Good book, sad topic but needs sources
357736
I love Fintan O'Toole and I generally agree with him on most issues. This book is an overview of the crisis and how it happened and it quite good, but there is a major issue with the book that prevents it getting 5 stars, and that is the total lack of sources. A "Polemical Work" in the words of the author, he drew on his considerable knowledge of the topic and on past issues of The Irish Times for the material, but without a catalogue of sources for his claims how are people to safe in the knowledge that what he says is correct?

I believe him, but that's not enough.
1182379
This is a respectful tribute to the victims, above all else.  It contains details of the crimes, as much as is known.  It also has lovely photos of the victims while in their normal states of life. I definitely prefer these to autopsy photos.  The issue that I have with the book, and why I am not giving it five stars, is that there is not enough research done on Anthony Cook's early life.  There are only two and a half pages devoted to his personal history. I mainly buy these kinds of books to find out how life warped these men to the point that they became so enraged.  I wish the author had asked Anthony's family members for more information.  I was looking particularly for accounts of how Anthony's biological father treated the family.  Boys learn their ways of being from their fathers. The father left the family when Anthony was nine, but prior to that he would have had quite an impact.  He was likely a violent man.
2737676
The book is very emotional and is an interesting read, I'll give it that.  Carson is a good writer presents a compelling case, but it is supported by lies and half-truths.  I'll mention a couple of them below...
Carson wrote, "Dr. DeWitt's now classic experiments [on quail and pheasants] have now established the fact that exposure to DDT, even when doing no observable harm to the birds, may seriously affect reproduction. Quail into whose diet DDT was introduced throughout the breeding season survived and even produced normal numbers of fertile eggs. But few of the eggs hatched."  But Dr. DeWitt's actual article yielded different conclusions.  Quail that were fed DDT hatched 80% of their eggs, while the control group that wasn't fed DDT hatched 83.9% of their eggs.  Hardly a significant difference.  Carson also "conveniently" forgot to mention that DeWitt's control group of pheasants hatched only 57% of their eggs, while those fed DDT in high levels for an entire year hatched more than 80% of their eggs.
Carson seemed to believe that DDT was responsible for declining bird populations.  Yet somehow she forgot that the bald eagles were threatened with extinction in 1921, 25 years before widespread use with DDT.  The peregrine falcon and brown pelican populations also declined significantly before widespread use of DDT.  So don't blame DDT for that.
Yet another thing she forgot was the millions of humans saved, with little real damage to the environment.  DDT was only shown to be harmful in HUGE doses; i.e. doses that are many, many times higher than could possibly be encountered through normal usage.
In summary, read this book if you like to be scared, but don't take it too seriously.  It's kind of depressing that this piece of trash was taken as fact and started a movement, at the expense of millions of human lives due to insect-carried diseases.  There are problems with the environment, sure, but DDT is not one of them.  This book was written with an agenda, and it succeeded in that regard.  So we have wonderful Rachel Carson to thank for many of our pest and disease problems we have today.  Give her a round of applause.
2129221
The Beautiful Ugly by James Snyder

The Beautiful Ugly by James Snyder was a very touching, poignant book. Through his writing, Snyder was able to grab the readers attention and have them feel what the character was going through at that time. Snyder had a good grasp on what some kids may feel when Children Services peddles them off to a host family. (The feelings of being lost, confused, angry, abandoned)(However, not all families are like those portrayed in the book. I feel there are more good families out there than bad but you do have those that suck big time.)

I do feel though that the character development was lacking. I wanted to know more but was given less.

The ending of the book is

I also agree with another review that this book should also be a reminder to parents to plan for their children in case of their death. The system unfortunately is not a pleasant one and can do a lot of damage to a childs psyche. Planning ahead can alleviate the stress and tension a child feels.

*I won this book through Goodreads First Reads giveaway. In no way has this influenced my rating or opinion of this book.*

3.8 Stars
1340331
I found this book to be very informative, however, at one point my husband told me to stop reading it because it was making me upset. It really put alot of fear into me and I found myself constatly worring about all of the things that could happen. It would have been nice if it wasn't so over medicalized. She would use alot of "doctor talk" and I wished she would have written on a more personal level, since she is a mother of twins and has expierenced this all herself. It did give alot of useful information and I don't regret buying it
4839860
I loved this book, but it is very depressing. It's an extreme tragedy what he had to go through in his abandonment by a mother who wasn't fit to raise him. I think the writing was excellent - allowing me to truly feel his pain, fear and anger at what no child should have to experience. This is a great read - but be prepared for a truly sad story.
4903464
I hate giving this book just 3 stars; it's very well written, sincere, wise, and I really felt like Alexander Levy's honesty helped me to connect to a lot of my own feelings.

That being said, I really wanted more than just to identify with someone else (though that's helpful), and be told that it's not only okay but NECESSARY to grieve. That last issue is a continuing problem for me. And I have a stack of books that I'm hoping will help.

I would happily recommend this book to anyone who has lost his or her parents. I was probably hoping for too much; not "all the answers" so much as a path to find them...and for me, at least, that wasn't in this book. But there was a lot here that was good, and a lot that at the very least reassured me that others have felt the same kinds of loss and pain that I'm experiencing and recovered from it.

So I couldn't say this is the ONLY book you'll need on your shelf...but I'd certainly say it deserves a place on the shelf with other books about grief.
3479193
I purchased this book after hearing the author talk on the radio.
I think that this book serves a good purpose to explain the long-term impact of sexual abuse on male survivors.
The author states "This book emphasizes the darkness and pain I have suffered from unwanted sexual abuse for over forty years now."  That is an understatement.  Bill's account is heartbreaking, and that's an understatement.  Bill's portion of the story is about 135 pages long, and he doesn't give any specifics about hope or healing except for pages 110-112.  Then it goes right back to his career.
If I had to summarize the message of this book it would be: Abuse destroys you and maybe in the end you can be slightly less destroyed but God himself can't really help you out of your suffering, he'll just suffer along with you while you struggle every day.
There is some truth to that.  And this book is a good starting point to understand the problems of abuse, but PLEASE don't stop with this book.  After you understand the pain abuse causes, it's time for more than three pages of vague ideas about help.  Check out The Wounded Heart by Dan Allender, which Bill himself refers to, Victims No Longer by Mike Llew, and Rid of My Disgrace by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, because those books emphasize the hope and healing instead of the pain and suffering.
When a book is 90% devastation, 2% gospel, and 8% aftermath I would strongly discourage any victims from reading this without a support system in place.  I would equally strongly encourage this book for anyone who buys into the idea that sexual abuse of boys isn't so horrible because of some physical reaction they might have.  This book completely destroys that idea, and serves that purpose well.
4443963
This book presents a good content on the issues of being/assuming bisexuality, and adds a political perspective, however, it gets reading turning to be tiring due to the level of details when it comes to the author interest in use the proper words, and define specifically, each meaning of it. It is an important reading if you are a bisexual but you need to be prepared for a very theoretical reading.
1952258
Depressing book.... a lot of great info but has an overall (so far) depressing tone.  I really don't want to hear about babies from World War II who suffered and died from separation anxiety when I'm trying to read this book and breast-feed my own child I was hoping for something a little happier than this I'm going to keep reading it and hopefully I'll be able to give it a better review but so far it's pretty darn sad .
1971772
The author is well intended and is able to pass on a good deal of useful information to both
men and women. She fails to cover an important issue all of of suffer from at some point if not most every point in our lives: "Desperation"  and the role it plays in our lives. I am sure she will open to this issue in the future, but bravo for her efforts and insight at such a young age.
4146929
This book is full of a lot of interesting and controversial ideas. While I was fascinated to learn about other people's journeys as gay Christians, I found this book over-all to be very sad. I accepted myself as a gay Christian long ago. I came to terms with my sexual orientation as a teenager. I never doubted my Christian faith or my relationship with God, so for me there was no conflict. I found it to be tragic that most of the people (clergy included) that were interviewed or featured in this book seemed to remain so full of doubt and conflict. They seem to still be struggling to find away to believe that God still loves them, even as actively gay people. Also, sad was the devastating need for approval these people seemed to have. In many cases they seemed to be desperate for their minister or anyone with some assumed religious authority to accept them and give them permission to be the gay person God made them without sacrificing their position as children of God. I don't think I ever had that need for approval from fellow humans. Everyone wants to be loved and accepted, but it is another thing to so need validation from others that you can't be happy and self-loving without it. I hope all those people find peace eventually, and somehow find the truth. God made them, and He doesn't make mistakes. He loves them completely exactly as they are. And if God is with you, who can stand against you? As a final note, I don't think those asking this question will find comfort in this book, unless they just want the validation of knowing that many other people share their fears. My answer to them would be to consider this: Since Jesus never said a word against homosexuality, why would they ever doubt that He would not love them because of it. It seems very probably that if He had a problem with it, He would have said so. He seemed to prefer those people that most of society shunned. He's kind of amazing that way.
Michael Travis Jasper, Author of the Novel "To Be Chosen"
3155097
I read this book shortly after Australia apologised for what they had done to Britain's so called orphans. If half of what Lesley Pearse has written is true ( and we know know it was actually far worse)  the apology is not enough. I enjoy Lesley Pearce because  she does her research properly. The romantic stories are great but what makes her books stand out is the detail of the times that she writes about. I found  myself wanting to know more about this sad saga of UK and Australian history so watched the video Oranges and Sunshine (2010) which covers the "child migration schemes" as well - much of that script reflects parts of this novel. As I said - an apology is not enough and Lesley Pearce has done  an outstanding job in showing this.
3067976
This book does a very good job of helping people recognize behaviors and actions that may lead to trouble.  Unfortunately, this book has some flaws and certainly could have been better.

Mr. De Becker is clearly an expert at teaching about manipulation, grooming, and other patterns of behavior that often precede violence.  He does a great service in explaining techniques used by antisocials and ways to counteract them by following our instincts.

On the down side, the book contains a lot of anti-gun propaganda.  The author tends to make unsubstantiated claims about how having a gun makes one less safe.  He uses a couple of examples while ignoring the hundreds of cases annually where individuals with weapons have saved their own lives or those of others.

Additionally, he tends to do a lot of self promotion for his company and name dropping of the ultra leftist elites of Hollywood.  Although it may impress some readers that he has connections with Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Streisand, it certainly does nothing to enhance his credibility.  On the contrary, it makes him appear to be a liberal with an agenda.  In this case, that is making people less self reliant for their own protection while promoting his company.  That is unfortunate as it takes away from the rest of the book that is so good.

In spite of the propaganda and self promotion, I would encourage people to read this book.  It has a lot of good to go along with the bad parts.  It might just help save the life of someone who is involved with an abusive partner or dealing with a stalker.
4197331
This is an excellent book jammed packed full of awesome information such as transformative and restorative justice and the resource - '"How is gender oppression within progressive, radical and/or revolutionary movement(s) maintained, supported, encouraged?  However I've noticed that the group of contributors know each other, work with each other and therefore I will only give this book a 3 star rating.  I wish other voices would of been included that are not well known or even excluded within these so called "movements" and "spaces."  This book is very focused on urban and urban movements.  It lacks ways to take action in rural, remote and even reservation communities, although there is mention of Indigenous-Native women's issues but not in respect to life on the rez.  If this book is to speak of marginalized experiences then it should include writers, poets and community organizers (workers) who are not well known, excluded, on the margins and outskirts.  Those of us at home are doing some of the hardest work.  I've found that many of these "alternative" and "progressive" movements exclude those of us who are doing the work in a rural, remote and reservation communities.  Additionally, the book leans politically left which is fine however there are allies and voices who are more conservative or even identify as Republican.  This book misses the mark that allies can be found on the "other side."  I would like to see a second book which is more inclusive to those of us who are taking action and doing community work on these very difficult issues in rural, remote, reservation communities as well as those of us who lean more politically right and conservative identifying.
4274720
This book includes a lot of what we already know and offers good advice and reminders about the benefits of a healthy diet and meditation. The reason I gave it two stars is that it seems to sum up every example cleanly and perfectly. "He ate berries, meditated, and lived an extra five years." I agree with much of the book, but there was one story that was especially disturbing, and if true, I hope the victim got additional counseling. The author explained that he was counseling a woman who was abused by her father in perverse ways as a six-year-old child. She then came to realize, with the author's help, that her father must have been in pain himself. The woman then felt sorry for her abusive father and forgave him. I hope to God the author has given up emotional counseling, because his reaction to, and summary of, that woman's experience haunts me to this day. Some things should not be resolved so easily. I think the author should stick to berries and meditation.
1460069
From Jeff Zentner, who writes about grief as if it were his own, Goodbye Days is a beautiful book, fraught with emotion.

I wish there had been more insight into the individual personalities. I didn't feel as though I really knew Mars, Eli and Blake. In particular, I would like to have had the chance to understand Adairs perspective, to get to know her and her relationship with her brother.

In essence, this is a book that should be on the shelf in all high school libraries and brought to the attention of healthcare providers offering grief counseling.
@crushingcinders
*Review copy*