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ashleyholstrom's Reviews (1.38k)
Lucy Knisley does it again. She’s created (heh) a gorgeous graphic memoir to tell the tale of her pregnancy, interspersed with bits of history and science. Her art style is one of a kind, and her story is beautiful and scary and real and sad.
From Comics to Get Through a Reading Slump at Book Riot.
From Comics to Get Through a Reading Slump at Book Riot.
This book is a see-saw. The actual science and detective work is fascinating, but too many times, she goes on a rant with her feelings about suicide. She lost her father to suicide when she was young, so it's naturally a hard subject for her. But it is so irresponsible for a medical professional to share her strong opinions on the matter, without following it up with some sort of "if you or a loved one are struggling..." sort of footnote. It was too preachy and rubbed me the wrong way.
The last chunk is about working in New York on and after Sept. 11, 2001. Heartbreaking. I drove in tears listening to her recount the intense months and year after the attack. The up-close view of the terror, straight from the medical examiner's eyes.
The last chunk is about working in New York on and after Sept. 11, 2001. Heartbreaking. I drove in tears listening to her recount the intense months and year after the attack. The up-close view of the terror, straight from the medical examiner's eyes.
This is unlike anything I have ever read. It reads like fiction, but it's all real. Sometimes I had to remind myself that everything about Henrietta is true. That the people in the book are real.
The year the book came out, I volunteered at Printer's Row Lit Fest in Chicago. Rebecca Skloot was there to talk about her book. I had never heard of it or her, and the session was during our lunch break, so I was more focused on my cheeseburger than on this woman who wrote some weird sci-fi book. I brushed it off.
But I never stopped hearing about the book after that. It popped up everywhere. It landed in my lap at a church yard sale and I stuck it on my shelf. A few months later, a journalism professor lauded it as one of the best examples of journalism.
Skloot spent 11 years working on this book. Eleven. Let that sink in. So much of it was trying to get the family to talk to her, then spending years getting to know the family. This is dedication.
Science. History. Compassion. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS has it all.
The year the book came out, I volunteered at Printer's Row Lit Fest in Chicago. Rebecca Skloot was there to talk about her book. I had never heard of it or her, and the session was during our lunch break, so I was more focused on my cheeseburger than on this woman who wrote some weird sci-fi book. I brushed it off.
But I never stopped hearing about the book after that. It popped up everywhere. It landed in my lap at a church yard sale and I stuck it on my shelf. A few months later, a journalism professor lauded it as one of the best examples of journalism.
Skloot spent 11 years working on this book. Eleven. Let that sink in. So much of it was trying to get the family to talk to her, then spending years getting to know the family. This is dedication.
Science. History. Compassion. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS has it all.
Fascinating. Heartbreaking. Mandatory reading for all humans.
Atul Gawande looks at the medical world and how it handles death. Mostly, the bad parts: Watching people you love suffer operation after operation, treatment after treatment, hoping for a cure, but just extending their painful life longer than necessary. Himself a surgeon, he brings up important points, like how we should switch our mindset from quantity of life to quality of life. We must discuss death before it comes knocking at our door. We must make decisions for ourselves before it’s too late. And we must do better for the people we look after, to give them a good ending.
From 3 Books to Read While Waiting for Caitlin Doughty's Latest at Book Riot.
Atul Gawande looks at the medical world and how it handles death. Mostly, the bad parts: Watching people you love suffer operation after operation, treatment after treatment, hoping for a cure, but just extending their painful life longer than necessary. Himself a surgeon, he brings up important points, like how we should switch our mindset from quantity of life to quality of life. We must discuss death before it comes knocking at our door. We must make decisions for ourselves before it’s too late. And we must do better for the people we look after, to give them a good ending.
From 3 Books to Read While Waiting for Caitlin Doughty's Latest at Book Riot.
Bonk answers all the questions you never wanted to ask — or never even knew to ask — about getting frisky. Can a person think themself to orgasm? Can a dead person get an erection? (Answers: Yes and yes.) She traverses the history of sexual history from Aristotle to Kinsey to the modern day, where she meets with all kinds of doctors and scientists who get all up in people’s business to further our knowledge about sex. My absolute favorite part of this book is the fact that Roach and her husband had sex in an MRI machine. For science!
From Reading Pathways: Mary Roach at Book Riot.
From Reading Pathways: Mary Roach at Book Riot.