Recent Books

I have read a string of really great books, but I'm behind on writing about them. Once I had a handle of my Christmas projects, I wanted to sit and read and read, and I did make it through quite a few books. Here are just a few words about several of them.

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock. This sounded like a good book. A medical fraud trying to hock a solution to the age-old problem of declining masculinity. John Brinckley's remedy was to implant men with goat testicles. Who would agree to such a surgery? It turns out a lot of men, famous and commoners. Brinckley became a very rich man with his hoax. But, I didn't love the writing, the story didn't flow well for me. It would have been better as a New Yorker article, condensed to its essence.


Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. This was a simple story of three young adolescents who meet in a campground where hundreds of eclipse chasers have converged to view a total solar eclipse. The three couldn't be more different from each other: nerdy, smart, scientist, home-school daughter who has spent almost her whole life totally outside society living in the campground and taking care of it with her family; the beautiful, popular girl whose life revolves around shopping, make-up, and her plan to break into modelling; and the artistic chubby loner who is failing at school because he just doesn't make any effort. The three of them become friends and work through issues in a sweet coming of age story. And the description of the solar eclipse was exquisite--it made me want to plan a vacation around a viewing.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. This reminded me a lot of Never Let Me Go. The narrator of the story slowly unravels her story and the reader follows along. Jenna Fox has suffered an accident and has amnesia. She can't remember much of her life before, including her parents and friends. As her memory returns and as she stumbles along to piece together her story, a creepy medical experiment by two parents who can't bear to lose a child emerges. A combination of sci-fi and futuristic writing, complete with adolescent angst and questions about medical ethics make it a compelling read. Perfect for Christmas vacation.