February 10, 2013

Animal Farm by George Orwell

AnimalFarmFormat: eBook
Pub. Date: 1945
Publisher: Secker and Warburg
Type: Fiction ~ Library Book
Pages: 112
Read: Jan 28, 2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

In the first chapter of the book, we learn that Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, is a drunkard and ‘Major’, an old hog is the ‘leader’ of the animals. He calls a meeting and tells the animals they need to ‘stand up for their rights’. He also tells them he is dying. Soon after this the animals revolt and take over the farm.

At first it goes well for the animals, then the old adage “Power corrupts”, comes into play and the animals are found to be in a worse situation. The pigs take advantage of the animals poor memories and rewrite history and the “7 commandments”.

Animal Farm is a satire of the Russian Revolution under Stalin. It was very difficult to get this book published, even in London because of the pro-Stalin sentiment. After all, Stalin had helped them defeat the Germans. He didn’t fight against the Germans out of the goodness of his heart, Germany was making moves on the Soviet Union and also Stalin wanted the countries that Germany had occupied during the war. Berlin was this nice little city and he wanted it.

What I got from this is commentary on how the poor, regular people suffer when government has too much power. I’m not up on my Russian Revolution history, but apparently what happened in the book was a mirror of what happened in Russia. Orwell was trying to make people aware. The book became much more popular during the cold war.

This was a quick read, some people find it grim, I thought it was scary, if we aren’t careful we might lose our freedom in our efforts to stay safe. The animals thought they were safe, and that they were better off with the pigs ruling, but were they?

Posted by on February 10, 2013 in 2013, Classic Literature, Fiction, Novel and tagged , , , , .

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February 9, 2013

Bind, Torture, Kill by Roy Wenzl, L. Kelly, Tim Potter, Hurst Laviana

BTKThe Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door

Format: eBook
Pub. Date: July 2007
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Type: Non-Fiction, True Crime ~ Library Book
Pages: 400
Read: 1/26/2013 (Decades Challenge)
Rating: Really liked it ♥♡♥

BTK ~ “bind, torture, kill”, is probably the most famous serial killer in Wichita, Kansas. Actually he might be the only serial killer in Wichita, Kansas. Like most serial killers, when not killing he was ‘normal’, husband, father, boy scout leader, and church leader. Like most serial killers though, he had these urges to kill. The reason it took 31 years to catch him was he was able to resist his urges for years at a time.

This book is written by the reporters who covered the BTK story for “The Wichita Eagle”, not only were they familiar with the story, they also knew which police officers were most involved and were able to interview them to get the inside story they couldn’t get before Dennis Rader was convicted.

Reading this book was almost like being there. The four reporters have put forth an excellent detailed account of the murders and the lives off all involved in this case. You could almost feel the frustration and disappointment of the officers who couldn’t solve this case.

This is the definitive book about BTK, if you only read one book about Dennis Rader, this is the book.

Posted by on February 9, 2013 in 2013, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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February 4, 2013

Death in the City of Light by David King

DeathCityofLightThe Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris

Format: eBook
Pub. Date: 9/20/2011
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Type: Non-Fiction, True Crime ~ Library Book
Pages: 432
Read: 1/24/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

First of all, even though Dr. Marcel Petiot killed enough people to be a serial killer, he was not technically a serial killer. That being said, this was still a horrific series of events. The police had trouble investigating because of the Nazies in Paris, Petiot claimed he was a member of the resistance and was killing ‘collaborators and spies’. The court decided to try him for 27 murders at one time and the judge had a timetable for getting through the trial.

David King has done a good job of gathering all the facts and writing a cohesive account of them. He also fills us in on the conditions of Paris during this time period, and some history. At times I felt this was too much, he appeared to be going off on tangents at times with reports of plays written and parties thrown by this person and so on. Also the trial seemed to drag on and on.

Still this was an enjoyable book, the areas that dragged to me were not horrible, I never wanted to give up, I just think the book would have been more interesting if some of the details, such as going through each witness that was called, that a woman fainted and the court officers had to take care of her, and so on, had been left out.

If you LIKE this review, please take a minute to LIKE my Facebook page: Bella Foxx Writes, THANK YOU.

Posted by on February 4, 2013 in 2013, Historical True Crime, History, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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February 3, 2013

The Riviera Cafe

Riviera Cafe
225 W 4th St
New York, NY 10014
Phone: (212) 929-3250

Category: Sports Bars
Neighborhood: West Village

This is a sports bar for Boston Sports fans, so why did I go? Because Mary was going and I didn’t want to stay home or go out alone. Also I am trying to learn everything I can about hockey and she is a good source of information. She only had two conditions, I couldn’t root for the Leafs, (Bruins were playing the Leafs) and I couldn’t tell anyone that my team of choice is the Sabres. Two reasons for the no Sabres condition, one is, they are not a Boston team. The other was in the most recent match up between Buffalo and Boston, not only had Buffalo won (first time since 2011) but also John Scott, one of the Buffalo players got in a fight with Shawn Thornton, who may be the most well-respected Boston Bruins player, and Thornton ended up with a concussion, John Scott is 6 inches taller and 53 pounds heavier than Thornton. The Leafs condition was easy, I have no love for Toronto, the other was doable, I thought. I made sure my clothes has no sports logos on them, I forgot about my jewelry though and had my Ravens dogtag on. Mary suggested I get there at 6:30 because it was Saturday and it was possible the bar would get crowded, and she told me I wanted to go to the “downstairs bar”.

If you are going there to watch sports, the downstairs bar is where you want to be. When I walked in there was a bar right in front of me, I told the host I was meeting someone at the bar, he said they had two, and then directed me to the downstairs bar. It wasn’t crowded yet, but a lot of the seats were taken, we managed to get the people next to us to move their stuff so I could sit at the bar. Halfway through the game I turned around and several people had pull up stools behind us to watch the game. At the end of the bar were some very loud basketball fans. Mary mentioned that this was a relatively low-key ‘Boston’ bar, not like another place that I started to hyper-ventilate in the one time I went there. Toward the end of the game I let it slip I was not a Boston fan, not to everyone, but the ones I told didn’t pummel me unmercifully. Our bartender was Darryl (he spelled his name for me when I told him I was going to write a review) and he noticed my Ravens necklace. When I tried to stuff it inside my shirt he asked, “Why are you hiding it?” Well cause it’s Ravens and they beat the Pats ….. “That was long ago.”

I can’t comment on the food since I got just drinks, every drink I got was $7 and they were top shelf alcohol, Honey Jack Daniels and diet Coke, and Fireball Whiskey shots for the goal and the win. I love Fireball Whiskey so that is one reason I will probably come back. I was annoyed with the basketball and the fans, but that is not the bars fault. Darryl was friendly and efficient, I ordered just diet Coke after my drink and every time my glass was empty he refilled it. When I told him I was waiting for the Bruins to score for my next drink and it was going to be a Fireball Whiskey shot, he put the glass in front of me to ‘Get ready’, and when they scored he ran over and poured the shot for me. Some of the reviews on Yelp said the drink selection was ‘small’, my thought is, no bar has room to stock every alcohol made, they had a decent selection, they had whiskey, rum, tequila, vodka, beer (several on tap) and wine. I thought the prices were reasonable, not too expensive, and a not oppressive atmosphere for a Yankee fan. Of course its not baseball season yet, I don’t see myself coming during a Red Sox game, even if Mary and Rose invite me, mainly because I don’t know if I could stop myself from cheering for the ‘other team’.

In conclusion, if you are a Boston Sports fan living in NYC and want to watch the game someplace where you can be with people of a similar disposition, if you don’t want to be around extremely rowdy fans, this is a good place to go. If I go back and eat food, I’ll let you know how that goes too.

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January 29, 2013

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

CoralineFormat: eBook (iBooks)
Pub. Date: 7/1/2002
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Type: Fiction ~ 10th Anniversary Edition
Pages:224
Read: 1/18/2013
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

I don’t remember when or why I bought this book, I do know why I read it, I was desperate to post that I had read a book in 2013 and I knew it was a quick read. I was not prepared to like this book, certainly not as much as I did.

As I said, it was a quick read, it’s written for children, a little scary but some children like to be scared. Coraline is a little girl who does what she needs to do even when she is scared. What I liked was that even though her parents may not have played with her as much as she wanted, and even though her mother wouldn’t buy her lime green boots, they were not neglectful and they did love Coraline. More than that would give stuff away. So that is all I am saying.

Posted by on January 29, 2013 in 2013, Children's book, Fantasy, Fiction and tagged , , , , , .

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January 29, 2013

Just a hint, and a request

All my reviews are tagged with the authors name. If you want to see other reviews I have written for an author, click on the tag.

Also if you could go to Facebook and “LIKE” my page I would appreciate it. Bella Foxx

Thanks and have a great evening, day, week, and weekend.

Posted by on January 29, 2013 in Uncategorized.

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January 29, 2013

Books Read in 2012

90. Cruel Death ~ M. William Phelps ~ 12/31/2012 23:45
89. Season of ’42 ~ Jack Cavanaugh ~ 12/31/2012 18:53
88. Watch Mommy Die ~ Michael Benson ~ 12/30/2012 23:42
87. Because You Loved Me ~ M. William Phelps ~ 12/30/2012
86. Little Bee ~ Chris Cleave ~ 12/29/2012
85. Lost Girls ~ Caitlin Rother~ 12/25/2012
84. Legally Dead ~ Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie ~ 12/20/2012
83. One Shot at Forever ~ Chris Ballard ~ 12/19/2012
82. The Wizard of OZ: A Steampunk Adventure ~ S.D. Stuart ~ 12/14/2012
81. Wicked Intentions ~ Kevin Flynn ~ 12/13/2012
80. Cob Search For A Serial Killer ~ Brian Benson ~ 12/12/2012
79. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter ~ Kim Edwards ~ 12/9/2012
78. Bottom of the 33rd ~ Dan Barry ~ 11/28/2012
77. Delirium ~ Lauren Oliver ~ 11/24/2012
76. Citizens of London ~ Lynne Olson ~ 11/24/2012
75. Tinkers ~ Paul Harding ~ 11/14/2012
74. Finding Nouf ~ Zoë Ferraris ~ 11/13/2012
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany ~ John Irving ~ 11/12/2012
72. The Best American Crime Reporting 2007 ~ Linda Fairstein ~ 10/31/2012
71. Brutal ~ Kevin Weeks ~ 10/31/2012
70. Crime Beat ~ Michael Connelly ~ 10/29/2012
69. Grant’s Final Victory ~ Charles Bracelen Flood ~ 10/24/2012
68. The Murder of the Century ~ Paul Collins ~ 10/19/2012
67. Seventeen: Real Girls, Real-Life Stories: True Crime ~ Seventeen Magazine ~ 10/14/2012
66. Seduced by Madness ~ Carol Pogash ~ 10/14/2012
65. Eisenhower in War and Peace ~ Jean Edward Smith ~ 10/8/2012
64. The Laughing Gorilla ~ Robert Graysmith ~ 9/19/2012
63. Buried Prey ~ John Sandford ~ 9/11/2012
62. The Complete Wreck (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1-13) ~ Lemony Snicket ~ 9/9/2012
61. Storm Prey ~ John Sandford ~ 9/04/2012
60. Blood Brother ~ Anne Bird ~ 8/30/2012
59. Resurrecting the Street ~ Jeff Ingber ~ 8/26/2012
58. The Worst Journey in the World ~ Apsley Cherry-Garrard ~ 8/18/2012
57. Death by a Thousand Cuts ~ Timothy Brook, Gregory Blue ~ 7/17/2012
56. Hellhound on His Trail ~ Hampton Sides ~ 7/13/2012
55. Island of Vice ~ Richard Zacks ~ 6/30/2012
54. Monsters of Men ~ Patrick Ness ~ 6/13/2012
53. The Ask and the Answer ~ Patrick Ness ~ 6/12/2012
52. Anatomy of Injustice ~ Raymond Bonner ~ 6/10/2012
51. The Bad Guys Won! ~ Jeff Pearlman ~ 6/6/2012
50. The Whistling Season ~ Ivan Doig ~ 6/1/2012
49. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest ~ Stieg Larsson ~ 5/28/2012
48. The Girl Who Played with Fire ~ Stieg Larsson ~ 5/26/2012
47. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ~ Stieg Larsson ~ 5/25/2012
46. The Dresden Files ~ Collection 1-6: #6 Blood Rites ~ Jim Butcher ~ 5/22/2012
45. The Dresden Files ~ Collection 1-6: #5 Death Masks ~ Jim Butcher ~ 5/20/2012
44. The Dresden Files ~ Collection 1-6: #4 Summer Knight ~ Jim Butcher ~ 5/18/2012
43. The Dresden Files ~ Collection 1-6: #3 Grave Peril ~ Jim Butcher ~ 5/17/2012
42. The Dresden Files ~ Collection 1-6: #2 Fool Moon ~ Jim Butcher ~ 5/17/2012
41. The Dresden Files ~ Collection 1-6: #1 Storm Front ~ Jim Butcher ~ 5/16/2012
40. Lefty: An American Odyssey ~ Vernona Gomez ~ 5/16/2012
39. Clark Gable, in Pictures ~ Chrystopher J. Spicer ~ 5/7/2012
38. The Warlord of Mars (Barsoom, #3) ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~ 5/3/2012
37. The Gods of Mars (Barsoom #2) ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~ 5/2/2012
36. A Princess of Mars (Barsoom #1) ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~ 4/29/2012
35. The Knife of Never Letting Go ~ Patrick Ness ~ 4/24/2012
34. The Lost Continent ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~ 4/24/2012
33. Madness Visible ~ Janine Di Giovanni ~ 04/24/2012
32. Selections from Fragile Things, Volume One ~ Neil Gaiman ~ 4/22/2012
31. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 4/19/2012
30. In the Garden of Beasts ~ Erik Larson ~ 4/14/2012
29. The Quest for Freedom ~ Yvonne de Ridder Files ~ 4/4/2012
28. My Secret War ~ Mary Pope Osborne ~ 4/4/2012
27. Growing Up King ~ Dexter Scott King ~ 4/3/2012
26. Merchants of Doubt ~ Naomi Oreskes ~ 3/30/2012
25. Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars, #4) ~ Sara Shepard ~ 3/25/2012
24. Perfect (Pretty Little Liars, #3) ~ Sara Shepard ~ 3/25/2012
23. Flawless (Pretty Little Liars, #2) ~ Sara Shepard ~ 3/25/2012
22. Sultana ~ Alan Huffman ~ 3/21/2012
21. Shotgun Gravy ~ Chuck Wendig ~ 3/20/2012
20. The Eyes of Willie McGee ~ Alex Heard ~ 3/17/2012
19. Between Good and Evil ~ Roger L. Depue ~ 2/28/2012
18. In Cold Blood ~ Truman Capote ~ 2/27/2012
17. R-T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH ~ Jane Leslie Conly ~ 2/24/2012
16. Out of Oz ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 2/23/2012
15. A Lion Among Men ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 2/16/2012
14. Terror by Night ~ Terry Caffey, James H. Pence~ 2/15/2012
13. The Cases That Haunt Us ~ John Douglas and Mark Olshaker ~ 2/14/2012
12. The Marvelous Land of Oz ~ L. Frank Baum ~ 2/12/2012
11. Son of a Witch ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 2/12/2012
10. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ~ L. Frank Baum ~ 2/9/2012
9. Wicked ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 2/9/2012
8. Racso and the Rats of NIMH ~ Jane Leslie Conly ~ 2/2/2012
7. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH ~ Robert C. O’Brien ~ 1/31/2012
6. Lost ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 1/21/2012
5. A Christmas Carol ~ Charles Dickens ~ 1/20/2012
4. Leaping Beauty ~ And Other Animal Fairy Tales ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 1/14/2012
3. Mirror Mirror ~ Gregory Maguire ~ 1/11/2012
2. Little (Grrl) Lost ~ Charles de Lint ~ 1/10/2012
1. Comrade Chikatilo ~ Mikhail Krivich, Olgert Olgin ~ 1/8/2012

Books read in 2011
Books read in 2010
Books read in 2009
Books read in 2008
Books read in 2007

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January 29, 2013

Cruel Death by M. William Phelps

CruelDeathFormat: eBook
Pub. Date: 7/1/2009
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Type: Non-Fiction, True Crime
Pages: 384
Read: 12/31/2012
Rating: Really liked it ♥♡♥

This case has been featured on TruTV, it has either been on more than one show or I have watched the same show multiple times, which is possible. This is a case where the details were hard to discover, one where you are left shaking your head.

Erika and B.J. seemed to have it all together, she a beloved daughter, he was a navy seal, somewhere it all went wrong. There is no way to know exactly what happened, or why Erika and B.J. started killing, what was behind the little game they played, but Phelps does his normal excellent job of bringing out the facts of this case in an engaging and interesting way.

I recommend this book to true crime fans.

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January 18, 2013

Season of ’42 by Jack Cavanaugh

Seasonof42Joe D., Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball’s Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War

Format: Hardbound
Pub. Date: 5/25/2012
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Type: Non-Fiction ~ Library Book
Pages: 285
Read: 12/31/2012
Rating: Liked it ♥♡

In 1942 the war was not going well for the United States. There was a great need for ships, planes, submarines etc and manpower. Especially strong young men between the ages of 21 and 35. It therefore might have seemed frivolous for men to be playing a “kid’s game”, at this time. President Roosevelt however gave major league baseball a ‘green light’, many draft boards went along with it, the ball players that were drafted were usually assigned as physical fitness trainers or actually played ball for the Army or Navy.

The season ended with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the NY Yankees in the World Series in 5 games (don’t worry, Yankees beat the Cardinals in 1943 in 5 games). Baseball would be played for the rest of the war, but not at the same level since after 1942 many players did end up drafted. But it was a magical season, with twilight games played in some cities because of the blackouts. With rationing of sugar and butter and nylons and gasoline, baseball took peoples minds off the war for a few hours.

This book covers baseball in that season, but also life in that season, an interesting well researched and written account, that I feel would be enjoyed by baseball fans and anyone interested in the history of the United States.

Posted by on January 18, 2013 in 2012, History, Non-Fiction and tagged , , , , , , , .

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January 17, 2013

Watch Mommy Die by Michael Benson

WatchMommyDieFormat: Paperback
Pub. Date: 5/1/2011
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Type: Non-Fiction, True Crime ~ Library Book
Pages: 373
Read: 12/30/2012
Rating: Liked it ♥

This is another new to me True Crime author. This is also just one of those books I picked up at the library. Stephen Stanko was an ex-con and a published author. He used his status as a published author to impress people and glossed over why he went to prison. He had people convinced he was a nice guy. They are all nice guys until you find the bodies in the crawl space – sorry – wrong book.

He kept a scrapbook of serial killers, later it became apparent he was using it for ideas on how to become one himself. He was adept at using people, and once they no longer served his purpose, he disposed of them.

This book details his crimes after he was released from prison, not too much detail on his life before that and the man hunt after he assaulted his girlfriend and her daughter.

This is well-researched and written true crime account. It has detailed information but not so many details that it gets bogged down in the details.

Posted by on January 17, 2013 in 2012, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , .

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