The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I have been crying intermittently for about the past 2 hours now, because this book is 1 part fascinating, 1 part informative, 1 part heartfelt, and 7 parts horrifying. This level of suffering is unimaginable. I am so saddened by what occurred, but I’m glad that I read this book to learn more about these bold and determined women.

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Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This whole situation is just so absolutely ridiculous and insane, which made for an interesting read. I can't even believe how long they got away with fraud and intimidation. This scam literally went on for years, and people supported this project despite a continual lack of real data and evidence to back anything up.

This is a good reminder that some people out there value making money above all else, and they will pretty much screw over anyone to get it. What a sorry state of affairs, but it's definitely a thrilling read.

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Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy the show, so I figured it was finally time to read the book and see how the two compare. I thought it was interesting and well-written, and the book actually made prison seem less scary than I expected.

It was interesting comparing this to the show, which obviously moves in a different direction and carries on for far longer. It also gave me a lot to think about, in terms of how ineffective the penal system can be.

Overall, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I actually prefer the show over the book. Yes. Blashphemy. I did just speak words that almost no librarian will ever utter, but it's true. The show shares information from a lot of different perspectives, which just gives it more depth and grit than you get from only Piper's POV.

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Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was great! I had a bit of information overload, since I listened to the audiobook, which is good. However, I think it would probably be more enjoyable to read through the print version of this one, as you could linger (and I've heard it has an interesting format) and tackle only a few women at a time, instead of everyone at once, like I did.

This would be awesome for school science classes to read about one amazing woman at the start of each class for 50 days. The excerpts are relatively short, so it's feasible.



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Climbing With Mollie by William Finnegan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I receive this as a free Audible original and dove right in, since I find climbing interesting. This is an interesting perspective on climbing, for someone who doesn’t climb.

However, what really grabbed me with this story is that I would do about anything to have had a father that loved me in the way Finnegan loves Mollie. She is one lucky girl. You can hear it in every sentence, how much he is in awe of and respects his own daughter. He has zero problem admitting that she is strong and smart in ways that maybe he isn't. There’s just something really beautiful about that, and so I’m happy I read this one.

This is narrated by the author, who does a good job with the reading.

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Language A to Z by John McWhorter

Language A to Z by John McWhorter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this to reengage my brain, after reading some books that just weren't quite doing it for me. And that was a good plan, because this is a fantastic audiobook! The lectures are well-researched and engaging. I learned a lot, and this is a perfect read for any fellow word nerds. I would probably even listen to this one again, since there is a lot to take in.

If you are interested in language and culture, then you will probably enjoy this. Also, this gets bonus points for delivering me 26 lectures without me having to pay for any credits, do any homework, or take any tests.

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White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is an extremely dense, textbook-like read. If you want something that has a bit more pop culture flair, this is definitely not that. It's a sociological study of American class through time. It starts back at the beginning of the country and creeps slowly forward.

On the positive side, it is well-researched and informative. However, I did find it to be a very tedious read, which is better suited to scholars than your average reader. Not much seems to have been done to make the content more approachable, though I suspect it's my expectations that were the problem, not the actual book.

Since it's so dense, I'm not sure how much of this I really absorbed. While the history is important and somewhat interesting, I think I wanted more time spent on the now and where we are now, or maybe if we had started with that and then worked back and then forward again, it would have been a better read for me. I understand the logic of chronological order. It just made it hard to power through the first half to get closer to the stuff that I really wanted to read about.

Basically, I wanted the book to deliver on the White Trash title, which it doesn't for quite some time.

The narrator, Kirsten Potter, is straight forward but adds some texture and variety to a somewhat dry read, which I appreciated.

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