good grief, even "reality" isn't safe from her intelligence ...
583994
Pitts' Wizzy Wig is even more ambitious than her first, Double Blind. The level of complexity, the entanglement of characters.......good grief, even "reality" isn't safe from her intelligence and laugh-out-loud humor. She deftly plays with obscurity balanced by glimmers of reveal that kept this reader on the edge and turning the pages, delighted all the while, laughter always close at hand, believing this outrageous premise and wondering how in the world she managed to pull it off. And she does. Brilliantly! Like Double Blind, this is a page turning that is so much fun you won't want to put it down And then you will want to start all over to figure out how she did it.
3127348
A series of mishaps and misadventures has Jane Ellingson so depressed that not even a Starbucks frappucino is able to lift her spirits.  Within just a matter of days she's managed to completely destroy the life she's built.  A stupid mistake at work means she will probably lose her job.  Spilling red wine on her best friend's wedding dress just days before the wedding ensures that said friend won't be speaking to her for quite some time.  And let's not forget the panicked "Let's get married" to her boyfriend, cementing the fact that he will avoid her at all costs.

The discovery of a small stone with a note sitting in the window of Starbucks may prove to be the answer to her prayers.  It's a wishing stone and it even comes with instructions. Ah, if only life was that easy.  Still Jane is desperate and if there's even the slightest chance that she can wish away her troubles then that's exactly what she's going to do.  Her wish - ' take me away from here. Let me start all over.  Someplace where no one knows me.'  The next thing she knows, she's whisked into the world of Victorian England, but not in reality . . .  no, in actuality she's become a pawn of a writer known as Mary Bellingham and is now the heroine of the story Mary's writing.

Having someone else take over so that she doesn't have to worry about her own graceless blunders seems like a dream come true.  Only she's a modern day girl and being forced to appear docile and wearing corsets are chaffing her patience.  The hero James Dempsey is a pompous bore and Jane has absolutely no interest in him - Curran, the villian, makes her toes curl and has her imagining all sorts of modern day misbehavior.  Unfortunately, deviating from the storyline Miss Bellingham has planned could result in them being discarded simply by the author destroying the papers on which their story is written.  Dare they risk it?  Is it possible to lead their storyteller in the direction they desire to go?

Dawn Calvert tells a stellar tale with her second release HIS AND HERS.  Like its predecessor, HERO WORSHIP, this story takes readers `inside' the book and we get to know the characters who are only truly in character when the author is writing.  I was quickly caught up in Curran and Jane's less then praiseworthy opinion of Miss Bellingham's storytelling and how they join forces in order to `save' the book.  I was most anxious to find out if Jane ends up with Curran, if she ever returns to her real life, or if she even really wants to go back to her messed up life.  This is one of those books that just pulls you into the storyline and completely immerses you in the characters lives and their plight.  I've often heard authors say that their characters take on a life of their own - in this book they really do!  Dawn Calvert is a talented author with a bright promising future.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)
930203
This book should not be allowed.  When I read it at first, there were only five star reviews.  They must have been friends because its not a very well written book.  I should have had my doubts when she claimed not one but two cops abused her.  I was not fully convinced of her truthfulness even while reading it and I wondered how she won an award, other than having a Latino name and perhaps the chance to get back at the police.  Come to find out that even her kids claim she is not telling the truth.  Her natural children, who he adopted claim she was the instigator more often than not.  And his other children and present wife have never had anything similar occur and one calls her story a complete lie.

So now I feel used.  She wrote this either as a way of making money or out of vindictiveness because no one supports her claims, even her civil claims have failed.  And so she makes a mockery of the true tragedy of domestic violence. Worse, for some strange reason, she is willing to continue the abuse by forcing her own children into the false claims and causing them serious issues for having to choose between them.  I think, if anyone takes the time to investigate the background of this case, they will realize that she is a manipulator, not a writer.
4963480
The smart way to read 'Sex Object' is to begin with the conviction that everything Jessica Valenti believes is wrong, and therefore everything she does is also wrong. Reading her story from this perspective, you begin by taking notice of how her childhood insecurity about her looks and her envy of prettier girls (pp. 31-34) is the locomotive engine that carries her forward into a series of bad decisions and bad relationships. On page 87, she introduces us to "Jay," the 16-year-old boy from Park Slope she lost her virginity to at age 14, as a freshman at Stuyvesant High School. On page 99, we meet "Kyle," the boy she dated at Tulane University. Kyle was a jerk, of course, and Valenti flunked out of Tulane in a year. Somehow these stories are meant by Valenti to tell us about "sexism" and how she is a victim of male oppression, but what the astute reader notices is that this feminist victimhood narrative functions as an excuse, exempting Valenti from responsibility for her own bad decisions, her own bad behavior, and her own bad attitude. Unfortunately, this is not the interpretation of 'Sex Object' that will likely be made by most of the young women who read Valenti's book, which is clearly intended by her to reinforce the irrational resentments and paranoid sense of helpless victimhood -- "blame patriarchy!" -- that define 21st-century feminism.
3328146
It's silly and creepy. Her soon to be stepson is a psychopathic murderer and she doesn't even seem to want him to come to justice. Ewww. Creepy. Not fun. Her willingness to have everyone step over her makes me what to scream and cringe. Jheesh, get a backbone. You are an insult to strong women!
3247152
Do not support this individual - her assessments are extremely inaccurate.  She was probably brought up in a protected undoubtedly silver spoon childhood and has no clue what terrible and inhumane acts are brought on people generating them to become criminals.  She thinks everyone has the ability to pull themselves out of this.  She is a very ignorant person.  Do not pad her pocket with your precious money!!
671363
Annie Jacobsen likes to call herself an "Investigative Journalist," but she really is not. REAL "Investigative Journalists" check and re-check their facts, instead of promoting easily disproven myths. Jacobsen is guilty of not only misreporting facts, she also refuses to correct them. Worse for Jacobsen, she never bothers to conduct basic research.

To cite just one example, and it is an extremely important one, Jacobsen makes the false claim that Nazi Auschwitz and Holocaust mass murderer, Dr. Josef Mengele, worked secretly for Stalin, and under Stalin's orders, either surgically altered two children to look like "aliens" or used genetic manipulation. Then Jacobsen falsely claims that these mythical "aliens" were stuffed inside a Soviet aircraft, flown thousands of miles into U.S. air space, where they crashed and met their demise in the desert of New Mexico, and thus are the real cause of the mythical Roswell "UFO crash" of 1947. Jacobsen also falsely claims that Stalin's motives were to create panic among the American populace, a la War of the Worlds.

Out of all the bozo theories ever put forth to explain "Roswell," Annie Jacobsen's is the most extremist and impossible. Yet the lamestream media has largely avoided criticizing her, which has created the impression of credibility that she does not deserve. Even her publisher/employer, The LA Times has hyped her book, the newspaper is having money problems so sensationalism obviously boosts sales, even at the expense of truth.

Declassified CIA, DOJ, OSS and even Mengele's own writings, from his diary, as well as numerous witnesses who helped him and saw him and have openly gone on record, ALL PROVE THAT MENGELE WAS NEVER IN THE CUSTODY OF THE RUSSIANS. If Mengele was never in the custody of the Soviets, he could not have helped Stalin. The logic in this is beyond obvious.

What is also apparent is that Annie Jacobsen DELIBERATELY REFUSED to check basic historical facts. The TRUTH about what REALLY happened at Roswell was published last century in 1997, in the book The Roswell UFO Crash: What They Don't Want You to Know, by Kal Korff. It remains the bestselling Roswell expose of all time, and Roswell was caused by the then classified military project known as Mogul, which Jacobsen ignores.

Furthermore, the once secret Mengele files were declassified in 1993, they are easily available, but Jacobsen never bothered checking them. If she had done so, which is what a REAL "Investigative Journalist" would have done and is OBLIGATED to do, she would never have made the numerous false claims that she does in her book.

Many reviewers here have noticed the many stupid errors Jacobsen has also made misreporting basic facts. Many of the people Jacobsen claims she "quotes" have now gone on record DENYING her "version" of events, yet Jacobsen still refuses to admit the truth, she refuses to correct her errors, and she also refuses to admit that she is GUILTY of mixing historical facts with fiction, just like the Hitler Diaries did.

A devastating expose of Annie Jacobsen and her fraud can be found at [...], it is a FREE DOWNLOAD. It has been release for one reason only: to tell the public the TRUTH, which is what Annie Jacobsen has an obligation to do as a self-proclaimed "Investigative Journalist," but she refused to do so. I rate her book ONE STAR, because many of her claims are false, she COULD have easily checked historical facts, but she refused to.
4323939
With all the speculation and frightening happenstances at fictional Lyle College, the reader of "The Sixes" by Kate White cannot help but eventually ask why the protagonist, Phoebe Hall, continues on with her snooping when her background includes a harrowing experience with bullies and her life is jeopardized by similar oppressors of a newer fiercer generation privy to tools more technically competent in ruining lives.

The premise, that a non-fiction writer specializing in celebrity dirt who has been accused of plagiarism is hiding away in a north-east college as a substitute writing instructor until she rethinks her career, starts the ball rolling immediately for the reader to trust in the author's ability to suspend disbelief.  Of course, she is "connected;" her best friend from boarding school--the scene of her personal bullying experience--as dean of students gets her the job and acts as not only her confidante throughout the tale, but the person who assigns her the muck-racking task of looking into the disappearance of a young co-ed who might be on the roster of a secret girls' society bent on ensuring that their members take their female empowerment seriously.

As a character, Phoebe is dogged and relentless, not at all cowed by a miserable experience from school that threatened her life and sourced all sorts of unimaginable nightmares.  That in itself seems incredible.  Of course, as readers, we are not privy to the specifics of her experience until much later on in the telling of the story.  By that time, the amount of frightening adventures that revolve off of her investigation of the sixes churn her stomach, cause waves of terror to climb up her spine, punch her in the gut, make her nauseous and all manner of other cliche phrases to get across the idea that she is indeed in dire jeopardy.  The adrenaline rush this woman gets on a daily basis is enough to leave her muscles wobbly--and yet she persists . . .

The story itself is interesting and as I listened to this in an unabridged audio format for a number of hours, it did entertain with its conspiracy theory ideas and  sinister people lurking in the dark at every turn in Phoebe's investigation. The insult to the reader, if one can call it that, is the expectation that the reader will buy into several premises that in a more realistic world would never make sense.  But, then again, this is fiction that reads like a beach thriller, so what can one expect?

Bottom line?  "The Sixes" by Kate White is a suspense thriller that will engage the reader who does not expect too much realism.  The action takes place on a small college campus; the focus on over-amped feminism and the collateral damage of bullying and peer pressure.  Implausible at times, it drags on to reveal the brains behind the operation that the reader guessed from the start.  Recommended as a good audio book that entertains during exercise.  Overlook the trite emotional explosions of the main character.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"
3761552
I wonder why books like this are written--Jane Alison seems a very distraught and tortured woman.  Perhaps putting  her life story in print has been therapeutic for Ms. Alison in some way--I hope so.  As a reader, I couldn't take such pessimism and self-indulgent whining.  What did she want us to glean from it?  Maybe I shouldn't have read&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Captured-By-The-Indians-15-Firsthand-Accounts-1750-1870/dp/0486249018/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Captured By The Indians: 15 Firsthand Accounts, 1750-1870</a>&nbsp;just prior to reading this book.  Talk about rough lives...these people survived harrowing life/death situations.  There was no time for self-analysis--just trying to stay alive was a major goal.  I suggest Ms. Alison read that book; then thank her lucky stars for everything she has been blessed with.
1463664
Rosemary Wells is one of my favorite authors--she is a funny and gifted storyteller.  My daughter and I have loved her Max and Ruby stories, above all.  However, this book I am wary of as the life and work of Mary Breckinridge, which I have researched as a historian, are not things to be whitewashed.  In order to create her domain in Appalachian Kentucky, Mary visited with traditional midwives and then wrote reports describing them as largely dangerous, dirty, unskilled in order to make the case for the establishment of the Frontier Nursing Service.  She had no solid data that midwives, though no doubt a mixed group like any other, were in reality "dangerous" and, in fact, to this day no scholar has been able to prove that nurse-midwives provided better care than traditional midwives in the region.  Many other factors have contributed to a reduction in infant and maternal mortalities.  Her lack of solid data in the end, however, didn't matter as she had the authority and connections as a women of wealth and privilege to get the political and financial backing for FNS.  To raise funds, she told wealthy donors that she was saving babies of "pure stock."  This sale pitch worked well for her as this was a time when many feared "race suicide" and desperately wanted more "white" babies to be born.  Breckinridge's racism was also made powerful in her lifelong efforts to barring Black nurse-midwives from membership in the profession's national organization.
4523468
Fascinating...what this woman went through seems other worldly. It boggles the mind.
1404000
The author state in the book that she would not be held responsible if you get arrested by the police.
Sleep beside a corpse in a cemetary in total darkness... and so-called "death enegy".... and even on page 45, "... grasp rge athame firmly, and with one thrust, pierce the corpse's heart and leave the blade in place.  Do not remove it until the next morning".
Up to you to decide whether you think this book is real stuff.  To me, this book is ridiculous.
464812
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who can't handle what the real horrors of this world might contain, but if you can....
467051
I only read the preview published free to learn about this book. Two phrases stood out for me immediately. The first was "battered Sacramento housewives who pushed their volatile husbands too far".  That is probably the most abusive description of an abused and murdered woman I have ever read.  A woman is dead because she should have known better than to do whatever triggered her husband to murder her is the jist of it. The question "What is it that a woman could do that made her murder predictable?" springs to mind.  Pretty insane question.

The next is another mindset phrase. A quotation is shared from a neighbor that the mother was "Their mom was a very friendly person -- a little on the heavy side but neighborly." That equating
being overweight as a counterweight to her friendliness is the same crooked thinking that this author is blind to repeatedly. Were there no better observations available? I would have found a more adult description about the woman.

A real problem for me  is the  presentation of "Medea" (a fictional character who kills her own children and is recognized as unthinkably twisted to do such a thing) as real life evidence.  The woman in the play is created to represent the most heinous possible criminal. Their are. of course,
real life cases where that same situation did occur that are presented but without the recognition that  the lasting fascination with them is because the behavior is so aberrant and inexplicable.  From those examples Mr. McDougal makes an assertion that the "mythology" of  unconditional love and self-sacrifice in mother's as a whole is a fallacy. That kind of specious thinking is an indication this author will not be an accurate observer of this history to be read from scraps of information let alone able to present some overall representation of this story in words.

Words are slippery things. In non-fiction writing there is little room for subjective distortions before the presentation is invalid.  As difficult as it is, a writer is expected to be aware of and in charge of the interference of their own perception of what happened. To be an unbiased onlooker who aligns facts without bending them is challenging and I don't think this author achieved it. To someone who is reading it as fiction that is no problem because the story is what is wanted. But, if you are looking for a point of view that enlightens this is not it.  There is nothing of this woman's childhood or upbringing put forth to illustrate her character more soundly.  She is evil, but a cardboard character who was a real person.

I didn't buy or read the book. A lot of people will believe I should not then criticize it.  I think the reason I did not choose to read this work is as important as the opinion of the person who did buy and read it. I could be wrong.
598376
It's never a good idea to romanticize mental illness. It's particularly bad when doing so includes accepting abusive and sexually assaultive behavior. The foolish notion that love and passionate sex can "conquer all" is absurd. What is especially disturbing is that this book seems to be a genre I'd label Young Adult Erotica, and as such may have some influence on young people. Mental illness requires intervention from a licensed mental health professional. An intimate relationship that has physical, sexual abuse, or portends to, is a tragedy waiting to happen. There is nothing in this book that rates it even a 1, but since zero isn't a choice that's the best I can do. My advice is don't read it, and if you are a parent and see that your teenager is reading it, I'd urge you to discuss why it's dangerously misleading, and then replace the book with a copy of Gavin DeBecker's non-fiction book titled, The Gift of Fear. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
3236927
Only people that have no common sense will read this book.  If she is living what she said, she should not be writing and selling this book to make money.  She should burn all her books and stay home bowing to her MAN! Not going on stage to talk!  Live what you said, Mona!
2483012
After having read this book and having tried to put myself in Connie's shoes, I cannot, in any way, see how her attempt to poison hospital personnel was anything but a sane action/reaction to devastating circumstances which bordered on Frank's (1959) description of psychiatric methods being similar to those of Chinese Thought Reform. Abducted from her home by her niece's pimp and taken to a psychiatric hospital, Connie's freedom of action was completely limited by the pimp and his manpower, only to be followed by the limitation of her freedom of speech by the attending doctor in the emergency ward, who took no account of her side of the story. The labelling process had already done its job since it was noted in her file that she was schizophrenic. Anything she had to say was discounted in favor of the diagnosis, and everyone knows that schizophrenics are prone to anger and physical violence!!! Had she not beaten her child, Angelina, and broken her arm once before. Hence, she must have beaten her niece and broken her boyfriend's nose. Once a schizophrenic, always a schozophrenic as the saying goes.
From hereon, only hospitalization, medication and surgery, in the mind of the professionals, could bring relief from whatever illness the doctors thought Connie had. She was powerless and was quickly depersonalized by the hospital garb that she was forced to wear. Her "persecution" continued in that any attempt she made to explain herself to the psychiatrist was viewed as a refusal to participate in her treatment and coercion became the name of the game when she tried to refuse the electrode implants so that she could be "stimulated" from afar. A state of terror was maintained  by her lack of cooperation with the treatment offered. Coercion by the psychiatrist continued by his telling her that if she did not sign for the treatment, she would have to remain hospitalized for the rest of her life. Her state of helplessness and terror was thus maintained since any hope for release depended upon her cooperation.
Although I do not wish to discount Connie's supposed flight from reality, it is important to note that her subjective experiences "out of the body" were her reality and, as such, a means of coping with her imprisonment/hospitalization. Rather than grapple with paranoia, Connie was able to sublimate her fear of lifelong hnospitalization. Despite the mortification which intensified the depersonalization process, Connie survived for months. She was not crushed by the ordeal. To the contrary, her sanity came to the rescue. She took hold of herself and decided that she wanted to live, that she was on the battle field, and that if she was to survive, she would have to act in self-defence against the many enemies, who were trying to strip her of her identity as a woman, as a person, as Connie.
To my estimation, Connie was quite sane in her assessment of her situation, knowing she must do something. She continuously plotted to obtain the arms needed while she visited with her brother, so that she could be equipped to fight the battle once it was forced upon her again.
Ingenuity marked Connie's attempt to poison the doctors, and the courage that strengthens many of our heros kept her going, despite the odds,in her desire to fight and to win. Despite the environment's attempt to depersonalize her, Connie was sane enough to know that she existed as an individual and that she had rights that were being destroyed. Moreso, her very sanity is exemplified by her care and concern for her fellow patients since her action, ultimately, was in order to set them all free of their torturers...and torturers they were, albeit unwittingly. We do not dare classify escaped prisoners as insane; therefore, how dare we label Connie's action of poisoning her jailers as an insane one? Unlike the escapee, she had no embassy to come to her aid, or a church to provide sanctuary. To the contrary, Connie had to depend only upon herself for survival...