Sweet Hell on Fire: A Memoir of the Prison I Worked In and the Prison I… (edition 2012)

Detailed and gritty!
Look, I know some of you are looking at the description or cover and thinking, "there's no way I'd read that, it's not my tastes." Well, get out of your comfort zone, and read it anyway! There is an amazing story to be heard right here. This lady, Sara, went through hell and back within a year, and not only became a better person, but changed her whole being. She's strong, confident, smart, and you root for her every step of the way. Let me tell you, she doesn't disappoint either.
Sure, some of the stories are tough to read. Yet, you'd sit and watch an episode of C.S.I on the television, so what is the difference? These are real. It is someone's life. The lessons in it are more valuable than learning how to botch a crime scene with Gary Sinise..... anyway, you get my drift.
I love it and think if you gave it a shot, you'd love it too. ( )

Sweet Hell on Fire is one of the best memoirs I've read this year. It is in all ways funny, insightful, gripping, educational, and just plain inspiring. Ms. Lunsford is brutally honest about her years as a corrections officer, giving us a glimpse into a world most of us will never see from either side of the bars. Her story is rich in detail and she is not afraid to tell even the worst, most embarassing parts of it.

Having been one of the few women in the IT profession back when dinosaurs walked the earth, I know what it's like to have to prove yourself to your male co-workers and to male customers who didn't believe that women knew anything about computers. My favorite question at the time was from a customer whose issue was escalated to me because none of the guys could fix it: "Honey, can you put me through to a real technician?" I can't imagine working in a maximum security prison as a woman where at any moment anyone is vulnerable to Very Bad Things. Ms. Lunsford's window into her job, its idiosyncracies, her struggles, and everything in-between is well worth the read. Highly recommended. ( )