Posted February 15, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Philadelphia Chromosome, Jessica Wapner
If you’ve read The Emperor of All Maladies, you already know a little about the Philadelphia chromosome, but this book goes into more depth on it and focuses exclusively on this form of cancer, bringing in some case studies and describing the scientists and physicians who were intimately involved in the research and the long road to a treatment for the cancer caused by the Philadelphia chromosomal translocation. It’s a fascinating story and well written — actually oddly gripping, if you find research like this interesting. Like a lot of the best books describing research, it made me want to get out there and do some of my own, and maybe someday be as instrumental in saving lives as some of the scientists mentioned.
I was asked with The Emperor of All Maladies if I thought the book would be a stressful read for someone who is afraid of cancer. So the same report for The Philadelphia Chromosome: I think some of the treatments and symptoms described are pretty awful, as you’d expect, but it doesn’t tend to get deeply personal or emotional about them, and the cancer caused by this particular mutation is actually extremely treatable. You might even find it a good place to jump on with learning more about cancer to demystify and undemonise it a little for that reason.
Rating: 4/5
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Posted February 11, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 8 Comments
A Monstrous Commotion, Gareth Williams
After reading his book on polio and his book on smallpox, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Gareth Williams turning his hand to something like the Loch Ness Monster — but nonetheless, I knew he was a good writer and understands science and the importance of evidence. And Nessie is fascinating, of course; even if there is no Nessie (and I tend to think there isn’t) then it’s fascinating how people have believed there was a Nessie, and spent their whole lives searching for her. I needn’t have worried, anyway: Gareth Williams presents the evidence without much sign of being partial. He notes when people’s evidence was convincing or their testimony likely to be trustworthy, as well as noting when people carried out fakes.
It turns out to be exactly as fascinating as you’d expect, looking at all sorts of people who made or broke their reputations hunting for the monster. In the end, we have very little direct evidence pointing to the existence of a Nessie, so unsurprisingly the book looks at the human side of the drama, along with the sciences that, over time, people have brought to bear on the problem.
I’m sure some writers wouldn’t be able to make this interesting, but to me, Williams did. And if nothing else, he had me wanting to believe in Nessie, for all that he attempted to stay neutral himself (and I wouldn’t like to pin him down on either side of the debate for absolute certain, though I think a lot of people wish it could be true but don’t think it is).
Rating: 5/5
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Tags: book reviews, books, history, non-fiction, science
Posted February 2, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Words Are My Matter, Ursula Le Guin
I don’t love Ursula Le Guin’s non-fiction as much as her fiction, but at least it’s always a pleasure to read. This book has a rather charming diary of a writer’s week when she attended a writing retreat, including some very nice observations of rabbits which chime well with what I know of my domestic buns. There’s also various essays on genre, and her other usual preoccupations. And then there’s her book reviews — I could wish there weren’t as many of Atwood’s work, who I don’t have much interest in, but it was interesting to see her thoughts on books and authors I know, and especially to see her glowing piece on Jo Walton’s Among Others.
I still prefer her fiction — as she did herself — but I cherished reading this, too.
Rating: 4/5
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Posted January 28, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
No Time To Spare, Ursula Le Guin
Received to review via Netgalley
All the time while I read this, a few weeks ago, I found myself wondering how much longer we’d have Ursula Le Guin. I wonder if the title, No Time to Spare, was intended to be so on the nose. It’s a wonderful collection, full of Le Guin’s personality: her thoughts on ageing, on genre, on books in general, and on her own work. And also her thoughts on her cat, Pard, and one rather mindful piece on the correct way to eat a boiled egg.
It was a quiet moment when I needed one, and I hadn’t even known I needed it, and now there’s a finite amount of Le Guin’s work left in the world for me to find that feeling in again. Thank goodness for rereading and the fact that Le Guin’s work always merits it.
Rating: 4/5
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Posted January 27, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Restless Creatures, Matt Wilkinson
The topic of this book — evolutionary biology from the point of view of the importance of locomotion — is fascinating, and I can’t actually point to anything about the writing or structure that bothers me. I just found that I didn’t enjoy it. Part of that is probably because I’m not interested in the physics, and though I think HOX genes are fascinating, I’m already aware of them and the homology in them between species.
I think some of the sections on the physics of motion genuinely dragged a little; if you’re into physics, it’s nothing new, and if you’re not, then it’s not exactly the most fascinating stuff. It’s an interesting topic, and Wilkinson writes pretty clearly, so that might be a personal thing.
Rating: 2/5
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Posted January 25, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
How the Zebra Got Its Stripes, Léo Grasset, trans. Barbara Mellor
This book is admittedly slight: if you already know your evolutionary biology, then you’re not likely to learn anything from this in terms of the principles. However, if you’re not, these stories demonstrate the points well, and even if you do know the principles, you can learn some new facts. Which you may or may not find interesting, depending on how much you cringe at the description of how hyenas give birth!
It’s an entertaining read, and I was glad I picked it up, even though it didn’t exactly take me long to digest.
Rating: 3/5
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Posted January 24, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Emperor of All Maladies used to scare me. Just the idea of a whole book about cancer kinda gave me the heebie-jeebies. Generalised anxiety disorder and three grandparents dead of cancer will do that, I guess. Luckily, I’ve turned a corner and reading this just fascinated me — my only regret being that it isn’t quite up to date on the latest in cancer treatments, stuff which I know about from my medical transcription work that isn’t always even past the phase II trial stage yet. The way the doctors I transcribe talk about that… well, I’d love to know more.
Still, there’s a lot here: a history of what we’ve known about cancer from ancient history to the time of publication, with meticulous footnotes. It’s illustrated with some case studies, patients of Mukherjee’s, which help to contextualise the treatments mentioned or the cancers being studied. His fascination with the disease is clear, but also his compassion for his patients, though I never found it sentimentalised.
It’s a little dense and probably slow going if you’re not used to reading non-fiction, or if the subject matter is unfamiliar. I was delighted that I could follow pretty much all of it, even when he discussed statistics (the bane of my biology degree); I found it pretty impossible to put down, because I had to keep finding out more. As the best non-fiction always does with me, I ended the book by wanting Mukherjee’s job.
Rating: 5/5
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Posted January 22, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Cro-Magnon, Brian Fagan
Cro-Magnon is reasonably informative, albeit perhaps a little out of date and about as focused on the Neanderthals as on the Cro-Magnons. It had fairly similar information to a lot of other books I’ve read about human evolution, not really managing to make the Cro-Magnons stand out as a specific group worth a whole book. The recreations were mostly pretty uninspired, and the assumption that gender roles would be something straight out of a 50s sitcom (as someone else put it) was pretty eyeroll inducing.
There is some interesting info here, but in the end… I got a little bored, I guess. Not much of it is sticking with me, except my eyerolling at the idea that women were subordinate to men from the start.
Rating: 4/5
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Posted January 21, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Written World, Martin Puchner
I’ve seen some complaints about the historical accuracy of this, particularly in regard to the earliest sections, but I’m unable to judge because it’s not really my area of history at all — inasfar as I know my history anyway, which is often patchy. I simply enjoyed The Written World as a summary, from one perspective, of how some stories and books have changed the world in being written (or in the case of previously oral works, written down). Puchner writes compellingly about books I haven’t read yet, and really makes them sound tempting — The Tale of Genji, for example (though he also makes Don Quixote sound fascinating, and I did not love that at all).
It’s not the be-all and end-all, but if you love books and you want to read about some books that have been important in shaping society, then this should be right up your street (up your bookshelf?).
Rating: 4/5
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Posted January 19, 2018 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Fossils: The Key to the Past, Richard Fortey
This is probably more of a reference book than one to read straight through; it’s beautifully illustrated with sketches and photographs reproducing common and interesting fossils, and it has advice on how to identify fossils, clean them up and store them, along with the relatively straightforward explanations of how fossils form, how they can be useful, and specific titbits on various different individual fossils.
The information wasn’t new to me, and it isn’t Fortey’s finest writing, though he can always make geology sound fascinating. It’s a beautiful book, though, and one I’ll definitely keep for reference.
Rating: 4/5
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Tags: book reviews, books, non-fiction
