Tag Archive | survival

Red Madness, by Gail Jarrow (book review) – medical mystery & modern food science

Jan15

book cover of Red Madness by Gail Jarrow published by Calkins CreekPellagra…
a disease brought on by poverty?
bad sanitation? poor nutrition?

Wait! When was the last time you heard of anyone suffering from its bright red rashes, impaired digestive system, delirious visions, and death?

Thanks to the doctors who wouldn’t quit searching for answers, you probably never will!

Red Madness recounts the medical sleuthing involved and tells why pellagra is listed as an inactive disease in today’s USA.
Thankfully, all the historic photos are in black and white.

**kmm

Book info: Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat / Gail Jarrow. Calkins Creek, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Baffled by a Europe-only disease appearing in the southern USA before World War I, scientists and doctors raced to find the cause of pellagra which led to insanity and death.

Some blamed the disease on moldy corn or sugarcane products, others stated that only poor people in squalor contracted pellagra. When a well-to-do Atlanta woman died of its painful red rashes, weight loss, and delirium under none of these conditions, US doctors and researchers began having conferences to stop this deadly killer. Was it contagious? Was it dietary?

Red Madness shares case histories and photographs of pellagra sufferers in the early 20th century and chronicles the medical detective work of Babcock, Goldberger, and others who devoted countless hours of observation and research to conquering this fatal disease.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Pills and Starships, by Lydia Millet (book review) – climate change, drugs, and lies

Jan3

book cover of Pills and Starships by Lydia Millet published by Akashic BooksToo sad to keep on living in a climate chaotic world,
her parents have chosen their time to die…
or is it the pharma talking?

Nat’s mom and dad – former environmental activists – could have waited just a few more years to invoke the Service Contract ending their lives, till the teen and her younger brother moved out as workers – why now?

In this too-possible dystopia, global warming has changed weather patterns, babies are now illegal, and new diseases mutating weekly make face-to-face contact rare.

Ask for Nat’s story at your local library or independent bookstore to see if she can find a way to keep her family together once she discovers the truths that pharma-corps are trying to hide. (I loved the book, but its title… not so much)

**kmm

Book info: Pills and Starships / Lydia Millet. Black Sheep/Akashic Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview on NPR]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Preparing to honor her parents’ final week of life, Nat learns that big money uses pharma to trick the few remaining Americans into thinking that global warming has eliminated the entire natural world.

At a tropical resort devoted to final Contracts, the teen and her hackerkid brother discover real plants and animals and people who think for themselves.  Are pharma-corporations really lying to the public about imminent doomsday?

Her decision about joining the rebels must come soon, as her parents’ date with a lethal farewell drink in mere days will leave Nat and Sam in a group survivors’ home in Oregon – are her parents really sad enough about the state of the world to leave it forever?

When a mega-hurricane hurtles toward Hawai’i, will it be too late to rescue her not-old parents and not-old-enough brother?

Addressed to an imagined friend safely orbiting this climate-chaos world, Nat reflects in the Contract-provided mourning journal about Starships and Pills  and her unexpected opportunity to escape pharma-managed life… if she can. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

The Lost, by Sarah Beth Durst (book review) – lost her way & her self, forever?

Dec30

book cover of The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst published by Harlequin MiraBreaking out of her normal drive to work, speeding through the desert, away from cancer specialists and Mom’s insistence that everything is fine.

“Unfortunately, I seem to have packed all my emotional baggage for this impromptu road trip,” to where? Click to read more

Soul still here? Meet Me at the River, by Nina de Gramont (book review)

Nov8

book cover of Meet Me at the River by Nina de Gramont published by Atheneum Books for Young ReadersMoving past grief means leaving Luke behind.
Tressa just can’t do that,
but she can’t find peace among the living either. read my recommendation

When you need to know How To Survive a Sharknado… (book review)

Nov6

book cover of How to Survive a Sharknado by Andrew ShafferMongolian Death Worm? Not my continent.
Sharktopus? Ain’t near the beach.
Firenado? Uh-oh, we’re in a high-risk area!

Whether you’re a fan of the Syfy TV-movie or just want to be prepared for every possible (or improbable) emergency, you will find plenty to chuckle about in How to Survive a Sharknado.

If you can’t find this tongue-in-cheek survival manual at your local library, check the Humor shelves of your favorite independent bookstore.

Which disaster – real or fictitious – worries you most?
**kmm

Book info: How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters: Fight Back When Monsters and Mother Nature Strike Back / Andrew Shaffer, with contributions from Fin Shepard and April Wexler. Three Rivers Press, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy provided by BloggingForBooks/Crown Publishing; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As Mother Nature strikes back and epic disasters loom large, your best defense against Mega Pythons or a Polar Storm is to be well-prepared, using advice from those who know.

“Study – Avoid – Survive” – Sharknado expert Fin Shepard’s mantra for dealing with disasters is at the core of this clever guide by Andrew Shaffer, with info on the Unnatural Disaster Kit you should keep on hand, as well as Emergency Supplies list for your vehicle.  Preparation for dealing with more traditional danger is also highlighted.

Unnatural Disasters include perils created by Mother Nature like the venomous Beeclipse and sea+land SwampVolcano. Among the Monsters are super-sized Mega Pythons and labwork run amok like RoboCrocs. Each entry includes ratings for Threat to Humanity, Risk of Encounter, and Fin’s Wow That’s Freaky Factor.

In the multiverse, A Thousand Pieces of You seeking me; by Claudia Gray (book review)

Nov4

book cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray published by HarperTeenEach choice you make creates a fork in time,
a new path in the multiverse through history –
Which dimension holds Meg’s happiness? Read more about this new book

Haunted high schools… double scary books!

Oct30

High school can be frightful for some folks, and when you add in some ghosts who never graduate… just plain spooky! Tread the haunted halls in these BooksYALove faves (and watch your back)… This way to scary school stories

Scary book pair #2 – enemies seen and unseen

Oct28

Another pair of scary BooksYALove favorites for the witching season: if blood-spatter and dire peril aren’t your thing, search the tag cloud (over there on right) for something else!

Click to read about these gory titles, now in paperback

Somewhat scary & completely wonderful: spooky season books pair #1

Oct26

Y’all know that I cannot read horror books; my imagination is just too good and needs no super-terrifying prompts.

I can take on scary tales in measured doses and do love mysteries, of course..

So as we count down the days till Hallowe’en, check out BooksYALove favorites to get you ghoul and ready for some frights! Today’ pair, future based on past inequities and past predicting the future: Click for today’s titles

Curses and Smoke, by Vicky Alvear Shecter (book review) – love, class conflicts, Pompeii

Oct7

book cover of Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter published by Arthur A LevineOld gods and older gods,
gladiators and slaves,
Pompeii is prosperous and proud…

Enjoy Curses and Smoke for its glimpses into the port city’s everyday life, its recounting of the weird phenomena observed prior to Vesuvius’ most famous eruption, its love story between owner and owned.

Forget not the past…
**kmm

Book info: Curses and Smoke: a Novel of Pompeii. Vicky Alvear Shecter. Arthur A Levine Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As handsome Tag returns to her father’s gladiator school at Pompeii, Lucia’s unease about her upcoming marriage to an old man and the recent loss of her mother are echoed by the earth’s tremors.

It was different when Lucia was a little girl roaming the hillsides and Tages was the medical slave’s small son at her side, before he was sent away to learn the healing arts in Rome, before her mother’s untimely death, before these sulfurous emanations near Vesuvius began.

As Lucia tries to break her betrothal to elderly Vitulius and Tag tries to cure his father’s failing memory, rich young Quintus arrives at the school to play at being a gladiator – with a hidden agenda.

Is there any way for Lucia to escape her dreaded marriage?
Can Tag ever end his captivity in the gladiator school?
Are the old Estruscan gods angry that Romans took their sacred grounds at Pompeii?
Why will no one listen to Lucia’s ideas about the strange things happening?

A richly detailed story of love, loss, and the human spirit fighting against the inevitable. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)