Mini Reviews | Books About Books

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Agatha Christie is the greatest crime fiction writer in history. I love her clever use of poison in so many of her novels. It adds another level of mystery; there are so many ways and kinds, the possibilities seemingly endless. Christie carefully selected each poison, practically making it a character itself.

I absolutely loved this book. Harkup has written several books like this, looking at the science behind some of our most beloved characters or authors. There's one on Dracula, Frankenstein, and Shakespeare. That one is my most favorite and you can find the review HERE.

Harkup looks at a variety of poison, over a dozen altogether. Each chapter follows the same template, but given how many different types she discusses, it did not feel repetitive or like it was dragging.

First, the author gives a summary of the book she is using to showcase Christie's skill with the specific poison. Then she begins discussing the poison itself. She gives a history of how it developed, the chemical make-up and science of how it works within the body, symptoms of poisoning, how it's detected, and if there are antidotes.

I definitely would recommend this for Christie fans, and also crime fiction fans in general. Such a fun read!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Full disclosure, Frankenstein is not my favorite. I read it once, years ago. But because I really enjoy this author's work, I gave this one a try and was pleasantly surprised.

While the likelihood of Shelley's methods working in 1818 were non-existent, Harkup looks at the science of the time and the scientists working to make all kinds of discoveries and break-throughs in various fields. Luckily, we are still quite a ways off from being able to do so in our time, as well. Even so, the author explores all the yucky goodness you would expect from a book about a monster put together by dead body parts - the stories of body snatchers, tests to determine rate of decay, etc.

In addition to exploring the scientific advancements at the time, Harkup also writes a significant biography of Shelley as well. I do not know much about her but the basics, and had no idea she was so young when she wrote the book, nor the circumstances surrounding it. I knew a bit more about her mother, but enjoyed learning about her as much as the science of the most famous monster in history.

The author also provides quite a biography of the novel as well. She recounts the writing challenge proposed at Villa Diodati, to write stories to scare one another on that dark and stormy night, then how the book fared when it was first published in 1818, and again when it was revised and reissued in 1831.

Despite no more than a passing interest in Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, this was a fantastic read and I really enjoyed it. I think this is a must-read for fans, and those with an interest in the science of the time period.

NetGalley ARC | I Know Who You Are

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐

I asbolutely loved I'll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. Her dedication to solving the case was admirable and I wish she could have lived to see the results. For four decades the identity of the Golden State Killer was a mystery but thanks to so many who worked hours on leads and clues, he was finally unmasked as Joseph DeAngelo. He was responsible for dozens of rapes, murders, and robberies and terrorized the cities in which he lived.

I was interested to read this one, then, because the whole investigation fascinates me. Many people had crucial roles in finally figuring out that DeAngelo was responsible for so much trauma and terror.

The author is billed as an amateur but that is a bit misleading. She may have started out by researching her own family history, but that evolved into her becoming one of the top investigators of genetic geneology in the country.

While the title indicates one case, we are actually shown several that the author has worked on over the years. Some have happy endings for families but many do not. GSK is also not her only cold case, and I feel that her work is so important to help bring closure to families.

On the other hand though, we have to consider the expectation of privacy through these geneology sites where so many have submitted samples to. The work the author does is absolutely not covered in the terms of agreement on these sites, which leads to complex arguments about the pros and cons of using them as an investigative tool. It is not nearly as simple as the author makes it out to be and we have to tread very carefully here.

We see the process the author uses for each case as she discusses at length all that goes into it. First there is the need for a usable DNA sample. With that, she also has to search for all kinds of documents such as birth/death/marriage records, obituaries, and more. She works with teams of law enforcement agencies and attorneys to provide as much information as possible.

Given all of this, I should have loved this book. But I didn't and it took me ages to read, hence only three stars. The jumping around in time was frustrating and I think the cases would have been better served by keeping one case per chapter. I get that the GSK case was something bigger than some of the others she worked on, but the writing just felt so chaotic with the jumping around. She weaves around from topic to topic, back and forth in time, and gives plenty of unrelated anecdotes and things from her personal life. These things were distractions and unnecessary.

I also think the issue of privacy needed to be explored more thoroughly. At times it felt like the author was quite dismissive of this expectation if it was for the greater good of crimes being solved. But what about those who have nothing to do with the crimes that don't wish to be found? Her focus is solely solving these cases, which is important work, but for those not wanting to be involved, it is unfair to force them to be.

Overall this would be of interest for those who are captivated by the technology and seeing how it is used in a variety of cases. If you are looking only for more info on the Golden State Killer case and his crimes, you will be underwhelmed.

Book Review | The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It will surprise no one that surgery was dangerous in the nineteenth century (and, as a result, every century before that). Not the surgery itself, but the aftermath when infections were likely, causing death rates to soar. Here you will read about the operating theatres and can easily imagine being in the room as surgeons worked quickly and without anesthesia. I am grossed out very easily by all manner of bodily fluids, so there were definitely parts I had to skim or I would have been gagging. If you suffer from a similarly quick gag-reflex I would still recommend this highly engaging and illuminating work, and skim over certain parts like I did.

Not until Dr. Joseph Lister came along would this seemingly complex mystery be solved - what caused infections post-op, and how could they be prevented? We are fully immersed in his world from the start. In addition to front row seats in the operating theatres, we go along to the dreary and disgusting hospitals, dead houses, even graveyards to procure bodies for the med students to practice on. Hospitals were considered the last option, especially if you were wealthy, due to the filthy conditions, and were basically where one went to die instead of heal.

Surgeons in particular were a nasty bunch. They certainly did not wash their hands, nor their tools or clothing as they went from patient to patient, living or dead. At the time, the death rate post-op was a ghastly 90%. Congrats on surviving a painful and bloody surgery, your reward is a painful and less-bloody death. The idea of germs, something so small they could not be seen, being the root cause of so much death was unfathomable and it would take several long, arduous years for Lister to convince colleagues of his discoveries.

Yet this is the world Dr. Lister wanted to be part of and we should be eternally grateful for that fact. I can't even begin to count the number of lives saved due to Dr. Lister's experiments and the confidence he had in himself that he had found not only the cause of so many needless deaths, but also the cure. With the discovery of those pesky and microscopic germs, the field of medicine/healthcare was completely transformed - though not without struggle on Lister's part to get his colleagues to see the error of their ways and convince them of the merits of cleanliness.

Dr. Lister focused on the cleaning of surgical tools and operating tables, as well as cleanliness of hospitals and specifically the beds in which patients were supposed to recover. Often patients returned to lice and bedbugs, and were somehow expected to recover in such conditions.

Dr. Lister began experimenting with the best ways to rid both surgeons and patients of the germs he was certain were causing so many deaths. He conducted experiments and took extensive notes on what worked and what did not. He put his antiseptic theories to test by creating a system in which he used carbolic acid to clean both his hands and surgical equipment. He also used the acid to soak gauze, then he applied gauze to the would post-surgery.

As Dr. Lister found success with his new system, he faced extreme backlash from colleagues in the medical community - big surprise, many did not believe that germs were the root cause of the problem. This would prove to be his toughest battle, as few surgeons were willing to come around to his way of thinking.

Overall I found this to be an incredibly captivating account of the practices of medicine in the 19th century. The advances Dr. Lister made still impact us today. I admire his work greatly; it would have very easy for him to give up, given the pushback he received from others. Yet he persevered and we should be grateful for that.

Highly recommended.

Review Bomb: Buffy

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the greatest show ever. If you don't think so, we can't be friends.

 3 Stars

I always appreciate when Buffy is taken seriously as one of the greatest shows worthy of our continued interest and discussion, because it truly is one of the most simply complex shows ever. Joss is a genius. (Though, I will never forgive him for 'I Will Remember You'. It hurt TOO MUCH.)

This Buffy book (and there are TONS), looks at the show itself, the scripts, as the primary text and what we can learn from them in that way. That the show is something special can not be denied, even though I am constantly reminding people (It's been gone so long...I worry that Eleanor will grow up somehow not loving it as much as I do.) A wide variety of authors take on a number of subjects, including sisterhood, redemption, folklore, education, patriarchy, and so much more. For the most part I enjoyed the essays, though there were about a handful in particular I could not do more with than skim. And you must know, if an academic Buffy work makes ME skim...it isn't good. Not at all. BUT, I do not want my own personal opinion to color some else's so I have chosen to not share which essays they were.

The essays are divided into four different sections: Power and the Buffy Canon, Buffy Meets the Classics, Buffy, the Scoobies, and Beyond, and Buffy and the Classroom. Some sections were stronger than others, but it was still an interesting read overall. One of the things that is most important to me about Buffy is the idea of what is considered 'canon'. It frustrates me to no end that the comics are considered canon, and I refuse to read them. Once Angel went off the air, their lives have been paused and I wait hopefully that maybe just once, we could get a glimpse into their lives after it all ended.

Anyway.

I think the argument between scripts being canon, vs the actual episode that aired being canon is a really interesting argument. For me personally, I would actually consider the DVDs to be as such. Much like with Friends, there is always something more to those episodes in the unrestricted DVD format, as opposed to reruns or Netflix, where they only air the show as it was shown originally. I can see the argument for the scripts, but to a limited extent. As the show was filming throughout the week, Joss and Company saw what worked and what didn't, and revised from there. I would actually place the scripts as the lowest on the canon totem pole, with second place going to the aired version, and first place going to the DVD version.

One of my most favorite essays came from the second section about Buffy and the Classics. I really liked the essay by Elizabeth Bridges, entitled "Grimm Realities: Buffy and the Use of Folklore". This idea of folklore and fairy tales permeates the show (and one fairy tale reference often gets ignored - the line in Nightmares when the Master says, "A dream is a wish your heart makes" is totally from Cinderella and always seems to get left out. Just needed to point this out). So many people will point to Hush as one of Buffy's finest episodes of the whole series, and good Lord it is. When it first aired, I was in shock over how amazing it was. Even today, I still know the words by heart..."Can't even shout, can't even cry, the Gentlemen are coming by. Looking in windows, knocking on doors, they need to take seven and they might take yours. Can't call for mom, can't say a word, you're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard"...I still get a shudder down my spine when I hear it. This essay was just a really well-thought out response to the show's approach to using folklore throughout the series. And personally, I liked Killed By Death.


 3 Stars

When I first finished this one, I was not quite sure how I felt about it. I initially rated it four stars, but after nearly six months away from it, I feel three stars is sufficient. I disagreed quite strongly with some of the assessments, particularly where Angel was concerned (don't come at me with any Spike nonsense. Buffy and Angel belong together, period). The author approached the show from a "feminist cultural studies" stand point (taken from the book summary), and I feel like a feminist point of view is a given when talking about Buffy. But, it is not only the female characters who are feminists, but the men in their lives as well. (Not the baddies like Caleb, of course.)

One of my biggest issues with this one is that it is the first Buffy book I have ever read that did not totally have my attention for the majority of the time. I still read it all, word for word, but it was simply not like so many of the other academics works I have read. I don't know, perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind to read it and was simply a little burned out, as I received many Buffy books around the same time, and if I were to go back with fresh eyes, things might look a bit differently to me. I don't want to say boring, really truly I don't. Buffy is anything but boring. So, a new look it shall have in the near-future.

Another issue I took related directly to this idea of gender binaries, and how this looked far different on Buffy. I took a lot of issue with the author's idea of New men being fake/pretend men. For me, Buffy has always been about completely dismantling of the outdated notions that a woman must be either feminine or feminist, that males are the only ones who are strong, and that emotion is almost wholly female. Time and again Buffy represented complete gender reversals and that was one of its strengths, the whole premise that the show was built on.

As the book went on I also found that the listing of even minor-minor characters in these various gender groups grew tiresome. it became less about analyzing how each character fit into a specific role, and about how many characters the author could find to prove her point.

Even though the book says it is a primer, I don't know that a casual Buffy fan would enjoy this much at all. And as I also disagree with some assessments, I don't know that I would recommend for anyone but the most loyal and intense of fans.


 3 Stars

If physics had been taught solely like this, I might have actually taken the class in high school. But it wasn't, and I didn't, so, bummer for me.

The author uses, of course, multiple examples from Buffy and Angel to explain various scientific concepts. The only problem here is that you lean closer to the science side of things and farther from the Buffy side, the examples may not appear to make sense all the time. And vice versa if you are like me, and don't really have an interest in science, you might still struggle to understand bits and pieces. Nothing is so complex that I skipped over any parts, but a healthy balance between the two within a reader would not be terrible.

By far the section that interested me the most had to do with any apocalypse we might have approaching. It gave me a healthy fear of how terrible this will actually be when it does happen, and no amount of Big Bads that Joss can create could be scarier than the real thing.