Extra Book - The Testaments

Book: The Testaments
Author: Margaret Atwood
Pages: 432

This is my 128th read for the year.  

I was anxious to read this one, so I broke my own (set) rule of reading only 25 pages a night, and read late into the night to get it finished over a few days.

This book takes place 15 years in the future after The Handmaid's Tale.  Gilead still has a grip on its society, but the inner circle is begining to crack.

The book covers several women - an Aunt who is trying to change the course of history, a young girl who grew up outside of Gilead and will soon be used as a pawn to bring it down; and a young girl who grew up inside Gilead but decided to change her fate when she chose not to marry the Commander assigned to her, and instead became an Aunt.

These three women, along with others who are working in an undercover group called Mayday, are determined to bring Gilead to its end.  But their success is fragile.  The women need to decide how far they will go to change things.

I liked this book.  Better than I thought I would.  I think what I liked about it was that 1) it took place quite a bit into the future - not right after Handmaid's Tale ended.  2) it wasn't like the TV show (which I haven't loved).  3) That women who were part of this world decided it was time to fight for change.

I am glad I read it.  Is it top literature?  No.  But I really hadn't liked the Handmaid's Tale (more on the fact that the content disturbed me and with today's political climate - made me nervous), so this was a better "end" to what I am assuming is this book series.

Stars: 4

Read The World - Columbia - Delirium

Book: Delirium
Author: Laura Restrepo
Pages: 320
Book takes places in the country: YES
Author is from the country: NO
I have visited: NO

This is my 127th read of the year

This is the fictional story of 4 people - Agustina, a woman who has sunk into madness; her husband Aguilar who tries his best to care for her; Midas - a drug traffiker who used to be Agustina's lover; Nicolas - Agustina's grandfather.  The author blends their stories together to weave a picture of how Agustina decends into madness.  

This was a pretty good book.  You have to really pay attention because there are a lot of run on sentences (style) and back and forth between the characters and no chapter breaks.  The book blends the characters lives together among the backdrop of Columbia during a turbulent time in their history.  

I am glad I read this.  When I first started it, I was afraid I was going to be put off by the style, but I got invested in the stories of all the characters, and thought that the author developed them well.  Good read.

Stars: 4

Read The World - Eritrea - I Didn't Do It For You

Book: I Didn't Do It For You

Author: Michela Wrong

Pages: 480

Book takes place in the country: YES

Author is from the country: NO (but she spent time there)

I have visited: NO

This is my 126th read for the year.

I am still making my way through the vast number of countries on the African continent.  I could not place Eritrea on a map before I read this book.  And honestly - I would have had no idea it was in Africa.  Kudos to this challenge for its continued Geography lesson.

This non-fiction book delves into the small African country of Eritrea which is right on the outside of Ethiopia.  It has been part of the world's longest guerrilla war.  So many countries have been a part of it's history - Italy, Britain, Ethopia, United States, and the Soviet Union - all wanting a piece of what Eritrea has to offer.  This book is written from an insider account of the long Eritrea war.  The author interviews several key players - an African emperor, a guerrilla fighter, and an English suffragette.  She winds through the history of this AFrican nation to develop of full picture of its history over the last century.

This was a pretty good book.  It was a tad dry in spots, but the stories from the Eritrea people really helped pull the story along.  I was able to develop a good picture of this nation and what it has exhaustively had to deal with in the 20th century. 

I am glad I read it.  It was a good find for a county I knew nothing about.

Stars: 3 1/2

Read The World - Bolivia - The Bolivian Diary

Book: The Bolivian Diary
Author: Ernesto Che Guevara
Pages: 320
Book takes place in the country: YES
Author is from the country: YES
I have visited: NO

This is my 125th read for the year

This is Che Guevara's last diary before he was captured and executed for his guerilla activities in Bolivia.  This book was complied from the notebooks that were found in his backpack after his capture.

This book was okay.  It is actually a pretty boring diary of them marching through Bolivia - starving and being sick and then finally being captured.  The diary covers about a year of their trek through the country.  I actually got a lot more out of the beginning and end recaps of the story as well as the "month in review" section of each chapter than I did from the actual journal entries.  

I know he is seen as a hero, but he did not really come off that way in this book.  IT is full of blunders through the countyside, constantly on the move and always on the brink of starvation.  I kept waiting for the book to take shape and a real battle to be revealed, but it never happened.

When looking for books around Bolivia, almost all recommended reading was about Che Guevara.  This is the only one that took place exclusively in Bolivia (his more famous "Motorcycle Diaries covers several countries), so that is why I chose it.  But I may keep looking for another Bolivian book in the future.

Stars: 3

Extra Book: Bad Blood: Secrets And Lies In A Silicon Valley Startup

Book: Bad Blood: Secrets And Lies In A Silicon Valley Startup
Author: John Carreyrou
Pages: 352

This is my 124th book for the year.

This was another book recommended to me by a friend.  Same friend as Empty Manions - and it was two wins in a row from them.

This is the true story of Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos.  She claimed that she was going to be able to run 100s of blood test from a drop of blood.  She wanted to prevent people from painful bloodraws and also put this technology in people's homes so that diseases could be caught earlier, and could be better managed.

The reality was - she had nothing.  No working product, no ability to draw such a small amount of blood and get accurate results.  But she lied for over a decade and took millions and millions of dollars from unsuspecting companies and people.   All of her employees had to sign agreements not to talk when they were either fired or quit their jobs.  It took one brave young employee that finally talked to the Wall Street Journal that brought the truth to light.

This was an incredible book.  I could not stop shaking my head at the fact that for 12 years this company existed, took money, and had nothing.  No product.  It is baffling that this woman and the people closest to her were able to pull this off.  Walgreens even bought it.  People like Ruper Mudoch bought into it.  They believed every lie she told.  The test that she said her machine could run all came back incorrect.  Or didn't work at all.  Employees came and went through a revolving door - not lasting long once inside and discovering what was really going on.

Today - Elizabeth Holmes company no longer exist.  She and her ex-boyfriend Sunny who ran this company are on trial for a 20 year jail sentence.  All the money is gone.  The trial is set for June 2020 to determine if they go to jail for what they did.  The could have killed people.

I recently watched the 20/20 episode on this story and it pulled the book together.  And a movie is in the works.  I am anxious to see where this all ends for Elizabeth Holmes.  My hope is jail.

The book is really good.  It is well written and thoughtful.  It pieces together the story from her leaving Stanford at age 19 all the way up until present day.  You watch it unfold in an "after the fact" fashion where it makes it hard to believe that people fell for this.  However - if you truly didn't know what was going on behind closed doors, I would have fallen for it too.

Don't miss this read - it is worth it.

Stars: 5

Top Ten Tuesday - Extraordinary Book Titles

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Artsy Reader.  You can see her blog HERE.  Follow along with the fun!

Today's topic is:

Extraordinary Book Titles

These will be my opinion, of course.  I am drawn to a book by the title first and foremost.  If the title seems interesting, I pick the book up, or look it up on Amazon to see what it is about.

But what makes them Extraordinary?  I have no idea.  So I am going to list just some titles that drew me to the book in the first place and then caused me to read it.  And in the end, became a book I am glad I finished.

I am going to try to use titles of books I don't use often in these Top Ten Tuesdays.  It is hard when you have favorite books that fit all kinds of these lists.

I have linked to the Amazon page for each book - so just click on the title if you want to read what the book is about.

1) And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

This is a very short book by one of my favorite authors.  He packs a whole story about Alzheimers into 96 pages.  It is definitely worth a read.

       

2) The Astonishing Color of After

The title of this one drew me in the first time I saw it on instagram.  And then it became a favorite read for me so far this year.  IT is an incredible book.  I highly recommend.

3) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime

If you have not read this book, you need to put it in your TBR pile.  It is about a boy with Autism and his adventure after he discovers that a neighbor's dog has been killed.  The story is incredible.  I have seen the play in New York City and it is equally as good.

4) Ella Minnow Pea

What a great title, right?  It is a book I read to my kids and it is just the silliest and most fun book.  The town keeps forbidding its citizens to use certain letters when they talk and it makes it harder and harder for people to talk.  It is a fun book that is worth a read.

5) A Fall of Marigolds

The title of this one drew me in when I saw it in the bookstore.  And then it became one of my all time favorite books.  The story is increidble.  And it is extemely well written.  I recommend it to everyone.

6) The Lovely Bones

This is an oldie but goodie.  The title gives you no clues about what this book is going to be about.  One of the most disturbing reads I have ever read.  And I have seen the movie as well.  I recommend both.

7) The Ocean At the End of the Lane

This was my first Neil Gaiman book.  The title drew me in, and the book ended up being incredible.  I have gone on to read just about everything he writes, thanks to this one book.

8) Salt To The Sea

This book title really drew me in.  Once I read the back, I knew it was something I wanted to try.  And I am so glad I did.  This book was amazing.  You have to read it.

9) Savvy

Years ago, I attended a book conference that was held about kids and young adult books.  A young library who was incredibly passionate about getting young people to read, talked about the lending library she had in her own home.  Students could even come to her house and borrow books that she had - because she had 100s.  She spoke about this book - Savvy - as one of her favorite books for middle grade, that I knew we had to try it.  I read it with my eldest daughter and we loved it.  It is an incredible book

10) Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers

This book drew me in as soon as I saw the title and cover.  I love non-fiction books, and after my parents decided to donate their bodies to science, I knew I would have to read this book (and then make them read it).  It is a light touch on a heavy subject, and I really enjoyed this book.  Learned a lot.  And I went on to read Mary Roach's other book.

What titles draw you in?

Extra Book: Empty Mansions

Book: Empty Mansions
Author: Bill Dedman
Pages: 496

This is my 123rd read for the year

There is going to be a review for a few "off challenge" books in a row.  We were recently on vacation and I decided to take along a few books I have been wanting to read.  This book was recommended to me by a family friend.  The Clark family originated from Connellsville and that is where I grew up.  It is always amazing to me to see our little corner of the world in a book.

This is the true story of Huguette Clark and her family.  The Clark family made their millions on copper in the late 1800s.  Huguette was the youngest child of W.A. Clark.  She was born in 1906 and lived until the age of 104.   Even thought Hugette had several houses all over the country, and over 300 million dollars to her name, she spent the last 20 years of her life living in a small, hospital room at a local hospital in New York City.  Even though she was healthy, she refused to move back to her sprawling New York City apartment.

The book covers the years from when W.A. Clark was a child, through how he made his money, his two wives and his many children.  W.A. Clark was on par with the Rockafellars and Carnegies in terms of wealth and eventually built a 121 room house in NYC.  The family owned valuable paintings from famous artist, several stradavarius violins, and countless priceless items.  

Huguette spent a large part of her life living as a recluse, yet being generous with giving her money away.  She gave away large amounts to her favorite nurse and people close to her.  She gave her most expensive Violin away (priced at 6 million dollars) to someone she knew who wanted to start a string quartet.  The amount of money she had in liquid cash, not to mention in real estate and valuables, was mind blowing.

I really enjoyed this book.  I had a hard time putting it down to do other things.  I became invested in the story.  The book is well written, and well told.  Huguette lived through so many things - the sinking of the Titanic (which she and her family were supposed to be on once it reached the United States), two World Wars, 9/11.....just an incredibly long life.  And one where she was clear and generous until the end.

I did feel like she was taken advantage of, especially by her nurse and her family, her lawyers, and even the hospital administrators.  Huguette had interest that many would consider immature - or even concerning - late into her life.  For example - she collected dolls, and doll houses.  Spending 100s or 1000s of dollars on them over the course of her life.  For those of us who cannot ever fathom seeing that much money in our lifetime, it is hard to understand spending it on things we might consider frivolous.

I encourge you to read this book.  It was really wonderful and I am so glad our friends introduced it to me.

Stars:  4 1/2