The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
I picked this book up from Barnes and Nobles for my birthday. I have been interested in the radium girls' story for a long time, although I can't place where I first heard about them now. I think that Moore did an excellent job handling this story. It is a tricky one, and it is easy to sensationalize the suffering in this event as nothing more than a shocking and horrifying true crime story. Moore tells it how it is- a tragic case that could have been prevented. She considered it extremely important to talk about the girls outside of their illnesses, and the coverage was thorough. It was a hard read, and she didn't sugar coat anything, but she didn't play it up for shock value either. I found it to give the event the respect it deserved. However, one part I couldn't get over was the author's repeated use of words like "attractive" and other romantically/sexually charged words to describe preteen and teenage girls. It was off-putting and totally unneccessary.
How the Boogeyman became a Poet by Tony Keith Jr.
I listened to this as an Audiobook, and it was really excellent. Because of the format, two things caught me off guard. This book is a memoir, firstly, and told in verse, secondly. Both were pleasant suprises! I really don't read many memoirs, but novels in verse are a favorite of mine! The book certainly didn't dissapoint! Keith's writing style was excellent, and I listened through this one very quickly. It was interesting to hear the perspective of another queer person with a religious background, especially someone who is very different from me in every other way. The sound design was really great for this one as well, and it really took my listening exoierience to the next level. Audiobooks can be so interesting when done well, and this one was done very well!
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
This was a book club book! I had been wanting to read it on my own for a while. I have to admit it rattled me to my core. I thought the worldbuilding was so fascinating and well done, and I found the main character to be a very interesting little freak. I felt a lot of sympathy for him in the first half of the book, which only made the second half more jarring. I won't say I liked this book, and I still haven't parsed my feelings on it. The writing style was incredible, but it felt lacking in some places- certain concepts could have been expounded upon. I do think the ending worked well. I hated it when I first finished it, but when I remembered the author didn't intend us to justify or agree with the main character, it recontextualized things and I felt less upset. Despite my criticism, the writing style was so interesting to me, and I am certainly looking towards reading more of her works.
The Orchid Theif by Susan Orlean
Maybe I'm biased because I'm a big fan of her work, but I found this book lovely. I listened to the audiobook, and it really captured my attention. Her style is magnificent, and I really enjoy how hands on she is. This book might seem boring on a surface level, a non-fiction story about a man obsessed with orchids, but it was truly such a fun read. I couldn't have predicted any twist in the stranger-than-life story, and I learned a lot about more than just flowers in the process! If you like plants, or learning about niche sub-cultures, I highly reccomend.
The Ghost of Ohio by Andy Biersack
This comic was not good. I got it from my local library, and it allegdly takes place in a location familiar to me, but it was too caught up in cramming 100 years of social issues into 150 pages to explore the setting. It could have been anywhere. The titular ghost is allegedly from a local myth, but the myth is never explained and the worldbuilding leaves much to be desired. I can only describe it as a disjointed collection of edgy-for-the-sake-of-being-edgy moments and characters. I read it twice and struggled to catch much more than what seems to me to be a strangely shirtless white guy saving the world from rascism, sexism, and a somewhat antisemetic conspiracy cult. I don't neccessarily think Biersack had bad intentions writing this, but I do find it a bit short sighted, if not just poorly written. Definitely the least important note of all, but for the front man of black veil brides, I thought at least the emo representation would be good, but the singular punk character feels like a caricature!
Meander Spiral Explode by Jane Allison
I really enjoyed this one! I got it at my local indie bookstore, and it was such a fun read. It is a writing craft book exploring alternative story structures than the typical one we see. It certainly opened my eyes to a lot of more obscure styles of storytelling. It did feel a little more helpful as a reader than as a writer, but I don't think that matters in my case, as it got the gears turning for writing again for me. I still haven't jumped back into a big project, but it's on my mind again...
The Periodic Table: A visual guide to the elements by Tom Jackson
This one is from Barnes and Noble as well, and I got it on sale. It's a really good book, and I definitely enjoyed it! It gives a really decent overview of the structure of the periodic table, the elemental families, and the elements themselves. It was a good read, and I blew through it. I found the design to be a little silly at moments, but it worked well enough, and it certainly wasn't dry!
