And There Was Light

 

"And There Was Light" by Jon Meacham was an excellent look at Abraham Lincoln and how he evolved over his four years in the White House. 

Lincoln was a long shot to even get the nomination in 1860. Everyone thought that it would go to William Seward. But the newly formed Republican party was made up of a mashup of former parties: Whigs, Know Nothings, etc., and there was a strong anti-Seward faction. As a result, Lincoln emerged as a more moderate candidate with the best chance of beating the Democrats in the election. He was adamant that he didn't want to outlaw slavery in the South, he just didn't want to extend it to the newly added territories, whereas a lot of the other candidates were very much in favor of doing away with it. He won and the South still voted to secede from the Union. During the course of the Civil War, Lincoln changed his mind about slaves and emancipated them. It was heartbreaking that he was assassinated at such a crucial moment in our history. What was even worse was how many people were gleeful about it and celebrated, saying he got what he deserved. History has shown he was in fact a great leader and a decent and kind man, who, like all of us, had his flaws but nevertheless did more good than harm and always tried to do the best thing. 

Going Rogue

 

Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum book was pretty good. Steph comes into the office one morning and is shocked that Connie isn't there. Connie is *always* there. And it looks like the inventory room, where they keep the items people put up as collateral for bail, has been ransacked. Then the office gets a strange phone call from a man claiming to have something of Vinnie's and he wants his item back. Vinnie is (unfortunately) in Atlantic City and dismisses the call as a crank when Stephanie calls him, but she's worried the caller kidnapped Connie and is holding her for ransom. She enlists Ranger's help, since the kidnapper warned her not to go to the police. 

The usual stuff happened: Ranger loans Stephanie a Porsche after her car gets blown up, which gets destroyed by Morelli's crazy grandma, Bella; Lula goes nuts buying new office furniture on Vinnie's card; Grandma Mazur makes Stephanie take her to a couple of viewings, all the usual antics. Stephanie treads on dangerous ground with Ranger, which felt sort of wrong since she's technically with Morelli. Marry him or don't, it doesn't matter to me, but don't fool around with Ranger on the side. That's just not cool. I think Joe would be amenable to marriage if she suggested it. But what do I know? :)

A Father's Story

 

Ever since I watched the Netflix series on Jeffrey Dahmer a few months ago, I've been trying to get ahold of this book. Jeffrey's father, Lionel, tries to figure out how he missed all the warning signs that his son was developing into an evil monster. Jeff started out as a normal kid, despite his mother's difficult pregnancy. Joyce Dahmer took a lot of medication to treat her crippling anxiety. It wasn't until Jeff needed hernia surgery at a young age that Lionel noticed some changes in his formerly happy little boy. He became shy and withdrawn. Lionel was disappointed with Jeff's apathetic approach to life and his drinking. He tried to encourage him, paying for college, which led nowhere. Jeff eventually joined the Army, but was discharged for alcoholism. He drifted to Miami for a time, then called home, broke and asking for money. Lionel and his new wife, Sheri, sent him a plane ticket. Lionel encouraged him to get a job, which he did, but again, he put no effort into anything. Lionel blamed his drinking. When Jeff was arrested for molesting a boy, Lionel asked the judge to keep him in jail longer so he could get the treatment he needed for his alcoholism, but the judge released him anyway. Jeff lived off and on with his grandmother until he moved into the apartment where he killed all those young men. Lionel's horror and anguish at how his son could have done such terrible things was gut wrenching. I can't even imagine what it was like for anyone involved in that case. Such a horrible tragedy that no one stopped Dahmer before it was too late for all those poor victims. 

Dead Until Dark

 

So I started rewatching "True Blood" a few weeks ago and naturally decided I needed to reread the books. Book one: "Dead Until Dark". It's pretty funny. We meet Sookie, a telepathic waitress from Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie is somewhat of a social pariah in her town because of her telepathy--even though most people don't know about it, they know she's odd and keep their distance from her. Dating has been hard for Sookie, since she knows what disgusting things the men are thinking. That is, until she meets her first vampire: Bill Compton. With the invention of synthetic blood, vampires have made themselves known to humans and some, like Bill, are trying to mainstream and live among them, surviving on TruBlood. Sookie is thrilled when she discovers she can't read Bill's mind and the two start dating. Meanwhile, women who like to consort with vampires (known as "fangbangers") are turning up dead, covered in bite marks. Bill is a suspect, but so is Sookie's older brother, Jason, who slept with all the dead women. It was fun, even if it didn't have enough of Eric. But then again, neither did the show. Alexander Skarsgard is a treasure.