The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

Synopsis:

Utterly unique in its astonishing intimacy, as jarringly frightening as when it first appeared, Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me defies our expectation that we would surely know if a monster lived among us, worked alongside of us, appeared as one of us. With a slow chill that intensifies with each heart-pounding page, Rule describes her dawning awareness that Ted Bundy, her sensitive coworker on a crisis hotline, was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He would confess to killing at least thirty-six young women from coast to coast, and was eventually executed for three of those cases. Drawing from their correspondence that endured until shortly before Bundy's death, and striking a seamless balance between her deeply personal perspective and her role as a crime reporter on the hunt for a savage serial killer -- the brilliant and charismatic Bundy, the man she thought she knew -- Rule changed the course of true-crime literature with this unforgettable chronicle.

So, this book is the most complete novel I have ever read. There is no doubt in my mind. There is a beginning. There is an ending. There are all sorts of gruesome details in between. It all ties up neatly and, WOW. What a ride of emotion it is. 

I can’t imagine how confusing it would be to be friends with such a horrible monster like Ted Bundy. On one hand, Ted was this nice man that Ann new as they both tried to help people in crisis. But, what was hidden from her was this awful murderous personality. 

I love how she freely expresses her emotions surrounding the case - her disbelief, sadness, and her conflicting thoughts. It really takes you inside the life of knowing a serial killer and it’s very interesting. 

Ann Rule also has a way of taking you to every case with a tenderness of approaching each topic with care. Her descriptions paint a horrific picture, but you can just feel the amount of effort she puts into her work. 

This is a book that pulls you right in and doesn’t let go. I felt truly devastated when I turned the last page. I didn’t want it to be over. It makes you feel emotions for Ted Bundy while also knowing he is a terrible person that deserved what he got. 

A truly amazing True Crime novel. 

10/10 Stars

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Behind the Bench: Inside the Mind of Hockey’s Greatest Coaches by Craig Custance

Synopsis:

They are motivators, key strategists, tough bosses, and choreographers. They can be branded as heroes, ousted as scapegoats, quietly valued as friends, and everything in between. It's all in the job description for an NHL head coach. In Behind the Bench, ESPN's Craig Custance sits down for film sessions and candid conversations with some of the game's most notable modern luminaries—names like Mike Babcock, Joel Quenneville, Dan Bylsma, Todd McLellan, Ken Hitchcock, and Claude Julien—all of whom share their singular views on topics ranging from leadership secrets to on-ice game plans. Dissect some of hockey's greatest moments with the men who set the pieces in motion. Go straight to the source on what it's like to manage a dressing room full of the league's top stars or execute line changes with everything at stake. Signature games, including Stanley Cup finals, Olympic gold medal clashes, and World Championship contests—both wins and losses—are reflected upon and broken down in detail, making this essential reading for current and aspiring coaches, players, and hockey fans alike.

Being the self-proclaimed hockey nerd that I am, I couldn’t help grabbing a copy of Craig’s book. Most of the time, you have no issue hearing from players and getting their perspectives about the game, but this one was different. This one dives into the mind of an NHL coach – maybe one of the most scrutinized jobs in the sport.

I’ve got to admire the work and time that Craig put in to crafting this book. It wasn’t as simple as writing his thoughts out about the coaches and their successes. He took the time to travel to them, spend hours with them, and watch a hockey game that has defined their career. That takes effort, commitment, and passion for the work. That shows through in the quality of writing.

If you are also a hockey fan (which, I couldn’t really imagine a non fan picking up a book all about the sport) then you will probably fly through this one like I did. The writing is crisp and to the point while allowing each coach’s personality to come through. Quotes, descriptions . . . he’s got it all.

I’ll admit my bias and say I was most interested in reading Joel Quenneville’s chapter since I’m a Blackhawks fan. But, I think it says a lot about the book that it wasn’t even my favorite interview or the one that stood out the most. That award would probably go to Tortorella/Sullivan or Hitchock.

Behind the Bench is a great read, and I highly recommend it to any fan of the sport.

5/5 Stars

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Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

Synopsis:

Do you remember the hospital, Colton? Sonja said. Yes, mommy, I remember, he said. That’s where the angels sang to me.

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy s trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton tells of meeting long-departed family members. He describes Jesus, the angels, how really, really big God is, and how much God loves us. Retold by his father, but using Colton s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. Books about religion can sometimes be kind of preachy and pushy. Thankfully, this book wasn’t any of those things. I felt that it wasn’t at least.

I think it is a book that both believers and non-believers could enjoy. It is a sweet story about a little boy and what he saw while on the verge of death.

I think it was very well written, and there were some parts that made me laugh out loud. There was personality in the writing, which I wasn’t completely expecting.

It is pretty short, so it could be a nice weekend afternoon read if you haven’t picked it up yet.

If you are into memoirs, I would suggest giving this one a shot.

4/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Pastors are supposed to be unshakable pillars of faith, right? But at that moment, my faith was hanging by a tattered thread and fraying fast.”

“If you haven’t heard your preschooler tell you he was dead, I don’t recommend it.”

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My Letter To Fear: Essays on Life, Love and the Search For Prince Charming by Patricia Steffy

Synopsis:

Over the course of two years, Steffy conducted interviews with the fabulous women around her and their equally fantastic friends. She put no restrictions on age, or ethnicity. They just needed to be willing to answer some questions. Steffy asked them about expectations they had for their lives when they were very young versus their current realities as adults. She asked them to tell her the best things about themselves (a question which was surprisingly difficult for people to answer) and the worst things. Those answers— the funny, the sad, and the hysterical—and her own experiences became the basis for these essays. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny at times, it was a bit emotional at times, and there were some essays that were just too easy to identify with. There is something for everyone mixed in the pages of this book.

The writing was fun and flowed well, there was never a point where I was bored and felt like I needed to put it down. But, I also feel like you should spread out the reading of the book over time so you can take in some of the essays and really think about them. It makes the book more enjoyable than reading it all at once at a rushed pace which results in forgetting everything you have read.

Each essay is pretty short, spanning only about 2-3 pages in length. It is the perfect office book. When you need a quick break from work to re-gather your thoughts (or sanity…) it is easy to pick up and read one or two, then put back down for later.

I think Patricia Steffy really got the feel for how a lot of women think and feel at various points in their life. That’s what makes this book so relatable and familiar.

It was a fun read.

5/5 Stars

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Memoir March Wrap-Up/ YA April

Memoir March was a great month! I loved reading all of the exciting journeys in the books that were given to me. 

I greatly enjoyed them all and would recommend them all to any reader who enjoys a good memoir from time-to-time. 

They were all very different in their own ways, and that is what made them exciting! My month never got boring, and I would like to thank these great authors for that!



Next up is Young Adult April! I have a lot of books set to be reviewed this month. It is going to be a busy one for sure. I have four reviews waiting to be posted already!

I don't normally ready much YA, but I am excited to see what is in store here! I will begin posting the reviews tomorrow afternoon, and I hope you are all as excited as I am!

Thank you everyone!

Courtney

Follow the Joy: A Memoir by Jason Scott Kurtz

Unhappy with his job and life in the States, Jason makes the decision to buy a one-way ticket to India in hopes to find himself and find spirituality.

He doesn’t have a travel plan, and comes as prepared as he can be. But, even with all the advice and preparation, nothing can help him with what he encounters.

Harassed by beggars and over-priced cab rides, Jason makes his way to different parts of India. It is a beautiful place, but it is filled with things unimaginable by people who have never been there.

During his trip, he decides to take a course in meditation. Going for days without talking ends up being difficult, but he comes out the other side hoping to become a new person.

Meeting the locals helps him along. His visit to Nasik opens his eyes to what the Indian spiritual culture is really about. He learns more than he could just traveling around by himself.

After Nasik, Jason makes his may to Calcutta where one could argue is where his journey REALLY begins.

He learns more about himself here than he has anywhere else throughout India. Holding the hand of a dying man, cleaning people who cannot help themselves, and learning that just a simple touch or massage can make a lonely person happier than anything.

His time in Calcutta was probably my favorite section of the book to read. The others kind of had similar themes with them trying to fight off the beggars and trying not to make the cab drivers too mad.

The Calcutta trip was just so real and very emotional in a way. It is fitting that it is the last part of the book. It really ends on a high note. It was what his trip was all about.

If you like travel or spiritual memoirs, this is one to pick up. It has a nice balance of both, and Jason gives you a good amount of details about everything that he is encountering. It is easy to imagine that you are there experiencing it with him.

Jason’s writing style is easy to follow and fun to read. It is filled with both narrative and dialogue so it stays interesting the whole way through.

4/5 stars

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Daddy Was a Punk Rocker by Adam Sharp

This memoir was extremely emotional: Happy, sad, and everything in between.

Adam was not born into an easy family. His parents were heroin addicts and often seemed to be interested in everything except being around to raise him.

Growing up always trying to get his parents’ attention was hard on Adam and lead to a lot of inner conflict.

Crying when his dad didn’t show up for their scheduled meetings, dealing with his mother’s physical and verbal abuse growing up, Adam did not have it easy, but he still loved his parents.

The one common theme in this book was music. It was sort of all centered around his father’s love for music and how they did not share the same music tastes. Adam felt if he could just listen to the same music as his father, they would have a closer connection, and maybe he would want Adam to stay with him.

As his life progresses and he tries to find himself, he ends up in a bunch of different places with a lot of different people, but it always comes back to his parents. Whether he has talked to them recently or if something reminds him of them while he is away.

This is a memoir of self-discovery. Even if the road to it is difficult, it can be achieved.

Adam's writing style in this memoir is very visual. You can almost feel as though you are in every scene. It adds a nice depth to the story and makes it all the more real as well. 
His descriptions are well done and never drag on for longer than they have to. They are long enough so that you do not feel as though you are missing anything, but they aren't so long that they bore the reader. 
Aside from the actual story itself, that was my favorite part of this one. 

It was really well written, I felt that it flowed nicely together with the use of narrative and dialogue.

I found it hard to put it down at time. It was such an intriguing story that I just wanted to know what was happening next.

Even if you cannot relate to Adam's story, you will be pulled into it, and it is hard to stop reading once you start. 

4/5 stars

Memorable Quotes: 

"I was born healthy and strong. I shouldn’t have been. I’d shared my mother’s poisonous blood for nine months and I was supposed to be born addicted to heroin. I should have spent my first few weeks fighting for my life, suffering from vomiting, shaking, and sweating as I was weaned off my drug dependence with morphine or methadone."

"More important than the adulation was the lesson I’d learnt. I had learnt what could be achieved with the power of the mind, and more specifically, with the power of dreams."

"But sometimes the best way to grow is to stand still for a while. I needed to stop running, to stop trying to become someone new, to stop escaping painful memories and uncomfortable thoughts. It was time I stayed and faced them, worked out who I really was, who I wanted to be. No more pretending."

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