Karl's Reading List

Published by Simon & Schuster, 2022. Audiobook uploaded to Audible 2022. Narrated by the author. In reviewing this book, I find myself strangely glad that I have such a small readership for my blog. Why? Because in seeing how Scientology attacks those who speak up against them, it would be more intimidating to publish this review if I was well-known! I mean, I still would ... but I'm not sure I'd enjoy being picketed and torn apart in the media for it. I kinda doubt they'll bother for me presently. This was a free book on Audible. It tells the life story of the author, Mike Rinder, who grew up in Scientology, rising to various prominent positions, before eventually leaving the organisation and turning whistleblower. When he joined it was still the early days of Scientology, and many of the 'higher-level' beliefs of Scientology (such as the existence of the evil alien Xenu) were either not-yet-developed or were closely guarded secrets, only revealed to members on...

Published by Longacre Press Ltd.: Auckland, New Zealand, 2012 (1998). The third book of Fleur Beale's that I have read, but the first that she wrote, I am not Esther follows Kirby Greenwood, a young teenager whose life is upended when her mother takes her to live with her 'religious' relations in a Gloriavale type cult. Kirby is renamed 'Esther' by her uncle (as all of them have Biblical names) and struggles to survive in a community where she doesn't feel she belongs. My overwhelming feeling in reading this book is one of sadness. It is sad that there are people who believe that the Bible would have them live like this. It is sad that such people will end up with warped ideas of who God is and what He is like. It is also sad that a lot of people reading this book will think that this is what religion is like. As a person with a very strong faith - in that it has an impact on almost every aspect of my life - I believe there is a huge difference between religion ...

Published by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd: London, 2007 (1912). A good friend of mine is an avid reader of Westerns and has recommended Zane Grey to me as an author he enjoys, but this is the first time I have read any of his works. The story of Riders of the Purple Sage is fascinating to read in our modern world, as it chooses the make a Mormon community the villains - something that feels like it would be less acceptable today. Indeed, the movie versions that have been produced from this book (none of which I have seen) have almost universally changed the villains from Mormons to a more "acceptable" group of people. There are two main storylines going on in the novel. In the first we are introduced to Jane Withersteen, a woman attempting to keep her ranch operating after the death of her father, who has to fend off the advances of the local Mormons, particularly Elder Tull, who wants Jane to become his third wife. Jane gets help from the infamous Jim Lassiter, known for...

Published in an omnibus edition with " Vintage Murder "; " Artists in Crime ", by Harper: Hammersmith, London, 2009. Originally published 1936. The first novel in this omnibus, but the last I have read, Death in Ecstasy is another Inspector Alleyn murder mystery novel, this one taking place in the temple of a cult near the home of newspaper reporter (and friend of Alleyn), Nigel Bathgate. During a communion-like ceremony one of the devotees is struck down by poison, and Alleyn is called in to investigate. As with all the classic whodunnits we are introduced to a number of characters, each with possible motives or alibis, including some fairly stereotypical individuals (common of the era). A mark of a good whodunnit is something that will keep you guessing while also offering you clues, and Death in Ecstasy manages well on this front. I felt like I was picking up clues throughout the story - some of which fitted in to the final puzzle and some of which did not. Y...