Intermission

Dear Fellow Readers and Bloggers,

Sorry I haven't done a review in a week. I meant to, however, my awesome lead technician at work decided to come into work sick as shit all week and spread the love. No, LT (Lead Tech), hand sanitizing everything does NOT prevent the spread of your nasty ass germs when you STILL TOUCH EVERYTHING IN THE PHARMACY! I know in your own head you think the pharmacy will crumble without you there, but I assure, we'd make it through somehow. Afterall, how did the pharmacy survive without you there? Now I feel like Freddy Mercury and David Bowie are doing a dubstep remix in my sinus cavities and I'm wondering if my snot has turned into gold because it is the exact same color as gold.

So, I will return next week when I'm not dieing. Seems to be the only thing I can read lately is stupid websites. However, not to leave you empty handed, here's a peek of what will be reviewed in the next couple of weeks:

Why Your Prescription Takes So Damn Long To Fill by Drugmonkey, Master of Pharmacy

Beyond The Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson

The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo

Auschwitz by Miklos Nyiszil

and there will be more but my meds are kicking in so I'm going to go to sleep.

Or die....

Whichever comes first.

-Jess

Review: Death's Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson

So, thanks to the people who have been retweeting my page, giving me shout outs on Facebook, and the incredible support. If you read one of the books I review, please leave a comment in the comment section of that book! I'd love to start discussions. Also, if you have a book you want to review and share, by all means, email me at oddlystrangebooks@gmail.com

Death's Acre by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson

Overview: Dr. Bill Bass is a world renown forensics anthropologist. He is the creator behind the infamous Body Farm. It's a place where they have tested and observed different stages the human body decomposes. They submerge bodies in water, bury them, leave in the open, etc. to see how different elements affect the body's decomposition. Dr. Bass writes the story of how he started The Body Farm and his students who have gone on the better and greater things, including advancing forensics. He also has stories of cases he has worked on and gives insight on how forensics really do their job, (hint: it's not as glamorous as  CSI).

The Writing and Words: Dr. Bass writes this book in trying to intertwine stories together. Though some authors achieve this flawlessly, Dr. Bass does not. He goes out of order on when events happened and often times the reader is confused on when this is happening and has to go back to remind themselves. Dr. Bass tries to show how human he is by telling stories about his personal life, but fails at making the reader care. He could have left out stories of his life and the reader would have found him very human anyways. He goes into very long and very technical details that can start the grate the readers nerves.

My Opinion: All in all, it wasn't a terrible book. The guy is well into his 70's, so kudos for him for even being alive. This is obviously his first book and the writing shows it. However, one thing I really liked is that he told stories about cases where they were unsolved or the victim didn't get their justice, which shows the other side of the law: the one that doesn't always win. He does a great job, however, of not leaving you feeling let down when the case isn't solved because each case brought a new way for forensics to advance.

He does do a great job on describing bodies and the scenarios, although a bit too descriptive at times which leads to be boring at times. However, he also describes disgusting details without being too disgusting. This book would be a great read for people who are interested in forensics but get squeamish at the blood and guts.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible book, but not the best thing I've ever read. He wrote another book several years later that I am now reading to see if he improved on his writing and story telling skills. I did enjoy the book but not as much as other forensic books. Average rating at best.

Once again, the guy is well into his 70's, so I'll cut him some slack. 

Review: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

I promise I don't just read books about murder and gore. I do tend to get "stuck" in one genre at times though. Also, if you have any book recommendations, please let me know! Email me at oddlystrangebooks@gmail.com.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Overview: In 1959, The Clutter family was murdered in their own home. The four family members, Mr. Clutter, Mrs. Clutter, their youngest son and daughter, were all tied up and shot point blank. The small Kansas town was rocked by the murders of such up-standing citizens and the K.B.I. had their hands full trying to solve the murder. Meanwhile, the book follows the lives of two ex-convicts Perry Smith and Dick Hickock as they flee from one place to another. Eventually, the two stories come together and the men are charged and found guilty of the murder of The Clutter family.

The Writing and Words: Though this book is an older book, the writing has held up very well over the years. Truman did an amazing job of telling the two tales and bringing them together. This was one of the first "nonfiction novels", in that it's based on a true story. I usually can't stand authors that go on and on in details but Truman was able to hold my attention.   The book includes a couple of pictures of the family and the two murderers, you really don't need it since Truman does such an amazing job of explaining everything. The book is broken up into three parts: the first focuses mostly on The Clutter family and their lives before they were murdered. The second part focuses on Perry and Dick and their lives after the murder and their lives before the murder. The third brings the two stories together and it follows the trial all the way until the two men are executed.

My Opinion: I couldn't help but compare this book with my last book review "Columbine". "Columbine" is very straight forward, nothing but the facts book, "In Cold Blood" is very much full of emotions and gives the reader what was going on in the minds of the people in the book. The people of Holcomb, Kansas get the closure that the people of Columbine did not. Holcomb got to see the two men go on trial and then executed. Columbine was robbed of that by the two boys killing themselves, leaving many things unanswered.

The two books are also very similar even though they are decades apart. The murderers of Columbine and Holcomb both killed people without having anything to set them off. Perry and Hickock murdered the family after they realized that there was no safe full of money in the house. It's a weak motive, if any at all, because neither murderer felt any remorse or feelings about killing the family. If it wasn't The Clutters, it would have been a different family. Both towns were both filled of people who wouldn't stop talking about the case and the people of the town began to grow very, very tired of hearing about it. They just wanted to move on with their lives and get that sense of normal back.

It's amazing how both stories were so similar but told in two very different ways. Truman was a very talented writer. Even though he goes into details about Perry and Hickock and their tragic and hard childhoods, he does an amazing job of never letting the reader feel sympathy for the two killers. I really saw how much it meant for Holcomb to get the closure that Columbine did not and it made me feel a different kind of sympathy for the people of Columbine. This book was a very, very good read and even though it's an old tale it stands the test of time extremely well. I was very pleased by the writing and the story and probably one of the better books I have ever read.

Review: Columbine by Dave Cullen

I'm in the middle of reading a different book. I'm going to try and review books soon after I read them while they are still fresh in my mind. However, some books stay with you long after you read them. I finished this one about a month and a half ago and I still can't stop thinking about it.

Columbine by Dave Cullens

Overview: It's been over 10 years since the Columbine Massacres. When two students decided to try and bomb their school and shot and killed thirteen people the US changed forever. This book recounts the events leading to, during, and after the killings.

The Writing and Words: The book is a very straight facts, no personal emotion involved telling of the events. It goes back and forward between what happened during the killings, before the killings, and afterwards. It exposes several facts about the town and the police. They tried to hide a lot of paperwork on the two kids that showed that they were warned by one family that they were dangerous. Of course, back then, such threats weren't taken as serious as they are now.
The book is very, very well written. It flawlessly goes back and forward in chapters. It tells events and facts without ever sounding bias.

My Opinion: I honestly think this is one of the best books I have ever read. And I have read well into the hundreds of books. I remember being a little one in 8th grade, listening to my teacher talk about what was happening and even turned on the news for us to watch. That's one of the things about Columbine that made it so different: it was televised WHILE it was happening. It was also one of the first times that SWAT teams were dealing with kids, schools, and the threat of kids with guns.
The book brings to light several things and myths about what happened, although I won't give away all of them. However, the one that is brought to light is very, very chilling: there was nothing that set these kids off. They were not bullied, part of the Trench Coat Mafia, or even liked Marylin Manson. They were, especially Eric, pyschopaths. I told one of my co-workers this and she couldn't accept that that was real. They HAD to have been bullied or something.
I love books where I learn and make me think long after I'm done with the book. Armed with knowledge is an amazing thing. The straight forwardness of the book and no bias makes it that much more emotional for the reader. They are not being led into how to feel: the lack of emotion in the book makes the reader feel raw emotions; their own emotions.
 My hat is off to Mr Cullens. Great, great job.  

Review: Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook by Katherine Dunn and Sean Tajaratchi

Don't expect two book reviews in one day all the time. Just happened to finish American Sideshow and this book was a quick read. THANK. GOD.

Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook by Katherine Dunn and Sean Tajaratchie

Overview: For several years, homicide detective Jack Huddleton collected and kept death scene photos from the job. He has since passed and by some estates sale, this book came to see the light of day to preserve these photos. All photos are from the early to mid 1900's. These are very, very real, very, very uncensored death scene photos in this book and are not for just anyone!!!!

The Writing and Words: Half of the book is the introduction written by Katherine Dunn (the author of Geek Love, a classic novel). She goes to great lengths to warn the reader of the photo's they are about to see and the history of some of the photos. Other than the introduction there isn't much reading left. The photo's have some captions that explain what happened and such.

My Opinion: Okay, let me first by stating this one more time: These are very, very real, very, very uncensored death scene photos in this book and are not for just anyone!!!! And it's not just limited to photo's of adults. Kids, teenagers, and babies are murdered too. This book really put the website bestgore.com to shame. That site is extremely graphic but this book topped in the disturbing photo areas. i was hoping it'd have more description and story behind the photos. I seriously cannot believe this book is available to just anyone. Decapitated babies, several blown off heads, and hermaphrodites. I actually had to take a break from this book when I came to the photo of a kid with his head caved in.

So, yeah, don't think I'll be picking up this book again anytime soon. If you are seriously thinking of going into CSI work, this should be required reading (gawking?) before you even apply to the schooling. If you can't take the images in black and white photos, then how can you handle them live, in color, face to face?

Review: American Side by Marc Hartzman

How appropriate that this is my first book review. I am all for the not normal, (which, actually, what is normal if we're being picky here), and I'm tired of only hearing about books that EVERYONE is reading. Fifty Shades of Grey? Fifty Shades of I Don't Give a Fuck! So, here is a place that I hope people find interesting books and start to go past what is in the New York Times Best Selling List.

American Sideshow by Marc Hartzman

Overview: This book gives the history of the American Sideshow Freaks from starting at the early 1800's to the present. The book is broken into Sideshows of yesterday to the ones of today. It gives brief histories of the more famous and known freaks and also the not so known freaks. It contains many pictures of said freaks and in between freaks gives little interesting snippets of the sideshow or the disorder that many of them had.

The Writing and Words: The way this book is broken into sections is the first half is the old sideshow freaks from the 1800's to the mid 1950's. This is where you read a lot about P.T. Branum, The Ringling Brothers, and Baily's Circus. Most of the freaks highlighted in this section are either born with a disorder that pretty much forced them into sideshow work or accidents that caused them to become freaks. Most of the chapters here have pictures at the beginning of the brief histories of the freaks, however, some are lacking either due to not having a picture of the freak or maybe copyright issues, (I'll talk more about that in the next sections). The second half focuses of the Sideshows of today like The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow and the Coney Island Sideshow by the Seashore. Much like the first half it has brief histories and pictures of freaks. However, unlike their early counterparts, most of today's freaks are "self-made" freaks. They were not born with disorders to display and most either did extreme body modification or learned side show tricks like sword swallowing and blowing fire.

My Opinion: I really enjoyed this book and went through it in about a weekend. If you go into with little to no knowledge about the sideshows, it's very eye opening. The first half of the book is way more interesting because the people of the sideshow of yore' were such natural human oddities. What's fascinating about the early days is that most of these "freaks" were very refined, smart, and knowledgeable people. Unfortunately, some of the freaks didn't have pictures, which is fine, but in the case Sam Alexander, The Man with two Faces and Count Orloff, The Only Living Transparent and Ossified Man, I don't understand why they didn't include pictures. I was just fortunate enough to see these pictures online before I read the book.

                                                Sam Alexander: The Man With Two Faces

                                     Count Orloff: the Only Living Transparent and Ossified Man

The second part of the book isn't nearly as interesting. People generally frown on displaying people with "disorders" as sideshow freaks and with TV and the internet, why would you need to leave your home to see these freaks? The self-made freaks, although props to them for keeping some of the sideshow alive, are often times boring and not nearly as fascinating as the freaks from the early 1800's. I found myself skimming most of the second part of the book.

Overall, this book is a really good and interesting read.  I really enjoyed the first half a lot and it definitely makes you appreciate how these people didn't let their handicaps, well, handicap them. It made me feel crappy about my own intelligence as these people learned skills with little to no limbs. The Two Faced Man is my favorite by far and Schlitzie has always made me feel creeped out. Really makes me want to go out and find the 1930's movie Freaks! which featured a lot of the freaks from the early 1900's.

So, if you've got a couple of afternoons to kill and are wanting something REALLY different to read, here's your book.