You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman, 283 pages

Christa did a great wrap-up of the seminal points here, so I won't retread what she wrote, at least not too much. Our narrator, A, has an obsessive roommate, B. Both of them have low self-esteem issues, though it's hard to say who's in worse shape. A also has a boyfriend, C, and their relationship seems to be the textbook definition of dead-end. Then there's a whole bunch of stuff about beauty cream commercials, and the disgusting-sounding (yet somehow really enticing to A) Kandy Kakes, and a lot of talk about oranges. Oh, and a really creepy cult.

I honestly don't know what I think of this book, other than that it's really weird. So if you're up for an odd book, go for it. Just don't expect to crave an orange afterward.

A Bride's Story, Volume 6

A Bride's Story, Volume 6 by Kaoru Mori  196 pp.

This is a continuation of the story of Amir and her child husband, Karluk. Karluk is now thirteen and starting to take the idea of manhood seriously, although the marriage has yet to be consummated. Amir's affection for the boy has increased although she treats him more like a younger brother than a husband. The Halgal clan Amir was from has fallen on hard times and is battling with the Badan clan for land for grazing their horses. The Badans have artillery from the Russians and plans to attack the peaceful village where Amir and Karluk live. The agreement between Amir's father and the Badan leader turns out to be a false promise and the battle turns into a disaster. Amir's brother is there to save the day. Once again the pen and ink artwork in this graphic novel is beautifully detailed and is what has drawn me to continue reading this series.  

Being Mortal

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande  282 pp.

I'm going to start by saying this should be required reading in every medical school/intern-residency program. It should also be read by every doctor who deals with any possibly life threatening condition. (Wouldn't that be all of them?) Dr. Gawande researched and experienced the good and bad in the care of the dying in this country with both patients, friends, and family members. He explains how too many in the medical profession are so wrapped up in "fixing diseases" that they overlook what treatment is doing to the person's life and spirit and the lives of their family. He also points out the ways in which the concept of nursing homes fails. Quite a bit of this book is depressing, especially if you've ever experienced a life threatening illness (like me...twice) or care for an older family member (me too, again, with my siblings). Gawande does give hope at the end when he discusses the increasing use of hospice and other alternatives to hospital end of life care. This is an important book for anyone dealing with aging and declining family members and those of us who will be on that downhill slide sooner or later.

Rabid

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, 275
pages

In Rabid, Wasik and Murphy provide an in-depth look at rabies, a ridiculously scary and deadly (still kills almost 100% of those who contract it and are not treated immediately) virus that has plagued the world for millennia. This history looks at the earliest-known descriptions and treatments of rabies and brings us through to the modern-day fight against the disease, spending a full chapter on Louis Pasteur, who created the first rabies vaccine and post-transmission treatment. Wasik and Murphy also spend plenty of time looking at rabies in popular culture, exploring how this, yes, diabolical virus permeated literature from the Brontes to Zora Neale Hurston to Stephen King, and influenced the descriptions of paranormal creatures such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves. It all makes for a fascinating and frightening book.

Ancillary Justice

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, 409 pages

In Leckie's debut novel, the narrator is Breq, an artificial intelligence that was once the operating system of the Justice of Toren, a large ship full of soldiers, all of which are at our narrator's command. But now that intelligence is trapped inside a single fragile human body, and Breq is bent on taking revenge upon the entity that forced this change. While it could be a typical revenge story, the AI component, as well as the use of only female pronouns (Breq, and the race with which she is most closely associated, don't care about or distinguish genders), give it a bit of a twist. I look forward to seeing what Breq does in the rest of the trilogy.

Mark Rothko: toward the Light in the Chapel / Annie Cohen-Solal 282 pp.

Another Yale University Press title from the Jewish Lives series.  This was originally written in French and translated, as far as I can tell, by the author.  Rothko's story is interesting and multi-faceted, from boyhood in a shtetl in present-day Latvia complete with Talmudic school,  adolescence in Portland, Oregon, to New York artist.  And after reading, I may now be able to look at a Rothko painting and say something besides, "Hunh.  Colored stripes."  But I can't tell if the author simply tried to cover too much in too little space, or if she simply should have allowed someone else to translate, but the text feels full of holes.  Part of the problem is certainly the difficulty in writing about a non-verbal creative process.  An added shortcoming is that long stretches read more like a history of 20th century American art rather than the story of one man.  A book this length requires greater focus, or maybe simply a different focus.

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson & David Shannon  48 pp.

Rock 'n 'Roll Hall of Fame inductee Robbie Robertson (guitarist & songwriter for The Band) made his second foray into children's book authorship with this legend from the Iroquois nation. This is not the Longfellow "Hiawatha" redone. Robertson, who is of Cayuga and Mohawk heritage, tells the story he learned as a child from an elder on the Six Nations Grand River Reservation. Up to the 1500s the Iroquois people spent much time in inter-tribal warfare before they joined together to form a confederation. This tale tells how Hiawatha overcame his sorrow at the death of his wife and children to aid the mysterious "Peacemaker" in putting an end to the wars between the tribes. David Shannon's (No, David! & A Bad Case of Stripes) artwork is colorful and dramatic and brings life to the story. Included with the book is a cd of the original song about the Peacemaker written and performed by Robertson.

The Final Curtsy

The Final Curtsy by Margaret Rhodes  208 pp.

This is a memoir by a cousin of of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret is the daughter of the 16th Lord Elphinstone and Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, sister of Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Margaret grew up with the current queen and her sister as playmates. Later she went on to work for MI6 during World War II. She married Denys Rhodes who she met during that time and they spent a lot of time in world travels which occasionally found them in dangerous situations during political unrest in Asia and later, Africa. After the death of her husband she took a position as a "Woman of the Bedchamber", a cross between lady-in-waiting and companion to the Queen Mother, accompanying her at public appearances and assisting with entertaining. The title of the book refers to the last curtsy Rhodes gave the Queen Mum as she left the bedchamber of the dead queen. This is a light read. Rhodes debunks a lot of the commonly held ideas about the royals always being stuffy, prim, and proper with tales of hunts and outings where the entourage was dressed in all manner of scruffy "country clothes" and returning home filthy and mud stained. But this isn't a book about royal scandals. The author goes out of her way to avoid those topics. There are several photographs of Rhodes with the two Elizabeths and her family members.

The Sword of Summer

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan, 497 pages.
The first in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series.
Riordan begins a new series focusing on the Norse Gods and he does it as well as he did with the Greek Gods (the Percy Jackson series), the Egyptian Gods (the Kane chronicles), and the Roman Gods (that other series the name of which escapes me). My sons love all of Riordan's books and we listened to this on a recent trip to South Bend, Indiana (Go, Irish!). We were skeptical at first, the narrator seemed a poor choice, but the story was so compelling that we soon stopped complaining and just listened. There are Valkries, svartalfar, elves, and all sorts of mythical giants and other creatures, all busily trying to help or hinder a homeless kid from New York as he begins an epic quest. A fun read.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry, 546 pages.
Barry does have an epic going here. He starts with some facts about the Great War and the flu, and then he doubles back and gives us the history of medicine up to that point. He then presents a fascinating section on William Welch and the other medical luminaries from the late 19th and early 20th centuries who were changing the way medical science was researched and the way in which medical care was given. Barry does a wonderful job of bringing these researchers and practitioners to life. As he takes us into the early stages of the epidemic, we also make acquaintance with the political movers and shakers of the time, so many of whom seemed to go out of their respective ways to make things worse when the "plague" hit. A really fascinating book, with so much detail, but with so much of the story still barely covered. Modern research indicates that as many as 100 million people died during the course of the pandemic, and most of those deaths took place far from the United States (though the Spanish Flu started here). Untold millions died in India, China, Russia (already wracked by revolution), and in parts of the world whose inhabitants rarely encountered flu. These regions are mentioned, but are not the focus of the book.
There is a fair amount of repetition in the text. I listened to a good deal of this book on audio, so that actually helped a bit with all the names, places, and numbers. Probably a better book to read so that you can keep the vast cast straight. A landmark book, ably read by Scott Brick.