing either, he went to prison for his first kill, but was released 15 years later.

 

This might be sickening for a lot of people, so I will put it in spoiler tags, but this is how he killed her:

 

Stabbed her multiple times, then chopped her body up and disposed them in a garbage bin with acid, it's also siad he cut her finger tips off and removed her teeth.

 

 

I hope you all don't think of me as weird, I have been around death for most of my life, I also have a bit of a fascination with the mind and what makes people tick and do things like this. So I find books on serial killers etc interesting.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Devi

[julie]

Julie, I wanted to mention a book I'm reading, Dangerous Instincts, Use An FBI Profiler's tactics to avoid unsafe situations by Mary Ellen O'Toole, Ph.D. You might like it, some interesting anecdotes about serial killers are given too. A lot of what she says is common sense.

 

I have no hard and fast rule as to when I stop reading an uninteresting/boring/graphic/irritating book, it varies from a few pages in to half way through. I'm fickle like that.

 

Thanks for the suggestion .I'll definitely mark it down for a future read .

 

 

 

And I don't think it's being fickle to have different days where you feel differently about giving a book a longer chance. I think we are probably all that way,depends on our moods as to how we handle everything ,don';t you think ?

 

 

It makes me sick to think what some people do to others, it's worse when it's someone you know. Someone i went to primary school with was murdered November last year. It wasn't his first killing either, he went to prison for his first kill, but was released 15 years later.

 

This might be sickening for a lot of people, so I will put it in spoiler tags, but this is how he killed her:

 

Stabbed her multiple times, then chopped her body up and disposed them in a garbage bin with acid, it's also siad he cut her finger tips off and removed her teeth.

 

 

I hope you all don't think of me as weird, I have been around death for most of my life, I also have a bit of a fascination with the mind and what makes people tick and do things like this. So I find books on serial killers etc interesting.

 

Devi

So sorry to hear about your friend . It is really horrid what some of these sick people do to others.

I don't think you are being weird to find books about serial killers of interest. I don't read them for enjoyment,but information. I think it's interesting to hear how these people's minds work ,what causes them to do what they do,and how we are able to catch them. I think in an odd sort of way,when authors write these books, it may help people who are studying in the crininal justice line of work to make their task easier to catch these guys sooner, or find out how they tick .

[pontalba]

As far as a murder is concerned the book (I just finished) mentioned above, Dangerous Instincts, Use An FBI Profiler's tactics to avoid unsafe situations by Mary Ellen O'Toole gives a chilling stastistic. Our of 14,000 murders (in the U.S.) about 1,700 (or so) were committed by someone the victim knew. Not A Stranger!

[Devi]

As far as a murder is concerned the book (I just finished) mentioned above, Dangerous Instincts, Use An FBI Profiler's tactics to avoid unsafe situations by Mary Ellen O'Toole gives a chilling stastistic. Our of 14,000 murders (in the U.S.) about 1,700 (or so) were committed by someone the victim knew. Not A Stranger!

 

The friend I mentioned knew her killer too. They had been friends for at least six months and hung out frequently.

[julie]

Yes, I'd actually heard the statistic that most people killed ,it's by someone they know . Pretty scarey,isn't it ?

Devi, did you meet the guy that killed your friend ? I was wondering if you had,and if you thought he was odd-acting in any way ? You'd almost think you could notice something a little bit off about them,wouldn't you ? But maybe not ...

I think some serial killers have been quite charming,like Ted Bundy .He was handsome and smart and could have charmed just about anyone .And sadly, he did ...

[Devi]

Yes, I'd actually heard the statistic that most people killed ,it's by someone they know . Pretty scarey,isn't it ?

Devi, did you meet the guy that killed your friend ? I was wondering if you had,and if you thought he was odd-acting in any way ? You'd almost think you could notice something a little bit off about them,wouldn't you ? But maybe not ...

I think some serial killers have been quite charming,like Ted Bundy .He was handsome and smart and could have charmed just about anyone .And sadly, he did ...

 

No I had never met him but I did think it was odd that a 46 year old was hanging out so close with a group of 20 somethings, my friend was only 22.