fairywhispers's "2009 Bookshelf"

Gerald’s Game failed to pass the fifty page test for me. As a Stephen King fan, I was truly disappointed with this book. Boring, boring, boring!!!

Wow. That’s all I could think when I finished this story. Wow. The language was just beautiful. The themes that played out in the old man’s mind, and in his struggle with the sea, are ones that resonate with all of us. Courage in the face f adversity, the struggle to tame nature or to simply to survive and the determination to succeed are all themes we can relate to. As is the spectre of our aging bodies being unequal to the tasks at hand. The Old Man and the Sea is a sad story that will easily withstand the ravages of time.

The World’s Greatest Crimes of Passion is a fascinating look at some famous (and not so famous) murders committed in the name of love. With most true crime books dealing with serial killers or child murderers, crimes of passion tend to be neglected and upstaged. However, some of these crimes are quite interesting to read about.

As with most anthologies, this book doesn’t have room to cover stories as in-depth as I might like. However, there is more detail than I am used to in books of this type. The World’s Greatest Crimes of Passion is not spectacular, but it is a decent and enjoyable read nonetheless.

Seven Little Australians is a charming Australian children’s classic that is just as appealing to adults as it is to children. It is refreshing to read a book that doesn’t moralise the way many children’s books of the era did. This is an entertaining and uniquely Australian story, with a highly unexpected ending, and it deserves a place in everyone’s reading list.

The Pilot’s Wife is an eloquent portrayal of the grief felt when someone close to us dies suddenly. This grief, and the accompanying anger, are exacerbated when we learn that our lover, the person we thought we knew best, is not the person we thought them to be. We can all expect to learn minor secrets about our loved ones in this situation, but what happens when the facts we learn are major? When we learn that our lover has been leading a whole other existence? This book deals with just that situation. The Pilot’s Wife is an engrossing, evocative and poignant read that is not to be missed.

The Sense of Being Stared At contained some interesting facts and experiments, and was fascinating to read. However there were parts that were quite technical and dull, so if you are reading it for pleasure, you may want to skip those parts. However, the inclusion of experiment parameters and results means that this would be a valuable resource for the serious researcher. I particularly like the appendices, which include experiments that can be completed at home by the average layperson, and contact details where you can send the results. Overall, this is a worthy book for those who are truly interested in the subject.

Anyone who studies, or has an interest in, either history especially as regards to plagues, will find this book a valuable addition to their library. Drawing mainly on primary sources and contemporary accounts, the Mootes’s paint a picture of London as a very different place than the modern view allows. Contrary to the popular image of a plague-ridden London descending into chaos, with the social fabric crumpling and people starving to death in their homes, we are presented with a London bravely dealing with the tragedy they faced.

Plague-ridden London may have been, but commerce, order and compassion were not absent. While it is true that many of those who could afford to do so fled, many more remained. The poor were not abandoned to fend for themselves. Rather, they had doctor’s and apothecaries to treat them (though far too few) free of charge. Nurses and watchmen were paid for by the parish, as were food and coal to sustain them. The King may have taken his court and fled, but the Mayor and Alderman remained. Law and order was maintained and, somehow, goods still made their way into the city. For those with the know-how, there was still money to be made.

The Great Plague is interesting, informative and easy to read. It has a strong reliance on primary sources, and includes statistical charts and excerpts from contemporary ledgers, allowing the reader to analyse the data for themselves rather than relying solely on the authors’ statements. This is a book I am considering acquiring for my permanent collection.

With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, the US comprises almost 50% of the global prescription drug market, and a whopping 80% of the global market of prescription stimulants like Ritalin. These are alarming figures. Are Americans truly more ill than the rest of the world, or are they simply more easily influenced by the marketing machine?

Before reading this book, I already knew that drug companies had an unhealthy influence on prescription practices. After all, many medical centre’s are owned by drug companies. However, I had no idea of the true extent of the problem. It seems as though just about everyone has their fingers in this very big pie. Drug company money supports nearly everyone in the world of medicine, from doctors and interns, to thought-leaders, decision makers, medical journals (who rely on their advertising revenue) and government watchdogs. Even patient advocacy groups,who are supposed to be looking after our interests, are largely funded by drug company ‘largesse’.

Fortunately, there are still some people, including doctors, med students and scientists who are willing to stand up for what they feel is right. These people want to move away from the ‘ill for every pill’ culture the drug companies are aiming for, back to a healthier, more holistic medical approach. Selling Sickness is an informative and frightening glimpse of the insidious methods used by drug companies to make us all believe we need their products. It is compulsory reading for every discerning adult.

If you enjoy laughing at the stupidity of other people, then this book is for you. Some of these stories are hilarious. Others will have you shaking your head. All of them will leave you feeling glad you aren’t related. The Darwin Awards contains over 180 stories in the following categories:
* Darwin Awards: nominees lost their reproductive capacity by killing or sterilizing themselves, thereby removing themselves from the gene pool.
* Honorable Mentions: survived their escapade but still illustrate the innovative spirit of Darwin Award candidates.
* Urban Legends: these are cautionary fables with various versions circling the internet, but any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental.
* Personal Accounts: these were submitted by loyal readers and are plausible but generally unverified.

Darwin Awards and Honorable Mentions are further divided into:
* Confirmed by Darwin: indicates that a story was backed up by multiple submissions and more than one reputable media source.
* Unconfirmed by Darwin: indicates fewer submissions and the unavailability of direct confirmation of media sources.

This is a seriously funny book and I highly recommend it.

This is the Way the World Ends is a satire about the end of the world through nuclear war. We are not present at these events. Rather, we see them as they are being related to a young Jewish boy who has found his way into the study of Nostrodamus. This story has a surreal, dream-like quality that leaves the reader feeling slightly uneasy, without quite knowing why. However, there are some valid points made by the author and this is a book that truly makes one think. Is mutual assured destruction really a deterrent? Can accidents truly not happen? And to what extent are we, as passive citizens, responsible for world events? In my opinion, This is the Way the World Ends is one of the better post-apocalyptic novels I have read.