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A carjacker lurking in a shopping mall parking lot. An abusive husband pounding on the door. A disgruntled employee brandishing a gun. These days, no one is safe from the specter of violence.
But according to Gavin de Becker, everyone can feel safer, act safer, be safer — if they learn how to listen to their own sixth sense about danger.
De Becker has made a career of protecting people and predicting violent behavior. His firm handles security for many of the leading figures in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, and his computerized risk-assessment system helps analyze threats to members of Congress and the Supreme Court.
Now, in this unprecedented guide, de Becker shares his expertise with everyone. Covering all the dangerous situations people typically face — street crime, domestic abuse, violence in the workplace — de Becker provides real-life examples and offers specific advice on restraining orders, self-defense, and more. But the key to self-protection, he demonstrates, is learning how to trust our own intuitions.
For everyone who’s ever felt threatened, this book is essential reading.
I’ve seen this book recommended many times as essential reading. And after reading it, I concur.
The Quotes
“It is understandable that the perspectives of men and women on safety are so different–men and women live in different worlds…at core, men are afraid women will laugh at them, while at core, women are afraid men will kill them.”
“I encourage people to remember that “no” is a complete sentence.”
“There’s a lesson in real-life stalking cases that young women can benefit from learning: persistence only proves persistence—it does not prove love. The fact that a romantic pursuer is relentless doesn’t mean you are special—it means he is troubled.”
“We must learn and then teach our children that niceness does not equal goodness. Niceness is a decision, a strategy of social interaction; it is not a character trait. People seeking to control others almost always present the image of a nice person in the beginning. Like rapport-building, charm and the deceptive smile, unsolicited niceness often has a discoverable motive.”
“I’ve successfully lobbied and testified for stalking laws in several states, but I would trade them all for a high school class that would teach young men how to hear “no,” and teach young women that it’s all right to explicitly reject.”
The Narrator(s)
The author, Gavin de Becker.
My Thoughts
This is essential reading for both men and women. I’ve been hearing about it for some time and finally decided to read it, and it made me wish I had read it sooner. Much of it talks about extreme situations, but there are also very good insights into how to set boundaries and not engage with people who make you feel uncomfortable in the first place. As a woman, I have myself been groomed since I was a child to be nice instead of assertive, to make men feel comfortable even while they make me uncomfortable, to allow myself to be “persuaded” (coerced) into situations I’ve already said no to.
I had a lot of deprogramming to do and this book would’ve been very helpful if only I had read it years ago. However, it’s still helpful now, and I believe that both men and women would benefit from reading this, because while women are more likely to be victims of violence, men are not exempt to it. Plus, I think that a lot of men don’t understand women’s concern for safety and this book might open up their eyes to it a little bit, and maybe help them be better allies and/or be more aware of not doing things that creep women out.
There are some things laid out in this book that can seem shocking and stark, and there are definitely some things that might be triggering, but I think some of it is necessary because the topic is stark and scary, and we should all be taking it seriously. So I’d recommend it as essential reading, but caution to go into it with some care and awareness.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
From the author of the bestseller Eat and Run , a thrilling memoir about his grueling, exhilarating, and immensely inspiring 46-day run to break the speed record for the Appalachian Trail.
Scott Jurek is one of the world’s best known and most beloved ultrarunners. Renowned for his remarkable endurance and speed, accomplished on a vegan diet, he’s finished first in nearly all of ultrarunning’s elite events over the course of his career. But after two decades of racing, training, speaking, and touring, Jurek felt an urgent need to discover something new about himself. He embarked on a wholly unique challenge, one that would force him to grow as a person and as an breaking the speed record for the Appalachian Trail.
North is the story of the 2,189-mile journey that nearly shattered him. When he set out in the spring of 2015, Jurek anticipated punishing terrain, forbidding weather, and inevitable injuries. He would have to run nearly 50 miles a day, every day, for almost seven weeks. He knew he would be pushing himself to the limit, that comfort and rest would be in short supply — but he couldn’t have imagined the physical and emotional toll the trip would exact, nor the rewards it would offer.
With his wife, Jenny, friends, and the kindness of strangers supporting him, Jurek ran, hiked, and stumbled his way north, one white blaze at a time. A stunning narrative of perseverance and personal transformation, North is a portrait of a man stripped bare on the most demanding and transcendent effort of his life. It will inspire runners and non-runners alike to keep striving for their personal best.
I went down a rabbit hole of running memoirs. I have many more on my TBR list!
The Quotes
“We often think we can’t go any farther and feel like we have nothing left to give, yet there is a hidden potential and strength in all of us, begging us to find it.”
“Out there in the wild, on a long journey, you hike your own hike, blaze your own trail, and only you can find what you’re looking for.”
“In the case of pain, perhaps the one we know hurts us less than the one we fear.”
“It was just numbers. I knew I could outrun numbers.”
The Narrator(s)
The authors, Scott and Jenny Jurek.
My Thoughts
I’m a beginner runner with the hopes of running a marathon one day, but I can unequivocally say that I have zero plans to ever run the Appalachian Trail, much less break a record running it. That’s why I read about it instead! I have a mixture of admiration and perplexity for the Jureks reading about this endeavor; I admire their spirit and ambition to take on something that requires you to push your body to such great lengths and show what the human body is capable of, and I’m also perplexed because I have zero drive and ambition to ever do something close to this, and I wonder about where this drive comes from. It’s just so amazing to me.
What I love about this book is the dual narration between Scott and Jenny Jurek; Scott is the one who ran the trail and broke the record, but he couldn’t have done it without Jenny’s moral, emotional, and physical support. I loved that we get both of them telling the story because we don’t celebrate the spouse behind the scenes often enough, and this book really showed how they were a team, both in marriage and with this achievement. As we read through the book, we also see the support they get from so many of their friends. I love seeing the kind of community that can come about from a group of like-minded people who love the outdoors and achieving greatness with their physical bodies.
I also love how self-aware and honest the Jureks are about their shortcomings and the mistakes they make throughout this journey. They don’t shy away from talking about times they were upset when things didn’t go well, or when they had needs that weren’t met, or when they sometimes handled interaction with fans badly. There were times Scott in particular came across as arrogant and single-minded when it came to achieving his goal, but honestly, this guy has a resume that entitles him to be just a little arrogant. He also acknowledges that you have to have a special kind of go-getter mindset to do the things he did, and I completely understand that! All in all, this was a great read, and highly motivating to me to get better as a runner.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Peter Sagal, the host of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! and a popular columnist for Runner’s World , shares “commentary and reflection about running with a deeply felt personal story, this book is winning, smart, honest, and affecting. Whether you are a runner or not, it will move you” (Susan Orlean).
On the verge of turning forty, Peter Sagal—brainiac Harvard grad, short bald Jew with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio—started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further, running fourteen marathons and logging tens of thousands of miles on roads, sidewalks, paths, and trails all over the United States and the world, including the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he crossed the finish line moments before the bombings.
In The Incomplete Book of Running , Sagal reflects on the trails, tracks, and routes he’s traveled, from the humorous absurdity of running charity races in his underwear—in St. Louis, in February—or attempting to “quiet his colon” on runs around his neighborhood—to the experience of running as a guide to visually impaired runners, and the triumphant post-bombing running of the Boston Marathon in 2014. With humor and humanity, Sagal also writes about the emotional experience of running, body image, the similarities between endurance sports and sadomasochism, the legacy of running as passed down from parent to child, and the odd but extraordinary bonds created between strangers and friends. The result is “a brilliant book about running…What Peter runs toward is strength, understanding, endurance, acceptance, faith, hope, and charity” (P.J. O’Rourke).
I’m a beginner runner and trying to get myself motivated by reading memoirs about running. I loved Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and I went looking for more.
The Quotes
“Perhaps you would like to start running. You never have tried before, or you did and you hated it, and now you wonder how to begin moving in a way that will keep you going. Get up. Start. Go. Move. Take a rusty first step, like the Tin Man. You will squeak. Go.”
“We simply accept each other as we are, for in any other direction lies madness.”
“You step outside, because real running is done outside, dammit, in the open air, where the endorphins hide.”
“I had always believed that suffering was a requirement for anything worthwhile: art, educational success, professional achievement, marriage, parenthood. On this day, I had found another way, though it had taken thousands of miles to get here.”
The Narrator(s)
The author himself, Peter Sagal.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book! I love the author’s humor, and the reference of this book’s title and cover to The Complete Book of Running by James Fixx. It was interesting reading about the author’s experience running at the Boston Marathon Bombing event, and I loved learning more about being a guide for blind runners. Not that I would qualify at the current level I’m at, but maybe someday.
There were parts of the book I didn’t like and couldn’t relate to. He talks about his divorce in a way that makes me feel that maybe he was the problem, which to be fair, we’re all allowed to make mistakes and grow from them, but there didn’t seem to be any self-reflection about it. However, I came for the running parts, and I enjoyed reading about the running parts. I wish there were more running parts!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Start Where You Are: The Beginner’s 5K Running Guide for Women by Sabrina Pace-Humphreys
A beginner’s guide to running for women. It challenges misconceptions and offers a positive and motivating guide to get you started.
Start Where You Are is a guide for women who are looking to run up to 5k distance. Whether you are at the start of your running journey, or resuming running after a break, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys has all the advice you need to get going.
In 2009 a GP recommended Sabrina try running to manage her post-natal depression. It transformed her life and she hasn’t stopped since. She is now a UK Athletics qualified Leader in Running Fitness, a Coach in Running Fitness and a qualified personal trainer with a passion for helping other women, wherever they are in their running journeys.
Sabrina offers motivational support, technique guidance, practical advice and strength and conditioning exercises to help complement your training. You can also find real-life runner testimonies and valuable tips about how to run during menopause, fueling and hydration, menstrual cycles, common injuries, how to run safely at night, finding the running community for you – and so much more.
Above all, this audiobook strips back the experience to the fundamentals – instilling freedom and finding joy in movement – making it the perfect starting point for all women, irrespective of age or running experience.
I came across this book while browsing in my local library and since I’ve started running, I thought I could learn something.
My Thoughts
As an ignorant beginner runner, there were a lot of things I got out of this book. I won’t be following along with the program laid out in the book because I’ve already been running for a while, but a lot of the advice in the book was still very helpful to me and in fact, I feel like I wouldn’t have understood some of the things the author shared if I hadn’t already been running and had come across some of those issues.
In my case, the advice about running techniques, cadence, gait, and nutrition were particularly helpful. I’ve switched up my posture and arm movements in my recent runs, and I’ve also been focusing more on how my body feels rather than what my smartwatch logs. Some of the warm-up exercises in the book has also been added to my previously sparser warm-up routine.
It’s notable that this book is aimed towards an audience of women runners; there are chapters that talk about running on periods, menopause, and how to keep yourself safe as a woman running on your own. All things that women need to take into account as compared to male runners. As the book states; women are not small men, and so many sporty advice and information have been based upon male bodies, capabilities, and needs, and aren’t necessarily applicable towards female bodies. We have a long way to go but I’m glad this book is available for women runners.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Mary Roach takes the age-old question, “What happens to us after we die?” quite literally. And in Stiff, she explores the “lives” of human cadavers from the time of the ancient Egyptians all the way up to current campaigns for human composting. Along the way, she recounts with morbidly infectious glee how dead bodies are used for research ranging from car safety and plastic surgery (you’ll cancel your next collagen injection after reading this!), to the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.
Impossible (and irreverent) as it may sound, Roach has written a book about corpses that’s both lively and fresh. She traveled around the globe to conduct her forensic investigations, and her findings are wryly intelligent. While the myriad uses for cadavers recounted are often graphic, Roach imbues her subject with a sense of dignity, choosing to emphasize the oddly noble purposes corpses serve, from organ donation to lifesaving medical research.
Readers will come away convinced of the enormous debt that we, the living, owe to the study of the remains of the dead. And while it may not offer the answer to the ancient mystery we were hoping for, Stiff offers a strange sort of comfort in the knowledge that, in a sense, death isn’t necessarily the end.
This book has the honor of being one of the oldest books on my TBR. I bought a copy not long after it came out about 20 years ago, and I had even started reading it a few times but it never stuck. I no longer have my original copy but I have finally read it!
The Quotes
“We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget.”
“You are a person and then you cease to be a person, and a cadaver takes your place.”
“Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.”
“I guess I feel the same way about being a corpse. Why lie around on your back when you can do something interesting and new, something useful?”
The Narrator(s)
Shelly Frasier. It was great, no complaints!
My Thoughts
I don’t know why it took me so long to read this book. It’s not for the lack of interest, I think, but rather taking it for granted when I had it on my shelves, and then forgetting about it when I no longer had it. I finally read it now, after so many years, because I happened to be on a nonfiction binge and it was one of the books available immediately on Libby.
As had been promised all these years, it was fascinating and I loved it! I was afraid that it might feel a little dated as I had read other more recently published books about death and dead bodies since this book was first published, but it didn’t feel that way to me. I still learned a lot of interesting information, and got quite morbidly curious about the part where she talks about cannibalism.
I don’t think I personally care what happens to my body after I die, I actually love the idea of being useful after I’m dead, but I do worry about possible cases of jumping the gun on harvesting organs from a person before they are dead. It doesn’t apply to me because I’m not a candidate for organ donation but it’s still disturbing that it has happened and can happen.
All in all, this was a great read, and would you believe it, my first Mary Roach book! She’s been a TBR author of mine for so long, I didn’t realize I haven’t actually read a single book until this one. I’m definitely looking out to read more from her.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
The virus kills nine out of ten of its victims so quickly and gruesomely that even biohazard experts are terrified. It is airborne, it is extremely contagious, and it is about to burn through the suburbs of a major American city. Is there any way to stop it?
In the winter of 1989, at an Army research facility outside Washington, D.C., this doomsday scenario seemed like a real possibility. A SWAT team of soldiers and scientists wearing biohazard space suits had been organized to stop the outbreak of an exotic “hot” virus. The grim operation went on in secret for eighteen days, under dangerous conditions for which there was no precedent.
The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story in depth for the first time, giving an absolutely hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their “crashes” into the human race. From a remote jungle cave festering with deadly organisms, to an airplane over Africa that is carrying a sick passenger who dissolves into a human virus bomb, to the confines of a Biosafety Level 4 military lab where scientists risk their lives studying lethal substances that could kill them quickly and horribly, The Hot Zone describes situations that a few years ago would have been taken for science fiction. As the tropical wildernesses of the world are destroyed, previously unknown viruses that have lived undetected in the rain forest for eons are entering human populations. The appearance of AIDS is part of the pattern, and the implications for the future of the human species are terrifying.
It’s been on my TBR forever but I kept putting it off. People keep praising it though so I couldn’t put it off anymore!
The Quotes
“In biology, nothing is clear, everything is too complicated, everything is a mess, and just when you think you understand something, you peel off a layer and find deeper complications beneath. Nature is anything but simple.”
“To mess around with Ebola is an easy way to die. Better to work with something safer, such as anthrax.”
“You can’t fight off Ebola the way you fight off a cold. Ebola does in ten days what it takes AIDS ten years to accomplish.”
“The rain forest has its own defenses. The earth’s immune system, so to speak, has recognized the presence of the human species and is starting to kick in. The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by the human parasite. Perhaps AIDS is the first step in a natural process of clearance.”
The Narrator(s)
Richard M. Davidson. Really good, no notes.
My Thoughts
For some reason, I thought this was going to be a dry nonfiction read (maybe because of the cover!) but it turned out to be so well-written and reads like an actual horror/thriller novel. I had no idea Ebola and Marburg were so deadly. I knew they made you sick, of course, but I thought of them the way I would’ve thought about malaria, or dengue; dangerous and sometimes fatal but not incurable! And what a horrible way to go!
The issues with how the monkeys were handled, how information was shared, and how everything was cleaned up, have got me feeling torn because on the one hand, there were so many unethical practices, on the other, I have no idea what I would do if I was in that position. I’d probably be in denial too if I thought I had been exposed to an incurable virus that would eventually lead to a horrible, gory death for me.
One of the sentiments I found most interesting from the book is how viruses like Ebola and Marburg are the “predators” of humans, to cull humans when we become so overpopulated and start encroaching into animal habitats, and you know what, that’s actually really fair. We like to think we’re at the top of the food chain but we’re really not, and these tiny microscopic viruses will prove it to us any time we start thinking otherwise. I do not like the thought, but it’s what will keep me humble and wary of too much outdoor activity! I loved this book but I have decided I’m going to be a stay-at-home bookworm forever.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.
April 2026 Wrap Up
As expected, April was another busy month and quite disorganized, to be honest. But the good news is that I’m getting more exercise; I’ve been getting up early almost every morning to run and/or go to the gym, and so far it’s sticking! Fingers crossed!
The other good news is that I actually managed to get a lot of books read because of all the exercising, through audiobooks! Out of the 15 books I read this month, 14 were audiobooks! That would be sad except that I know I’d have read significantly fewer books this month if it weren’t for the audiobooks, so you know what? I’ll focus on the good and be grateful for them!
Still, I do miss the printed books and I’ll try to make time for focused reading in May.
My April 2026 TBR Intentions
I played it safe and only listed three, and finished them all! Yay!
The Radium Girls and Educated had me feeling all kinds of feelings. For different reasons, of course. The Radium Girls was devastating on a “where-is-the-humanity?!” level, but Educated touched me on a personal level.
The Hot Zone was very good too, in a scary, horrifying way. I learned more than I wanted to about the terrifying and painful ways we puny humans can die, and I don’t know what to do with this.
I’ve been on such a nonfiction binge though, which is great. There are still so many books on my 2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge TBR, and I’m adding more every day!
May 2026 TBR Intentions
Okay soooooooo…. Book 8 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, A Parade of Horribles, is coming out on May 12th! I have already pre-ordered it and I am very excited to read it, but not before rereading Books 1 through 7 again… Which means the series is probably going to take up my whole month, or I have to be more patient and space them out while I read other books in between, or I have to forget about rereading the previous books and just read Book 8.
I haven’t decided! But I do have to read the other books below as well, for bookclub obligations and other reasons!
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Stiff by Mary Roach
Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly
How was your month in April? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful May with lots of great books!
Tara Westover grew up preparing for the End of Days, watching for the sun to darken, for the moon to drip as if with blood. She spent her summers bottling peaches and her winters rotating emergency supplies, hoping that when the World of Men failed, her family would continue on, unaffected.
She hadn’t been registered for a birth certificate. She had no school records because she’d never set foot in a classroom, and no medical records because her father didn’t believe in doctors or hospitals. According to the state and federal government, she didn’t exist.
As she grew older, her father became more radical, and her brother, more violent. At sixteen Tara decided to educate herself. Her struggle for knowledge would take her far from her Idaho mountains, over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she’d travelled too far. If there was still a way home.
EDUCATED is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the grief that comes with the severing of the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has, from her singular experience, crafted a universal coming-of-age story, one that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers – the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it.
This has been on my TBR forever and it recently went on sale in Audible. The audiobook is narrated by Julia Whelan, whom I love, and so solidified my reason for buying and reading the book!
The Quotes
“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,” she says now. “You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.”
“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
“It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you.”
“Whomever you become, whatever you make yourself into, that is who you always were.”
“An education is not so much about making a living as making a person.”
The Narrator(s)
Julia Whelan. The GOAT! She can do no wrong in my eyes(ears)!
My Thoughts
I finished this book just before bedtime and was unable to sleep the rest of the night because I was so worked up and emotional about it. I did not expect to relate so hard with the author because we have pretty much nothing in common, but all that control and abuse disguised as familial love is unfortunately all too familiar to me. So is the difficulty in leaving and letting go, dealing with lies spread about you, and despite all of that, the yearning for change, love, and acceptance anyway.
The way the author articulated her experiences and her feelings about them was matter-of-fact and direct, yet at the same time felt raw and emotional. Perhaps I was projecting as well, but either way, it got me reflecting on my own experiences and wanting to articulate them too.
I love that education is the key to her liberation, and I love that it was her curiosity and love of learning that led her on the path to higher education. I am inspired by her courage in going to university when she barely had a high school education, and forging ahead even when she felt stupid after making a huge faux pas out of ignorance.
It took me such a long time to finally read this book but I’m glad I did. All the praise for it is well deserved. It’s a powerful story with a powerful message and I’m sure I’ll come back to it again one day.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Krakauer’s page-turning bestseller explores a famed missing person mystery while unraveling the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.
“Terrifying… Eloquent… A heart-rending drama of human yearning.” —New York Times
In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.
Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless’s short life. Admitting an interst that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the drives and desires that propelled McCandless.
When McCandless’s innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless’s uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity, and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding–and not an ounce of sentimentality. Mesmerizing, heartbreaking, Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer’s stoytelling blaze through every page.
I’d read this before but recently read Into Thin Air and thought I should reread this.
The Quotes
“I don’t want to know what time it is. I don’t want to know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters.”
“We like companionship, see, but we can’t stand to be around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for a while, then get the hell out again.”
“I read somewhere… how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong… to measure yourself at least once.”
“It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it.”
The Narrator(s)
Philip Franklin. It was good, no notes.
My Thoughts
I read this book many years ago and didn’t love it then. I’ve never been an outdoors-y person and have a healthy fear of the wild, so based on the account in this book it felt like McCandless was just reckless and foolhardy. Having just recently read Into Thin Air, I feel like there’s a difference between people who want to conquer the wild but condition and prepare themselves for it versus people who just go out there unprepared and hope for the best.
However, reading this the second time around, I feel like I might have misjudged McCandless’ preparedness anyway, since it’s not like I know anything about living in nature. I also tried not to judge the story based on what I thought about McCandless, but rather on the story itself. I don’t always like self-inserts by the author, but I appreciated it more this time around when Krakauer told his own story about his own recklessness and adventurous spirit when he was younger.
I felt like I could understand more, that “call of the wild”, wanting to get away and be in nature. Especially since learning that McCandless’ sister, Carine, has also released a book, The Wild Truth, that reveals some things previously kept private about Chris McCandless’ life and his relationship with his family that will probably shed more light on these events. I’m not sure yet if I will read Carine McCandless’ book anytime soon but I must admit I am a little curious.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
The incredible true story of the women who fought America’s Undark danger
The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.
Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.
But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.
Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
It’s been on my TBR forever and it felt like it contained important information.
The Quotes
“We’ve got humane societies for dogs and cats, but they won’t do anything for human beings.”
“That was the tragedy. Radium had been known to be harmful since 1901. Every death since was unnecessary.”
“The cynical would say there was only one reason a high-profile specialist finally took up the cause. On June 7, 1925, the first male employee of the United States Radium Corporation died.”
“Thousands of women helped with the study, through their forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond; their contribution to medical science is incalculable. We all benefit from their sacrifice and courage, every day of our lives.”
The Narrator(s)
Angela Brazil. No complaints, I was completely immersed and forgot I was listening to an audiobook.
My Thoughts
I love reading about medical science but I also inevitably get a little paranoid when reading about illnesses and all the ways the human body is susceptible to so many dangerous things around us. I happened to be having a toothache while reading this book and even though I never got anywhere near any sources of radium, as far as I know, I still got paranoid about my teeth falling out when the women in the book started losing their teeth.
It was really painful to read about how the women suffered, and I think it’s especially hard when they didn’t know, in the beginning, why they were suffering. They had no idea radium was dangerous and didn’t understand why they were sick. It was horrific to read about their bodies slowly deteriorating and so humbling to see their strength and resilience in the face of that kind of pain.
The worst thing is that the companies who hired these women didn’t take any accountability for what they did. It’s one thing if they didn’t know about the dangers of radium and then took accountability once they knew, but they continued putting their employees at risk after knowing the dangers of radium, and kept telling lies to avoid facing any kind of responsibility. It is sad and infuriating to see this kind of evil in the world. Even now.
However, if there’s one thing we can take away from this, it’s that these women continued to fight to be seen and heard, against their pain, against all odds, against these evil corporations, and their fight made lasting changes in workplace safety laws. It is inspiring.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
