Megan

Ann Rule has a unique perspective having known Ted Bundy AND being a seasoned true crime writer, and this combination gives The Stranger Beside Me something no other true crime book has. While it may be lengthy at times and suffers from the addition of multiple “end” chapters, it's a must read for any true crime buff.

I don't think Salinger's style is for me. Overall, the writing felt extremely pretentious. Our book club discussion put it into words for me. Salinger doesn't seem to care about the reader at all, and I don't particularly appreciate that.

Overall the book was both really bad and somewhat interesting. It's hard to bring those two things together. I like the discussion that's going on between the lines, but I'm ultimately not interested in religion or spirituality in the slightest. I honestly enjoyed the articles I read and videos I watched about this book more than the book itself.

Zooey was a thoroughly detestable character. He was disgusting toward his mother, and he seems like one of those guys who loves to hear himself talk and believes he's always right. He needs to expand his vocabulary beyond the words ‘buddy' and ‘my God.'

Franny ultimately surprised me. I really identified with her a few times. I didn't think I would. Overall I don't really understand her desire to do the whole Jesus Prayer thing, but I'm going to share a few quotes from her that made me say, “Girl, I feel you.”

“I actually reached a point where I said to myself, right out loud, like a lunatic, If I hear just one more, picky, cavilling, unconstructive word out of you, Franny Glass, you and I are finished - but finished.” (Page 143-4)

“And the worst part was, I knew what a bore I was being, I knew how I was depressing people, or even hurting their feelings - but I just couldn't stop! I just could not stop picking.” (Page 145)

“Just because I'm choosy about what I want - in this case, enlightenment, or peace, instead of money or prestige or fame or any of those things - doesn't mean I'm not as egotistical and self-seeking as everybody else.” (Page 148)

This was such a fun book. If you're a fan of the Disney parks and The Haunted Mansion ride, I highly recommend it. It goes into detail from the early imagineering days in the 1950s all the way through the different adaptations the ride has gone through to make it, or a version of it, fit into all the Disney parks. From there, the book covers each portion of the story/ride, from the outside queue and Portrait Chamber to the Grand Hall and Graveyard, including the differences between the attractions and even tidbits about the holiday Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. The author gives some fun insight, being one of the imagineers who worked on various enhancements, and points out details you might not have noticed before. As for why I didn't give this book 5 stars - there were a couple places I would have loved more detail, and I wish some of the pictures had been larger. Overall, I definitely recommend picking up a copy if you like this kind of nonfiction writing.

Looking at this book as an unfinished work that was completed by other people from notes and blog posts, I can't believe how compelling it is. It creeped me out more than most of the true crime books I've read.

Intense, but very interesting.

Definitely a first edition. Needs to be proofread again.

Literally worse than Umbridge.

Everyone who has to interact with dogs should read this and take notes. Recognizing calming signals helps prevent dog bites. We need to learn to speak dog rather than expecting dogs to do all the work and completely bend to our customs and mannerisms that contradict their own. And people wonder why the dog fails, then they say a bite was “completely unprovoked.” Please, give me a break.

This book is a very useful tool for any dog trainer. I feel like owners would gain some very important info from it as well, and it can help them understand the complex nature of separation anxiety (meaning it can't be fixed in a couple weeks).

I highly recommend reading this in its entirety and following it as closely as possible BEFORE you get a puppy. You'll thank yourself later.

Merged review:

I highly recommend reading this in its entirety and following it as closely as possible BEFORE you get a puppy. You'll thank yourself later.

I consider this one of the most important books for first time dog owners or any owner who has little experience with positive reinforcement training. Read it before you get a new dog or puppy. It will help you set realistic goals and expectations. These folks are the people we should be listening to when it comes to dog behavior and training, not some fraud tv personality who has no formal education (and perpetuates disproven and dangerous myths).

Allie's blog got me through some dark times. I couldn't rate her book any less than 5 stars and love having a bound version of some of my favorite posts of hers. I've cried so many tears of laughter from while rereading “Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving” that I think my neighbors were probably concerned for me.

Excellent textbook on the subject, very readable for a typical science student.

I definitely had a little nostalgia reading this, but it's not the most profound story. I really like Mercy and enjoyed her attitude toward outdated gender roles, but at times her character felt inconsistent. There were a number of things that went unexplained (probably to get the reader to pick up the next book) that were a crucial part of climax. It would've been nice to get the explanation in this book. Like many books in this sub-genre, I felt the end wrapped up way too quickly. There always seem to be a bunch of sentences in a row that wrap up all the loose ends in a single paragraph. I really appreciated the story of Dr. Wallace and felt is was a very interesting take on the typical “werewolf” story we've all come to expect.

Sophia Yin's books are at the top of my list of books I recommend to dog training clients. The focus of this one in particular, as shown by the title, is incredibly important for helping owners understand what training their dog is all about. The graphics are helpful and cute as well.

I read this in high school with one of my classes. Why my teacher picked this book of all the books out in the world, I'll never know. I can't even stand by my star rating because I don't remember this book at all. What I do remember is the experience of reading it and how much my entire class couldn't wait to talk about the assigned chapters when we got to class. It was such a fun time.

This was the book that made actually understand symbolism, which was a tough thing for my math-oriented mind to wrap itself around. Thank you to my high school English teacher for helping me get there with Fahrenheit 451!

This was my first introduction to Stephen King which I read sometime in high school. Secret Window, Secret Garden was okay (and I enjoyed the ending), but it ultimately put me off of the “lost time” trope forever. I distinctly remember actively hating The Sun Dog and having to drag my way through it. I still don't understand why that kid kept taking pictures. Maybe one day I'll try it again to see if I missed something that explained that part.