The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

by Lindsey Fitzharris

Length: 304 pages

Expected publication: October 17th 2017 by Scientific American / Farrar Straus and Giroux

Medium of Consumption: eBook ARC

The Rundown:

Dive into the gory Victorian era of surgery- certainly not for the fainthearted- in this beautifully written historical biography.  Follow Joseph Lister, a young man from a humble Quaker family with an enthusiastic love for microscopes, as he studies to become a surgeon in a seemingly barbaric time in medicine.  

Although he endured persecution from his peers about his findings that microbes called germs caused post-op fatalities due to sepsis and other infections, he continued to lecture and provide examples that by simply using an antiseptic in the operating theater, mortality rates would drastically plunge.  

From the introduction of using anesthetics to Dr. Lister’s antiseptic methods, learn the leaps and bounds that were made in patient care.  Lister’s keen commitment to science coupled with his genuine concern for the human body forever changed the medical field.

What I Thought:

This book was everything a non-fiction book should be.  Intriguing content, fast paced, and constantly keeping the reader at peak interest.  I would like to say, DO NOT READ THIS WHILE EATING.  Seriously, its pretty gory, the last book that made my stomach roll was 120 Days of Sodom.  But please do not let that deter you!

I was compelled to request this book because of how much I loved Destiny of the Republic.  Joseph Lister’s antiseptic method is discussed in a good portion of the book and ultimately could have been used to save James A. Garfield’s life.  I was not dissapointed in my choice!  Linsdsey Fitzharris’s writing is so accessible and in a way I could hear this book being narrated as a History Channel documentary.

Pick this up next month (October 2017) at your local bookstore or choice eBook store!

This is my first ARC book review and I’d like to thank Farrar Straus and Giroux for allowing me to read and review The Butchering Art!

5/5 Stars

Recommended To:

• Victorian Era buffs
• If you are thinking about going to medical school
• If you want a non-fic gore book for Halloween
• If you feel unappreciative towards your doctor (THANK GOD YOU DIDN’T LIVE BACK THEN)

Don’t forget to find me on social media (i.e. Instagram, Twitter) @bunniebleaux

My Best Friend’s Exorcism

By: Grady Hendrix

Length: 336 Pages

Published: May 17th 2016 by Quirk Books

Medium of Consumption: Paperback

The Rundown:

High school is never an easy time for a girl.  Maintaining high GPAs, extra curricular activities, and popular girl social status, best friends Abby and Gretchen seem to have it all.  A weekend of partying changes everything.

Gretchen starts acting like a different person.  Something happened to her when she wandered into the woods that weekend, and Abby is trying to find out what it is.  

Can Abby’s “dearly but not queerly” love for Gretchen help her return Gretchen to her old self, or is this new evil version of Gretchen here to stay?

What I Thought:

I’ve been meaning to buy this book for the last year, so when I finally got it I was TOTALLY STOKED.  It did not let me down.  Total 80’s nostalgia, from the shows they watch, the clothes they wear, and the chapter titles.  I loved how every chapter was a song title off the main character Abby’s summer mix tape!  The characters in the book were quintessential bitchy 80’s teen movie girls.  When reading this, I could see this being played as a movie in my head a la Heathers.

Also, the covers are phenomenal.  I purchased the paperback, which resembles a VHS copy of an 80’s B horror movie.  The hardcover version apparently resembles a year book on the inside, with handwritten notes and well wishes.  I know, blah blah don’t judge a book by it’s cover, BUT THESE ARE SO COOL!

October is just around the corner, so run and grab a copy to add to your Halloween TBR!

5/5 Stars

Recommended To:

• Anyone gearing up for Halloween
• If you liked Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
• Need a spooky yet endearing read

The True Horror of the TBR

The TBR pile.  Love it, dread it, every one’s got one.  I’ve seen this topic become a kind of “hot button” issue in the reading community.  Blogs, vlogs and podcasts constantly giving advice on how to tackle, manage and even conquer your To Be Read list.  Whether you are buys books for a physical pile or making lists of books you want to read, let me tell you some hard hitting shit: you are never going to finish.  

I know, “Bunnie, why do you have to be such a bitch about it?”  Because the sooner that every reader accepts this, the better.  You are telling me you are going to read every book you have on your current TBR and say, “Why yes, jolly good, I have capped off reading for my lifetime now that I’ve finished these.”  No.  You are going to probably start on a second TBR you had waiting in the wings.  Or maybe you just keep adding to your first TBR pile, turning it into a glorious, never ending turnstile of stories.

I have mentioned this before on my old blog, I buy a lot of fucking books.  Far too many for me to read in a timely manner.  I consider every single book (ebook, audio or old fashioned) that I acquire one that I will eventually read.  I bought it for a reason after all!  I don’t have plans to ever finishing all the books I want to read.  I think it’s pretty silly for any bibliophile to think they can.  But I can offer how I read all the books I have yet to read.  I have two loose methods of how I CRUSH MY TBR PILE. (lol jk)

1. I read a book in each format.  Reading multiple books at the same time isn’t for everyone, but I like it.  I try to pick different genres for each “medium of consumption” as I like to call it.  That helps so much when trying to keep different stories straight, also it can possibly help you finish books faster?  I don’t know, I haven’t quite put that to the test yet, but I’d like to think so.
2. After I finish a book, minutes later or the day after, I look at all the stuff I haven’t read.  Flip through, read a couple pages, see what other people are currently reading, and go with my gut.  Every book I’ve purchased  has been something I’ve wanted to read, it would suck to shoehorn myself into reading one that I wasn’t in the mood to read.

Bottom line: if you have a ton of books you want to read and feel overwhelmed by it, don’t.  Do not feel pressured to “conquer your TBR pile”.  Do not feel pressured to read.  Reading should be fun.  I think the longer the list of books you have yet to read, the better.  I’m dreading the day that maybe there won’t be anymore books that I want to read.  That’s the true horror of the TBR.

Come find me on Instagram @bunniebleaux

Reading Glasses did a neat podcast on this subject

The Blinds

by Adam Sternbergh

Length: 400 pages

Published: August 1st 2017 by Ecco

Medium of Consumption: hardcover

The Rundown:

Ceasura- rhymes with tempura- is a place where people go to forget.  It’s residents are part of a special witness protection program.  Prior to entering Ceasura, residents are required to have their memories wiped and forgo all outside contact.  Everyone they ever knew is forever lost to them. They’re then given new names, chosen from a list of movie stars and Vice Presidents.

It’s a quiet, boring life for the residents.  Until one of them is killed, shot point blank.

The sheriff, Calvin Cooper, is trying to find out who would do this in their town.  And more importantly who has a gun?  As events unfold, and unforeseen twists impact the different members in the community, will they find that the threat lies within their numbers or is it an outsiders doing.  

Welcome to The Blinds.

What I Thought:

I chose this little number for my August Book of the Month book, and just to FYI I am never disappointed with any book I get through them.  This book had me hooked from start to finish.  It’s very “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” but in this case it’s criminals forgetting the shitty things they did. This book definitely kept me on my toes, I really had a hard time predicting what would come next.  Would love to check out more stuff by this guy in the future!

4.5/5 Stars

Recommended To:

• If you like suspense
• If you like who-dun-its
• If you like a book with more WTF moments than you can shake a stick at

Final Girls

by Riley Sager

Length: 342 pages

Published: July 11th 2017 by Dutton

Medium of Book Consumption: hardcover (a la BOTM)

The Rundown:

Whether she likes it or not, Quincy Carpenter is a survivor.  Ten years ago, what should have been a fun weekend getaway with her college classmates, turned into a bad slasher film.  Deeply suppressing the memories of her friends being slaughtered, Quincy has achieved what she believes is normal.  A successful baking blog, a wonderful boyfriend, and a habit of Xanax and wine.  Quincy is the third “final girl”, a term that the media coined for last standing girls of horrific events.  The three women have seemed to take different paths in their lives post massacre.  Lisa Milner has made her life being an advocate for women surviving abuse, while Samantha Boyd disappeared from the public eye.

Quincy’s world is shaken when Lisa is found dead in her apartment.  Samantha shows up at Quincy’s door, and the two women know that Lisa’s death was no accident.  

Quincy also suspects something isn’t right with Sam.  

As Quincy uncovers information about Sam and the suspicion around Lisa’s apparent suicide, a peculiar thing starts to happen.

She begins to remember what happened that bloody night ten years ago.

What I Thought:

Maybe I wasn’t quite in the right mindset to read this book, but I definitely found myself skimming.  I liked the story idea a lot, but found myself annoyed with Quincy and Sam’s relationship.  I am definitely a person that doesn’t like to talk about my feelings, so Sam’s constant poking and prodding at Quincy rubbed me the wrong way.  I really liked the end twists!  Quincy remembering what really happened was pretty nuts and I didn’t find it all too predictable.  Maybe I expected a little more gratuitous blood and guts like Richard Laymon.  It was altogether good but nothing amazing.  

3.5/5 Stars

Recommended To:

• Looking for a beach/travel read
• If you are a fan of slasher movies but don’t like it too gory
• If you like stories about crazy women

Page to Screen: A Book Snob’s Nightmare

“Oh my god.”  Elation, excitement, that squee that slips my mouth!  Abruptly cut off by “oh my god,” the sudden drop in my stomach and sweaty palms and trepidation.  Something could go horribly wrong.  What are these monsters thinking of taking something I love and tainting it?  How dare they.  How fucking dare they.  *deep breath*  It could be ok?  I have been known to worry.  Maybe I shouldn’t worry.

This.  This is the reality of being a book lover and seeing that one of your favorite stories is being made into film.  You wake up one day, and see that someone from Hollywood has recognized what you’ve known for years is a genius novel.  It fills you with pride, like it’s your kid brother making the varsity baseball team.  But then maybe you see who they’ve casted, or the teaser trailer leaks.  And maybe you think, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING?”  You immediately log onto social media outlets, feverishly bashing the so-called adaption.  You demand someone’s head on a spike, protests, mass mutiny, anything, anything to stop this abomination.  

If this is you, if you are a purest book worm who can only accept every word written and nothing less, you need to check yo’self before ya’ll wreck yo’self.

I will wholeheartedly admit that I am guilty of doing this.  When I was 11 and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was coming out, I was out of my fucking mind excited.  My mom could not get me to shut the fuck up about how much I love the boy who lived and explain the first book in extreme detail so she knew what to expect in the movie.  She brought me the opening Friday after I got out of school.  I sat quietly for the duration.  As we left my mom asked how I liked it.  A fountain of negativity poured out of my mouth.  I HATED Daniel Radcliffe, I HATED how they didn’t do all of the obstacles the teachers made, man I didn’t even really like Richard Harris as Dumbledore.  My mother, so wonderful, listened to my complaints and she explained to me that sometimes when books get made into movies, they have to make things work for film.  Not everyone can look perfectly how I envisioned them.  Not every scene can be kept.  What’s perfect from a literary standpoint can be anything but from a cinematic point of view.  She took me again the next weekend.  Watching it for a second time, with new eyes, I loved it.  I realized that I was being a snob.  That other opinions and perspectives are valid.  No need to be ruffled or miffed if you do not agree.  But always try to appreciate.  The second time I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone I appreciated all the wonderful intricacies of this world it brought to life for me.  It made me never watch another film adaptation with malicious intent.  

I am not defending every book to movie ever made.  Oh, I know there are some real bad ones out there.  I’m just thinking that people should really keep an open mind.  Do not jump to conclusions before you even see the movie or nitpick it to death when you do.  

Idris Elba is going to be Roland Deschain, and I don’t think it could have been casted better.

City of Ashes

By: Cassandra Clare

Length: 512 pages

Published: September 1st 2015 by Margaret K. McElderry Books (first published March 28th 2008)

Medium of Book Consumption: paperback

The Rundown:

Clary is still trying to understand and adjust to her new life as a Shadowhunter.  With her mother still in a coma, finding out her love interest is really her brother, and having her best friend turned into a vampire, she has more than enough on her plate.  But her father, a Shadowhunter named Valentine that was cast out of the Clave for treason, has plans of his own.  Valentine has acquired the Mortal Sword, and combined with the powers of the Mortal Cup, has the ability to control and unleash a horde of demons.

 

As both Jace and Clary realize they are more than “normal” Shadowhunters, a war is brewing.  Will the Shadowhunters of the Clave help them in their attempt to stop Valentine?  Or will they be alone facing their father and an army of demons.

What I Thought:

I read City of Bones about a month ago, so I definitely felt it was time to pick up City of Ashes.  I still enjoy Jace’s character immensely, and too be honest I wasn’t so hot on Clary through the first book.  I was pleasantly surprised to see her character grow and become less confused in this book, and am kinda like:

Because if she was going to be as mildly annoying as she was in the first book I would have had to tap out.  I really dig how both books were very action packed and just the right amount of fast paced.  This series has held my interest through the second book and I hope to pick the third up fairly soon!

4/5 Stars

Recommended To

• If you’ve read the first book
• If you liked the Underworld movies
• You want to throw yourself into a 11+ book series

The Couple Next Door

by Shari Lapena

Length: 308 pages

Published: August 23rd 2016 by Pamela Dorman Books

Medium of Book Consumption: hardcover

The Rundown:

Anne and Marco Conti attend a dinner party next door, leaving their six month old baby sleeping in her crib.  The Conti’s are not irresponsible, bringing a baby monitor with them and checking on their daughter every half hour.  But their world is turned inside out when they come home to find that their precious baby isn’t in her crib.

Detective Rasbach leads an intense investigation uncovering lies that become clues, and doubts that any person is truly innocent.

What I Thought:

My year of thrillers continues, and up next was The Couple Next Door.  I read this in one sitting, I was completely engrossed only getting up to pee and grab a soda.  It was definitely the most fast paced of the thrillers I’ve read this year, and I find that both good and bad.  As much as I love reading a book so quickly, when I finish it feels like a dream.  Did I really read all that in 3 hours?  Where am I?  What happened?  I had to skim through the book a bit before I wrote this to remind myself of names and other details.  I could definitely seeing this made into a Lifetime made for T.V. movie, and you know what?  I’d still watch it.  I am a sucker for those.

4/5 Stars

Recommended to:

• Fans of Gillian Flynn
• Need a beach read
• Need a travel read (plane, train, automobile)
• If you watch too much Law and Order

Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

Length: 383 pages 

Published: February 10th 2015 by HarperTeen

Medium of Book Consumption: paperback

 

The Rundown:

Silver bloods are better than the Red bloods in status and humanity. Silvers have abilities, some can manipulate water, fire, and even minds.  Due to their unremarkable being, Reds are forever second class, used by the Silvers as soldiers and servants.  

Mare is a thief and a Red. She’s going to the battlefront soon, just like her brothers before. Her life changes when she meets a stranger and is suddenly assigned servant to the Silvers. As Mare tries to settle into her new life she finds out that she too has abilities. She can manipulate electricity.

Her blood still runs red, but does her new found power give Reds everywhere a new advantage in a potential uprising on a war on status?

What I Thought:

So this book came highly recommended to me by a friend and after four months of it sitting on my TBR pile I finally picked it up.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was elated when I started reading. I really liked Hunger Games but Red Queen completely surpassed it in my opinion. This book had me totally sucked in with the bad girl Mare at the helm. This chick is the more delinquent, sure-footed version of Katniss.  I really enjoyed the Game of Thrones undertone to it.  When I read the quote “Anyone can betray anyone,” I shook the book trying to get Little Finger to come out of the pages he was clearly hiding in.  I honestly can’t wait to grab Glass Sword and see happens to the “little lightening girl”.

5/5 Stars

Recommended To:

• Anyone that wants a lighter version of A Song of Ice and Fire
• Fans of Hunger Games
• Fans of X-Men
• A darker YA that doesn’t involve vampires or dystopian future

 

Little Bee

by Chris Cleave

From the author of the international bestseller Incendiary comes a haunting novel about the tenuous friendship that blooms between two disparate strangers—one an illegal Nigerian refugee, the other a recent widow from suburban London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Thought:

*somewhat spoilers*

Oh man. Well, I picked up this book and the synopsis I read didn’t give much away, so naturally I thought it would be an uplifting story about a refugee befriending a widow. I was wrong. Chris Cleave’s beautiful telling of Little Bee’s story gives you this false sense of hope. She recounts horrific events in her life, and as the reader you feel like you have to believe some good will happen. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop and for things to really start to turn around but I was left grasping at straws.  This book grabs you by the heart and slowly crushes it for sure.  Pick this up if you need a good cry

5/5 stars

Foot note:

The nightmare that refugees endure to seek asylum should not be taken lightly.  If you are interested in helping, there are many organizations that you can volunteer and donate to.  Check out UNHCR for some more information.