Cannonball Read V: Book #23/52
Published: 2013
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir
The Westboro Baptist Church has made headlines for the past several years doing really sick things in the name of their religion. They're based out of Kansas and fly all over the United States to picket funerals (they specialize in soldier's funerals and the funerals of those who have died due to hate crimes) and spew their disgusting ideas in the name of "free speech".
Lauren Drain led a fairly normal life in Florida until her dad decided to make a documentary about the Westboro Baptist Church, who had come into the spotlight after picketing Matthew Shepard's funeral with vulgar signs such as "God Hates Fags" and "Matthew Shepard is in Hell". Lauren's father was an atheist until the church somehow pulled him over to their side and he moved his entire family to Kansas when Lauren was a teenager. I'm still not sure how they persuaded an atheist to join their cult, but Lauren seems to describe the appeal of the church being that they "make sense" with their interpretation of the Bible and they give rational answers to any questions an outsider may have.
What I found kind of interesting about the WBC is that they believe that God preordains who is going to heaven (which happens to be only the members of their church). They aren't trying to gain followers because in their minds everyone else is going to hell no matter what. They simply believe that God wants them to INFORM the masses of being doomed to hell. I'm not sure why it matters if they're informed or not considering they believe there is no chance to change that fact.
As for the church itself, it's very small and consists of mostly Pastor Phelp's family members. According to Lauren, there were only about 60 members in the entire church and her family were considered outsiders because they were one of the few that weren't direct family members of the pastor. Because of that, the Drain's constantly had to try and prove themselves to the church. With Lauren being the oldest child in her family (she has three younger siblings - two are much younger due to the WBC ban on birth control) she is supposed to be a reflection of her family's morals and ethics. As most teenagers do, Lauren rebelled - although that term is used loosely here - by being "preoccupied with boys". However, for someone who didn't grow up in the cult, Lauren is an eager picketer who seemingly thrives off the church's messages of hate.
While the book was a very interesting view into the Westboro Baptist Church, it was a little disappointing. Lauren didn't leave the church of her own free will (she was banished after it was discovered that she had talked to a boy online) and you can tell she very much would still be a part of the church if she hasn't been forcefully removed. She did apologize in the epilogue for some of the things she did, but the rest of the book really didn't show any remorse. For someone who didn't enter the church until their mid-teens, it was really frightening how easily she slid right into the horrors of the Westboro Baptist Church.
Cannonball Read V: Book #22/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 286
Genre: Nonfiction
I decided to pick up this book after reading and enjoying James Tabor's first try at adventure fiction with The Deep Zone. Blind Descent is a non-fiction book that follows two main cave explorers as they try and find the deepest cave on earth.
Bill Stone is convinced that the Cheve cave in Mexico will win the title of the deepest cave if he can overcome some pretty major obstacles and explore a little deeper. This isn't an easy task either - Stone literally spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars on trying to prove that his theory about Cheve was correct. When he wasn't exploring the cave, he was trying to invent a new type of rebreather to be used for deep cave exploration. Rebreathers are sort of like scuba tanks, but much more efficient because they recirculate the air allowing for hours of underwater time.
On the other side of the world, Alexander Klimchouk has been leading teams into a freezing cold pit in the Republic of Georgia called Krubera. He believes that he can prove Krubera is the deepest cave on earth.
Klimchouk and Stone are very different men.This kept the story from becoming too repetitive and I liked seeing the contrasts between the two. Stone is tall and muscular who is hard to get to know on a personal level. Klimchouk is a more slight man who is more friendly and easy going. Like the men, the two caves are also very different. Cheve is in southern Mexico, so it's not too cold underground. It's also a more open cave with larger passages. Krubera is filled with freezing water and tight spaces.
Both caves have the usual dangers - tight passageways that are barely larger than a human, deadly falling rocks, dangerous rappels, large bodies of water to cross underneath (called "sumps" in cave lingo), literal absolute darkness, not to mention the danger of just being injured so far away from the surface. A single mistake can be deadly.
Caves are fascinating and this book was just as thrilling as Tabor's fiction cave adventure. He's a talented writer and the fact that he's a caver himself really shows.
Cannonball Read V: Book #21/52
Published: 2013
Pages: 430
Genre: Nonfiction
Besides the random Xenu and/or Tom Cruise joke here and there, I didn't really know that much about Scientology before reading this book. I knew science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard was somewhere involved, but that was it. This book is a really solid history of the religion as well as the man who invented it.
L. Ron Hubbard was a bizarre man who created an equally bizarre "religion" (it's been under fire many times for not actually being a religion as they do not have a deity or any sort of worship or prayer like most religions). This book follows Scientology from Hubbard's beginnings, through the impact it had on Hollywood stars (most famously being John Travolta and Tom Cruise), and through the current leadership under David Miscavige.
This book was chock full of information. If you've ever wanted to know anything about Scientology, this should be the first book you pick up. It's very thorough and reminded me of what Under the Banner of Heaven was to Mormonism. And trust me, Scientology is every bit as weird as you've been led to believe. Not only that, the alleged secrecy and blackmail by the church is almost unbelievable. For such a small group of people, they really do have a lot of power.
The book includes tons of footnotes that pretty much just say how the Church of Scientology denied almost everything it's been accused of, no matter what proof they have or how many people witnessed it. The whole thing was just fascinating to read. The whole thing is so bizarre it doesn't even seem real.
Cannonball Read V: Book #20/52
Published: 1996
Pages: 864
Genre: Fantasy
I was really far ahead in my books for this year, so I decided to finally tackle A Game of Thrones since I wouldn't feel so rushed to finish such a monster novel. I'm one of those people who actually loves super long books - Stephen King's The Stand is a favorite and I'm one of the few people on earth who actually loved Under the Dome (both are over 1000 pages). My favorite book ever is House of Leaves, which is over 700 pages. I love getting to know characters that intimately - the way only a book that long can do.
So, back to A Game of Thrones. I've never seen the TV show, so I went into it completely blind as to characters, plotlines, etc. I think most people know the general plot by now due to the popularity of the TV show, but here is a condensed version: It's a fantasy novel that takes place in a land that has summers and winters that can last for years. There is a lot of incest and sex and blood. There are also approximately 400 people's names you have to learn.
I wanted to like this book so much. It's got some really great parts and some amazing characters (I found myself wishing there were more Daenerys and Arya in the book). However, there were SO MANY characters and plot lines that it was really hard to get sucked into the story. As soon as I'd start getting interested in someone, we'd switch to a new character and hundreds of pages would pass before we might come back to the other one. By then, I didn't really care anymore.
I think if this book was condensed to just a few characters, I would love it. I still might try and read the next book in the series just to see how a few of my favorite characters turn out. It isn't a bad book by any means - it's just OVERWHELMING at times. I felt like I needed to make charts and notes while reading just to figure everything out.
Cannonball Read V: Book #19/52
Published: 2006
Pages: 174
Genre: Horror
I have to admit, I put off reading this book for a long time due to the reviews saying how gory and disgusting it was. I've read a lot of horror and I'm pretty sure my goal back in high school/college was to find the grossest horror novel of all time, but since I've gotten a little older I've realized that I no longer like gore just for the sake of gore. I like a story and good characters too. So ultimately, that's why I finally decided to read this novel. Although it's hailed as being extremely gross, it also supposedly has solid characters.
Roger and Tooth are best friends. However, this past year Roger went off to college while Tooth stayed in their hometown. The reunite over the summer and take a trip into the woods to drink beer and do some target practice. When it's almost dark, they hear a woman screaming. After some debating, they decide to go find her in case she's hurt or needs help. Unfortunately, the crazy man who is chasing the screaming woman starts chasing Roger and Tooth as well. Then he chains them in his basement and tortures them.
The reviews weren't kidding - this book is gory. If the most horror you've read is Stephen King, this is much worse, but if you've read stuff like Jack Kilborn or Jack Ketchum you'll be fine. So is this book just torture-porn? Well, yes and no. Torture-porn tends to be gross without having characters or a storyline to back it up. That's where this book is different. I LIKED Roger and Tooth. They're not perfect, but they're really likable guys. The whole reason they are caught in this mess is because they tried to help a screaming woman even though they were tired and half drunk and just wanted to go home.
For such a short book (less than 200 pages), I thought the character development was great. I've read 500 page books that I remember less about the characters. Even Skinny Man (the crazy guy who chains them up) is an interesting character. He's not just pegged as sick and evil like a lot of villans - he seems to actually have some sort of mental issue as well (he talks to himself and has conversations with his dogs). I mean, most killers probably aren't totally right upstairs, but I liked that the author gave this killer more symptoms of a mental issue than just killing.
Roger and Tooth were great characters as well. They were just so honest and real. They weren't heroes or anything. They even debated whether or not they should even help the screaming women - just like drunk 19-year-old boys probably would do. I also liked the honesty of Roger being both sad, but mostly grateful, when Skinny Man was torturing Tooth instead of himself. That just seems like how people would REALLY think if they were in that situation, no matter how awful or selfish it may seem.
I'd highly recommend this book if you can stomach it. The writing and characters are probably the best I've seen in a horror novel in a long time.
Cannonball Read V: Book #18/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 298
Genre: Thriller
I tend to be weary of some of the cheap/free Kindle books because some of them are really bad. However, every once in a while you find a gem. This is one of them. It's a pretty solid thriller that follows Daniel Ash after his neighborhood was purposefully subjected to a killer virus that claimed the life of his wife. Fortunately, Daniel is immune and so are his two kids, but now the mysterious people behind the virus want Daniel's family for testing. Daniel escapes, thanks to the help of some even MORE mysterious people and tries to wrap his head around the entire thing as he comes up with a plan to save his kids. There is also a few subplots woven in mostly involving the virus threatening to go global.
This book was surprisingly great. It was suspenseful and left enough questions to keep you wanting more but also provided enough answers to keep the reader from losing interest. I guess this is supposed to be a trilogy, which I didn't realize until after I read the book. I think it stands pretty well on it's own, but I'll definitely be checking out the sequels as well.
Cannonball Read V: Book #17/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 320
Genre: Thriller
Will Ennis's wife goes missing one night on her way home from work. He's left alone to care for his daughter, Devlin, who has cystic fibrosis. Flash forward five years, and Will & Devlin are on the run since Will was the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance. One day, a rogue FBI Agent named Kalyn shows up at Will's house who claims to want to help him find his missing wife. Kalyn's sister disappeared too and she thinks the two disappearances are related. Will, Devlin, and Kalyn the start on a journey that eventually takes them Alaska to find the missing women.
This book started out promising. It was exactly what a thriller should be - fast paced and leaving me wanting more. Then once they actually go to Alaska and find out where the women are and why they were taken, it starts to go downhill. I won't spoil it, but I thought Crouch was going to be a little more creative with explaining why the women were kidnapped. Then things just keep getting more and more ridiculous with cartoonish bad guys and lots of guns.
Overall, it was a short read and at least the first half was really good. I just wish the second half was better.
