Book 47: The Emperor of Maladies

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

 

While science lost its appeal for me during high school's AP Chemistry class, I still enjoy the occasional science book for the laymen such A Short History of Nearly Everything, The Disappearing Spoon, etc.  I like to know the ideas and the processes behind science, just don't ask me to get into the actual details.  I've also read a few books (and added others to my wishlist) related to medical history that I've enjoyed, including The Great Influenza, so this tome seemed like a natural addition to my reading pile.

 

It definitely did not disappoint.  Mukherjee frames the book with a patient's story, a woman who is diagnosed with an aggressive type of leukemia.  While he refers to her on occasion, he then delves deep into the history and some of the science behind cancer.  While there are references to diseases that appear to be cancer to the modern eye going as far back as the ancient Egyptians, cancer's current prevalence is rather recent, and for good reason: our life expectancy has increased quite a lot.  By eliminating (or at least reducing the occurence of) other killers, such as tuberculosis, typhoid and many other diseases, humans now have the opportunity to live long enough to develop cancer.

 

While the book is subtitled a "biography of cancer," it doesn't have straight time line.  Instead, he picks different topics and approaches, and discusses them in a detailed manner.  The reader can then connect the dots and be baffled by the type of treatments that were occuring while other groundbreaking research was showing how ineffective that treatment was (such as radical mastectomies not adding any more life span than a smaller surgery would have in a similar case).  The American Cancer Society was originally a small group but once certain donors became interested in the cause it became a political force.  Of course, while they did a lot to get more funding for cancer and such, Mukherjee also discusses the idea that historically, most diseases and illnesses have been eradicated due to prevention rather than treatment, and while cancer treatment is of course important, ACS's constant pushing for cures may have also diverted some people from focusing on the cause, or getting to know and understand the disease more intimately.  He talks about the history of lung cancer as one of the most obvious one as far as causes while for other cancers there is still much to be learned.  While he discusses breast cancer, I was surprised that he didn't mention Suan G. Komen - it just seems like there is so much talk about breast cancer being ignored before those types of organizations but it seems like most cancers were kind of quietly hidden and not talked about for a long period of time prior to last century.  He also discusses the idea of cancer patients being at war, and how cancer is portrayed as a battle so that in some cases the hardest thing is to simply accept that there is a point where nothing else can be done, and simply let the patient die with dignity without the patient feeling like they have somehow failed in their battle.

 

Overall, I thought it was an absolutely fascinating read, discussing cures and treatments that can sometimes seem worse than the disease, what research has revealed recently, and the way people's understanding as evolved over the years, and how understanding could be culturall influenced.  It was definitely worth the time, and Mukherjee never forgets the people involved, be that the scientists, the doctors, or the patients.

Book 46: The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles Day 1) by Patrick Rothfuss

 

I actually really enjoyed this novel.  Several of the characters and stories reminded me of other fantasy stories, but sometimes it's just as fun drawing connections to influences and making comparisons as it is reading something original and unique.  The novel is the first of a trilogy (of course, do people write anything other than trilogies anymore?), and each novel will cover one day.  A story teller/biographer comes into a sleepy town, and realizes that the innkeeper is actually the famous (or infamous) Kvothe in hiding.  He convinces Kvothe to set the record straight and tell his story, but Kvothe will only agree if the Chronicler remains for three days to record everything.

 

On this first day, Kvothe tells the story of his upbringing, his family, and how he eventually ended up at the University.  Naturally, there is lots of foreshadowing because the Chronicler alludes to several myths and stories about Kvothe as well as various nicknames he has, such as Kingkiller.  At this point, all the reader can do is wait and see what actually happened, and in some cases see if certain suspicions are right or completely off the mark.  Kvothe grew up with the Edema Ruh, travelling performers, who of course reminded me of a mixture of gypsies and Tinkers or Tuath'an from The Wheel of Time.  Kvothe learns to play instruments, especially the lute, and also displays a great memory for texts and plays.  At one point, a traveler joins the troop who impressed by Kvothe's precociousness tutors Kvothe and begins to teach him "sympathy" or magic.  However, the traveler eventually leaves the group of Edema Ruh, and tragedy meets the troupe as Kvothe's family and friends are attacked and killed by a dark, inhuman force.  Of course, this event will be the driving force behind many of Kvothe's decisions and actions in the future, since this is where Rothfuss introduces the dark characters that Kvothe will attempt to find (also similar to the idea of the Forsaken from The Wheel of Time).  Unfortunately for him, the only documents that really exist on the Chandrian show them as children's boogiemen, not anything that ever really existed.  Immediately after his parents' death, however, Kvothe is focused on his own survival in the city, spending a few years there as a pickpocket before he hears someone tell a story about the Chandrian that inspires him to research them.  He decides the University would be the best place to do research on them, given the extensive library, and would also let him continue his long ago studies of sympathy.

 

The rest of the novel mostly deals with Kvothe's time at the University, his developing friendships, as well as his visits to a local bar which is famous in the area for its musical clientele and performances.  Naturally, there is also a love interest, Denna, who appears to be as much as con artist as Kvothe when necessary.  Kvothe also finds a life long enemy in one of the richer students at the University.  I actually really liked this part of the novel, and it may be because it reminded me of Tavi's time at the Academy in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series.  The second novel in that series was probably my favorite, so I really liked seeing a different character go through something similar.

 

While the novel may have been a bit derivative of other fantasy, I still thought it was a great way of combining old familiar stories, and creating a new one.  I was genuinely interested in both the past and the present as Kvothe, Bast (his faerie friend/apprentice) and the Chronicler sat in the inn discussing these stories while also hearing hints of the current state of affairs. It also helps that he keeps the novel rather fast paced while also giving the readers lot of background information to puzzle over and play with.  I'd definitely recommend this one.  And the Codex Alera.  Seems like everyone's always talking about Butcher's The Dresden Files, but his other series is also highly readable (and may be better in ways since it is only six novels, and he started them when he was already a mature and experienced writer so the reader is hooked from the beginning).

Book 45: Bossypants

Bossypants by Tina Fey

 

This was actually one of the first books I read this year but I held off on reviewing it because I wasn't sure how to word my reactions.  Basically, every single person that read this raved about it and loved it.  I liked it.  I think the biggest thing for me was that I had only recently before read Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and while both were funny, I preferred Kaling's book to Fey's.  For me it all boiled down to their approaches.  While reading Mindy's book, I felt like this was someone I could relate to and would want to be best friends with.  She made intelligent comments about gender, race, weight, etc. but she kept it chatty, and self deprecating.  Tina Fey, on the other hand, kept her reader at more of a distance, at least in comparison.  This isn't to say that Fey doesn't share stories about her past, and she, too, makes some very strong statements about gender, comedy and the work place but if Mindy felt like a conversation with an old friend, Tina Fey's book felt more like a conversation with a mentor.  She'll share personal information, but she'll also maintain a certain professional distance to maintain her position as mentor.  And it makes sense, too - Kaling is around my age, while Tina is a little bit older - enough so to have that extra experience, and a different perspective due to beginning her work as a comedian at a different time.

 

By no means did I not enjoy the book, but I was expecting it to be a bit more intimate than it was.  She shares stories about her personal life, and some of them are hilarious.  For some reason, she also mentioned McDonald's a few times in the book, so if they didn't pay her for name dropping, they definitely should, because I had a craving for chicken McNuggets after reading this.  I enjoyed reading about her friendship with Amy Poehler, and there were various other amusing anecdotes about her life, including some of her jobs prior to SNL and her honeymoon, as well some more thoughtful pieces about motherhood.

 

Basically, it is an entertaining book, but it is more of a collection of essays than a memoir.  I think I may have been expecting more of a funny memoir which may also be one of the reasons I wasn't quite as into it as everyone else.

Book 44: The Secrets of Mary Bowser

The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen

 

This is one of those inspired by true event novels that has been turned into a fictional story, partially because there simply wasn't enough historical information to write it as simply a slightly fictionalized version of history.  However, it is true that Mary Bowser was part of Bet Van Lew's spy ring, and in another diary/memoir, her contributions to the cause were singled out by another spy.  Beyond that there is not much left in the historical record because Mary Bowser was a black woman in the 19th century, neither of which were exactly documented that well in the past.  The story that Leveen imagines certainly rings true as something that could have happened, and is also a very engaging read.

 

Mary is originally born in Richmond with two slave parents.  Though Mary doesn't quite realize this, her parents seem to have a slightly better situation than many other slaves.  Her father is allowed to hire himself out for extra money, and her mother and father live in a home together despite having separate owners.  Mary's mother works in one of the houses of an affluent Southern family, and their daughter, Bet, is a bit of an oddity in the society - she is unmarried and an abolitionist.  Mary is incredibly intelligent for her age, and Bet soon takes an interest in her, eventually arranging for Mary's freedom and sending her to Philadelphia to be educated.  They keep this underwraps back in Richmond, though, because Bet also gives Mary's mother her freedom papers, but her mother chooses to stay with her husband until they can possibly buy his freedom.  However, if a freed slave stays in the state beyond a certain period of time, their freedom becomes forfeit and they regain their status as slave.

 

Mary makes a life for herself in Philadelphia and becomes friends with another girl her age at the school, basically becoming part of the family.  She eventually even learns of this family's participation as a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Despite living in the North, Mary is surrounded by racism and is also unpleasantly surprised by the hierarchy within the black community, often being targeted due to her former slave status.  Her mother always believed that God had a higher calling for Mary, and when the Civil War breaks out, her connections in the Underground Railroad give her an opportunity to do more.  She returns to Richmond, posing as Bet's slave to gather information, eventually even being hired out to a position at the Confederate's White House.

 

While the narrative was rather straight forward and simple, I quite enjoyed this novel.  Even though much of the story is conjecture rather than reality, it is nice to hear from different voices in history which tend to get lost otherwise.  Regardless of how the details actually went, it is an established fact that a freed woman by this name made a significant effort to the war effort.  Unfortunately, even now, the narratives that get the most attention are the ones about white people helping, ie The Help.  While these certainly have a place as well, they shouldn't be the only ones getting attention.

 

 

Book 43: Side Jobs

Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

 

This was actually one of the first books I read for Cannonball IV last year.  I'm not really sure why I didn't review it once I was done, other than that maybe I didn't really have too much to say.  Also, I'm not generally big on short stories, but I picked this one up since they were all related to Harry Dresden, so it's not as if I would get interested in a character only to move to another story.  Basically, the stories are a bunch of side adventures and chronicle some of Dresden's smaller cases that couldn't have filled an entire novel.  One thing that I actually quite appreciate about Butcher and the Dresden Files is that it is one of those rares long running series that seems to improve rather than get super formulaic and repetitive.  The novels may all follow a certain formula, it is true, but Butcher still keeps it interesting (although certain cliches and attitudes are starting to get to the point of overuse at 14 books in).  I think part of that is due to the fact that the reader can actually watch Butcher mature as a writer as the series goes.  The first novel was a bit rough for me, and it wasn't until novel three or four that I was really hooked on the series.  Similarly, reading through these short stories reminded me of how much he has grown.  The first story has a similar roughness to the first novel, and the second story included in the book is less of a story and more of an introduction to the series for new readers that he wrote for an advertisement of some sort.  After that, however, the stories start to really take off.

 

I would basically recommend this to anyone that is a fan of the Dresden series, although I'm sure most of them have already acquired it.  If they are hesitating due to the short story aspect of the collection, it is worth overcoming.  The last piece is written from Murphy's perspective and while I like the idea in theory, I don't feel like her voice is quite what I would have imagined.  Other than that, it was a fun collection.

Book 42: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore

 

I know Christopher Moore seems to be a favorite around Pajiba, but I always come away with mixed feelings.  His stories are usually amusing, and breezy but then generally also have a certain amount of ick factor to them.  And I'm not talking blood and gore ick or even fart jokes (though there is a certain amount of that type of humor).  This novel is certainly no different in that respect.  Actually, if someone had never read anything by Moore before, this would definitely not be the novel to start with because the weirdness and ick factor were a bit more than usually present in his novels.  Instead, I would recommend starting with A Dirty Job.

 

Following a suicide, the psychiatrist at Pine Cove decides to take everyone off their anti-depressants, afraid that she has been phoning it in.  Of course, she doesn't tell her patients this, so everyone unknowingly finds their meds replaced with placebos.  The titular lizard of the novel is a very old creature that lives in the water but has occasional forays on land.  It is drawn in by the scent of depression coming from the island.  The lizard has some type of pheromone that makes it attractive to depressed animals, giving it easy access to food.  Of course, when people start going missing, the local stoner sheriff reluctantly gets involved.  People are acting crazy due to a combination of the pheromones and the drug withdrawals they are unknowingly going through leading too much chaos and fumbling on the part of the protagonists.  Overall, mostly amusing but there were definitely a few scenes I wasn't really that comfortable with, which also make me wonder about what's going on in Moore's brain.  I'm sure I'll still work my way through most of his novels at some point since they are easy enough reads that I can still focus on them while on the elliptical/stairmaster but I'm not exactly in any rush to do so.

Book 41: Sharp Objects

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

 

Even though this is Flynn's first novel, I actually would classify it as my favorite even if Gone, Girl is the one that everyone is currently talking about.  The novel is narrated by reporter Camille Preaker who has just recently been released from a psych hospital.  She and her boss have a close relationship, a type of father-daughter bond, but her boss still takes advantage of her ties to a small town in Missouri to get a scoop on a story.  Her relationship with her mother is strained at best, her mother coming off as a rich socialite overly concerned with appearances that is also a hypochondriac.  Camille's younger half sister is the same age as the young girl that was murdered, and the one that is currently missing.  Both the dead and the missing girl are described as being rather willful and defiant, troublemakers.  One girl's father is actually surprised that his daughter was taken rather than her sister, the more conventionally pretty one.  Police suspect an out of towner, but Camille has different ideas.

 

As she interviews her former neighbors, Camille is haunted by memories of her childhood and her dead sister.  Camille is a cutter and the only uncarved space remaining is the small of her back.  Flynn has no problem creating protagonists that are flawed, make bad decisions and are even possibly off-putting in ways.  Camille hides the history on her body, afraid of the judgement and disgust she might find in response.  While Flynn develops a twisty mystery, it is also very much a psychological study.  She hints at things early in the book, and I'm not quite sure if she was leaving clues that readers could refer back to later, or if she expected the reader to realize things much sooner than Camille because we had a certain amount of distance from the situation.  Overall, definitely worth a read and better than the average thriller/murder mystery.