Rock Star Life

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publication Date - March 5, 2019

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I did enjoy this book.  I liked how it is told in interview transcripts and it reminded me of old Behind the Music episodes.  It also felt like a realistic representation of the crazy seventies rock star lifestyle and it I had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction.  I just didn’t like Daisy and she’s too big a part of the story for me to be so annoyed with her.  Her role didn’t work for me and her supposed magnetism didn’t come through the pages and that definitely affected my reading experience.  This is getting great reviews so far so this is most definitely a case of personal preference.  I am thankful to have received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Killer Bacteria

The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug

By Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson

Publication Date - February 26, 2019

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When the author’s husband experiences bad pancreatitis while on vacation in Egypt he somehow introduces a terrible, antibiotic resistant superbug into his body.  What follows is a race to save his life involving untried therapies that only a scientist spouse would be posed to take on.  This is a fascinating and terrifying book written in an easily digestible format.  As antibiotic resistance becomes a serious problem in the hospital setting, this book brings home the horrifying prospects of the infections.  While this is definitely a story of privilege, it is also the story of a scientist who had the right education and knew the right people and was able to use that knowledge to save her husband and later patients who will also benefit.  I highly recommend this book but maybe not right before a hospital stay.  I received a digital ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Girls and Anxiety

Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls
by Lisa Damour, Ph.D.
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I have a ten year old daughter and I feel like it is the perfect time to read this book.  While she is not yet dealing with many of the issues presented, it is good for me to know what problems might be  down the pipeline and down to earth, reasonable, ways to handle them.  My one objection is that the author works at a private all-girls school and at a private practice.  This means that common issues that girls from less privileged backgrounds were not really addressed.  Overall, though, I found this incredibly helpful and full of commonsense advice.  I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. 

Human Catastrophe

The Uninhabitable Earth:  Life after Warming by David Wallace-Wells
Publication Date - February 19, 2019
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Before the second part of this global warming entreaty, the author states "if you have made it this far, you are a brave reader" which basically encapsulates the overall feeling of this book.  Each chapter summarizes a different global catastrophe with dedicated research and staggering data.  I have read several of the current releases regarding climate change and this is definitely heavy on data, to the point of feeling like a text book at times, but it is all here and should not be avoided.  I received a digital copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

First Favorite Book of the year

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
Publication Date - February 12, 2019
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I came into this book fairly blind.  I knew it was about L. Frank Baum's wife and the making of the Wizard of Oz movie but it ended being about that and so much more.  Maud Baum (born Gage) was the daughter of a patient shopkeeper and his Suffragette wife.  Maud's mother, Matilda, was a force and taught her daughter to treasure education and independent thinking.  When Maud meets Frank, an itinerant  theater man, she drops out of Cornell and joins him on the road.  This book alternates between Maud's early life and later, in her seventies, when she invades the set of the movie adaptation of her husband's book on a daily basis.  While making sure that the movie-makers stay true to her husband's vision, she meets the talented yet lonely Judy Garland and devotes herself to protecting the young girl.  This is one of those fictional accounts that has already forced tons of research on the Baums, Judy Garland, and The Wizard of Oz.  It is beautifully written with stunning detail and an abundance of emotion.  I can already pronounce at this early date that this will be a favorite of 2019.  I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

New Book Review

Northern Lights by Raymond Strom
Publication Date - February 12, 2019
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I wasn't sure at first if I would like this book but as the story progressed, I found that as the story progressed that I really started to become immersed in the story and the atmosphere of the small Minnesota town.  It takes place in the late nineties as a teenage boy travels to the small town of Holm in search of his mother.  He encounters a depressing drug scene and prejudice against his long hair and sexuality.  He stumbles a lot as he tries to deal with his loneliness and confusion and makes so many mistakes but his loyalty and his overall attempts to turn his life around make him a likable character.  What the author most excels at are the descriptions of the town of Holm and the people that live there.  I could vividly visualize was it looks like from his depictions.  I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.