Review: American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

Title: American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
Author: Jeffrey Toobin
Publisher Doubleday
Publication Date: August 2nd 2016 (first published April 2nd 2016)
Edition: ebook (368 pages)

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin, as is his usual, is an excellent read. It follows the story of Patricia Hearst who was taken from her California apartment, at gun point, on the evening of February 4, 1974, by a group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. The book follows her time with them, her capture and subsequent trial and prison time, as well as some detail about her life after her sentence was commuted by President Carter.

As a teenager, just a few years younger than Patricia Hearst, I was very interested to read this book. I'll leave it to the reader to draw his/her own conclusions about the circumstances and outcome of the kidnapping and trial and whether or not justice was served. Suffice it to say, I was surprised by the details revealed in this work that I was previously unaware of. My opinions have been changed by the reading of this book, and I give the author high marks for his fair and largely un bias presentation. Anyone seeking to learn more about this case and those involved will find this book informative and thought provoking, I believe.

Lynn's List (August 26, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• The Other Daughter: A Novel by Miralee Ferrell
• Finding Jeena: A Novel by Miralee Ferrell
• A Season of Miracles: A Novel by Rusty Whitener
• The Stranger by Anna Del Mar
• Accused by Mark Dagostino and Tonya Craft
• World Gone By by Dennis Lehane
• The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
• Naked Prey by John Sandford
• Rampage Nation: Securing America from Mass Shootings by Louis Klarevas
• Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson
• Behold the Dreamers: A Novel by Imbolo Mbue
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Gratitude: 101 Stories about How Being Thankful Can Change Your Life by Amy Newmark and Deborah Norville
• Surrender, New York: A Novel by Caleb Carr
• The Dollhouse: A Novel by Fiona Davis
• Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power by Marc Fisher and Michael Kranish
• Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines
• Under the Lights by Abbi Glines
• Against the Death Penalty by Stephen Breyer and John Bessler
• The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis by Elizabeth Letts
• Living with No Excuses: The Remarkable Rebirth of an American Soldier by Noah Galloway
• The Danish Resistance by David Lampe
• Silver Queen: The Fabulous Story Of Baby Doe Tabor by Caroline Bancroft
• Wings of Destiny by Catherine Lanigan
• Seabiscuit: The Saga of A Great Champion by B. K. Beckwith and Grantland Rice
• The Night The Mountain Fell: The Story of the Montana-Yellowstone Earthquake by Edmund Christopherson
• Mary Lincoln: Biography of a Marriage by Ruth Painter Randall
• Dakota Farm by Debbie Macomber
• A House Without Windows: A Novel by Nadia Hashimi
• If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon
• Habitats by Constance Rosenblum
• Watching Rape by Sarah Projansky
• The Many Colors of Crime by John Hagan, Ruth D. Peterson and Lauren J. Krivo
• Breaking Women by Jill A. Mccorkel
• Beyond the Bonus March and GI Bill by Stephen R. Ortiz
• American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill by Anne Sebba

Review: The Winds of War (The Henry Family, #1) by Herman Wouk

Title: The Winds of War (The Henry Family, #1)
Author: Herman Wouk
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Publication Date: November 15th 2008 (first published January 1st 1971)
Edition: Kindle (898 pages)

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In The Winds of War, Herman Wouk follows the fictional American Navy Henry family, beginning in 1939, through the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. Though the Henry family members are fictional, other characters in the book are historical. Herman Wouk expertly weaves the historical events leading up to December 1941 into a tapestry that is unequaled, in my opinion. I have read this book, and the sequel, War and Remembrance, many times, and there is no better historical presentation of the events surrounding World War II.

Lynn's List (August 19, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• B.J. Daniels The Cardwell Ranch Collection by B. J. Daniels
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Complete Collection by Ann Brashares
• Aviation Mysteries of the North: Disappearances in Alaska and Canada by Gregory Liefer
• The 3rd Woman by Jonathan Freedland
• Porch Lights: A Novel by Dorothea Benton Frank
• Female Suicide Bombings: A Critical Gender Approach by Tanya Narozhna and W. Andy Knight
• Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
• 13 Hours: The Inside Account Of What Really Happened In Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff
• Judgment Ridge: The True Story behind the Dartmouth Murders by Mitchell Zuckoff and Dick Lehr
• Pines by Blake Crouch
• Bernie Sanders and the Boundaries of Reform: Socialism in Burlington by W. Conroy
• The New Jim Crow by Cornel West and Michelle Alexander
• A Life in the Bush by Roy Macgregor
• Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman
• Bad Boys of the Black Hills: ...and Some Wild Women, Too by Barbara Fifer
• The Peacekeeper's Wife by Kevin Eze
• The Reluctant Suitor by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
• When the Music's Over: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson
• Please Enjoy Your Happiness: A Memoir by Paul Brinkley-Rogers
• The Girls in the Garden: A Novel by Lisa Jewell
• Bride of a Distant Isle: A Novel by Sandra Byrd
• Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell
• After the Fall: A Climber's True Story of Facing Death and Finding Life by Craig Demartino and Bill Romanelli
• Living Whole Without a Better Half: Biblical Truth for the Single Life by Wendy Wider
• The Light of the World: A Memoir by Elizabeth Alexander
• White Fire by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• Cross (Also Published as Alex Cross) by James Patterson
• In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing by Lee Woodruff and Bob Woodruff
• The Island House: A Novel by Nancy Thayer
• Children in Colonial America by James Marten and Philip J. Greven
• Living through the Hoop by Reuben A. May

Lynn's List (August 12, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• Two If by Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard
• Agony and Eloquence by Daniel Mallock
• Falling by Jane Green
• A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard
• Freedom: My Book of Firsts by Jaycee Dugard
• Caress of Fire by Martha Hix
• Plague by Judy Mikovits and Kent Heckenlively
• Heroes Beneath the Waves by Mary Smith
• The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy by Adam Tooze
• Falling in Love with Jesus: Abandoning Yourself to the Greatest Romance of Your Life by Dee Brestin and Kathy Troccoli
• Greater Than Gold: From Olympic Heartbreak to Ultimate Redemption by Tim Ellsworth and David Boudia
• Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham
• Cooking with Grease by Donna Brazile
• The Photograph by Beverly Lewis
• Devoted Defender by Rachel Dylan
• Murder in Linn County, Oregon: The True Story of the Legendary Plainview Killings by Cory Frye
• A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State by Meredith Tax
• Rena's Promise by Heather Dune Macadam and Rena Kornreich Gelissen
• Anne Frank in the Secret Annex by The Anne Frank House
• The Man of Property (Forsyte Saga #1) by John Galsworthy
• In Chancery (Forsyte Saga #2) by John Galsworthy
• To Let (Forsyte Saga #3) by John Galsworthy
• Beyond Obsession: The Shocking True Story of a Teenage Love Affair Turned Deadly by Richard Hammer
• The Vatican Connection: The True Story of a Billion-Dollar Conspiracy Between the Catholic Church and the Mafia by Richard Hammer
• The CBS Murders: A True Account of Greed and Violence in New York's Diamond District by Richard Hammer
• Swear on This Life: A Novel by Renee Carlino
• 85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy by Jules Witcover and Senator Edward M. Kennedy
• Good Morning, Midnight: A Novel by Lily Brooks-Dalton
• Monsoon Summer: A Novel by Julia Gregson
• The Glorious Heresies: A Novel by Lisa Mcinerney
• Results May Vary: A Novel by Bethany Chase
• With Love from the Inside by Angela Pisel
• Between Sisters by Cathy Kelly
• Sunset Shadows by Bronwyn Parry
• Shining Sea by Anne Korkeakivi
• The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics by Dan T. Carter
• War Porn by Roy Scranton
• Pants=Love: The Four Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Novels by Ann Brashares
• Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) by Ann Brashares
• Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by Kevin Sullivan, Amanda Berry, Mary Jordan and Gina Dejesus
• Loss of Eden by Joyce Milton
• Unbecoming by Jenny Downham
• What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott
• Embassy Row Book 1: All Fall Down by Ally Carter
• All the Stars in the Heavens: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani
• Family Tree: A Novel by Susan Wiggs
• Breaking the Devil’s Pact by James B. Jacobs and Kerry T. Cooperman
• Downsizing Prisons by Michael Jacobson
• Bloody Lowndes by Hasan Kwame Jeffries
• The Company She Keeps by Georgia Durante
• Helen of Troy by Margaret George
• Honor Thy Father by Gay Talese
• Clipped Wings by Molly Merryman
• Sisters in the Struggle by Bettye Collier-Thomas and V. P. Franklin
• At Liberty to Die by Howard Ball
• Not Guilty by Amy Farrell and Daniel Givelber
• Revenge by Lisa Jackson
• Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson
• Inheritance: A Psychological History of the Royal Family by Dennis Friedman
• The Strength to Say No by Mouhssine Ennaimi and Rekha Kalindi
• The Horseman by Charlotte Nash
• Passing Through Paradise by Susan Wiggs
• Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt
• While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer
• The Sicilian by Mario Puzo
• The New Tsar by Steven Lee Myers
• The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg

Review: Be Afraid (Morgans of Nashville, #2) by Mary Burton

Title: Be Afraid (Morgans of Nashville, #2)
Author: Mary Burton
Publisher: Zebra Books
Publication Date: April 28, 2015
Edition: Paperback (416 pages)

Be Afraid by Mary Burton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Twenty-five years after being kidnapped and locked in a closet for nine days, Jenna Thompson returns to her former hometown to try and get to the bottom of what happened there all those years ago, when her parents and older sister were killed.

This is my first Mary Burton book, and I began reading it without realizing it was the second book in the Morgans of Nashville Series. But I am definitely hooked now. This book was ripe with suspense, great characters,and a sprinkling of romance from beginning to end.

Lynn's List (August 5, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• Surrounded By Sharks by Michael Northrop
• Down Where My Love Lives by Charles Martin
• Falling by Jane Green
• Turning the Tide: How a Small Band of Allied Sailors Defeated the U-boats and Won the Battle of the Atlantic by Ed Offley
• Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
• Hillary Clinton: American Woman of the World by Cheryl Harness
• A Perfect Husband by Aphrodite Jones
• Hostage Zero by John Gilstrap
• Injustice by Lee Goodman
• Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo
• Scapegoat: A Flight Crew’s Journey from Heroes to Villains to Redemption by Emilio Corsetti III
• Highest Duty by Jeffrey Zaslow and Chesley B. Sullenberger
• American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter
• Breaking Hearts by Melissa Shirley
• The Great Suppression: Voting Rights, Corporate Cash, and the Conservative Assault on Democracy by Zachary Roth
• Falling Suns by J. A. Corrigan
• In the Land of Milk and Honey by Jane Jensen
• It Ends with Us: A Novel by Colleen Hoover
• The American Girl: A Novel by Kate Horsley
• Guide Me Home: A Novel by Kim Vogel Sawyer
• To the Bright Edge of the World: A Novel by Eowyn Ivey
• Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
• The House on Olive Street by Robyn Carr
• Never Too Late by Robyn Carr
• To Sir With Love by E. R. Braithwaite
• The Devils Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
• The Shark (Forgotten Files Book 1) by Mary Burton
• Be Afraid by Mary Burton
• The Vigil by Marian P. Merritt
• A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders by Gary M. Lavergne
• The Jimmy Carter Library by Jimmy Carter
• Gandhi: A Memoir by William L. Shirer
• Fly Away Home: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
• Garden of Beasts: A Novel of Berlin 1936 by Jeffery Deaver
• The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor

Review: The Vigil by Marian P. Merritt

Title: The Vigil
Author: Marian P. Merritt
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group - Harbourlight Books
Publication Date: February 20, 2015
Edition ebook (288 pages)

The Vigil by Marian P. Merritt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Cheryl Broussard returned to her hometown with great reluctance. She had wanted to leave right after high school, and thirteen years later, she was back. Still confronted with family problems from the past, she was determined to make a life!

This book is about how God works in a family to bring about healing and redemption. It is a great story of God's care and his perfect timing. And I loved the characters--all of them.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders by Gary M. Lavergne

Title: A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders
Author: Gary M. Lavergne
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Publication Date: October 1, 2012
Edition: Kindle (324 pages)

A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders by Gary M. Lavergne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


On August 1, 1966 Charles Joseph Whitman became the face of mass murder in the United States by shooting people from the observation deck of the tower at the University of Texas in Austin. Charles Whitman also murdered his mother and his wife on the night prior to the shootings.

The detail in this work is amazing. Gary M. Lavergne has documented the childhood and family life of Charles Whitman and the events leading up to the murders, as well as the events of August 1, 1966. Why would someone commit mass murder? Were the police prepared in any way for such an event in 1966? Was the police response appropriate? All of these questions are fully explored in this work, honestly and forthrightly.