Echo: The Complete Edition

Echo: The Complete Edition, by Terry Moore, 590 pages.

 Julie is going to be divorced soon and wanders out into the wilderness around Moon Lake to get some peace and take some photos. It turns out that she is in the wrong place at the wrong time as a disagreement between Foster, the evil head of a nanotechnology / weapons research group,  and Annie, the non-evil inventor of the tech, leads to a nuclear explosion. Julie is transformed by the event, as is a nearby crazed drifter. Annie's boyfriend, Dillon, eventually joins forces with Julie, maybe-not-quite-dead Annie, and Ivy, a freelance operative, to try and stop Foster from misusing the new tech and ending the world. It's a relatively long and complicated graphic novel, but the story is well told and the art supports the story. A good read.

Grunt

Grunt: the curious science of humans at war / Mary Roach 285 pgs.

Mary Roach writes about the most interesting topics.  This book has chapters on shark attacks, genital reconstruction and diarrhea. How can anyone dislike science?

Per usual, Roach has a way of leading the reader through topics in the most enjoyable way.  She is the master of getting herself into unusual situations and then asks all the questions you would ask.  Have more soldiers died of diarrhea than combat injuries?  How do you protect sailors from shark attack? How great are maggots at cleaning wounds?

Another home run by Roach.  Already looking forward to her next book.