Excellent book about a grim subject
931517
I enjoyed this accounting of the hunt and capture of Dennis Rader. Well written and researched. Provides an interesting perspective about serial murders.
4809379
This book was excellent. Be warned though, it is chillingly gruesome. The book follows the main character through his survival in North Korea. Although it can be hard to get through certain scenes, I didn't feel that empty, sad feeling that can come from reading a depressing book. The beauty of this story is that there is always hope. I would definitely recommend it.
2729053
I really enjoyed this book. It was engaging, the details were informative, including clippings and photos, and the scientific context behind how the dustbowl happened was well researched. If you're a bit morbid like me and  enjoy reading non fiction accounts of disasters, this book is good.
2223995
Tough subject matter, but I loved this book!
222359
When someone hears the term PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), most think of soldiers who were on the battle field. However, it also affects victims of war, violence, rape etc (any trauma).  Kenneth Miller examines all of these issues in War Torn.

Ken traveled to Guatemala to help evaluate a mental health intervention designed for indigenous children. He didn't really find much there so there wasn't a lot to actually evaluate.  He covers the history of war, genocide, and poverty of indigenous people. He found it hard to set up mental health programs for various reasons. He also traveled to Mexico and other countries with violet histories as well.

So, you are probably thinking that War Torn is a depressing book with little hope.  That is not the case.  Yes, some of it is depressing.  How can it not be, reading about peoples situations with war, violence, loss, etc? You would have to be heartless.  However, also buried between the covers are pearls of hope, wisdom, humor, and resilience.

War Torn should be required reading for high school.  I know some parents want to shelter their teenagers from these realities but I think it is important to educate them on this issue.  They are the future and will have to continue to deal with and hopefully learn how to prevent the devastation so many people have had to endure.

War Torn is hard to put down and riveting, it read very fast. Kenneth Miller tells of his discoveries in a way that is not preachy.  His writing style is excellent and he really draws you in.  Highly recommended!
4566643
An excellent book.  Very helpful in understanding how to deal with such a tragic episode in someone's life.  Also helpful for bystanders to understand how difficult something this would be, and be able to give back support to those affected.
4689051
A terrific book, although I still find the title a little baffling.  I gather it refers to "thinking as small children do, as if my thoughts or wishes had the power to reverse the narrative, change the outcome."

  The outcome Ms. Didion so badly wants reversed is the sudden death of her husband while their only child lies in a coma in a NYC hospital.

  This is the first book I have read since the sudden death of my wife six years ago, (a heart attack at 44) that helped me deal with it. It gets the disjointed shock of it, the fragmented mindset of the bereaved and the "question of self-pity" just right. It caught the overwhelming demands of going about one's life while carrying such an awful weight.

  While the book does not have a straight narrative line (life, and death, is just not like that) this was a compelling read for me.

  I read the book in two sittings, which is not my normal MO, but it just wasn't possible for me to put it down.
687434
This is an excellent book that takes up a difficult issue.
1504689
This was really a wonderful book, albeit a sad story. It is a realistic look at the decline and death of elderly parents, and the real life impact on the supporting family in the years/months/days leading until that end. Melancholy, human, real, funny (at times).  A good primer for family members who will face this role in the future.
1692489
Oscar the cat was a very informative book. The subject of aging and the enormity of dealing with the harder case scenario's with loved ones, not just their care, but the emotional toll on families. The finding of the right facility in these instances was written about in a way that was enlightening, informative and somewhat  (though I hope never to have to face it) preparation-al. I think anyone who is close to an aging loved one should read this book.
3989284
I liked this book in spite of the sad topic.  Scott Simon is a favorite voice from public radio and his portrait of his mother and her last days is a tribute to a great lady and her loving son.  Lovingly written.
2036144
Do I recommend this book? Yes. Just be prepared. I do not recognize the writer of this book as the deeply empathetic person I recently saw interviewed. Morgans intelligence, eloquence and compassion are of the sort rarely seen in TV interviews anymore. He is the real deal and I wanted to find out more.

Morgan was a medico-legal investigator and lived in the bowels of human darkness for years. He witnessed the worst deaths imaginable and, often, the worst in the people surrounding him. What he wrote is a devastating expose about what can happen behind the scenes when everyone is too broken to care- "jokes" played by insensitive police officers in front of grieving families, the filthy co-worker sexually aroused by a dead body and drunken M.E.'s who foist their jobs onto their assistants are just a few examples. Honestly, the conditions of the dead bodies were often the least disturbing parts in this book.

Morgans shattering childhood will break your heart. Interspersing that bleak history with a profession that was excruciating for him gives context but ultimately neither story feels fully formed. The book abruptly ends at Morgans lowest point.

Morgan had to leave his job after being diagnosed with "the worst PTSD" the psychiatrist had ever seen. Morgan is unflinchingly honest about his bitterness, alcoholism, rage and eventual apathy working in a field about which the general public has no clue. He does not spare the reader in any way or offer any kind of hope. This book is DARK. It is a harsh look at what a civilized society expects others to do in the name of decency and justice in a profession that shows neither to those who must do the job. Morgan despises those who ask him for gory details without any regard for the toll his job has taken on his humanity.  He resents it being seen as entertainment and wants the reader to see and smell the horror that has savaged his life.

The book is deeply affecting in many ways including its brief moments of respite where you can smell the gardenias in his grandmother's garden or feel the breeze through doors and windows she strategically opened at dusk. Some moments are jarring. Morgans unapologetic referral to the Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression" gave me pause because he so casually drops in a very loaded phrase. He acknowledges he is as Southern as one can be and gives interesting insights and background to someone like me who has never lived in the south nor gives much credence to the "heritage" argument when discussing confederate icons.

I remain a huge fan of Joseph Scott Morgan and hope he will write another book. He has become a scholar, professor and leader in his field after enduring a breakdown that might have killed others. He offers his expertise and insight into present day cases in a neutral and objective manner. For Morgan, "death possesses a symmetry the living can never imitate. And it always speaks the truth." Regardless of everything this book does offer, it barely scratches the surface of his story. I look forward to reading more.
2128452
A very good book considering the subject matter. The details were clear about the atrocities that these poor women endured. It was written in a way that would input what they suffered without making it worse for them.
4421622
An excellent book; though very sad and depressing at times (like an old country music song). The car wreck analogy applies in that you can't turn away and the reader gets sucked in. To me, Bobby's story also works as a cautionary "scared straight" kind of tale, because it inspires me to want to do the exact opposite of what Bobby & crew have done.
1474497
Gregory Coco has written an excellent and sobering book about just a few of the thousands of Confederate Soldiers who were killed at The Battle of Gettysburg.  He profiles about 60 soldiers and tells how they were either killed in action immediately, or lived just a few hours or a few days after their injuries.  He gives the units of the men who were killed.  Men from South Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas.  The men from the Army of Northern Virginia both officers and enlisted these men met the "Angel of Death" and some died mercrifully quick, while others died of their wounds in agony for a few hours or for a few days later.  Many of these men were buried in the mass unknown soldiers graves upon the battlefield, a few were able to be identified and buried in Richmond, Virginia.  The terrible tragedy struck these mens families who were waiting to hear the news from the battle.  Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, to hear about their loved ones death thousand or more miles away was hard to bear.
The author makes a reader realize that for all the "glory" of the Battle of Gettysburg the reality was much more terrible, cruel, and tragic.  The men who died were in the prime of their life when they were killed, some died bravely with their "face toward the enemy", some crawled away to die, and some lingered for a few days in a hospital.  This year 2013, marks the 150 Anniversay of the Battle of Gettysburg which was fought during the hot and swealtering days of July 1 through 3, 1863.  As we commemorate the Battle, the meaning of Gettysburg, the history of the battle, and look at the monuments that are on the battlefield today, we should also remember the horrific death and destruction of the battle and its aftermath.  The suffering, the cruelty, the disease, and the blood of the battle as well.  Hopefully, we will never have to face those harrowing days of the first week of July 1863, again.
I commend Gregory Coco for his thorough research, his non-flinching account of the death and blood of the soldiers, and his excellent and poignant narrative of just a few of the thousands that were killed at Gettysburg.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOK!
4702881
This is one of the best books I have read on a complicated and painful subject.  It is a historical survey of archaeology in America and is written beautifully.  The past is so sad, but the author has hope for the future being better.  He cites inspiring examples of co-ordination between Native Americans and archaeologists.  It is an interesting book that is hard to lay down and I read it almost without pause.  I have loaned it to 2 friends and they liked it also.
1280660
A wonderfully written book on a subject that makes you sad as you read it, but so appropriate in this world of cancer. Loved it, but it is not for everyone.