Kristy R. Langstraat-Bolte

It took me quite a while to read this next book, but because it wasn’t good but because it was super long and also I just haven’t had the time to read like I sometimes do! But I loved this book because it was another Elvis book! It’s called Elvis and the Memphis Mafia by Alanna Nash! These were the guys who were closest to Elvis and therefore knew so much about him!!! It was so interesting, and I just love learning new things about Elvis that I didn’t know. I think I know everything and then I find there are still so many things to learn!

Kathryn is reading this book in her 3rd grade class, so I decided to get a copy and also read it! Obviously, it was a super fast read for me, but it was still good! It’s called The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill. It’s about a 1 room schoolhouse in Alaska and they get teachers from the states but because the environment is so hard, teachers don’t last more than 1 year if that much, until Miss Agnes! They are reading this book because we just went and saw a 1 room schoolhouse during their field trip to Naper Settlement!

My dad read this book and told me that I should read it also. It was called The Spare by Prince Harry! I know my mom would have loved this book as she loved Princess Diana and everything to do with the Royal Family. I was a little surprise my dad was interested in it. But this book was AMAZING!!! It was so interesting and exciting to get to read all the littler tidbits and secrets of the Royal Family! It was also pretty sad how things are, and definitely makes me glad I never actually married Prince William, even though that was definitely a dream of mine as a little girl! I definitely recommend this book!

This book was called Elvis: The Biography by Jerry Hopkins and it was a real book and it had 412 pages! I did not think I would be able to read this whole book, but I did! I love Elvis so much that it was no problem reading this! This book was literally his whole entire life! I definitely learned some new things I didn’t know! This just helped fuel my obsession for Elvis even more!!!

I found this book in my bedroom at Bensenville. I’m sure I read it years ago when I was younger, but decided to read it again! It’s called Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: Good Switch, Bad Switch by David Cody Weiss and Bobbi JG Weiss. This was one of my all time favorite TV shows back in the day!!!! I love Salem, the black cat!

This book was called Destined to Die Young by Sally A. Hoedel, it was of course, another book on Elvis Presley! It discussed in detail his health history and his families health history, to show that even without his drug addiction, he would still have died young, just as many of his family members, including his mom, did. Although he may have been here longer without the drugs and his rigorous performance schedule, but we can thank the fake Colonel Parker for taking away Elvis way too early, in my opinion!

This book was called The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart. This was so good as I know a LOT about Auschwitz but I did not know that thousands of babies were actually born in Birkenau! Unfortunately made were killed or didn’t make it, but some did! Very good book!

This book was called A Little Thing Called Life on Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner & Songs Inbetween by Linda Thompson. I read this book mostly because I’m jealous of her love affair with Elvis, but also because I used to watch the Kardashians and The Hills so also new a lot about the Jenner’s. Then was surprised to find out Linda had written many songs I’ve heard of as well as also other things I’ve heard of. I was pretty in awe of Linda’s life, having come form meager beginnings in Memphis. She also writes beautifully and I loved reading her stories about Elvis the most but also everything else about her life. I do wonder though what her life would have actually been like if Elvis had never wanted to date her, I feel like pretty much all of her opportunities came about because of Elvis. I wonder if she wonders the same?!

This was book 2 of another book a read. This one was called After Auschwitz: A Story of Heartbreak and Survival by the Stepsister of Anne Frank. It repeated some of the information in book 1, so made me and my dad think we had already read this book, but whereas the first book was more about before the war and during the Holocaust, this went further into detail before hand, and a lot more in depth after the war was over, and what happened to her after Auschwitz! It’s crazy to think that this girl ended up having Otto Frank as a step-dad.

This was book 2 of Elvis Presley’s life called Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnaky. The 2nd part was as good as the first! I did not want it to end!! I loved reading about his entire life! Obviously it was sad, because I knew he would die. No matter how many times I read or see about his death, it makes me so sad every time, that no one close to him would help him get the help he needed to get better…..

This book was called Hustle & Heart by Kailyn Lowry. This is the 2nd book of hers. Her first book was so much better and way more interesting, this one was super boring because it was more like a “self help” book, where she tries to dish out life lessons.

This book was called Three Sisters by Heather Morris. About 3 sisters who were sent to Auschwitz during the Holocaust. It was so sad what they went through and what happened to their families, however, it also ended up happy and how they overcame everything to go on a live a beautiful life!

This book was called Freedom: My Book of Firsts by Jaycee Dugard. I read her first book that talked all about her kidnapping and her life in captivity. This book was about her life after all of that, and what it was like to experience things she never got to, and that she thought she never would get to! Very uplifting book! Jaycee has such a positive attitude, and I’m happy for her! I know I wouldn’t have survived what she did, and if I did, I certainly wouldn’t be able to love life the way she does! Good for her!

This book was called Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank by Eva Schloss with Evelyn Julia Kent. I was quite confused by this book title as I know the story of Anne Frank VERY WELL, even having gone to tour her house in Amsterdam! But it was very interesting, and sad too. Turns out Eva’s mom lost her husband and son during the Holocaust just as Anne’s dad lost her, her sister and his wife! Then Evan’s mom and Otto ended up meeting in the camps, and they had actually lived near to each other in Amsterdam! Eva did know Anne when she was alive! Then they connected after the war and got married, so that is how Eva became Anne’s step sister (even though it was post-humously). Very interesting read for sure!