4.5 stars
Irina Bazili is a mysterious young Moldavian woman who begins to work at the Lark House, a home for the elderly, and gains the friendship of Alma Belasco. Alma left her family behind in Poland as a young girl when she was sent away to live with her Aunt and Uncle in San Francisco in order to escape the Nazi invasion. The young Alma makes two immediate friends, her cousin Nathaniel and Ichimei, the son of the Japanese gardener. There is so much to this book besides the romance, which I honestly found secondary to the story. The realities of World War II, Japanese Internment Camps, the roles of race, class and sex, treatment of the elderly and enduring friendships are just some of the topics explored. As usual, Allende's writing is beautiful and there was a bit of the magical realism that sometimes appears in her novels. I always enjoy her novels and this book is not an exception. I received a digital galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lights Out: A Cyberattack, a Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath by Ted Koppel
4 stars
To be honest, I almost set this one down after the first few chapters which are full of mind-numbing details on electricity and regulation, however, once Koppel delves into the actual aftermath of a cyberattack it gets much, much more interesting. The idea that a prolonged loss of electricity could in fact disrupt society to such a degree is horrifying and Koppel does a good job introducing us to the officials who are appallingly unprepared and the individual "preppers" who are shockingly well prepared. This book is well researched and full of interesting interviews. I highly recommend this to everyone because it provides so much to think about in terms of disaster preparation. I received a digital galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment