Book Reviews – Page 107 – Carol's Notebook

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020 by Carol10 Comments

Generally, I don't read emotionally heavy books, and I don't know if I would have picked up The Radium Girls if I had known that it would have me in tears on almost every page. That being said, it was an excellent book, one I would definitely recommend. At the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of healthy, young, working-class women (some as young as 14) were employed in a newly-born business: painting watch, clock, and other instrument dials with a luminescent paint containing radium, both for consumers and the military. At the time, this fluorescent wonder was believed so beneficial for the body, that medications, aesthetic treatments, and even toiletry items had started to employ it. Everyone who came in contact with this miracle of science was amazed by its property to make everything it touched glow, even the skin, teeth and clothes of the girls who worked with it. Painting with radium was a highly desired job, as it offered...

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

March 9, 2020March 6, 2020 by Carol4 Comments

I've read three of Verne's books now, the three biggies, Around the World in 80 Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and I just finished Journey to the Center of the Earth. As far as I can tell, here's what they all have in common, aside from the "journey" plot. Each has a lot of really boring parts interspersed with some thrilling, brief adventures. And I'm not sure the exciting parts outweigh the mind-numbing bits. A geologist finds a hidden scrap of paper, deciphers what it says with the help of his nephew, and decides to follow what it says and make the journey to the center of the earth. They don't actually get there by the way. The geologist takes his nephew with him and they find a guide in Iceland. What they do discover is a vast subterranean cavern. This underground world is lit by electrically charged gas at the ceiling and is filled with a very deep subterranean...

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

I do have a fondness for mysteries involving art. In Death of a Ghost, a young artist is killed at the showing of a painting, not his painting, one of his mentor's, Lafcadio. Lafcadio, before he died, left instructions to have one of his paintings that he had boxed up shown each year beginning several years after his death, and his wishes have been faithfully carried out by his widow- quite a strong woman by the way, the kind of woman who takes everything life throws at her, straightens her shoulders, and carries on. Campion, luckily, was at the party/showing, so even though he didn't actually witness the murder, as a friend of the family he takes an interest in the mystery. There is a lot of art talk in this one, which I find fascinating. I even took a picture of at least one page and sent it to Amber, since the description of the area where the paint was...

Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

I finished Doctored Evidence about a week ago- I'm a little behind on posting. The thing is, when I sat down to think about it, I remembered how unlikeable the victim was and really how good it was for the neighbor to come forward with her evidence that the maid, now dead too, was not guilty. What is took me a while to remember though was the killer's identity. I liked the basic plot - Brunetti sets out to clear the Romanian maid's name and find the real killer. It's the kind of thing he would do. I like Venice, the food and the characters as usual. I didn't care for the seven deadly sins conversations and obviously the mystery itself was not memorable. It had a lot to do with money and blackmail. Eh, maybe I've just read too many of hers lately....

Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

March 4, 2020March 4, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Bruno is the only municipal policeman in the small town of St. Denis, France. He's a good guy, he is not a brooding policeman, he is not corrupt, he is not plagued by guilt, he does not go renegade. He's a good guy. He teaches tennis to local kids, he organizes parades, he makes sure the "hygiene" police don't catch locals selling cheese that doesn't meet the standards. He also cooks and has a wonderful vegetable garden. In general, the people of the town get along, with a couple of minor exceptions. And then the murder occurs. An Algerian grandfather is found brutally murdered in his cabin, a swastika carved into his chest and his medal of honor and a treasured photo missing. Members of the right-wing National Front, a political party that opposes immigration, immediately rise to the top of the suspect list. Given the background between France and Algeria, along with some anti-immigration sentiment, the investigation is...

By Its Cover by Donna Leon

February 26, 2020February 26, 2020 by Carol6 Comments

It's probably not a surprise to anyone that I'm a book lover, and I love the setting of the original crime here, a library in Venice. The descriptions of antique and rare books are fabulous. The original crime is that someone is stealing pages, mostly illustrations, from rare books as well as stealing whole books. I really found the whole topic of book theft pretty interesting. Of course, the thefts are followed by a murder, but it takes a little while to get there. The investigation was not particularly interesting, but I do like Brunetti. He and Venice are what keep me returning to these books. This one wasn't as rich as some of the others, but it's an enjoyable, quick read. Once again, we have an abrupt ending, something I realize I should just expect from Leon. We learn who the killer was and the why, but there's no wrap up that's become traditional with mysteries....