JulieLill's 2021 Reading Challenge

[madrano]

Interesting premise, Julie. You’ve been reading quite a bit lately, enjoying summer!

[Julie]

Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
David M. Oshinsky
5/5 stars
Oshinksy does a wonderful job of relating the rich history of Bellevue Hospital that has been around for three centuries serving all the people (poor or rich) within their reach and the pioneering of many of the advancements in healthcare. I had a hard time putting this down because it was so compelling to read. This definitely will be on my best reads list this year! Medical Topics

I did not realize I had two medical topics in my challenge this year but it was worth it because this book was so interesting!

[madrano]

I’ve only read bits & pieces about Bellevue over the years. I’m making note of this one, thanks to you, Julie.

[Alias Reader]

Julie, you may also like another book I read on Bellevue. It's an eye opener.

Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych E.R. by Julie Holland

[madrano]

Oh, yes. I remember you posting about that book, Alias.

[Julie]

Alias Reader wrote: "Julie, you may also like another book I read on Bellevue. It's an eye opener.

[book:Weekends at Bellevue:..."

I added this to my list- thanks for the recommendation!

[Alias Reader]

You're welcome !

I read it back in 2014.

I listened to the audio book which was read by the author.

[Julie]

Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell
3.5/5 stars
In this semi- autobiographical story Orwell tells of an English writer who has spent time in France and England in poor circumstances having to live in shelters and outside, scavenging for food while working in restaurants and thus highlighting the lives of the homeless and poor. Very interesting! D

[madrano]

This does sound interesting, Julie. Your reading year has been outstanding thus far.

[Alias Reader]

madrano wrote: "This does sound interesting, Julie. Your reading year has been outstanding thus far."

I agree. I admire how widely you read. I always enjoy reading your reviews.

[Julie]

Alias Reader wrote: "madrano wrote: "This does sound interesting, Julie. Your reading year has been outstanding thus far."

I agree. I admire how widely you read. I always enjoy reading your reviews."

Thanks! I like to read a wide variety of genres though I think non-fiction is my favorite.

[Julie]

The Body: A Guide for Occupants
Bill Bryson
5/5 stars
I am a big fan of Bryson and this book doesn’t disappoint. Bryson writes about the body and how it functions and includes so many interesting facts, including that mustard gas slowed down the creation of white blood cells which influenced the science and started the study and the beginning of chemotherapy and also that in “a lifetime, the heart does an amount of work sufficient to lift a one-ton object 150 miles into the air.” Definitely for science non-fiction readers! Bill Bryson Book

[Alias Reader]

Julie wrote: "
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
Bill Bryson
5/5 stars
I am a big fan of Bryson and this book doesn’t disappoint. Brys..."

I have this on my TBR list. I'm glad to hear it's a 5 star book.

[madrano]

Sounds good.

[Julie]

One Good Turn
Kate Atkinson
3/5 stars
Jackson Brodie, ex-cop returns in this second book starring him. He is retired and has followed his girlfriend to France where she is trying to establish an acting career. Meanwhile Brodie gets embroiled in several incidents including a crime novelist whose so-called friend is murdered. I really liked his character in the first book but I had some trouble following all the different characters and plots in this book. Kate Atkinson Book

[madrano]

It's frustrating when that trouble happens in later books in a series. This must be a challenge for authors once they've created good characters. Will you read further in the series?

The GR write up to this book doesn't even mention France but talks about Edinburgh's Festival. Is this the same book? I see that many other GR readers felt disappointed, as you did, Julie. Those who loved it, loved it. Readers! ;-)

[Julie]

madrano wrote: "It's frustrating when that trouble happens in later books in a series. This must be a challenge for authors once they've created good characters. Will you read further in the series?

The GR write ..."

The Edinburgh's festival is in it.

[Julie]

madrano wrote: "It's frustrating when that trouble happens in later books in a series. This must be a challenge for authors once they've created good characters. Will you read further in the series?

The GR write ..."

I had to re-think this synopsis. They were living in France but his girlfriend and him ended up at the Edinburgh Festival so she could pursue her acting career. There was so much going on I couldn't keep it all straight.

[madrano]

Julie, interesting about the places covered. When we were in Edinburgh in 2017 they were preparing for the festival and folks mentioned to us how the city grows via visitors and workers during that period. Too much going on? Maybe my age is showing?!

[Julie]

Hamnet
Maggie O'Farrell
4.5/5 stars
Set in England in the late 1500’s. A poor young man named John falls in love with Agnes who is a healer and knows how to make potions. Life is hard for them but they love each other and have three children. When their young son succumbs to bubonic plague, the family falls apart and John moves to London to work on the stage, write plays and earn money. Will John and Agnes’ marriage fall apart following this move or will they be able to come up to the challenge to continue to love each other. I thought this was a wonderfully written novel.
A book that was nominated for one of the 10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World - The Woman’s Prize for Fiction

[madrano]

Julie, what a nice compliment to the book and author.

I looked up this prize because the name seemed less familiar than others. Here is a Wiki link of winners.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

There are some great books there and they list the short-listed novels, as well.

On a different Wiki page, about the prize itself, there is another list i cannot find elsewhere. This 2014 list includes 20 winners of a contest to name influential books by women which had the biggest impact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%2...

[Julie]

We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement
Andi Zeisler
3/5 stars 9/25/2021
This book came out in 2016 and talks about how feminism was politicized, taken over and turned into a media trend without any real change in how women are treated at work and in the media. I thought the author made some good points. Political Book/NonFiction

[madrano]

I wasn't aware of this book but know that notion! Thanks for the title, Julie.

[Julie]

Winchell: Gossip, Power, and the Culture of Celebrity
Neal Gabler
4/5 stars
Gabler does a thorough job tracking Winchell’s career, relationships with his family and friends and his ups and downs in the publishing arena, vaudeville, radio, TV business and the gossip culture against the background of what was going on in America in the time period he worked in. I never realized how prolific he was in his career. Very interesting! W

[madrano]

He had power but i didn't know he was very prolific at all. Thanks for this info.

[Julie]

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
Kate Moore
5/5 stars
Radium was an element first discovered by the Curies and was thought to be a wonder drug used in many preparations. Unfortunately, this wonder drug turned into a horrible predicament for the girls who worked in factories applying the radium paint to watch dials in various factories including one in Illinois and in Newark and Orange, New Jersey. The dial painters were instructed to lick the paint brushes before applying the radium which resulted in poisoning the girls who eventually died from it but not before they suffered through their bones dissolving and their inability to work and take care of their families. Eventually the families and workers rose up to fight the companies that caused their deaths and disfigurements. This is definitely a page turner but also a sympathetic look at the workers and the greed of industry that denied for years to help the women who were afflicted. Women Workers' Rights

[madrano]

Julie, i've had this book on my TBR for several years now. Your comments remind me of why i wanted to read it. Thanks.

[Barbara]

Julie wrote: "
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
Kate Moore
5/5 stars
R..."

Such a good book and so eye-opening.

[Alias Reader]

Julie wrote: "
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
Kate Moore
5/5 stars
R..."

I've become a podcast enthusiast. They are perfect to listen to when I am on the treadmill or out for an exercise walk.

I listened about The Radium Girls on the podcast-

Stuff you missed in history class

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...

[madrano]

Thanks for the link, Alias.

[Julie]

My husband is an environmental, health and safety officer for his job and we talked about it. He was quite familiar with it.

[madrano]

Interesting, Julie. It's always neat to discuss a book & its issues in person with someone.

[Julie]

madrano wrote: "Interesting, Julie. It's always neat to discuss a book & its issues in person with someone."

There two documentaries listed in the book and my supervisor was able to find one of them. It's called Radium City and I believe it was about the Ottawa, the llinois radium plant.

[madrano]

Thanks, Julie. I see it's available online but am unsure if it is free or not. My library does not have it, unfortunately.

[Julie]

madrano wrote: "Thanks, Julie. I see it's available online but am unsure if it is free or not. My library does not have it, unfortunately."

I haven't seen it yet but the person who requests items out of our system was able to find a few copies of it.

[Julie]

The Chosen
Chaim Potok
5/5 stars
Set near the end of World War Two, two Jewish boys come together after a baseball game where one of them is injured by the other. They eventually become friends but their families’ don’t share the same beliefs. As they grow, each finds a different path to follow. Very well written and hard to put down. Religion

[Alias Reader]

Julie wrote: "
The Chosen
Chaim Potok
5/5 stars
Set near the end of World War Two, two Jewish boys come together after a baseball game where one of them i..."

I also enjoyed The Chosen.

[madrano]

Julie, i thought of you when i read the Elle magazine article, wherein author Jonathan Franzen replied to a book survey. He mentioned the The Chronicles of Narnia series and a recent re-publication. Because i cannot recall the order, i just know i read them, i wondered if you had any thoughts on this new "read in order" list--

The Magician's Nephew
Prince Caspian
Then the rest, as i understand him. His reasons are sound, imo. Here's a link to that post--
https://www.elle.com/culture/books/a3...

[Julie]

madrano wrote: "Julie, i thought of you when i read the Elle magazine article, wherein author Jonathan Franzen replied to a book survey. He mentioned the The Chronicles of Narnia series ..."

I read them in the order of the book I had, which had all 7 of the stories in chronological order-
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian-The Return to Narnia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
I didn't have any problem with the change. I preferred chronological order cause the story line flows better.

Here is an interesting website on the chronology.
https://www.narniaweb.com/books/readi...

[madrano]

Julie, thanks for that link. It explains to me that the debate isn't new. The only thing i know for sure is that i read Lion, Witch & Wardrobe first. I liked how Franzen explained his own reasons, i must add.

[Julie]

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
Barbara Ehrenreich
3/5 stars
Ehrenreich explores the rich tradition of collective religious and nonreligious festivities through the years including bans on them and the way people reacted to the festivities. Were they sinful or just an out pouring of collective emotion that needed to be released? Interesting book but at times, for me, there was just too much information to process in certain sections. Book by Barbara Ehrenreich

[madrano]

This book is up my alley, i must say. I like learning about celebrations, fetes and traditions from around the world. There are some mystery novels i read simply for the festivity mentioned. Thanks for the introduction, Julie.

I am curious about the category. Have you read & liked other Ehrenreich books, so added this to your DL? Or is there another reason? I found another by her that i'd like to read, as well--Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything.

[Alias Reader]

I've only read her Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America

Though her Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer
and
Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America
are both in my TBR notebook

[Julie]

Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery
4/5 stars
This is a collection of ghostly short stories collected by Alfred Hitchcock by different authors including H.G. Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson. I especially enjoyed the one of the family living in a bird cage in a landlord’s renters’ room.

This is not on my reading challenge but since the book I ordered has not come in yet, I found this on the free shelf at work and I got a kick out of it. Geared toward teens and older children but still a fun read!

[madrano]

Perfect book for this month, too, Julie. I enjoy reading short ghost stories by well known authors to see what they thought was eerie, spooky and just plain weird.

[Alias Reader]

As deb noted a perfect book for October. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Barbara]

If Alfred Hitchcock picked them, they must be good. 🙂

[Julie]

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood
Danny Trejo
5/5 stars
This is the amazing autobiography of Danny Trejo, actor who starred in numerous films and became quite successful. However, his life growing up was not easy. Involved with drugs and gangs, he ended up in jail but he was able to turn his life around. I read this in a few days because I could not put this down. Highly recommended.

This book is not on my challenge. I grabbed it from the library while waiting for my next book to arrive. Great book though!

[madrano]

Neat choice, Julie. I'm getting a copy for my husband, he's a fan of the man. Thanks.

[Julie]

Goldwyn
A. Scott Berg
4.5/5 stars
A. Scott Berg does wonderful job on this comprehensive biography of producer Samuel Goldwyn originally known as Schmuel Gelbfiz, who flees from Poland in 1895, walking as he makes his way to America doing odd jobs. He eventually gets hooked up with Jesse Lansky and Cecil B DeMille to make his first motion picture and becomes one of the most powerful men in film. G