julie Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 In the Sanctuary of Outcasts ----Neil White 4/5 At the beginning of this book, this young man, Neil, is on his way to prison for check frad, embezzlement ,etc. He is from Louisiana and grew up in a fairly well-to-do family,so he wanted to keep up that lifestyle as an adult. He married and had 2 kids and became involved in magazine production. He seemed to always be striving for more in his life,wanting more "things",spending money he didn't have ,etc. He made many huge risks with his (and other people's) money ,to get all his ideas off the ground and keep on living a wealthier lifestyle. In the end, he got caught and got sent to prison . The "prison" was a beautiful area with several large buildings ,that he soon found out was a partial prison and partial home for Leprosy patients . In the beginning, he had a very hard time, mainly knowing that he lived in a confined building with patients who had a horrible illness,and he didnt really want anything to do with them,thinking they would give him their illness . Most of the men in jail with him were in for sort-of the same type things, money issues mainly, or cheating people to get money . When I first began the book, the writer really didnt sound like the type person I'd like . He sounded very snooty and high class ,and sounded realy like he would come out at the end of his sentence (1 1/2 years ) and be on the lookout for ways to get back up to the rich living he had done before . During the book, you begin to see a transformation in him,and he begins to find out that living with "outcasts" has probably taught him more about life than anything else has . I won't ruin the end in case someone else reads it . I thought it was an interesting book and never realized they had places like that ,where inmates are put into a "hospital -type " setting ,so it was interesting to see how they were able to do that and make it work . I also learned more about Leprosy ,never knowing much about it before . The people who were diagnosed with it were usually shunned by society and their families too ,so the people in this place had to survive by themselves (and each other),since it seemed the rest of the world had given up on them. I liked the book a lot because it teaches you that sometimes people with "nothing" ,are better people inside and have more caring and wisdom than people who grow up wealthy and never have to struggle in life . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 Excellent review Julie. Sounds very interesting. There used to be a leper colony in, I think, Carville, Louisiana...something like that...must google. *back in a flash* Here's an article I found.... http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-29/news/mn-62114_1_leper-colony Was the protagonist there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 Yep, you got it, Kat ! That's the place ,Carville . And at the end , the future for the building was uncertain .There were rumors it would be turned into a prison ,and the Leper patients would have to be moved to nursing homes ,or places like that . This story took place and ended in 93 --then the author updates you on his life some 15 years later,and also on the lives of some of the people he talked about in the book,so you know the ending to some of their stories . I wonder what they ever decided to do about the building ? Is Carville anyplace close to your area ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 I don't know too much about it, I read about it a little years ago, but nothing lately. Just checked that article I linked, I didn't realize it was that old. It's about a hundred miles to the west of us. On another topic, it looks like we might get that hurricane (Issac), or at least be brushed by it. The predictions are all over the place as of now. If it comes in between here and Biloxi, Ms. it could come up to around your area with the tropical rains eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I read The Island by Victoria Hislop a few years ago, which is partly set on a Greek island that was used as a leper colony, and that part of it was absolutely fascinating, as I'd had no idea that leprosy was still a common disease so recently in history - I'd always thought it was a medieval disease that had died out centuries ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Kat - Stay safe down there ! Do you guys usually try to stick it out when the storms come your way,or leave ? I know one year we went to Myrtle Beach for vacation and they had a severe storm like that headed that way. We asked people in the restaurants and stores about it and if we should leave, or if they were leaving,and they all just kinda chuckled and said ,no,they werent gonna leave, they stayed during the storms ,so it seems that lots of people that live in those areas with the bad storms kinda get used to them and stay . Whatever you decide, be safe and keep in touch so we know you're ok . ClaIre Thanks for mentioning that book. Maybe I can hunt it up. It was interesting learning more about Leprosy . I was like you, I didnt think it was a disease that people even had anymore .It sounds like a really horrible illness . According to what I have found out, it is most commonly found ( in the US) in Louisiana, Texas,and ??? one other state ,and ARMADILLOS are carriers of the disease . Odd fact .... Maybe kinda like up here we have lots of raccoons and possums --they are carriers of rabies . I think it has decreased a lot,and they now have meds to take for it so it isn't as easily spread and maybe a little bit better controlled than it was at one point . Always good to read a book and learn something new, isn't it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Hey Julie, Thanks. Will do. Nah, I've always stayed, even through Hurricane Katrina. Of course we're far enough north to have avoided the horrible flooding down there. We were right by the eye wall of Katrina. Not fun. The hard part with this storm is the suspense of what route it'll finally take. It'll hit here, no doubt about it, but as I mentioned in the August thread, the angle makes a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 The Story and Trials of Adolph Julius Weber -Lewis Swindle 1/5 Doggone, this book was such a disappointment . I purchased it in 2010 for my Kindle and just now got around to it . I was excited to find it originally,being a true crime case I'd not read about before. It was low cost, $3.99 --but that was $4.00 too much . I have read kindle books before that had some errors in spelling ,but nothing to this level. This book had mistakes in every paragraph .Spelling ,grammar, punctuation . Ridiculous . It was also written poorly because from the beginning you already know who the "bad guy " was ,what he had done,and why,but the author drags it out page after page . The majority of the book was just transcripts of the trial,or notes on the newspsper clippings about it . Why did I keep reading it,you may ask ? I guess I was hoping that there'd be some type of twist at the end and someone else would have been shown to have taken part in the crime or comitted it,and they had the wrong guy all along. No such luck. You know from looking at the title who is guilty ,so all my bumbling through the book ,trying to overlook mistakes and keep reading were all for nothing. Very poor book,probably worst of the year . On to something bigger and better, I hope ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Gak. Sounds awful! You need something to wash that right outta your brain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Oh what a disappointment Julie .. you must pick up a sure-fire brilliant read next .. it's so difficult to tell though isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Yes hope you find a good one next Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Thanks guys I actually did run onto a good one last night. It's another travel one ,so I'll post about it as soon as I'm done. It's really funny,too ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Laughter is the best medicine! Glad this one is better than that other one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 HiYa Kat Yep, it is good to find things to laugh about once in awhile if possible . I started the funny travel one, then got another true crime one I've been waiting on,so I'm kinda flopping back and forth between them. Not a real good combo, but I'll see how it goes. I'm also not good at juggling more than one book at a time . I should have stuck with just the travel one til it was done . I'm sure you know the feeling,though. You start one,find another good one,and can't decide what to read first ! Thanks for checking in . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) Finally finished another book. I've kinda gotten off track here again . I started a couple books, didn't stick with them,so finally found a new one and completed it . Beyond Downton Abbey - A guide to 25 Great Houses -- Deb Hosey White & David Stewart White This was a Kindle copy and was sort of written as a travelogue ,if you happen to be fascinated with the Downton Abbey home and the way it was run, etc ,this book tells about 24 other homes (Downton is listed first) that would probably all be equally as interesting to see and learn more about . There are pictures of each place,and sometimes a photo of their gardens . It tells a little history of each house along with who built it and when, who owned it ,and also tells at the end of each chapter if any movies were made using the house as part or all of the background for the shows. It also tells little tidbits of info on the owners if any is avaialble. My favorite of all was a lady named Dame Margaret Greville in a home called Polesden Lacey .This home apprently gives wonderful tours and they know quite a bit about the family,so they tell many stories of the family while taking the tour .It seems this Margaret was a bit of an eccentric . She loved having big parties .She sounded like so much fun,and someone you'd never forget if you met her . Apparently ,she was on very friendly terms with her servants (unlike some of the other manor house owners might have been ). She had 2 butlers who both seemed to spend large amounts of time "tipping back a few " while on duty. Margaret knew it,but tolerated it pretty well. At one huge dinner party,she noticed one of them being especially and noticeably drunk. She didn't want to say anything in front of all the guest,so she wrote on the back of a placecard : You're Drunk . Leave the room at once . then handed it to him. The drunken butler placed the notecard on a silver tray,walked around the table and handed it to one of the male guests . He put his glasses on, read it and sat at the table in silence for the remainder of the dinner . It sounds as though it would have been fun to live or work in that house ! Anyhow, if you are lucky enough to live in England and are interested in life at a Manor House, this book gives lots of info on some really beautiful places. They also give websites for each if they have one,and info on what all you can do and see on each tour . At the end of the book, it gives a list of books to read and shows to watch that correspond with the houses and people written about in the book . This book gets a 3/5 . Edited September 17, 2012 by julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Sounds great Julie. Those stories are interesting. I love to hear stuff like that. I guess I just like stories that show the way people, any people live and function. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hi Kat How are you ? You sound like me, I like people watching and seeing all the different types of personalities ,etc we all have . It's like we live in a HUGE Whitman's Sampler , You never know which type person you'll see next. ( I think I belong in the NUTTY section ) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Oh, I come from a family of "people watchers"! lol When I was a teenager, back in the stone age, my mother and I used to drive down to the French Quarter, the Cafe du Monde...at that time they had drive up parking that waiters would come out and serve to the automobiles. Mom and I would throw the dogs in the back seat, and travel down...we were only about 20 minutes away at that time, and sit and eat beignets, have cafe au lait, and watch the people. We'd be down there anytime after midnight...till around 3 in the morning. Ahh, the summers of my youth! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Wow, Kat Something tells me that that would be the People Watcher's Paradise ! So many different types of characters down that way . Our little town has people to watch,but it's mostly people you've known for years,so they become kinda predicatable. We do have a few eccentrics which are still entertaining to watch . The main one right now is a guy in his early 30's who has fixed his bicycle up to look like a Harley motorcycle. It has the really long front pipe thing on it (sorry I'm not a motorocycle person,so dont know the names of all these gadgets),then handlebars and saddlebag type things made of leather with the tassels hanging down .He wears a black leather jacket or vest ,depending on the weather . When he stops at stop signs, he REVS UP the handle bars just like a real motorcycle. You can ALMOST believe it is real ,just watching him . One day I took a sleeping bag down to the laundromat to wash in their big washer and he was in there . He was quite entertaining,and taught me lots of things I didnt know. Why he thought I NEEDED this info, I'm not sure,because I'm just a short squishy grandma-shaped person . Anyhow, he told me to never eat a poppyseed muffin before having a drug test (I'll skip the word he used for it ) --because it will make your test results show up bad. He also told me how to tell if the bartender is cheating you on a drink. ( I never go to the bar,so wouldnt need that info either ). He told me how to "make out" (again MY words,not his... his are a little too RAUNCHY to use in here ) in a store dressing room without getting caught . ANOTHER piece of info I'll never need . He told me the government keeps asking him to come back and be in the Special Forces but he really doesnt want to go . I'm trying to figure out just what they'd DO with him if they HAD him. I think possibly test his brain to see if he has been eating too many poppyseed muffins . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald 3/5 This is a true crime book about a Green Beret Dr who was accused of killing his entire family back in 1970 . A book was written about it many years ago called Fatal Vision ,by Joe McGinnis which I also read . This author tried to go back and revisit the crime to see if there may have been flaws in the case ,making an innocent man spend his life in jail . This same author wrote a book many years ago,which actually DID find a convicted death row inmate innocent .The book became a documentary film and the man was released from jail where he was on his last week in jail before being executed. The author is a hero because he saved someone's life who was wrongly convicted . I think he may have had hope that this book would also accomplish the same goal . For a little background on the story, we go back to the 60's when Jeff MacDonald met a girl in high school. They dated all through school ,she got pregnant afterwards,and they married. He was what I'd call a Golden Boy. Star football player, handsome ,lots of success in everything he had done in life . When he leaves high school,he decides to further his education with college,and chooses to take courses to become a Dr . Nothing less would do for him . He then joined the military,where he chose to become a Green Beret ,where again, he chooses one of the top-ranking jobs where everyone would be proud of his achievements . He marries his girlfriend,they have a girl, and go on to have a second one . They are living at Ft Bragg ,where they settle into life and soon fnd out that baby # 3 is on the way . One night ,something goes horribly wrong,and Collette (the wife) and the 2 little girls are brutally murdered in bed . MacDonald apparently was asleep on the couch when Hippie Intruders broke in and killed his family. He supposedly tried fighting them,but they escaped and were never caught . The above paragraph was his explanation of the crimes . It was really stupid at best . It makes no sense to me that if even ONE person breaks into a house to rob it or to kill the people that they would immediately kill the weakest people and let the strongest one stay alive .Common sense tells you that you would take out the biggest threat first . Anyhow ,the military police came when called and bungled the crime scene badly . The military eventually had a trial ,but it was also bungled, allowing MacDonald to go free . He moved to California and started a new life . A few years down the road, the public court system decided to re-try the case due to the fact that the miliatary had screwed up the entire thing previously and there was a killer still on the loose someplace. At the second trial, Macdonald was found gulity and has been in jail ever since . I strongly believe he did it,even though the case was so botched . His explanation never made sense ,he never seemed to show much if any emotion about his family all being killed, he just went on with life and established another one . I feel that the right person is in jail for the crimes and should not be let out . I admire the time and research this author took to re-examine the case in all its details,but I think it was pointless. Too bad he didnt choose a different case .There are others who have stronger arguments for their innocence . It was interesting to see what this guy had to say,but it didnt change my opinion in the least . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 LOL Your guy sounds like someone fun to watch! Sounds pretty harmless too. Good review re the MacDonald case. I've been seeing the adverts for the book and wondered about it. If he happened to be innocent, it'd be pretty awful for him to know someone did that to his family and got away with it. Common sense tells you that you would take out the biggest threat first . That would be true to someone that was capable of common sense, but the very crime itself states the fact that "they" had no common sense, or reasoning power to speak of. That is if there was a "they" at all.The part that makes me wonder is the fact of the bungling of the original forensic team. And...MacDonald is obviously a smart fellow, and I wonder at such a stupid story from such a smart guy. /shrugs/ I don't know, but it all stinks to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Kat Yea, you definitely have some good points there ,but this book goes over every single detail one at a time. He devotes full chapters to each item, like a whole chapter on the coffee table in the living room and whether it could land the way it supposedly did the night of the murders . Fatal Vision was also a huge book and the author that time was very detailed about every little thing that happened . I'm definitely in agreement with you that someone as smart as MacDonald should have been able to come up with a better story that sounded more believeable . I've seen him interviewed on different tv shows, etc,and there is such an attitude about him . Just totally heartless acting , like it's no big deal . He was on several "entertainment " type night-time talk shows back when it all happened and almost seemed as if he were enjoying all the attention this brought him, like he was a big star . I think his attiude also seems pretty telling. Even IF he might have felt trapped in his marriage and tied down in a situation he wasn't happy with, you'd think it'd still break his heart to see how brutally his family was treated . I don't know, it'd take a lot more than a bungled case to convince me that he's an innocent man . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 The Year We Disappeared -- Cylin & John Busby Very well written book about a policeman who was shot and severely injured and how this one split second impacted the rest of his and his family's life .The book is written by the policeman and his daughter,who was I think about 8 when it first happened . It was a great testament to a strong family and marriage ,and very impressive how they all came together,although each person handled the tragedy in different ways. It would have been a very scarey situation to know who did it,and not be able to do anything to see him brought to justice immediately . They had very little evidence to go on, other than the first-hand account of the policeman getting a glimpse of the people in the other car . It's definitely worth reading and would speak to many different people. It tells of the strength of family bonds and how that probably held them all together throughout this ordeal. It tells of the fight to live, under very painful and life altering treatments,surgeries,etc. It'd also be an interesting read for the true crime fans,as you go through the story from the eyes of the policeman and the years of waiting to see if justice would ever be served when they had very little in the way of evidence to work with . Highly recommended . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Hope you're ok my lovely, missing you. Watcha been reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Hi Julie I was wondering where you are too hope everything is fine with you here have some flowers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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