Julie -2012 Book List

[frankie]

^ Wow, that's harsh! VF, I told you Kylie's a tough broad

 

Julie, the title Broadmoor Revealed has been popping up here and there and I already added it to my wishlist last December, but thanks for reminding me of it! I should look up where to get a copy some day. Too bad the cases weren't detailed enough for you I agree, it would be more intriguing for the author to go deeper into the men's backgrounds, why they ended up in the luney bin etc. Should make a fascinating read anyways

[julie]

Hi Frankie

Yea, I think 2 or 3 others may have read it or at least have it . It was on Kindle for a low amt -either free or a dollar or 2 .

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a much more detailed book,but so hard for me to get through .

 

I remember the year they made it into a movie was when I was in my nursing classes .We were required to work one week in a mental institution . I had a lot of difficulty getting through that week. I truly admire people who can work in those type places. I can do fine in nursing homes ,but not those places . The one we worked out, they gave REALLY poor care to the residents ,and even as students, we all saw lots of things done very poorly .They closed the place down the next year. I'm not sure what happened to everyone in the place .

 

Anyhow, that was the same year the Cuckoo's Nest movie came out and it honestly gave me nightmares. I'd still have them if I thought about it much .

[frankie]

Yes, I think lauraloves has read it and Janet, at least. I'm really liking the fact that one can get Kindle freebies and discover books one wouldn't know about otherwise, and then they can recommend them on here and I can then go and buy them

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a good book, but I wouldn't compare those two because the other one's non-fiction and the other fiction. As well as some people can write, the true stories are always creepier.

 

And seeing as you've had to work in a mental institution for a while, you know that better. You can picture all those details much more clearly and it must be loads spookier for you!

[julie]

Frankie

Yea, I don't quite know how I'd describe it . Not spooky .I think some people might just be able to deal better with situations like that . I honestly had never seen anything like it before .I'm not saying anything bad about the patients,but more about the poor and terrible lack of care these people got . It was really distressing to see these poor people who had so many different mental disorders,but the fact that they really got treated badly .It almost seemed more like a Human Zoo if you can imagine . All kinds of sounds,smells,and sights. Full grown people so profoundly retarded, they were in adult-sized cribs,with a cage-like thing on top ,locking them in so they wouldn't crawl out and get hurt . People who had to wear football helmets to keep from injuring them selves. One teen boy just kept bashing his forehead into the brick walls over and over .

Bath -time ? They stripped all the patients who could stand up NEKKID, then stood them in a line down the hall. They used the SAME bath water for them all . It was one of the most upsetting sights I've ever seen .

They weren't kept clean, the ones that were able to sit up were seated at a long table with only spoons,due to safety reasons. Very few knew how to use a spoon,so they just used their hands and crammed the food in their mouths .They'd also reach over and grab other people's food off their plates .

They had all ages in there,from small toddlers to an old man who was proably 70. He had his own record player in his room, and played The Sound of Music album over and over and over and over ......

 

GEEZ, I'm re-living it just thinking about it .

 

I might be odd in my reading habits, but I find nonfiction less scarey than fiction . Something about reading a really gross ,twisted,scarey story that someone made up inside their brain . WOW ..... creeps me out .

[pontalba]

......... ( got a 2 because I like anthing about the Civil War. As a book ,I'd probably only give it a 1 though )

 

Have you read What They Fought For 1861-1865 by James McPherson . I read it a while back and, really it hits home. McPherson is always good. It really gives the mind set of both the Union and Confederate soldiers, and is most enlightening.

Edited January 23, 2012 by pontalba

[julie]

Thanks for the recommendation Pontalba. It sounds very good and would be good to read a book told so you can hear both viewpoints at once They usually just tell one side's version of it .

[frankie]

Julie, it was really upsetting to read your post about the treatment of the patients in the mental institution. That is just loathsome!! I guess that's one of the places (unfortunately!) whose funds are cut first when the government's having to plan for a more frugal year, along with carehomes for elders. Or at least that's what I suspect and I think the carehomes for elders are in a really reckless state here in Finland. It's sickening how it's all about the money nowadays, and not the people

[chaliepud]

I've just reserved The Locked Ward: The Memoir of a Psychiatric Orderly at my local library, hopefully it will not be as traumatic as the institution you describe. I have a keen interest in the human psyche having studied psychology at college but I do hate to hear of the trauma that some people go through as a result of their illnessses.

[frankie]

^ Chaliepud, I'll be interested in what you think of the book when you've finished it! Like you, I studied psychology back in the day (although in highschool only, not in uni) and I find all related things interesting. I'll keep an eye out for your review some day

[chaliepud]

^ Chaliepud, I'll be interested in what you think of the book when you've finished it! Like you, I studied psychology back in the day (although in highschool only, not in uni) and I find all related things interesting. I'll keep an eye out for your review some day

 

Will do frankie, luckily it's a library book so I have a time frame to complete it in, though it may upset my TBR pile!

[frankie]

Will do frankie, luckily it's a library book so I have a time frame to complete it in, though it may upset my TBR pile!

 

Uh oh! How 'bout you give the TBR pile a nice little cuddle? You know, 'there there now' and stroke them nicely?

[julie]

Frankie

Yes, it was really difficult to get through that part of our schooling. I'm thankful we only had to work there a week. I actually got so sick from seeing all this, I had to call off school on the last day there. I just couldn't do it .

I think I mentioned they shut this place down the year after we were there. I don't know who polices these places,but they would have been in violations in lots of areas. I havent mentioned all of it. There are a few things that are just too gross to put on here .

I think that's why ,watching the Cuckoo's Nest movie made me so upset. I was a MESS after watching it. It was shortly after our week in this mental place,so it gave me nightmares for a long time .

Sadly, we had another huge place like this in our area that shut down about 5 years ago due to lack of funds. I'd never been to that one,so not sure if it was any better or not . I often wondered what they did with all those people. All the family members were notifed that they'd have to find lodgings elsewhere for their patients ,but we live in a very rural area,so not close to major towns that might have more sources for people like this .

 

 

 

Chalie

Your book sounds good ( I hope) . I have a really hard time reading some of them that go into too much detail .Brings back too many bad memories of that place .

There's also one I have been eyeing, but really don'tt think I could get through it . It has very high ratings ,so it must be good :

My Lobotomy .

 

Let us know how you get along with the library book .

Edited January 23, 2012 by julie

[julie]

• Ahem !!!
  

Attention Julie

 

Stop being a lily-livered ,yellow bellied pantywaist and start reading again . You have been backsliding the past few days.

Time to straighten up and fly right .

Now get your REAR in GEAR or I'll make you do 20 pushups.

We ALL know you couldn't do TWO ,so you have no choice in the matter .

Now READ .

Edited January 24, 2012 by julie

[frankie]

Oh boy, your thread is becoming a major danger for me, My Lobotomy is going on my wishlist!

 

I suppose your avatar has something to do with your latest post? I noticed the avatar a bit earlier and I did actually think of a drill sergeant who yells order to us members: "Read! One, two, three, book, Read! Smash that wishlist, climb the Mount TBR, banish the tea and cookies from your belly and the cupboards! No TV!!"

[poppyshake]

Ahem !!!

Attention Julie

 

Stop being a lily-livered ,yellow bellied panywaist and start reading again . You have been backsliding the past few days.

Time to straighten up and fly right .

Now get your REAR in GEAR or I'll make you do 20 pushups.

We ALL know you couldn't do TWO ,so you have no choice in the matter .

Now READ .

.. tell me when he's gone!

[julie]

Frankie and Poppy

 

The army-looking guy is meant for me, not for anyone else. It's to remind me to start another book. I've been slipping the past couple days.

I wouldn't turn him loose on you guys .

 

By the way,Frankie,

I noticed our library had My Lobotomy ,so what did I do but go get it today . I'm not so sure that was a good idea. The cover alone gives me the willies.

I'll see if I can read it or not .It sounds interesting, but I do believe when they start yanking the ice pick from the drawer, I will probably need a Valium to keep reading .

[frankie]

Frankie and Poppy

 

The army-looking guy is meant for me, not for anyone else. It's to remind me to start another book. I've been slipping the past couple days.

I wouldn't turn him loose on you guys .

 

I know but how can I not be reminded of what his deal is when I see him But I really don't mind, I think it's great!

 

 

By the way,Frankie,

I noticed our library had My Lobotomy ,so what did I do but go get it today . I'm not so sure that was a good idea. The cover alone gives me the willies.

I'll see if I can read it or not .It sounds interesting, but I do believe when they start yanking the ice pick from the drawer, I will probably need a Valium to keep reading .

 

I'm happy you found a copy, and then again, I'm fearful for your sake! Keep your hubby close, some cookies near by, and maybe some other book, a quick light read at hand when you start this. If you know the American tv show Friends, well the character Joey used to put the book he was reading in the freezer if it was getting too scary for him. I suppose you could try that.

[julie]

Frankie

Good idea, I'll jam the book in the freezer if it gets to be too much . If the Hubster finds it in there, he won't think twice. Somedays I'm a little scatterbrained and I run all over the house searching for my car keys ,only to find them in my hand . He thinks it's hiarious. So a book about a Lobotomy in the freezer ? No worries .

[julie]

Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains

 

This was a Kindle book. I don't remember if it was free, if not, it was low cost .

I thought it would be interesting because I like books about things like this,where there is someone missing and they have never been found .It is intriguing to read about these cases , so you wonder what may have happened to the people. but no one will ever know in most of them .

At the beginning, it says that around 100 people have met with some sort of foul play here in the Smokies . Kinda makes me get the cold chills knowing that I have been there twice ,and some of these people's bones could have been laying someplace where we were having a picnic .

They chose 7 cases to tell about in the book .Some were small kids ,others teens, a few few adults . Some intentionally wandered off due to trouble with the law, others just fell off the edge of the earth,no explanations or theories of why .

It wasn't a long book, but it was very interesting ,especially since I've been there before. It's a beautiful place, but I do believe a person could become lost in there never to be found . 3/5

[vodkafan]

That does sound interesting Julie. If a bit sad for the ones who never came back.

[julie]

VF

Yes, the author did a good job in choosing several ages and different type circumstances for the missing people, which made it interesting . Most of the cases were many years ago .I think the most recent was the Eric Rudolph guy who bombed the abortion clinic in Atlanta ? or some big southern city . He was a survivalist I guess you'd call him,so was able to live in the woods for long periods of time and find food and shelter .

The saddest ones were a little toddler who wandered off ,and a teen girl there on a school field trip in the early 70's. Weird to think she would have been about my age now .It almost sounded as if one of her schoolmates may have had an interest in her . They found her hairbrush or hairclip in his car afterwards but her family wasn't able to get the police to do much about it . Back then, they really didnt have the resources available like they do now for huge searches .

Anyhow, I choose some odd reading material sometimes . I like books like this which are true life mysteries and will forever remain unsolved . Keeps you thinking long afterwards, trying to figure out what may have happened to the people .

Edited February 8, 2012 by julie

[Ruth]

I like this kind of book as well Julie. Although sometimes I find they can be upsetting to read, they really are thought-provoking.

[julie]

Hi Ruth

Thanks for dropping by . Yea, these books are upsetting,but I tend to read lots of that type of books. I read lots of true crime,which are not exactly entertaining reading, but I like books that tell about how and why people choose to do some of the things they do.Maybe what makes them choose the wrong path in life,whether it is based on their environment,their upbringing, or genetics.

I also like to read about the court cases and the methods they use to catch the killer and how the court system works to prove the cases .

I guess I just like studying people and what makes them tick .

[poppyshake]

What does make them tick Julie? .. if you ever find out let me know

It must be terrible for the parents of those lost children, especially if the circumstances are never explained .. you would always be wondering. One of the Moors murder victims has never been found although the police have pin pointed, more or less, where they believe him to be .. the area is still too vast. That must be absolute torture for the family. The letter that his mother wrote to Myra Hindley asking for help would break your heart.

Have you read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Julie? It's a really intriguing read .. true story too.

[julie]

Hi Poppy

I have the Mr Whicher book on my kindle but havent yet read it . There are so many murders here anymore, kids come up missing ,wives, missing, it's really scarey sometimes how it has gotten so out of control .

Even our wee little town had a girl murdered back in '77 . Her and her boyfriend were followed to a park on a Friday night, and came up missing afterwards. She was missing all weekend .We knew her family, in fact, me and her played together as kids. She was a couple years younger than me . She was a very pretty girl and had a cute boyfriend. She had just graduated high school. Her poor parents were never the same . Her dad died about 2 years ago, never knowing who killed her or why . About a year ago, an old man came forward,admitting to the murders. He lived in their town at the time and wanted to kill somebody ,so he just chose them at random . He lived for about 33 years with the secret. He finally came forward and admitted it ,aft3er finding out he had a fatal illness with months to live . Such a sad and terrible tragedy .

 

We had another little girl get kidnapped and murdered. She attended our church youth group.She was probably 8 years younger than me . A serial killer kidnapped her from a park right across the street from her house .The found her a week or 2 later ,buried under a bunch of cardboard and junk. they caught the guy and he got the death penalty about 6 years ago .

 

I think guys like these are just plain mentally sick . Some murderers have mental illness, some have had such horrendous lives growing up that they seem to want to repeat what happened to them,to other people . Some people are perfectly sane,they just kill a person for their money ,or to rape a girl. So there are lots of things that factor into these cases .