Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Linda See

Lady Tan is based on a real female doctor (in both senses) in 15^th Century China. The story of her life allows us to learn about the medical practices, expectations of women, customs, food, clothing and social classes and many other aspects of Chinese culture of the time. Everything is described in detail using beautiful and not so beautiful language. Tan Yunxian came from a prestigious family and married into another. Trained by her grandmother to treat women throughout the stages of their lives, she was initially forbidden by her mother-in-law to practice, she proves how much she can help the females of the family compound. I learned so much from this book as See made it all interesting.

Tuesday Book Review

Four-star review for Fatal Intrusion by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Moldonado

 

This first book in a new series introduces readers to the team of Homeland Security agent Carmen Sanchez and Professor Jake Heron, whose special field of study is intrusion theory. Carmen is particularly determined to lead the investigation of a seeming series of murders after her estranged sister is attacked. The case, or cases, took many twists and turns and through it, the relationships among the characters changes. Deaver and Moldonado  have written another interesting thriller that takes the reader to an assortment of Southern California locales.

Tuesday Book Review on Monday

Five-star review for Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

This long novel starts with the premise of what would happen if something caused the moon to shatter into seven pieces (not the reason for the title) and those pieces further break up, bombarding the earth with large fragments that somehow make it through the atmosphere. The book is as long as it is because Stephenson has to explain every engineering detail of the human reaction to this as he can in infinite detail, but even all this telling is interesting.

Spoilers ahead: the first part describes what happens after the moon fractures, the second covers the attempts by humans to survive. The third, almost as long as the first two put together, takes place five thousand years later and reveals the divergences of different human groups but that they still have the same tendencies of humans today and in the past. It could have been a second book in a duology and continued to tell how the thirteen or more groups rebuild, together or apart, since the story could use that instead of a epilogue.

It was a quick read despite the length with interesting characters in each part. I almost didn’t want it to end. 

Tuesday Book Review

 

Five-star review of Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg

This fascinating memoir by the NPR commentator on the friends she’s made over the years, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, stressed the importance of long friendships through the good and bad events on our lives and how those friendships can form over good meals and good conversation. I learned a lot about the court as well as the people covered in the book. I particularly appreciated the examples of how hard it was for women to advance, to earn as much as men for the same job, during the 20^th century. People need to be reminded of that to fully understand what an accomplishment it was for Ruth to become a supreme court justice. I read this for a book club and was glad I did.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Four-star review for Novas by Lou Vane

The second book in this series picks up with Fortune Falls ended. The surviving members of the family that built the bunker join Jess, Matt and the others, but the place isn’t big enough for them all. After a time, Jess, Matt, Ethan and a handful of others set out to find ingredients for a possible vaccine for the virus that caused the epidemic and we get to see what life is like away from the mountain plateau where they’ve been sequestered. Lots of action and a quick read. I have minor quibbles with plot and character development but otherwise, I’ve been enjoying the series.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Five-star review for Lost Bookshop  by Evie Woods

Told from the viewpoint of three different characters in two time periods, this was one part mystery, one part romance and one part historical with a touch of paranormal. Each of the characters became real people to me as I read their stories. Opaline’s story, her life was mostly difficult and sad, but it provided the basis for Henry and Martha’s quest and love story. It hardly matters whether or not the lost manuscript really ever existed, but Henry’s search for it to make his mark as the one who found it drives a good portion of the plot. The shop Opaline created is the kind of used bookstore I’ve always loved. The prose in this story is lovely too.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review for Fortune Falls by Lou Vane

 The first book in a relatively new series begins slowly with a group of older teenagers attending a leadership camp where the instructors are not much older than they are. Friendships form quickly and the lessons prepare them for skills they don’t expect to use often like scaling mountains. Jess, one of the students, connects with Matt and Priya on the bus to the camp and thereafter they spend a lot of time together, but a triangle forms, unnecessarily for me, between Jess, Matt and one of the instructors, Ethan. Their week is over and they’re about to head home when word comes of an epidemic that’s led to quarantines. The action picks up after that with searches for ways to leave and failing that, to survive the coming winter. Of course, there are more people thrown into the mix and a few deaths along the way as the story becomes more dystopian than apocalyptic. This was a quick read and I’m still not sure what Jess’ previous personality was, but I enjoyed it enough to read more of the series.