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“Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties” By Tom O’Neill Review

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A journalist’s twenty-year obsession with the Manson murders brings shocking revelations about the most infamous crimes in American history: carelessness from police, misconduct by prosecutors, and even potential surveillance by intelligence agents. What really happened in 1969?

If you want to get into true crime books then this book is probably one of the best choice to begin that journey with. Because the language here is very basic, its easy to understand because the author really is connecting the dots here. This book is interesting from beginning to end which a handful of the crime books fail to do that. And the author of this book really had done the proper work on his investigation and have shows us some hard evidence and not just half-evidence or his opinion and speculation about the case. Which I really appreciate. 

I wanted to read this book for a very long time because I’ve been interested in the Charles Manson and his cult for couple of years now and ill always thought that there were something more into it than what the book to Vincent Bugliosi were telling us. And this book is the answer if there is something more into Charles Manson, his cult, Helter Skelter, the 60s and CIA back in the day.

The writing style in this book is completely amazing, you can see that the author of this book really have a passion for this case and that he is really good at writing. The writing style felt like Stephen King and George R R Martin together wrote a nonfiction book about a crime case. And if you know me, you know that I don’t compare an author to Stephen King and George R R Martin unless the author really deserves it. And Tom O’Neil really deserves it, because he really didn’t an incredible job on this book. 

The author of this book really puts Charles Manson’s case in a brand new light. Which I thought wasn’t possible because this case was covered a million times before in every way possible. So when Tom O’Neil is presenting this case in a brand new light really had surprised me because it gives us new perspective on this case, new ideas about this case and makes us form new opinions about Charles Manson, his cult, The 1960s and CIA back in the day. And I’m all about that. 

The fact that the author of this book also points out some of the inconsistencies to Vincent Bugliosi’s book about this case and supported what he is saying with evidence makes me give the book extra points.

However what have annoyed me about this case is that almost the entire book seemed not like a true crime book but rather a journey to a man who was truly obsessed with this case for 20 years. Which really disappointed me when it came to that aspect of this book. 

Another problem which I have with this book is that Tom O’Neil gives us too many theories of what might be the truth. Every time a true crime book gives us too many theories really pisses me off because its almost like the author goes like “I don’t know, solve the case yourself”. 

The third things which really annoyed me here is the segment of this book where the authors was talking about then secret programs to CIA in the late 1960s. These parts really felt to me at least very boring and like the author really didn’t want to talk about them. And when the author was talking about these secret programs to CIA all I wanted was to throw the book in the trash because it was so goddamn boring. 

I give this book 3 / 5

“From a Buick 8” By Stephen King Review

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The state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret in Shed B out back of the barracks ever since 1979, when Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox answered a call from a gas station just down the road and came back with an abandoned Buick Roadmaster. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew immediately that this one was…wrong, just wrong. A few hours later, when Rafferty vanished, Wilcox and his fellow troopers knew the car was worse than dangerous — and that it would be better if John Q. Public never found out about it.

Wow this book was such a disappointing because I was expecting more from it because after all Stephen King wrote it. 

The plot here is so boring and so bad that I can’t even describe it. For the entire book I was wishing for it to end. There were many times throughout reading this book were I was thinking about DNF-ing it but after all I didn’t . However the plot itself had some good moments here and there which I need to give this book points for. But there weren’t much of these good moments which was sad to see with Stephen King.

The characters here felt all the same without anything making them different from the rest of the characters in this book. I think that was the first time it happened in a Stephen King book.

The writing style here wasn’t better than the rest of the story which also disappoints me. 

I personally have the Love-Hate relationship with Stephen King’s books and this one is definitely a hate book for me. I didn’t care for it at all which really speaks for itself here. 

I give this book 1 / 5

“Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone” By Eduardo Galeano Review

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Throughout his career, Eduardo Galeano has turned our understanding of history and reality on its head. Isabelle Allende said his works “invade the reader’s mind, to persuade him or her to surrender to the charm of his writing and power of his idealism.”Mirrors, Galeano’s most ambitious project since Memory of Fire, is an unofficial history of the world seen through history’s unseen, unheard, and forgotten. As Galeano notes: “Official history has it that Vasco Núñez de Balboa was the first man to see, from a summit in Panama, the two oceans at once. Were the people who lived there blind??

So this book isn’t a typical book because it is rather a collection of very short summarises of everything.

Some of these so called short stories were good, but most of them weren’t. And it kind of annoyed me that a lots of these short stories were about religion. Because I personally I’m the biggest atheist which you can imagine. 

The writing style in this book was okay but it could have been better than it actually was. But it is too late to change it now. 

One of the things which an annoyed me the most with this book was that it jumped too much around. And I hate when this happened. 

The reason why I read this book was that someone recommend it to me for whatever reason. And after reading it I don’t know why this person has recommended this book to me. Because I didn’t like anything about this book

I give this book 1 / 5

“Blood from a Stone” By Donna Leon Review

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On a cold Venetian night shortly before Christmas, a street vendor is killed in a scuffle in Campo Santo Stefano. The closest witnesses to the event are the American tourists who had been browsing the man’s wares—fake designer handbags—before his death. The dead man had been working as a vu cumpra, one of the many African immigrants peddling goods outside normal shop hours and trading without work permits.

A mystery book which takes place in Italy. Italy of all place, gotta say that Italy is one of my favorite places so far in life. And to read a book which takes place in Italy really made my time even though this book wasn’t the best mystery book I’ve read. 

I didn’t read any other book in this series but I will definitely pick up more books in this series sometime but at the moment my TBR list is too long to add more books. 

The writing style was pretty good but at times it had run a little bit down the hill but for the most part as a whole it was at a decent level. But the author could have done a much better work at the writing style. 

The plot itself was very enjoyable and interesting. I really couldn’t put the book down while reading this book and it doesn’t happen a lot however there were couple of things which didn’t go well with me. And the ending was sort of a stretch for me at least. And the ending is probably the mine reason for the low rating of this book. Because I feel like the ending was the author not knowing how to end this book which really made me sad because I’ve enjoyed this book up until the ending. And at the ending I just got pissed off because it ruined the whole book for me.

The characters here were pretty basic, they were standing out a little bit from each other. But after all they felt like they were the generic characters in every Mystery book. Which disappointed me even more.

I give this book 2 / 5

“My Struggle: Book Two: A Man in Love” By Karl Ove Knausgård Review

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Having left his first wife, Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to Stockholm, Sweden, where he leads a solitary existence. He strikes up a deep friendship with another exiled Norwegian, a Nietzschean intellectual and boxing fanatic named Geir. He also tracks down Linda, whom he met at a writers’ workshop a few years earlier and who fascinated him deeply.

So this book was my first book by this author and probably the last because I truly hated this book because it was nothing for me. If this book did anything for me it was just to make me want to never get married. Because the way how the author describes his life and how he left his first wife and how he treated his second wife gave me an idea of how much of assholes some people can be. 

The writing style was the worst I’ve seen for very long which oh boy really speaks for itself. It might have something to do with me being very picky since last December.

The plot itself really sucked, Because I personally don’t care of the life of someone I never heard before. And during reading this book this plot made me dislike the author more and more.

To be honest here, I gotta admit that this book is probably the most boring book I’ve read since 2020. I really didn’t care for it and I’ve tortured myself with reading this book. And this book is a sign that I’ve should DNF books which I don’t like rather than suffer and torture myself with them.

This book really takes the price for the worst autobiography so far, which is truly a price now on days because there are dozens and dozens of autobiographies. 

This book was really a waste of time and money. And I truly wished that I’ve never read this book because I wouldn’t lose anything and I would have time to read something different instead.

I give this book 1 / 5 

“Duma Key” By Stephen King Review

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A terrible construction site accident takes Edgar Freemantle’s right arm and scrambles his memory and his mind, leaving him with little but rage as he begins the ordeal of rehabilitation. A marriage that produced two lovely daughters suddenly ends, and Edgar begins to wish he hadn’t survived the injuries that could have killed him. He wants out. His psychologist, Dr. Kamen, suggests a “geographic cure,” a new life distant from the Twin Cities and the building business Edgar grew from scratch. And Kamen suggests something else.

So I’ve heard a lots of good things about this book. And since it was written by Stephen King I’ve had high exactions for this book, But this book didn’t live up to my expectations. 

The writing style was pretty okay, it wasn’t really on the level with Stephen King but it was good enough for me. 

The plot itself didn’t really feel like Stephen King, it rather felt like Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) pretending to be Stephen King. I personally didn’t get the point of this book nor the story in it. Which really disappointed me.

The book in my opinion was also very boring and uninteresting. And I’ve should probably DNF it and not torture myself with this book as I normally do with books I don’t like. 

From the begin this book dragged me in the wrong direction than most people after going through reviews on Goodreads for this book. Which is sort of a relevant thing lately. The bigger rating a book has on Goodreads the higher chance is that I will hate the book. 

I know that this review will be very unpopular but that’s just my opinion and I won’t lie about anything on this website. Because we keep it really here.

I give this book 1 / 5

“The Millionaire Next Door” By Thomas J. Stanley Review

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“The Millionaire Next Door” is a book that explains the intricacy of today’s millionaires, people you would be surprised to find wealthy, and the habits and decisions that got them to that wealth level. But, it’s more than just a book about wealth and tips to get there.

As someone who have read this book I can say that this book only teaches you 7 characteristics / common denominators among millionaires in USA. And these 7 things are

1) They live well below their means

2) They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth

3) They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status

4) Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care

5) Their adult children are economically self-sufficient

6) They are proficient in targeting market opportunities

7) They chose the right occupation

And that’s pretty much all you will get from this book. 

Gotta be honest with you and say that so far this book is one of two worst business book I’ve read so far. 

The writing style seemed like I was reading a long and boring essay for school home work. Which as you may expect isn’t great. 

This book was so very difficult to get through. And it took me 3 weeks to read it. Because it was so uninteresting and boring.

This book only shows that if you are saving 90% of your monthly income for 40 years and you will be rich. I’m not rich but I guess thats not the way on how to get rich.

I give this book 2 / 5

“Think and Grow Rich” By Napoleon Hill Review

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This is the original 1937 version of Napoleon Hill’s Classic Book: Think and Grow Rich. To the greatest extent possible, the text and formatting have been kept exactly the same as in the original release with the exception of some minor formatting changes.

So this is a business and self-help book in one. I gotta say that no one should mixed these two genres into one book. 

This book makes success seem like it is just “read this book and you will be successful”. Which isn’t how success works as you can imagine. No book without action can make you successful overnight. 

The writing style was boring, however there were times when it was interesting for a moment.

This book had some good topics which everyone should no about. Like looking at yourself about what is stopping you to go forward in life. However for the most part this book is a little kooky.

When I bought this book and began reading it I was expecting some kind of practical guide to managing personal finance but it wasn’t that.

I picked up this book because almost everyone in the reading community on the Internet was recommending it. But Oh boy it wasn’t that good as people was claiming it was.  

It took me a lots of time and effort to go through this and finish it but eventually I did. 

I give this book 2 / 5

“Siege: Trump Under Fire” By Michael Wolff Review

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A stunningly fresh narrative that begins just as Trump’s second year as president is getting underway and ends with the delivery of the Mueller report, Siege reveals an administration that is perpetually beleaguered by investigations and a president who is increasingly volatile, erratic, and exposed

So this one is politics / nonfiction books about the presidency of Donald Trump. And I gotta say that it was much better than I’ve expected that it would be.

I give this book extra points for the behind the scenes look at Trump’s second year in the oval office. 

This book really gives a better look at how really Donald Trump is and how a big of a dick he can be. A good example for this can be when the book mentions that Donald Trump wishes he hadn’t given Don Trump Junior his name. Or even when the book mentions that Donald Trump didn’t want to visit his recently born grandchild in the hospital. 

This book overall gives us the felling that Donald Trump is a grim guy with bad behaviour.

When I was getting into this book I was expecting high-level of leaks and some kind of national security drama. But instead the author offers us pure gossip and how fucked up Donald Trump can be. Which makes the fact that Donald Trump never drank alcohol nor taken any drugs even more bizarre. Because let’s be honest Donald Trump seems like he is drunk or high of his mind all the time based on the things he says and does.

However I give this book extra points for bringing us closer to the Muller investigation which I didn’t know so much about but wanted to know more about it. 

Overall this book was an entertaining and interesting read which I didn’t expect it would be.

This book involves juice topics like Rudy Giuliani’s drinking problem, Karen Pence drama and the behind-the-scenes family scuffles and other drama at Fox News.

This book also shows how big of a role Donald Trump’s kids played during his presidency which always is a bad idea to have your family involved when you are the president of a big and important country.

The writing style was actually pretty amazing, it was interesting and it made you feel like you were actually there and watching what was happening during Donald Trump’s second year in the oval office.

I give this book 3 / 5

“Piękna bestia” By Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa Review

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A novel about Irma Grese, one of the most cruel and bloody women in the history of the world. Irme, a supervisor of female blocks in several concentration camps, is responsible for the deaths of the women. The prisoners called her the angel of death, the beautiful beast, or the Belsen bitch. She was a perverse sadist. After the war, she was tried and sentenced to death at the age of just 22. Her story is told by a woman who became Grese’s sex slave at the age of 12

Let me start of with saying that at the time of the writing this book is only available in two languages which is Polish and Spanish. And I truly hope that soon enough this book will be translated into more languages because a lots of people will find it useful to read.

This book is about a woman named Violeta Flores Anaya who was a slave to Irma Grese. 

Irma Grese was one of the most gruesome and evil people of Nazi Germany and who did kill hundreds and hundreds of woman and kids in the concentrations camps during World War 2. 

I’m very interested in World War 2 and the holocaust and when I saw that this book was for sale in my native language which is Polish (for these of you who didn’t know) I just needed to buy this one and read it. 

I gotta say that this book was not the greatest book about the topic of World War 2 and the evil shit which was happening at that time but it isn’t the worse neither. This book is in the middle.

The writing style could be better, because there are times when it switches writing style in the middle of the page which should be illegal to do.

At the end a huge part is about the person who was interviewing Violeta Flores Anaya which really killed the mood in the book. Because everyone who picks up a book about World War 2 or Holocaust doesn’t want to read about problems of the person who is writing the book or even interviewing the person who lived through the World War 2 and Holocaust. 

The main history in this book is very interesting but its very poorly written which really sucks because this book had the chance to be a bestseller and famous book. 

And after my humble and long research I couldn’t find even one word about Violeta Flores Anaya which means that lived under the rock all her life despite the fact that she was involved with the infamous Irma Grese or it could mean that this book is just bull shit and she didn’t even exist. 

There are a lots of information about Irma Grese and the rapes which took place during World War 2 by Nazi soldiers and the higher places nazi people. But there is zero words about Violeta Flores Anaya. Which is really suspicious. 

After I finished this book I give it 3 stars but after I found out that very likely Violeta Flores Anaya doesn’t exist I changed it to 1 star.

I give this book 1 / 5