September Books

As expected, my reading progress slowed a bit this month with the start of school.  *sigh*  
Work gets in the way of my life.
Anyway, here's what I read this month:

Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial by Rabia Chaudry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Since I'm pretty much obsessed with Adnon's case thanks to Serial and Undisclosed, I knew I needed to read Rabia's book, too. I even preordered the book from Amazon! Adnon's Story did not disappoint. While the book, of course, covers parts of the case that we already know from the above podcasts, I did discover some new aspects of the case.

It was nice to see things laid out in print. The book also included pictures of documents related to the case and, most interestingly, Adnon's own words and descriptions of things that occurred from the time Hae Min Lee disappeared and through his time in prison. The story itself goes up through Adnon's PCR hearing that took place in February of 2016.

I really enjoyed getting a more "hands on" look at the case by finally having a print copy of the information I've been hearing for so long. If you are interested in True Crime or are also obsessed with this case, I definitely recommend this book!


The Lake House by Kate Morton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I finally settled on a 3 star rating for this book for a few reasons.

1) While I liked it, I didn't love it.
2) It was an interesting story and a mystery that kept me guessing, but it was very confusing at times. It jumped back and forth between the past and present a lot. And while the book starts out making you think it will only tell the story about Alice in the past and present, and Sadie in the present, the story starts to focus on other characters. While they're not really in their point of view, the narrator tells the story about a character and shares his/her thoughts and feelings.
3) Because of all of this jumping around and changing perspectives, sometimes I forgot what the cliffhanger was from the last time they left off.

I was very surprised by the end since I didn't see it coming, and I found the characters to be very likable. I found the ending to be satisfying, and I was actually a little sad that it was over.



View all my reviews

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Serial Podcast: Part 2

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Yesterday, I shared my thoughts about Season 1 of Serial.

Today, it's on to Season 2: The Bowe Bergdahl Story

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I'm going to just come right out and say what everyone is I'm thinking: Season 2 sucked.  And it was kind of a weird thing for me.  I kept listening because I wanted something to listen to.  I was kind of bummed when I listened to the most recent episode and Sarah said it was the last, but at the same time, I was glad it was over.

I'm a very complicated person.

With that being said, here are some of my thoughts on why this season was less than enjoyable:

For starters, Adnon's story in season 1 leaned more toward investigative reporting.  There was a real question to be answered: Is Adnon Syed guilty?  Many people still aren't sure.  Others have made up their minds one way or another.  Either way, I feel that people still want to know what's going to come next for Adnon.  Will he get a new trial?  Will his conviction be upheld?

Season 2 really didn't seem to lend itself to investigative reporting.  Sure, there were some questionable things that Sarah Koenig looked into, but ultimately, there's no pressing question here.  Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his Army unit.  The end.  You can question his motives.  You can look into why this happened, but in the end, the outcome is still the same.  He deserted.

Throughout this season, it's mentioned that Bowe was trying to make a statement that he felt his commanding officers were deliberately sending men into danger.  I honestly can say that I don't think walking off in the middle of Afghanistan is the best way to make your point.  Most of us who are pissed off with our bosses or colleagues at work just simply whine about it to a trusted friend then suck it up and deal.

In Bowe's defense, after learning that he was discharged from the Coast Guard, I do not understand how he was allowed to join the Army or why the Army did not take this discharge more seriously.  It does seem that this situation could have been avoided had Bowe not been allowed in the armed forces.  But alas, it did happen.

I just don't feel like Season 2 really brought any sort of new or interesting information to the table.  It just seemed to explain why some people are pissed off at Bowe and why other people aren't.  The only truly unanswered question was whether or not men and women were killed in the line of duty while specifically searching for Sgt. Bergdahl.

What it comes down to for me is this: Season 1 made me feel sympathy for Adnon Syed.  Season 2 failed to make me have any sympathy whatsoever for Bowe Bergdahl.  Was it awful that he was a prisoner of the Taliban for 5 years?  Absolutely.  I would not wish that sort of situation on anyone.  BUT he walked off.  He knew the risk he was taking.  He did not take the appropriate routes to present his problems to those in authority.  There are consequences for our actions, and those were Bowe's.  I am glad that we were able to bring him home safely to his family because no one deserves to lose their son or daughter.

To me, though, there's no case here.  He walked off.  There's nothing to look into.

What are your thoughts on Season 2?

Serial Podcast: Part 1

I know there are so many people out there who have listened to the Serial podcast, and I, too, have been swept up in the phenomena.  I felt that with end of Serial, Season 2, that I would take a bit of time to share my thoughts here in my little corner of the Internet.

So let's talk about Serial, Season 1: The Adnon Syed Story.

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A quick recap for anyone who's been living under a rock those who may not know: Adnon Syed was tried and convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999.  Sarah Koenig is a journalist who researched the case and hosted the podcast. Despite being convicted of this crime, there are circumstances surrounding the case that are very questionable.  These circumstances are what made the case interesting enough for investigation and a podcast.  To me, the podcast was like a drawn-out episode of something on Investigation ID (i.e. a True Crime drama), and it was extremely interesting. After finishing the first season, I was left truly questioning if Adnon was actually guilty.  At the very least, I am certain that Adnon deserves a new trial.  There are so many things that don't add up: Jay's stories, lack of evidence, lack of physical evidence, alibi witnesses that weren't contacted, etc. etc. etc.  Whether he did it or not, I do not understand how  a jury convicted Adnon with what the State presented.   When Season 1 of Serial ended, another podcast related to Adnon's case began:

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This podcast is hosted by Rabia Chaudry (a friend of Adnon's family), Collin Miller, and Susan Simpson, and it really delved into the legal side of Adnan's case.  I will admit, this podcast is definitely biased toward Adnon; however, they did closely examine many different aspects of Adnon's case.  Despite the heaviness on law, I also found this podcast interesting.  The three hosts took a good look at the documents and evidence related to Adnon's case, and I can honestly say that at this point, I really don't think that Adnon committed this murder. Recently, there was a hearing regarding a few important aspects of Adnon's case.  The judge's ruling could result in Adnon receiving a new trial.  Sarah Koenig, Rabia, and Susan were in attendance at the hearing (although, Rabia ended up being sequestered and was not able to attend most of it).   I'm extremely interested to see what the outcome of the hearing will be. Have any of you listened to Serial and/or Undisclosed? What are your thoughts? Do you think Adnon is guilty?