Loren Rhoads's Blog, page 87
April 5, 2011
Memento mori
Sentimental Jewellery by Ann L. Luthi My rating: 5 of 5 stars This little booklet is a treasure. I only needed to crack the cover and come upon the title page, with its illustration of seven exquisite hair broaches and pendants, to fall in love.What's a hair broach? In the 19th century, a whole industry sprang up in order to weave human hair into jewelry. Often these pieces were created as ...
April 4, 2011
Time keeps on slipping...
Recently I've been obsessed with uploading all the book reviews I wrote for Morbid Curiosity over the years. Working for the magazine exposed me to some amazing books on a variety of dark subjects. I miss getting books in the mail, but I don't really miss the pressure to read them on a deadline. Now I can linger over books. Sometimes I linger too long. Anyway, it's been fun to enjoy ...
April 2, 2011
Tips for the 21st-Century Writer
Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer by Jeff VanderMeer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Unlike so many books about writing, this one is primarily about *how* to be a writer. Everyone knows that a writer writes, but what does a published author do once the book comes out? How do you ask other writers for help? How do you maintain an online presence without pissing people ...
March 31, 2011
Dead People on Display
Lenin's Embalmers by Ilya Zbarsky My rating: 4 of 5 stars I came at this book not from the perspective of a history aficionado but, as you might guess, as someone fascinated by the concept of keeping one's leaders under glass. Nonsecular saints, you might say. Ilya Zbarsky is the person to go to for the gory details, since he was the son of the man who first embalmed Lenin, and in turn, headed ...
March 28, 2011
Images of the King of the World
Necromance: Intimate Portrayals of Death by Leilah Wendell My rating: 4 of 5 stars New Orleans' House of Death published its most beautiful book in 2003. Necromance: Intimate Portrayals of Death presents 60 full-color plates and an equal number of black-and-white illustrations of Death as lover, philosopher, and king of the world. It's an impressive collection, spanning the globe from Russia ...
March 25, 2011
It's all in the blood
Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce by Douglas Starr My rating: 3 of 5 stars The first section of this book – the history of blood transfusion – was fascinating. Long before doctors attempted to infuse the blood from one human to the next, the blood of animals was used to fill the hungry veins of accident victims. Doctors hoped that by transfusing the blood of a gentle calf, they ...
March 21, 2011
Better living through medicine
Blood And Guts by Roy Porter My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is one of the best books I've read in a long while. Roy Porter was a professor on the social history of medicine at University College London. His skill at delivering cogent, interesting lectures is readily apparent in this book. I wish I'd been able to sit in on his classes.Blood and Guts breaks the long history of medicine into ...
March 20, 2011
Exquisite Infrared Photography
The Haunted Realm: Echoes from Beyond the Tomb by Simon Marsden My rating: 5 of 5 stars Intrigued by "the magic of time and light and the enigma of 'reality,'" photographer Simon Marsden roamed Britain and Ireland, seeking to document the "truly eerie atmosphere" of famous and unfamiliar haunted ruins, castles, graveyards, and wilderness trails. He didn't set out to prove or ...
March 18, 2011
Cemetery lecture this weekend
Cross-posted from Cemetery Travel: Local historian Michael Svanevik will talk about the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio (now a National Park) on Sunday, March 20 at 2 pm. The lecture is called "Burial on a Federal Reservation: San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio." The free lecture is part of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park's monthly educational series. Light ...
March 13, 2011
The First Journalist who Inspired Me
When I was in elementary school, the highlight of my week was the Scholastic Books flyer. My mom let me pick ONE book each week, which was always a source of much internal debate. Not many of those books have stuck with me all these years, but one that did was a biography of Nellie Bly.Nellie Bly was a small-town girl (like me!) who became independent by writing for newspapers in a time when ...
