Newton Reads

God’s Hotel: A Doctor, A Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine, by Victoria Sweet

newtonreference — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:23:44 +0000

The author, an M.D., has worked for many years at the Laguna Hospital in San Francisco, which is a facility for the poor and chronically ill and/or aged. Victoria writes of her growth both spiritually and medically over her years working there. The three threads of her story are her research into the life, medical understanding and philosophy of 12th century Hildegard of Bingen, her trips to France and Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago and the building of a new facility for the hospital. This new building also coincided with new government regulations, budget demands and whether any of the changes made actually benefited the patients. I found this book sensitive and thought provoking.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

Room, by Emma Donoghue

newtonreference — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:03:15 +0000

I read this as a book club selection. Given its plot line, it’s not one I would have chosen to read. Nevertheless, I did find it well written and quite a page turner as I got to care about the two main characters and was interested in seeing how things turned out for them. Told from the perspective of five year old Jack, the plot echoes some of the ordeal of Jaycee Lee Dugard.

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RATING: * * * A good read
Reviewed by: kh

The Complaints, by Ian Rankin

newtonreference — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:52:46 +0000

Rankin lives in Edinburgh, Scotland which is also the setting for this novel featuring Detective Malcolm Fox. Fox’s division is the Complaints, the group that investigates accusations about fellow police officers. His latest assignment is to investigate Detective Jamie Breck. Breck, fast rising through the ranks, has been fingered for possible involvement in child porn activities. However, circumstances are not what they appear to be on the surface and Fox finds himself being investigated as he unravels the strands of this case. I listened to the book on CD and the Scottish narrator gives an excellent reading, portraying the different characters.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

The School at Thrush Green, by Miss Read

newtonreference — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:58:08 +0000

“Miss Read” books are one of my guilty pleasures. Dora J. Saint, Miss Read’s real name, just died at the ripe old age of 98 on April 7 at her home in Shefford Woodlands, in Berkshire, England. Her books, numbering over 30, include the Fairacre series and the Thrush Green series, both set in rural English villages of the mid 20th century. The villagers, school children and their families, teachers, the vicar, the doctor and his wife, retired folks and their relatives, ecounter life’s problems but all are solved by the last page. In The School at Thrush Green, two teachers retire and one of them gets a cat. It doesn’t sound too exciting to say the least, but I find these stories calming and funny and as addictive as a box of chocolates. I listened to this title on audio cd.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg

newtonreference — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:45:19 +0000

Duhigg, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, presents an interesting exploration of this subject. Lots of information on how habit patterns work in the brain and suggestions on how to change them in our personal lives. Also a section on the habits of companies and organizations like Alcoa, Starbucks, Target and the London underground subway system, which shows how crises led them to make sweeping changes.

He finishes with two stories, of a murderer and a compulsive gambler who were and were not found responsible for their actions. A last story is told of how Duhigg successfully kicked an afternoon break chocolate chip cookie habit by applying his knowledge of habits.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

Love, Fiercely: A Gilded Age Romance, by Jean Zimmerman

newtonreference — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:43:56 +0000

A dual biography of Edith Minturn Stokes and her husband Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, Manhattanites of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wealthy, but aware that fortune also has responsibilities to society, their story is fascinating. Edith was the model for the giant statue of the Republic by Daniel Chester French which was exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, 1891-1893. Newton, as he was known, was the author of the monumental six volume “The Iconography of Manhattan Island” which you may see in the Rare book collection of the Boston Public Library or online at: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_5800727_002/
We also learn about their dual portrait painted during their honeymoon in London by John Singer Sargent which you may view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

newtonreference — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:31:40 +0000

The author did a remarkable job with this book. Researching and writing for 10 years, Skloot incorporates the 20th century stories of African American society and the migration from the rural South to urban areas as reflected in the Lacks family, medicine and its treatment of black and white patients, and the medical research which was made possible by the Hela cells originally cultured from cancerous tissue taken from Henrietta Lacks and grown in George Gey’s tissue culture research laboratory at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. In addition, Rebecca interviewed and helped Henrietta’s family learn about the life of their mother and grandmother who had died when her own children were very young, and the contribution the Hela cell line has made to medical research in such areas as the polio vaccine, HIV, human genetics and the development of chemotherapy drugs.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel, by Jeannette Walls

newtonreference — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:54:20 +0000

Really a biography of grandmother Lily Casey Smith, but written in the first person with her grandmother as the narrator, this book is filled with fascinating stories of life in the American West in the first half of the 20th century. Through the book’s short chapters of family stories, I got a real sense of the kind of smart, no-nonsense, hard working woman Lily must have been. Born on a ranch to a delicate mother who was unsuited to frontier life and a father whose handicaps did not stop him from becoming a successful quarter horse breeder and trainer, Lily in these stories shines as a rancher, teacher, horse trainer and darn good poker player who would not have suffered fools gladly. I really enjoyed her story, told by granddaughter Jeannette, also the author of her parents’ story, The Glass Castle.

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RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

When the Killing’s Done, by T. C. Boyle

newtonreference — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:24:01 +0000

An environmental novel based in the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara, California pits National Park Service biologist Alma Boyd Takesue against Dave LaJoy, a businessman and animal rights activist. Takesue oversees the Park Service’s efforts to eradicate invasive species, such as rats and pigs, from the islands; LaJoy responds with reckless protests that result in disastrous consequences.

Both have a past connection to the islands, and both want to save animals, but their results don’t always match their motives. While none of the characters are particularly likeable, the questions raised by their actions are interesting, including the central one: what’s invasive and what’s natural?

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Rating: **** Very, very good
Reviewed by: stc

Precious Objects: A Story of Diamonds, Family and a Way of Life, by Alicia Oltuski

newtonreference — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:30:28 +0000

The author blends her family’s story with a look at all aspects of the diamond industry in the United States and abroad. There are chapters on historical and contemporary diamond mining, “blood diamonds” and the efforts to reform mining in Africa, the use of diamonds in science, the efforts to manufacture diamonds inthe lab and how the cutting of diamonds is changing with the use of lasers. Her father is a veteran jeweler in New York City’s 47th Street Diamond District so we get the insider’s viewpoint on one of the major centers of the industry. I listened to the book on CD which was read by the author.

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RATING: * * * A good read
Reviewed by: kh