Sweetening the pill

I had previously reviewed a book several years ago on this topic called The Greatest Experiment Ever Peformed on Women, by Barbara Seaman. The title sounds like hyperbole, but it really is true. The birth control pill was given to women with very little testing. The side effects were relatively unknown, both short term and long term. It was touted as a cure-all for all kinds of female ailments and was supposed to prevent heart disease, among other things. Instead there were serious side effects, such as breast cancer and death. As time has gone on, some of those side effects have been reduced because the amount of hormone in the pill has been reduced. But the long term side effects still exist and the risk for blood clots are still pretty serious. I can remember my doctor saying I would only gain a few pounds. I gained at least 10 pounds because my craving for carbs increased. I was also more moody and depressed. Doctors just dismiss these problems. Even though these problems may seem minor, they are indications of a hormonal upheaval in the body.

Sweetening the Pill by Holly Grigg-Spall is an updated look at the birth control pill. Holly references Barbara Seaman's book with some newer sources. In this book Holly shares her personal experience with the pill as well as the experiences of others. Very few have positive experiences. Despite that, Holly takes a pragmatic approach. She believes the pill may be useful for some women and so she is not in favor of an outright ban. But women need to have more information about all the possible side effects so they can make an informed choice. The pill can have an impact on every organ of the body, so a decision should never be made lightly. Especially when there are less invasive means of birth control.

I think both of these books are important for women to read. Understanding the impact of the pill is very important. I think most women should avoid the pill, except for rare circumstances. Amazon has mixed reviews on Sweetening the Pill because of poor editing. I personally did not notice any major problems because the personal anecdotes drew me in. The book does have references and sources, though the author does not review them in detail as Barbara Seaman did. Holly and a few others had hoped to put together a documentary to go along with the book. From what I can find Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein were making it, but I don't know how or where to view it or if it was even made.

There is another great blog entry at Groknation on this topic.

Book rating: 4 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Divergent series

I admit that I read this book series three years ago and I am just now writing my review. Divergent is a dystopian young adult series by Veronica Roth. Beatrice Prior attends a ceremony with her family that will select which faction she will be assigned. This ceremony is supposed to help keep a stable society. Should she stay with her family's faction or choose something different. Tris chooses differently. Tris endures initiation into her new faction, but she has a secret that could unravel society.

I can't remember all the details of the books. I can think of several other young adult series that follow the same formula. In that sense, the plot twists are almost predictable and I became bored with the overall story. Endless struggle, violence, and politics overshadows character development and that happens a bit here. It is nice to see a strong female character, but Tris started to become annoying by the third book.

I did see the first movie. It was entertaining, but I have not seen the rest. I admit, I am starting to become tired of young adult dystopian stories. They are all the same. Perhaps, if I had written this review three years ago, I would have had a different reaction. I did finish out the series and I was rather "meh" about the ending. I didn't find it adding much to the story.

Book Rating: 4 stars - it is entertaining, but not all that unique.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

War Brides by Helen Bryan

World War II fiction stories are very popular right now. Some have been very good. There is something about that generation of people that speaks to resilience and determination that can inspire. I think these stories also help us work through the horrors of war that maybe help us gain a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices that were made.

Does War Brides by Helen Bryan reach this kind of status? In some ways it does. The story takes place in England. The women left behind take up roles that support the war effort. Some of the women in this story are relocated from London, the others are locals. They form a support group as tragedy and life events unfold. As the war goes on, rumors suggest a spy in their midst is leaking information to the Nazi's. Decades after the war, the women reunite and their secret that helped the war effort is revealed.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. It was engaging and interesting. While the story is fiction, it was easy to believe it could have happened. I won't spoil the ending, but it did leave me dissatisfied. I suppose war makes for difficult decisions. Would I have done what these women did? I don't know that I would, but I can understand why they did it.

Book Rating: 5 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Capturing the light

I think most of us take for granted the ease of capturing an image and sharing it with the world. Cell phone image quality just keeps improving. How did we get to the point where nearly everyone has a camera in their pocket? In Capturing the Light by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport, you are introduced to two rivals who each developed a process to capture images. These two men are Henry Fox Talbot from England and Louis Daguerre from France. You may have heard about the Dageurrotype, but there was also a Talbotype.

There is some question on who exactly managed to capture an image first. Perhaps it doesn't really matter, though at the time it was a matter of controversy. The various methods all dealt with chemicals, usually toxic. Some images faded over time until the process was perfected. As the technology improved, the industrial revolution kicked in and various people used the technology to great advantage. There were winners and losers. In time these two men have been forgotten.

I found the book to be well written and interesting. There were many things I did not know about the development of photography. I have seen tintypes, which are a bit rare. Now that I understand the process by which they were made, it is a bit of a miracle that they still exist. I would have liked to have known more about how the technology evolved over time. There is almost no mention on digital photography. Rather the authors focus on the two men mentioned above.

Book Rating: 5 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

The King's Grave

The King's Grave is by Phillipa Langley, head of the Richard III Society and Michael Jones, a historian. This book details the discovery of King Richard III's grave in a car park. Phillipa Langley had a devoted fascination to try and find out what happened to King Richard III after being killed in battle. Using historical clues of the battle and historic maps overlaid on top of modern maps, they were able to trace a possible burial in a car park.

The book switches back and forth between the historical account and the archaeological dig. I found myself more interested by the historical account then the dig. Phillipa Langley had an emotional attachment to the long dead king that was a bit over the top. This is particularly apparent in a documentary that accompanied the book and discovery. In any event, the overall book was interesting and worth the read.

I listened to the audio version, which had a good reader. The only downside, of course, is the audio version did not have the pictures. I tracked down the print copy at the library to view the pictures so I would know what I was missing.

Book Rating : 4 stars - the book bogs down in certain sections, but is otherwise interesting.

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.