Book Nineteen of my 2013 Goal

Summary: Little Prisoners by Casey Watson by Save Time Summaries
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary: Little Prisoners by Casey Watson is by Save Time Summaries. This is a summary of the book and not the full version book itself. This goes through each chapter in the book and summarizes the chapter and then notes the "Key Take-Away" point in that chapter. I really like the way this is structured and the summary of the chapter is enough to know what went on without the page after page of reading the full version of the book. The "Key Take-Away" is usually a sentence or two that condenses the summary down to a main point. For example; Chapter Five is three paragraphs long and about what Casey hears and observes from the two children that makes her think they were sexually abused. The "Key Take-Away" is one sentence long that states Casey believes the children have been sexually abused based on their comments and actions.

The Summary of...(insert any of their book titles here) by Save Time Summaries are great especially if it is a long novel that you were assigned to do a report on or have a test in. The summary would make studying a lot easier since it is the main points of the chapter and the key points. This also would be especially useful when you have a lot of dates or places to remember such as something in history like a war however on the book of "Little Prisoners" I think it isn't necessarily a good thing because it is like reading a review of a book that tells you what went on including the ending but the drama, the connection with the characters, the heartache and shock of it all is lost. In the book "Little Prisoners" all of that is part of the story, it is what gets the reader involved emotionally. Because it is non-existent in the summary I do not think it works for a book like this. I feel cheated because so much of the emotional part is lost.

So in short, I think the summary is great if you want to know what the book is all about and what happens without all the connections and emotions. The structure and content is good however if you are thinking this is a great way to read the book "Little Prisoners" in a short amount of time I am afraid you will be disappointed. So depending on what you are looking for, this may or may not be the way to go.

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Book Eighteen my 2013 Goal

Summary of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity & Disease by Robert Lustig by Save Time Summaries
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary of Fat Chance: Betting the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Foods, Obesity & Disease by Robert Lustig is by Save Time Summaries and it is just that, the summary of the full version book. It takes key points of the chapters leaving most of the discussion and not so 'key' points. To me they are much like the Cliff's Notes I used to study for the test we were having on the novel we just read in school. Note that I said, "leaving most of the discussion" because it does contain enough so the reader understands the points it is trying to make. In other words, this is not pages after page of a list of key points from the book, there are paragraphs not lists and this reads and explains key points much like any other book would only this doesn't go into great detail. For example under "Learned Behavior or a Choice?" one of the paragraphs following talk about, "A recent alarming study reveals that even six-month-old babies are showing increasing signs of obesity." It makes the point that at that age the baby obviously didn't choose to be obese or have a choice of their food intake. What it doesn't tell me is who did this study, where, when, how was it done or any other details about it. I am not sure if the full version of the book has this information in it or not. So if you are interested in just the 'meat' of the full version book without the potatoes, then this is great. A real time saver! However, if you want to get deeper into it then you are better off with the full version book.

As far as the information, some parts made me say, "Big Deal!" Is it really a big deal that five of the government's major public health agencies agree that the cause of obesity is from eating too much while exercising too little? These are the same agencies that either did nothing or waited until many years later (and in some cases they waited until many more people died) before they did or said anything. Or better yet, they would say something only to pull a flip-flop years later. For example, The US Surgeon General in 1964 claimed smoking wasn't addicting. (Need I say more?) Besides, I know as a fact that not all obesity is caused by overeating and under exercise so I really don't care what they agree on. Besides, I am sure if we wait long enough one of them (if not more) will do a flip-flop.

Don't get me wrong, there was a lot interesting too. The one that stands out the most is the biochemistry and hormones in chapter four. I found the Leptin deficiency testing quite interesting but can't help wonder why it hasn't continued. This is such an important subject, as the book explains it is a worldwide issue that not only is a personal problem, it is a social one, one that is life-threatening to so many and the chapter ends with, "Further research is needed, but this developement definitely has many health professionals feeling optimistic". This is the sort of thing that make me think, huh? Shouldn't that read, "further testing is being done"?

So to sum it up, this summary is a good way to get the key points of the book without having to read the three hundred and whatever pages of the full version book. It is a great way to get the general subject of any one point so I know what to search for, for more details. (Example, I know the 6 month old babies are showing signs of obesity so I know that I can look up this study for more detailed information). It is a great time saver and well worth the cost.


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Book Seven of my 2013 Goal

Summary: Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot -- Bill O'Reilly by Save Time Summaries
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary: Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot -- Bill O'Reilly by Save Time Summaries is not a book, it is a summary that creates the time line of events much like "Cliff Notes". There is enough detail given to understand what is going on and when but there is not a lot of the background and insights that you would find in the book.

This summary starts off with who Bill O'Reilly is and that he proposes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy despite there is evidence that a conspiracy existed. It does not go into any detail about this evidence, it just mentions there is evidence. Then it gives a brief background on the Kennedy's as a family and the history of JFK's milestones right up to his winning the election defeating Vice President Richard Nixon. Then there is a more details given about his presidency and dealing with the unpopular 'conflict' known now as the Vietnam War, plus the Cold War with the Soviet Union. It further explains his relationship with his brother Bobby who is the Attorney General and the relationship the Kennedy's had with organized crime.

At this time was also the civil rights movement and JFK arrange a meeting the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Then it mentions that JFK was warned by the FBI that King has alleged associations with Communist sympathizers and other radicals which is something I never knew. I wish it went into a little more detail about this.

Kennedy tries to win support in Texas and had chosen Lyndon Johnson of Texas as his running mate. He planned the visit to Texas since he needs their support to win in his 1964 re-election bid. Then it goes into a little more detail of him and "Lady Bird" landing in Texas in Air Force One, his actions on the tarmac and even about weather and bubble top on the car which Kennedy didn't care for. In fact, even what they wore and what was said was revealed. Then how they finally get into the car and head off to the Dallas Trade Mart where JFK was scheduled to give a luncheon speech.

The next chapters were about Oswald and his life, work, and how he gave up US citizenship to be a Russian Citizen and then again how he reversed it to come back to the US. It is a brief description which leads up to how he got to be at the School Book Depository Building as the motorcade approaches. It ends with the possible last words JFK heard.

Again, this is a time line summary of events, not a book. If you want to know details then you should read the book however if you just need the events and when they took place then I suggest this summary.

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Book Six of my 2013 Goal

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden -- Mark Owen, Navy SEAL Team Six -- by Save Time Summaries
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary: No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Save Time Summaries is not a full book. This is a summary of the actual book "No Easy Day" much like a "Cliff Note" of the book. It pulled the main points and events from the book to make a short time line of events that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden. It is an easy to understand account of the Navy special mission unit DEVGRU (aka "SEAL Team Six") over the course of about three weeks.

It starts by telling us a little about what it takes to be a DEVGRU member. The discipline and physical strength involved is so extreme that even the some of the best SEAL's are not good enough. The DEVGRU is the unit responsible for counter terrorism an hostage negotiation as well as other classified duties. This mission was comprised of members from different units and they were given the information that the CIA had collected for the past five years. Other people were involved with providing information to the point where they knew what the outside of the Bin Laden's compound looked like but not the inside. Some of the information was from the interrogation of Mohanned al-Qahtani who is thought to be the twentieth hijacker on September 11.

Then it tells of the training and waiting for the final orders from Washington. After they were given the "go" from President Obama they made their move. The accounts given were detailed enough to understand exactly what they were doing and why. Unfortunately their helicopter crashed near Bin Laden's compound which brought a feeling of deja vu to the underground Situation Room of the White House.. A similar helicopter crashed when there was the failed mission to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980. However, this time the pilot was able to control it somewhat and was able to hover just above the ground. These accounts gave enough details to feel some of the anticipation of the men as well as the concern and anxiety felt by Washington.

Once at the compound there was details of who was found where including Osama Bin Laden. Once the SEAL Team Six killed him and took his body there was a short account of what happened right to his burial at sea. After that, there are a couple of pages of quotes used in the book. My favorite is "The only easy day was yesterday".

If you want to know the events that took place without all the "extra" information in the book "No Easy Day" then this is definitely what you need however if you need some background information or explanations then your better off with the full book. I found the summary very easy to follow and although I wish it did go into a little more detail about who comprised of SEAL Team Six, it was a great summary of events.

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