Banished: A Memoir: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain with Lisa Pulitzer

Before I read this book, I felt sorry for the children in the Westboro Baptist Church because it seemed to me that people in a church that spouts so much hatred must beat their children.
Lauren's father was abusive to her before they joined the WBC - on the advice of the church, but apparently she never saw any of the children there being physically abused. They are, however brainwashed and abused psychologically.
Her story is told in a captivating way, explaining her family's involvement in the church and how it affected her life.
Only after they banished her, did she understand the extent of the brainwashing that she had been through in that church.
The scary thing to me is that the members of that church are very intelligent people. Many of them are lawyers. There is obviously a disconnect between intelligence and religious belief.
Lauren's questioning of their teachings and her natural desires led to her banishment.
According to Lauren, the WBC believes that hatred is God's greatest attribute and it is their job to warn people that the Lord hates them for their sins. This is not to save them because they believe they are not savable, but it is seen as their duty from God to tell people that they are sinners.
Lauren is overcoming her past and still loves the Lord, but her God now, is a God of love, not a God of hatred.
This is an interesting and well written book.

hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Nora has a feeling someone is following her. She sees things that are not there. And this guy Patch has become her bio lab partner and she finds him both scary and attractive. She hears voices in her head, is pursued by a guy named Elliot who was suspected of murder in a nearby county. Her best friend Vee thinks Elliot is the good guy and Patch is the bad guy. What are the strange scars on Patch's back from that are shaped like an inverted "V"? Fallen angel wings that have been torn off? Is Nora loosing her grip on reality?
Plot twists, romance, intrigue and action abound in this book.
I look forward to reading the others in the series.

                    

Over-Dressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline

I wanted this book to be interesting. I think the topic is an interesting and important one. However, I found the book to be boring. I checked it out from the library. And re-checked it. Five times. That is the maximum allowed. Ten weeks. I could not get into it. I finally skimmed it. Apparently clothing, like so many other things now days, has become disposable. People may think they are getting a bargain when they purchase a new t-shirt for only $3 on clearance. However, you get what you pay for. Clothing is now made of inferior materials and sewn poorly and we toss it aside both because we want new fashions and because the cheap clothing does not last long. If it were not for textile recycling, we would be up to our ears on worn out clothing. There is way more old clothing than anyone wants or can use and most of it that is given to charities ends up at the textile recyclers where it is sorted for sale as clothing (small percent), to be made into insulation, rags, or other products or baled up and sent off to Africa where even they are outgrowing the need for cheap icky leftover clothing.
The clothing manufacturing process is bad for the environment, working conditions are poor for the workers and we no longer know how to alter and sew our own clothing or even repair it, which is ok since the quality of clothing has sunk so much that it may not be worth it anyway.
That is the gist of what I got out of the book.
I wish it had been written in a way that was more interesting.

An Angel by Her Side by Ruth Reid

I liked this story a lot and it kept me captivated, but I did not like the parts with the angel and daemon invisibly talking to the people (that part was written in italics.) I think that the point could have been made in a different way without angels or daemons talking to people. It is a nice Amish romance with Katie, a 29 year old school teacher and Seth, a former master builder, who has quit building due to his dyslexia. Their struggles with the Lord as well as those of Amos, Seth's brother-in-law are shown and we see how they learn to trust in the Lord. Elias, the angel, sometimes appears as an old man who works with Katie and Seth as they re-build after the tornado, but at other times, he is invisibly fighting the daemon. I just found those parts kind of strange and distracting.

Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn

Thrilling ending to a well-written trilogy. I enjoyed following the characters and the twists in plot as Kira and Julian try to stop the government from destroying the mindjackers. More romance, intrigue, and action abound in this last book in the Mindjack trilogy.
Kudos to this indie author for having many people and an editor review her book. It reads like a proper, professionally edited book, which is not something I can say for many of the indie books that I have read.                  

Closed Hearts by Susan Kaye Quinn

Totally excellent 2nd book in the series.  Eight months after  Kira made the presence of mindjackers known to the public, the readers are afraid of those who are able to control their minds. The government has come up with more anti-jacker technology and jackers now live in Jackertown, a slum area apart from the "normal" mindreading population.
Kira and Raf are kidnapped by Julius and his jacker crew of revolutionaries who want her to help them free all of the imprisioned jackers and stop the government from experimenting on and using and abusing them. Kira still wants to just be "normal". But, it that possible?
Fantastic book! Looking forward to the third one!

Tiny Titan: One Small Gift by Ann Yurcek

This is the story of how Ann Yurcek championed for her daughter Rebecca, who was born with Noonan syndrome which includes a host of life threatening problems. Ann became her daughter's advocate, learning as much as she could about the medical challenges that her daughter faced and her daughter, who faced death daily for years, survived and thrived. Ann shares what it is like to parent a severly medically challenged child and I think other parents of medically challenged children will find this book encouraging and helpful. The book would be better if it was properly edited.