Stolen Innocence--#53 finished

This book is about the FLDS, the fundamentalist Morman sect that still believes in plural marriage with most or at least many members living on compounds. It is a moving and very hard to comprehend book. I am still basically shocked to have read how these people let themselves be controlled by a few heads or one prophet. The brainwashing that goes on should be a crime in itself. I really cannot understand why there wouldn't be some kind of revolt, but I guess these are people raised from early on to only be thinking about the afterlife and not what this life is about. It is a really sad story, but also uplifting in the sense the author and many in her immediate family were able to get out.

I am still having a hard time understanding how the author's parents got involved in this whole thing, they were practicing Mormans and one of their sets of parents looked into the FLDS and that is what caused them to do so also. I just don't understand how a person with a college degree like their dad was able to be suckered into this organization and stay in it for the rest of his life especially watching all of the bat-shit crazy stuff going on. I just cannot comprehend that. I kind of understand those that are 3rd, 4th, 5th etc, generations of people involved in this, they don't know any other life and are brainwashed into thinking everything outside of FLDS is evil. I just don't understand how someone could join up unless they were sick people looking for plural marriages or underage girls or something along those lines.

It is certainly a moving book or maybe more like shocking in that I just cannot understand the mind sets in the book. I am glad that I am passing it on because more should know about what the reality is within this movement. I remember the news of the raid in Texas, same group FLDS. I also remember being somewhat sympathetic to them because it is their life to live, but now I see it is a brainwashed cult and the leaders deserve no sympathy. Maybe the individuals, like women and children but certainly not the leaders. I will be sure to follow this group in the future.

This is a WL book and I have already posted it, just waiting for it to be accepted. I have also received a request for the Johnny Cash book I had just finished reading too so I will be mailing some books out this week.

Run Thursday & Reading Update

Well, it was over a week but I finally got a run in--does this sentence even make sense, oh well. On Thursday Rose had VB practice and I was able to go to the nearby park to run. I did 5 laps which made a total of 4 miles. My times were pretty consistant as well, I think they were 12:23, 12:22, 12:11 and 12:33. I am very happy with these times. With a 3 day weekend now, I hope to get 2 runs in at least.

Crows Over the Wheatfield timed out on the first person's WL so it went to the 2nd person who immediately accepted it. That person is in Hawaii, my first book going to that state, kind of exciting in a nerdy mapy PBS sense. It was mailed with 2 others books. Once all delivered I will be up to 25 credits. I don't really want to order more books though because I already have so many that I need to read but I will still probably check out the Book Bazaar for deals anyway.

I am still reading Stolen Innocence, a book about a girl raised as a FLDS--the Morman sect that still believes in plural marriages & was forced to marry at age 14. So far this book just makes you sick in the brainwashing going on and you just want to slap the adults until some sense kicks in.

Also reading Climate of Fear a book that is actually published lectures of Wole Soyinka about basically terrorists and other governmental and as he says quasi governmental groups acting in the world. Kind of interesting but also pretty dry, but making my way through it.

Finally I am also reading Hot and Bothered, a kind of funny romantic type of thing. It is one of those books that I am keeping in the basement, don't really want to take upstairs and have everyone see that I am reading it, again kind of embarrassing. So far, and I am only 70 some pages in, it is a much more clever and actually funny book than the other romantic type books I have read earlier this year. I will have to see if this continues through to the end though.

Crows Over the Wheatfield--#52 finished

This is a very good book about an Art Historian who on the way home from work strikes & kills a teenager on a skate board that darts out in front of her. The author goes between her current life and the life of Van Gogh who she is researching for a book particularly the last few months of his life before he commits suicide. Claire the art historian, is also separated from her husband Richard, but because of this accident he has to return to her life. While everything is going on, their relationship is in the background redeveloping to where there is a renewal for them.

While it is a shorter book, only 278 pages, it is also complex in that several things are being touched on. I also really enjoyed that it is a realistic type book, no where did it get the sense of something just sort of being thrown out there, well maybe some of her Van Gogh research stuff but as far as characters go, very realistic. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, I had been meaning to read it because it was on a couple of WL, but didn't know much about the book. Adam Braver is an author that I will have to try to remember and check out some of his other books as well.

I have posted it for WL on PBS and now just waiting for it to be accepted. I already have 2 other books to mail out this week so figured might as well add a 3rd.

Johnny Cash--#51 finished

This is Johnny Cash's autobiography. I saw his movie, Walk the Line and both myself & Debbie really liked it. We have been listening to a CD of his for several years now also. I have also caught some old TV footage of his Folsom Prison Blues and other concerts. I really enjoyed reading this book also, lots of insights into his life. While the movie was very good and entertaining, a movie will never come close to providing all the information a book does. Johnny Cash certainly lived an interesting life and while this book doesn't attempt to answer everything about his life, it gives the reader an idea of his remarkable life.

Things the movie didn't get into that I really liked was the different houses he owns. Also the whole timeline of how things happened seems like the movie took a few liberties there. The connections to the many people in country music and music in general also. Of course the movie basically ended in the late 1960s so some of this just couldn't be covered.

Like I said I really enjoyed this book. I have posted it on PBS. Right now there are a couple of other copies on the system but it seems like this book has been moving some so it might be getting mailed in a few months or could be longer but I expect it to move at some point.

Wrong on Race--#50 finished

Bruce Bartlett a former advisor to Reagan and the first George Bush wrote Wrong on Race to show the racist history of the Democratic Party. It is a very interesting read and introduces quite a few political characters that I had not heard of previously. I thought the book was very effective at showing the Democratic Party's history of slave owners to KKK to Jim Crow laws to plan old white supremacists through time. The book though was weak on explaining why blacks now favor the Democratic Party, when was the real break and why.

I remember one sentence to the effect of Goldwater was against the Civil Rights Act for political reasons, but really it seems that from that point onward the Republican Party had little support from black voters. Was Goldwater's position and LBJ's Great Society together enough to make Republicans also rans in attempting to get black voters. Bartlett also mentioned though that the Republicans took black voters for granted to some degree and didn't push for legislation that they favored. This contradicts his earlier credit he gave Ike for his Civil Rights bills and for several attempts at anti-lynching bills that were filibustered under FDR and earlier presidents.

So overall a good and interesting read especially with the very racist characters that played a pretty large part in our country's politics. Not so great about explaining todays issues and concerns and the whys of black voters. Also the elephant in the room is there is no mention of Barak Obama, not that there really would have been with the book being published in Jan of '08, Obama was at time being written just a candidate who was lagging behind Hillary Clinton. It is unfortunate though because I think the election of Obama changes or would certainly influence the conclusions Bartlett has at the end of the book. I guess I should look to see what else he has written lately to see if anything of this most recent election has been addressed elsewhere.

This is a WL book on PBS by only 3 people but it has been steady at 3 for quite some time. I wanted to get it read so it could get mailed while it was still on some WL. I guess I should also mention that this is my 50th book read so far this year. As I have mentioned earlier it really is shocking to me that I have finished so many books already. Again credit goes in large part to reading several(2, 3 or even 4) books at one time, instead of as in past plodding along with only 1 book at a time. I really don't know what that end number will be for this year, but I will just keep at it.

2 Things Today

Just a couple of things today.

First, I did get a run in today of 4 miles. First mile around 11:55, then 12:44 & 12:44 and finally a 12:12. So actually pretty happy with those times considering my running has only been spotty. Was only thinking about doing 2 or 3 miles but extended myself to 4 so all is good.

Second, a library near me had a book sale going on today. I ended up bringing home around 22 books for $11. Even though I know they want to sell these and make room for others, it still feels almost like stealing some of these. Not all 22 are on WL but about 1/2 are and several more only have one or two copies on the system so I should be able to move the majority at some point.

Child 44--#49 finished

A very good & interesting book. It is about a serial killer in the old USSR in the years after WWII under Stalin. How the killer acted without anyone knowing since local officials solved the cases ASAP so they would not been looked at too closely even if the wrong person was convicted. Also some good insights on just the insanity of the time for the people there, it really was a scary time and place to be.

The main character Leo went through several obstacles and setbacks in his life & investigation of these murders but also received some revelations that let the reader believe he will lead a better life. The turn at the end was it was actually Leo's brother that was committing the murders as a way to bring his brother back to him. The brothers were separated during a time when everyone was starving, Leo was kidnapped for food but ended up replacing the child the other family was trying to save. Leo was raised by this new family and became a star of the USSR in WWII and afterwards in the Secret Police.

Andrei, the brother left behind, was clumsy and could hardly see. His mother blamed him for his brother leaving them, Pavel(Leo's real name) was his mothers favorite. Eventually Andrei somehow survived the winter and received glasses so he wasn't the clumsy kid of youth. He obviously had several issues and turned to killing kids and butchering them as a way to lure his brother in. Not sure that I really believe this, but since Andrei was in a very real sense insane, I guess I can see how he might have believed this.

Like I said a good book and very interesting stuff going along with the main story line as well. It is a WL book on PBS so I should be mailing it off in the next few days as well.