What are you reading? May 2011

Amanda · Post by **Amanda** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 12:19 pm

I just finished listening to The Ghost Map by Stephen Johnson - about John Snow and his work on proving cholera as a water bourne disease. Really interesting, and covers quite a lot of divergent information, like the use of anaesthetics (Snow was a pioneer in this field administering chloroform to Queen Vic in her labour), a bit of bacteriology of course, and what we can learn today about how we look at public health.

I tend to listen to audiobooks when I am doing overtime at work - there are no phone calls to answer!

I have also started reading an arc of The Kings Diamond by Will Whittaker.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 2:42 pm

[quote=""Telynor""]What did you think of the Nickled and Dimed book?[/quote]

"Enjoyed" is the wrong word to describe my reaction, similar to the feeling I get when I "like" someone's Facebook message that is sad or disturbing. I thought the project was bold and interesting, the results disturbing. Ehrenriech did her research over a decade ago (copyright 2001) when employment was at an all-time high rate and low-wage workers still couldn't get a break. So much for the invisible hand of the market. Things are so much worse now with unemployment so high. Getting off my political soapbox, the book is well-written, the conclusions clearly laid out with footnotes, the personal stories compelling. I've often wondered if I could "make it" on minimum wage, if I had to. Not so sure.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 4:11 pm

Finished Doc by Mary Doria Russell. Very good, but different from what I expected. Just starting Tears of Gold by Laurie McBain. More on the romance side of things, but since it's taking me to Old California and New Orleans with a healthy dose of revenge I hope I'll be happy.

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 4:42 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]"Enjoyed" is the wrong word to describe my reaction, similar to the feeling I get when I "like" someone's Facebook message that is sad or disturbing. I thought the project was bold and interesting, the results disturbing. Ehrenriech did her research over a decade ago (copyright 2001) when employment was at an all-time high rate and low-wage workers still couldn't get a break. ([/quote]

Yes. I had read the book when it was first released, and found it to be profoundly disturbing. That's the sad thing about the Bush years -- the repercussions of eight years of pandering to big business is still with us now, and unless there's a societal change towards the working class, I can only see disaster ahead.

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 5:43 pm

I forgot to post about this last night, but I finished "The Victorian House" by Judith Flanders (455pgs, 2003)*. A very interesting, entertaining and well written book, that makes me so glad I'm not living in the Victorian times! If I was a servant, I'd be overworked, and even if I had money the clothes I'd have to wear, the shear boredom, and the fact that everything has to revolve around making sure my husband doesn't get annoyed would've driven me batty! Then there was that fog! If I had the same breathing problems then as I do now, I'd probably one of the many who died from it!

SM

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 5:50 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Finished Doc by Mary Doria Russell. Very good, but different from what I expected. Just starting Tears of Gold by Laurie McBain. More on the romance side of things, but since it's taking me to Old California and New Orleans with a healthy dose of revenge I hope I'll be happy.[/quote]

Well, that's a blast from the past for me! I remember reading Tears of Gold years ago, probably when it first came out!!!! I've read Devil's Desire, too. I know I really enjoyed them at the time. If I remember rightly, I actually had to buy another copy of one of them as when I got to the end, there were some missing pages. Very frustrating!!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 7:04 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]Well, that's a blast from the past for me! I remember reading Tears of Gold years ago, probably when it first came out!!!! I've read Devil's Desire, too. I know I really enjoyed them at the time. If I remember rightly, I actually had to buy another copy of one of them as when I got to the end, there were some missing pages. Very frustrating!![/quote]

It looks like McBain's getting a new life from Sourcebooks. There's been at least one or two others, and I just got this from them plus a redo of an old Jennifer Blake book.

I don't recall reading McBain before, or if I have I've forgotten it.

Elysium · Post by **Elysium** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 7:13 pm

Started Delilah by Eleanor De Jong. Haven't read anything bible themed books before but this seems good.

SGM · Post by **SGM** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 7:32 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]Well, that's a blast from the past for me! I remember reading Tears of Gold years ago, probably when it first came out!!!! [/quote]

Ah, yes another from my mispent early teens too. But I think at the time I thought Tears of Gold was the best (probably because of the setting).

I read somewhere that she actually wrote in partnership with her father and gave up writing when he died which might or might not be true.

I'd be interested to know if her style has lasted.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat May 28th, 2011, 8:36 pm

[quote=""SGM""]Ah, yes another from my mispent early teens too. But I think at the time I thought Tears of Gold was the best (probably because of the setting).

I read somewhere that she actually wrote in partnership with her father and gave up writing when he died which might or might not be true.

I'd be interested to know if her style has lasted.[/quote]

I'm just over 100 pages in and enjoying it so far. It's taken a bit to get to the heart of the story, the revenge, but I don't find the writing dated at all. I'm seeing bits here and there where some editing might have tightened things up, but that's a common complaint about those older 70's/80's books.