sarahmichigan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sarahmichigan) wrote2018-09-27 10:16 am
sarahmichigan) wrote2018-09-27 10:16 am
Entry tags:
What I've been reading: Books No. 47-48
Book No. 47 was "What the Dead Know" by Laura Lippman, as an audiobook. I read an essay by the author where she talks about getting some of her ideas for her thrillers from real-life stories, and that's how I ran across the author and this book. This isn't a "true crime" novel that follows the details of a real case but was inspired by a real event: How do TWO girls disappear at once from a heavily-populated public place like a mall? The story starts in the present with a woman getting into a car accident and leaving the scene. When police catch up with her, she blurts out that she is one of the "Bethany girls." She's referring to a missing persons case that is more than 30 years old where two sisters went missing from a mall. The detectives try to figure out if she's really who she says she is or if she is an imposter. And if she is an imposter, why does she know so many details that weren't released to the public? I really enjoyed this book a lot. I guessed part of the resolution, but not all of it. There were some twists and turns and surprises, but they all stemmed from clues Lippman dropped along the way. I'd like to read more by this author.
Book No. 48 was "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton. I got this used and J. and I decided to read it out loud as part of our informal "book club" with each other. This gets marketed as sci-fi but it's really more of a medical thriller and reminded me a bit of those popular old Robin Cook novels. When retrieving an outer space probe, the military finds that some infectious agent on the probe has killed most of a small western town, except for two survivors: a baby and an old drunk. A secret protocol called "Wildfire" is launched, and a team of scientists race to find out what kind of infectious agent it is, why the two people survived it, and how it can be contained or eliminated. As J. pointed out, the team doesn't actually do too much except avert one huge mistake at the end. Spoiler alert: the alien pathogen mutates into a non-lethal form all by itself. This wasn't a bad book, and I think Crichton probably did a lot of research about infectious agents that was very up-to-date when he wrote it, but less so now. Still, if I were recommending a Crichton novel to anyone, I'd suggest starting with "Jurassic Park" instead. The 1971 movie based on "Andromeda" wasn't bad and actually has a female scientist in it, unlike the book!
1. The Two Towers [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
2. The Argonautika [epic poetry/fiction]- Apollonios Rhodios, transl. Peter Green
3. To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care [nonfiction]- Cris Beam
4. The Jazz [fiction]- Melissa Scott
5. Live from Golgotha [fiction]- Gore Vidal
6. Stones for Ibarra [fiction]- Harriet Doerr
7. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot [nonfiction/memoir]- John Callahan
8. The Tresspasser [fiction]- Tana French (unabridged audiobook)
9. The Decameron [fiction]- Giovanni Boccaccio
10. March: Book 2 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
11. Ordinary Light [nonfiction/memoir]- Tracy K. Smith
12. The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal [nonfiction]- Jonathan Mooney
13. March: Book 3 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
14. The Vegetarian [fiction]- Han Kang
15. First three volumes of the "Bitch Planet" comic series [graphic fiction]- Kelly Sue DeConnick, ill. Valentine DeLandro
16. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal [nonfiction]- Mary Roach (unabridged audiobook)
17. Bad Monkeys [fiction]- Matt Ruff
18. The Book of Negroes [fiction]- Lawrence Hill
19. The Rules of Attraction [fiction]- Bret Easton Ellis
20. How to Grow Up [nonfiction/memoir]- Michelle Tea
21. The Book of Genesis [fiction/mythology]- ill. R. Crumb
22. The Terranauts [fiction]- T.C. Boyle (unabridged audiobook)
23. The Galaxy Game [fiction]- Karen Lord
24. The Chapel of Ease - a Tufa novel [fiction]- Alex Bledsoe
25. Aha! Gotcha: Paradoxes to Puzzle and Delight [nonfiction]- by Martin Gardner
26. Born on the Fourth of July [nonfiction/memoir]- Ron Kovic
27. My Friend Dahmer [graphic nonfiction]- Derf Backderf
28. The Return of the King [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
29. The Bishop's Daughter [nonfiction/memoir]- Honor Moore
30. The Red Parts [nonfiction/memoir]- Maggie Nelson
31. Bury Your Dead [fiction]- Louise Penny
32. Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements [fiction & essays]- ed. Walidah Imarisha & adrienne maree brown
33. On the Move: A Life [nonfiction/memoir]- Oliver Sacks (unabridged audiobook)
34. What Happened to You? Writing by Disabled Women [nonfiction/fiction/poetry]- ed. Lois Keith
35. The Astrologer's Daughter [fiction]- Rebecca Lim
36. Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities [nonfiction]- Jackson Wright Shultz
37. The Dew Breaker [fiction]- Edwidge Danticat
38. Blameless in Abaddon [fiction]- James Morrow
39. Wonder [fictoin]- RJ Palacio (unabridged audiobook)
40. The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky, Unexpurgated [nonfiction/memoir]-ed. Joan Acocella, transl. Kyril Fitzlyon
41. WARP: The Reluctant Assassin [fiction]- Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook)
42. Don Quixote [fiction]- Miguel Cervantes, transl. Edith Grossman
43. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir [nonfiction/memoir]- Haruki Murakami
44. Lysistrata [fiction/drama]- Aristophanes (transl. Sarah Ruden)
45. Black Lotus: A Woman's Search for Racial Identity [nonfiction/memoir]- Sil Lai Abrams
46. The Child Garden - or a Low Comedy [fiction]- Geoff Ryman
Book No. 48 was "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton. I got this used and J. and I decided to read it out loud as part of our informal "book club" with each other. This gets marketed as sci-fi but it's really more of a medical thriller and reminded me a bit of those popular old Robin Cook novels. When retrieving an outer space probe, the military finds that some infectious agent on the probe has killed most of a small western town, except for two survivors: a baby and an old drunk. A secret protocol called "Wildfire" is launched, and a team of scientists race to find out what kind of infectious agent it is, why the two people survived it, and how it can be contained or eliminated. As J. pointed out, the team doesn't actually do too much except avert one huge mistake at the end. Spoiler alert: the alien pathogen mutates into a non-lethal form all by itself. This wasn't a bad book, and I think Crichton probably did a lot of research about infectious agents that was very up-to-date when he wrote it, but less so now. Still, if I were recommending a Crichton novel to anyone, I'd suggest starting with "Jurassic Park" instead. The 1971 movie based on "Andromeda" wasn't bad and actually has a female scientist in it, unlike the book!
2. The Argonautika [epic poetry/fiction]- Apollonios Rhodios, transl. Peter Green
3. To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care [nonfiction]- Cris Beam
4. The Jazz [fiction]- Melissa Scott
5. Live from Golgotha [fiction]- Gore Vidal
6. Stones for Ibarra [fiction]- Harriet Doerr
7. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot [nonfiction/memoir]- John Callahan
8. The Tresspasser [fiction]- Tana French (unabridged audiobook)
9. The Decameron [fiction]- Giovanni Boccaccio
10. March: Book 2 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
11. Ordinary Light [nonfiction/memoir]- Tracy K. Smith
12. The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal [nonfiction]- Jonathan Mooney
13. March: Book 3 [graphic nonfiction]- John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, ill. Nate Powell
14. The Vegetarian [fiction]- Han Kang
15. First three volumes of the "Bitch Planet" comic series [graphic fiction]- Kelly Sue DeConnick, ill. Valentine DeLandro
16. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal [nonfiction]- Mary Roach (unabridged audiobook)
17. Bad Monkeys [fiction]- Matt Ruff
18. The Book of Negroes [fiction]- Lawrence Hill
19. The Rules of Attraction [fiction]- Bret Easton Ellis
20. How to Grow Up [nonfiction/memoir]- Michelle Tea
21. The Book of Genesis [fiction/mythology]- ill. R. Crumb
22. The Terranauts [fiction]- T.C. Boyle (unabridged audiobook)
23. The Galaxy Game [fiction]- Karen Lord
24. The Chapel of Ease - a Tufa novel [fiction]- Alex Bledsoe
25. Aha! Gotcha: Paradoxes to Puzzle and Delight [nonfiction]- by Martin Gardner
26. Born on the Fourth of July [nonfiction/memoir]- Ron Kovic
27. My Friend Dahmer [graphic nonfiction]- Derf Backderf
28. The Return of the King [fiction]- JRR Tolkien (unabridged audiobook)
29. The Bishop's Daughter [nonfiction/memoir]- Honor Moore
30. The Red Parts [nonfiction/memoir]- Maggie Nelson
31. Bury Your Dead [fiction]- Louise Penny
32. Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements [fiction & essays]- ed. Walidah Imarisha & adrienne maree brown
33. On the Move: A Life [nonfiction/memoir]- Oliver Sacks (unabridged audiobook)
34. What Happened to You? Writing by Disabled Women [nonfiction/fiction/poetry]- ed. Lois Keith
35. The Astrologer's Daughter [fiction]- Rebecca Lim
36. Trans/Portraits: Voices from Transgender Communities [nonfiction]- Jackson Wright Shultz
37. The Dew Breaker [fiction]- Edwidge Danticat
38. Blameless in Abaddon [fiction]- James Morrow
39. Wonder [fictoin]- RJ Palacio (unabridged audiobook)
40. The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky, Unexpurgated [nonfiction/memoir]-ed. Joan Acocella, transl. Kyril Fitzlyon
41. WARP: The Reluctant Assassin [fiction]- Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook)
42. Don Quixote [fiction]- Miguel Cervantes, transl. Edith Grossman
43. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir [nonfiction/memoir]- Haruki Murakami
44. Lysistrata [fiction/drama]- Aristophanes (transl. Sarah Ruden)
45. Black Lotus: A Woman's Search for Racial Identity [nonfiction/memoir]- Sil Lai Abrams
46. The Child Garden - or a Low Comedy [fiction]- Geoff Ryman