Review 652: The Voice of the Desert

The Voice of the Desert, a Naturalist's Interpretation. by Joseph Wood Krutch

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

In the decade or so before Rachel Carson wrote her seminal book, Joseph Wood Krutch started writing environmental literature. In this book Krutch describes in detail several plants and animals that are found living in the desert near his home in Tucson, Arizona. He starts with describing the desert in general terms then to what is a desert – the dryness. Then he starts with the animals, a desert toad that lives most of his life just under the surface until the summer thunderstorms when they come out to mate. Then onto the roadrunner.

In describing different cactus trees, and how it can grown into a forest, I was surprised to learn the saguaro is the quintessential cactus that symbolizes a desert with its upended arms. Despite that, the saguaros have limited range of where they grow.

The scorpion and tarantula are two unexpected animals described in the book. The scorpion is an ancient animal, one of the first animals to breathe air, and it hasn’t changed very much since those early days.

This leads Krutch into a discussion about evolution and contemplation of a guided approach. He leaves it mostly as questions. Going further he discusses if any animal has purposefully made a decision thus encouraging evolution a specific direction, as opposed to just purely nature making all movements and actions on the part of the animal. During this part Krutch was mostly talking about insects, such as a wasp.

Then there was the moments when he mentions the climate changing, which was a surprise to me for a book from the mid-1950s.

Overall this was a through provoking, packed book for under 225 pages, and included some black and white photographs. The author is not nearly as known, nor popular as other environmental writers, but I don’t think Krutch should be overlooked.

Review 651: The Bookman’s Tale

The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a mixed bag for me, although I did enjoy it overall. The story is told in multiple timelines. It contains a bit of a mystery about William Shakespeare's writing, specifically on one book that was found. The main character Peter Byerly is an antiquarian bookseller and mourning the death of his wife. But in one timeline is their relationship, from start to end and some scenes were over the top. This part I didn't like as much, the more modern time and searching was more intriguing. The ending was what?

My head is a bit muddled from the flu right now, and I'd like to say more, but muddled. Perhaps I will return later with more.

Review 650: I Deliver Parcels in Beijing

I Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu Anyan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps it is the living vicariously, or seeing what else is out there, but I do have an interest in reading about people’s work, even fictional accounts. So when this book came along it piqued my interest.

The content is a complete account of the different jobs Hu Anyan had until the writing of this book. He goes into the most detail while describing the package delivery job and working at a bike shop.

As the book continues Anyan discusses his internal life more, along with his social anxiety and difficulty with communicating with people. Often the job posed problems for him having these difficulties, such as when he was trying to run a business. He had a little shop and when purchasing from his wholesalers it was expected to negotiate pricing but he just accepted whatever they told him. Then he felt he lost face when realized what was going on and could not continue dealing with the same people.

One aspect of this book that I found interesting was the work culture in China. Just for one example, as a worker in the United States I am used to a 5 day/40 hour work week, but in China 6 days a week with 10-12 hours per day is expected. Anyan had some jobs were those hours were extended longer and not compensated for the extra time. Overtime pay wasn’t mentioned, likely something that doesn’t exist in China.

The writing style was fairly basic and since it is a translation it’s hard to determine if it’s from the original author or the translator. There were some clichés used that did not help and just made the writing feel awkward. It took me a while to read this book, as there wasn’t anything compelling to propel the story forward.

Thanks to Astra Publishing House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 649: The Shift

The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives by Theresa Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you ever wanted to know what it was like in a day of a nurse, this may be a good book to read. This nurse, Theresa Brown, works in oncology hematology, which is blood cancer. The hospital floor where she works may also get patients with rare blood disorders, such as one of her patients in this book.

Theresa was professor at Tufts University with a doctorate in English and made the unusual shift to becoming a nurse after having twins. Brown first thought about being a maternity nurse but the more challenging care is in the cancer wards.

This book covers just one day, one shift, beginning and ending at home. There are all the minute details of what goes on throughout the day. For some people this level of minutia may be a little too much, but it was fine for me.

The book title says four patients, but in the end there really are five. One goes home and a new patient is admitted, actually she gets two new patients that day, although both were already known to her as they had been previously admitted. The very last part of the book give a follow-up of where these patients are now, at least at the time of the writing and publication.

Review 648: Our Own Country

Our Own Country by Jodi Daynard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the second book of a trilogy, the first one being The Midwife's Revolt. I didn’t like this book as much as the first. It wasn’t as concerned with the American Revolution as the first book, for one. Also, for a large part of the book that repeated the actions as the first book really slowed this one down.

The point of view shifted here, as it is now of, Eliza Boylston. She is the sister-in-law of Lizzie, the main character in the first book. Eliza's story is more concerned with her personal relationship with a slave, John Watkins, and other domestic matters. She grows as a person, which is nice to see. And clearly has different views of enslaved people than her parents, or many at that time. Perhaps there are too much of modern feelings placed into Eliza than what you would find from a woman of her era.

Review 647: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Instead of writing some notes about the books I’ve read recently I went and read another one. Okay, this one is short, a novella, and better read around Halloween perhaps.

I won’t say much about this as so many others have done a great job, better than I could do…but one thing. I generally knew of the story going in, so the mystery of who was Mr. Hyde was already known. Yet I had the thought that this could be viewed as someone who becomes a meth addict, or drug addict of the chemical manufactured type.

Dr. Jekyll mixes up these chemicals, a white powder and some special salts, and he is transformed. In the story he is described as physically changed. There are some drugs where addicts become quite physically changed in appearance as well, thin, smaller, faces disfigured, and their personality changes as well, generally not for the better. Yet they do not usually go back to their old self, or perhaps only once they stop using, more or less. Perhaps not a perfect comparison but a thought of some similarities of today.

Happy to have finally read this classic. It's easily read in a day.

Review 646: 89 Words

89 Words followed by Prague, A Disappearing Poem by Milan Kundera
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This is an audiobook that should be listened to twice through. It is somewhat dense for audio listening, and may do better reading the words. However, that was the copy that I had and did not have the opportunity to listen through twice. The work is short enough that it can be read entirely in one day.

The introduction gives a very brief biography of Milan Kundera. The second section is the essay 89 Words. These are the words Kundera found important or significant, and often appear in his novels.
The last section is the essay/poem called: Prague, A Disappearing Poem. It does start out like poetry but ends up more similar to an essay. It discusses Prague and some of its history.

It was said this is a good introduction to Kundera’s works. I have read three of his books, although it was quite some time ago, they are not fresh in my memory. However, I believe one would do better having familiarity with Kundera’s novels. Often he refers to characters and situations located in his books and it would help to be acquainted with those.

Kundera speaks often about the words in his translations. Sometimes the translator gives a different word or phrase than what Kundera was trying to get across in his writings. Also, how some translations were done from another translation, and meaning there got distorted at times. Certainly this can be a problem with all translations.



Thanks to HarperAudio Adult, William Morrow and NetGalley for an advanced audio copy of this book.

Review 645: Pick a Color

Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was interested in reading this book as my sister-in-law is Vietnamese and her parents had owned a nail salon. So the book has a personal experience that ties into my sister-in-law, her family, and my visits to a salon with her.

This book was about a nail salon told from the point of view of the owner. The book really grabbed me in the beginning. But as the story went on, there were important aspects to her personally that were never revealed. I find it annoyed me, I wanted the backstory but was given only pieces. I don’t like all the ambiguity.

This lack of fully explaining the situation reminds me of a couple other short books I read this year. I’m one who likes more definitiveness. There were other aspects in the book that it wasn’t a total miss for me.

I will say, that hopefully people reading this book don’t feel like it confirms their suspicions about that the nail salon women are talking about you in their language. At least in my experience, that is not what is going on. It did add some humor to this fictional book, however.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book which was very well narrated. My enjoyment of this book was increased because I listened to the audio.


Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.

Review 644: The Midwife's Revolt

The Midwife's Revolt by Jodi Daynard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This historical fiction book takes place during the American Revolution. The midwife is a newly widowed woman, yet still quite young, lost her very young husband in one of the first battles of the revolution. She now has taken over their farm trying to manage and is a midwife as well.

Lizzie soon has help by Martha and has a dear friend of Abigail Adams. As the war continues, the women are mostly on their own, but not entirely. Lizzie finds herself trying to find out secrets and who is the spy in their community that has claimed two lives already. She dresses as a young man, but the brother of Martha spots her right away. Lizzie already suspected him as being a spy, or at least sympathetic to the British and not the American cause. Tension mounts, and also become romantic.

This is where the book falters a bit for me. Martha already has too much to do with keeping the farm and birthing the multitudes of babies. Funny how many there are with all the men away fighting a war. But adding the spy stuff and a budding romance does add to the plot.

The book takes place over several years and also mentions other of the important early men in American history such as John Quincy Adams, although it is the women that mostly take center stage in this book.

I had bought this and the sequel on a sale many years ago, so may as well continue. There is a third, which I do not own and will have to see how book two goes. If it gets too deep into romance I many have to ditch it.

The author's note is worthwhile to read as it explains what was invented and not. The main character here is the author's creation, but many other aspects of the book is not.

Review 643: The Sea Captain's Wife

The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World by Tilar J. Mazzeo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In 1857 Mary Ann Patten and her husband Captain Joshua Patten set sail from New York harbor on a trip to deliver goods around the world. The first destination port was San Francisco, and in a race with several other clipper ships in hopes of making it within 100 days. This was the second journey that Mary Ann joined her husband, impressing the crew on the first journey in her skills, healing injured or sick men as well as charting and using a sextant.

By the time they reached the most dangerous part of the journey to San Francisco, rounding the Cape Horn, the first mate was held in the brig. Captain Patten fell unconscious from lack of sleep and an illness that finally overtook him. And this was during a violent storm, one of the worst tempests in years. Despite being a woman, Mary Ann took over as captain to get them through this danger ensure they stayed on course. This was an unheard of action. Mary Ann was just 19, pregnant and petite, which endeared her further in newspapers.

This was a non-fiction book that reads like fiction. There were moments when I wondered if the author went too far in attempting to do this readability like a fictional book. Yet I did quite enjoy the book.

It is sewn together by the true accounts of what happened. By genealogy, newspaper reports, diaries, ship logs and other documents. It is very well researched. Bonus was learning about clipper ships and the mid 1800s trade.