Review: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimmamanda Ngozi Adichie

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this. I do wish it was a bit longer, then again it was based off of a TED talk, and I guess that is the point. I wanted more, so it should lead me to go and seek more which I see myself doing after reading this short little work. I have to admit that I really didn't know what to expect going into this, I know what feminism is supposed to mean by definition, and I know that like Adichie says in this book all of the negative connotations it has. I also know that like in everything there are always people who take things way too far to the extreme whether in support of their cause or in going against said cause.

Adichie says nothing that really isn't common sense here, everyone should be a feminist because it really is about just being a decent human. That being said decent also comes with gender equality. It means a dad could stay home with the kids while his wife works and there is no shame involved, a woman makes just as much money as her male counterparts at the same job without being told she is cold and ruthless, or a mom can stay at home with her kids because that's her choice and isn't made to feel bad about it. In today's modern culture where we are accepting of so much, we are still so set in our ways, and from this little book so many countries have very specific ideas of what men and women should do. Feminism is a dirty word. Adichie presents feminism in this book in a very consumable way, it isn't confusing or overwhelming, it just makes sense. I think this is a great conversation starter about feminism, and while I wanted more I think it was great place to start.

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Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I learned so much from this book. While medical ethics have improved since the days when Henrietta Lack's cells were taken without her knowledge, I don't think most people know what their rights are with regards to their cells and tissue. I certainly didn't until Skloot laid them out. I also had no idea what Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells have done for medicine.

While this is a compilation of the science behind the cells and what they've done for modern medicine, Skloot also tells the story of Henrietta and her family. She presents Henrietta to us as a person, which is how it should be. The doctors who used HeLa cells didn't see her as a person, they just saw cells and cultures, they forgot that she was an actual person with a family. Unfortunately, given the time that Henrietta lived in the color of her skin meant that she didn't get adequate medical care and when she did go to the hospital doctors took advantage of the opportunity to study her cells. My heart broke so many times for the wrongs done to Henrietta and her cells. Learning the hardships her children faced after her death was so sad. The Lacks children weren't the only people impacted by medical ethics injustices, and I was angered to learn how some of our modern "cures" have come about.

I wish the Lacks family could have gotten some sort of reparations for all of their suffering, but I understand how the legality of their situation doesn't allow for that. I guess I'm thankful for what HeLa has done for medicine, but I sure do wish the Henrietta and her family had received better treatment both personally and medically. This was a great telling of the Lacks family history, the evolution of HeLa, and medicine in general. I really enjoyed this.

On a side note, Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin did an amazing job with the narration of the audio book.

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Review: The Case of the Deadly Doppelganger

The Case of the Deadly Doppelganger by Lucy Banks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This comes out on February 6, 2018 and I recommend it.

Lucy Banks is quickly becoming one of my favorite paranormal fiction writers. I recently read book 1, but you could have easily picked up with book 2 as a standalone. The book picks up shortly after book 1 leaves off, but there are only a few references made back to the information of book 1 and it is fairly well summarized so you aren't left feeling completely confused or like you are missing something. I highly recommend book 1 because I loved it, and I loved book 2.

The team of Dr. Ribero's Agency of the Supernatural again finds themselves on a mission to extinguish a supernatural being back to the spirit world, but there are plenty of complications. They find themselves working with a rival agency, and the interactions with the owners, Dr. Ribero and Larry Higgins are hilarious. Kester, our main character, is finally settling into his role at the agency, though he still can't control his own supernatural gift. He is starting to find his own way as an adult by living on his own and dating. His roommates provide comic relief throughout the book, as do his co-workers Mike and Serena. Kester is once again left to dig through the clues behind what is really going on in the small seaside town of Lyme Regis where several people have ended up dead. Strange things are afoot and with Kester's ability to research and uncover information. I really loved the history and mythology in this one just like the last one. I felt like I was there with the team as they were walking around, and I want to be a member of their ghost-busting team.

Totally unrelated to the plot but something I really loved about this book was the interaction of the team with the transgender character Lara/Luke. We are introduced to Lara, from Team Higgins, as a female, but Kester sees her out in town and notices that she wears male looking clothing. Eventually Serena calls Lara out for looking manly, and Lara tells the team she has always identified as male. The Ribero Team is so welcoming to this information and immediately asks how they should be addressed going forward to make them feel more comforatable. This is when Lara becomes Luke, and she becomes him. Naturally the team slips up from time to time, but they make every attempt to make Luke comfortable. Luke also is very open to questions to make the team feel comfortable. I like they way this was handled and there were so many sweet moments between the team and Luke, especially Pamela, Ms. Wellbeloved. I will say that I feel like Kester could have spoke out to his father about his narrow minded thinking towards transgender people, that is out of character for Kester, and the inner monologue addressing it was more in alignment with his personality.

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Review: Truth or Beard by Penny Reid

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In true Penny Reid fashion, this is awesome. The Winston Brothers are hilarious and I loved getting to know Duane in this one. I also loved that we got more of the rest of the Winston clan, we get to know Beau, Duane's identical twin, Cletus, their older brother and business partner, Billy is around but not involved too much, and Jethro is around at the end. If you've read Beauty and the Mustache, this takes place after Ashley goes back to Chicago while Jethro and Drew are away in the Appalachians doing their game warden thing. The two stories reunite towards the end.

I was in a foul mood when I started reading this the other day, which is why I picked a Penny book. I knew reading one of her books would cheer me up, and the Winston's did just that. Shortly after starting the book, I was feeling better and laughing at Duane's antics with Jess. Jess has always thought she was "in love" with Beau Winston, he's the nice twin, the safe twin. Duane has always played pranks on Jess growing up, he has dangerous hobbies like dirt track racing, and driving fast. Growing up with the Winston boys, Jess knows both brothers and has pulled plenty of pranks on Duane to get back on him for his antics towards her. Now everyone is all grown up, and Jess runs into Duane on Halloween, but she isn't quite sure which twin he is but she thinks he's Beau. Duane is happy to take advantage of the situation playing along until things get a little heavy, then he tells her his identity and Jess is rightfully angry. The pair continue to bicker and fight, but they eventually can't deny that they are as Duane would say suited for each other.

Jess is the local high school calculus teacher, but she has big plans to travel after her student loans are paid off and she's saved up some money. She wants to travel the world and see where life takes her. Her family thinks that is a terrible idea. Duane's whole family minus his sister, lives in the family house. He and his brothers own an auto repair shop and he's happy where he's at, though he does like to spice by racing on the local dirt track. When Duane and Jess decide to make a go of things, she tells him that she plans to leave eventually. They decide to try to make things work for a year and only a year.

Enter the monkey wrench...Jess' Aunt passes away and her family has to deal with the aftermath of her death. This means major changes for Jess and puts major strain on Jess and Duane's relationship. Meanwhile, Duane is approached by the local biker gang with an attempt to blackmail the Winston family. You see their father was a member of the Iron Wraiths the local biker gang, and the eldest of the brothers Jethro was not always and upstanding citizen. Jethro has turned things around and he's working as a park ranger or a game warden (can't remember which, sorry). The Iron Wraiths keep trying to pull the Winston's into their shady business dealings and use the people they care about to get them to do their dirty work. I like how the drama gets resolved, its pretty witty and not a convenient rushed ending. The ending feels complete with most of the strings tied up nicely. I felt happy and content when I was done with this book, which was exactly what I needed and exactly what I knew I'd get from Penny Reid and the Winston's.

I can't wait to get to know more of the characters that we met in the story. I loved Claire, and I hope we see more of her going forward. Ashley's book is my favorite and I hope we see her moving forward as well. I can't wait to get to know the rest of the brother's and see where the series takes us.

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Review: The Case of the Green-Dressed Ghost

The Case of the Green-Dressed Ghost by Lucy Banks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this. I haven't read a paranormal in quite a while that wasn't also a young adult and filled with predictable tropes. I think that's why I liked this so much, it was not filled with any of that. I loved the writing, the characters, the ghost mythology.

Normally I would be annoyed by the main character Kester. He's kind of whiny, weak, and naive. I don't mind him though, he's oddly likable. I think I don't mind it because he fully is aware of his faults. His mother pretty much sheltered him and coddled him his entire life in an attempt to protect him. This leaves him a 22 year old who really doesn't know how to take care of himself or what is out there in the world. After his mother's death, Kester goes on a quest to find the mysterious Dr. Ribero. Upon finding the doctor, Kester is confronted with the knowledge that Dr. Ribero is his father and that he owns and runs a paranormal investigative service. At the office, Kester meets the good Dr.'s co-workers who each have a special talent when dealing with the paranormal.  To go along with their special paranormal gift, they each have a unique personality making for hilarious interactions on cases and in the office.  I loved the dialog between the characters. Kester is thrown into the fray and discovers that his mother led an entirely different life he knew nothing about before he came along. She had a paranormal talent and may have passed it on to Kester. Kester is terrified of the paranormal and just wants to go back to his unsuspecting life, but like most things once you seen them you can't unsee them. Determined to make his father proud and become a useful part of the team, Kester sets out to solve the mystery of the team's latest case.

I very much enjoyed this, and I'm looking forward to book 2. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of book and I'm anxious to get started.  Had I not received an ARC of the 2nd book I would have never picked this up.  I always try to read things in order and I'm so glad that I did, this was so fun and a nice change of pace from what I normally read.  Lucy Banks is an author I'm going to keep and eye out for as I really enjoyed her writing style.

Review: How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft

How America Lost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Man and the Theft by Edward Jay Epstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me first say that True Crime is not something I normally read.  I do love to watch a good crime documentary on television though, so you'd think I'd like reading about them.  Unsolved Mysteries was my favorite show for the longest time.  I picked this because on this year's reading challenge there is a true crime book prompt.  I didn't want to read about death or murder, I just wasn't in the mood.  While looking at true crime books at the library, this popped up.  This is a case that I was aware of, kind of familiar with, but not totally aware of the details.  It was a perfect fit for the prompt.  I was in the Navy so I know about how clearances and secure information work.  I won't pretend to understand how the CIA and NSA work, I don't think anyone understands them.   I work in data analysis and I'm pretty comfortable with cyber security as it is part of my job today. 

This was an excellent compilation of facts and gives educated and informed options to fill in the unknowns. You can decide on your own what you think happened but you are presented with the information that is known and unknown. The technical information is presented in a consumable manner and is not overwhelming or confusing. I found this fascinating. While it isn't the end all be all for what happened, I really enjoyed it. This inspires me to read more about the Snowden case and get more information and investigate more opinions on what really happened.

Epstein starts off giving a background on Edward Snowden, his various jobs that gave him access to the sensitive and highly classified information that he should have never had access to. I know how security clearance investigations work, and to find out that pretty much none of Snowden's information was ever validated and he was still granted top secret clearance that granted him access to the people, spaces, and data to steal the data blows my mind. While I'm sure that Snowden would have ended up as a hacker in some capacity or another given his talents with software, the fact that not one of his employers checked on his education or credentials is ridiculous. It angers me on so many levels.

Epstein goes on to give the timeline of how Snowden built his plan and moved from job to job to gain access to the various files he took. How he released the files under the guise of a whistle-blower and gained notariety as a hero in some camps by exposing the government and the NSA for tapping phone calls and collecting data on unsuspecting people. He then goes on to paint the timeline displaying Snowden as a spy as Snowden flees the US for Hong Kong and then Russia. We'll never know Snowden's true intent because we will never know what he told the truth about and where his moral compass points. Epstein leans a bit toward Snowden being a spy and working with Russia, and I kind of have to agree so I don't really mind the bias there. Then again I'd be open to fact based discussion and other opinions.

I do think in addition to the Snowden information Epstein provides alot of great additional historical information in regards to national security, the evolution of cyber crimes, and the history ofnstant sleeper agents that the US and every other country in the world namely Russia had infiltrate each others securiy agencies since the beginning of time. I learned quite a bit from this book. The narrator was excellent as well.

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Review: Attraction by Penny Reid

Attraction by Penny Reid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a cute story. This is the first in a series of novellas, so it is fairly short and the audio is a very quick listen. This wasn’t at all what I expected. I was expecting your typical new adult story where the two main characters get together, have steamy interactions for most of the story, have conflict, resolve said conflict, and make up. This is not that at all. To be honest there isn’t much steamy stuff happening at all, though there is some.

This is the story of awkward, nerdy Kaitlyn Parker and playboy Martin Sandeke. Parker and Sandeke are chemistry lab partners, but they secretly like each other. That is the cute, fluffy, new adult part. He’s rich and her family is fairly famous. They are like different people when they are together, but they both have very distinct and strong personalities that challenge each other. Kaitlyn can’t figure out why Martin likes her, she certainly isn’t his type. Martin can’t figure out why Kaitlyn would do anything to help him out without requesting something in return or holding it over his head. Martin clearly has been used and hurt deeply by people who are supposed to care about him in his past. Kaitlyn likes her space, hasn’t really had much experience with boys, and she is kind of old fashioned when it comes affection as in ask before you touch.

Kaitlyn and Martin jet set away to his private island for spring break because he wants to convince her that he is interested in her. She ends up convincing her best friend to go with her on the trip. Martin is respectful enough of Kaitlyn, but upon finding out that she is inexperienced, he slows it way down. Kaitlyn tries to use her experience as a wedge between them so they can just be friends. She is convinced that Martin really just needs a friend who doesn’t care about his wealth and good looks. She sees him as a person, and wants nothing from him but conversation and human interaction. This friends is why he wants to be with her. She does not compute. This dialoge kind of gets old after a while, only because it is repeated a few too many times for my taste, but doesn’t at all bring the book down.

What I liked:
Katie is body conscious, but it is all self-imposed. While her mom was kind of robotic in her interaction with her, she was supportive and gave her great advice about not giving other people power over her and how she felt about her appearance. I think this is extremely important for young girls. Normally in YA or NA books the body image issues are because a family member has said something, usually a mother wanting her daughter to look a certain way. In Attraction, her mother tells her not to care what other people think and to love the skin she is in.

Kaitlyn wasn’t afraid to tell people to not touch her when she didn’t want them to and she wasn’t afraid to tell Martin what she liked and didn’t like. She told him when he was being a douche, and he responded appropriately. He didn’t get defensive or respond aggressively. He was respectful of her wants and needs, and took her words to heart. This is also important as I fear that many young girls are afraid to speak up, talk to their partners, say no, or tell people in general when they are uncomfortable or something is not right whether it is in an intimate situation or in a professional situation. I think both men and women are afraid to say something because they fear the repercussions. Kaitlyn wasn’t afraid to tell Martin that he was selfish or being a jerk, she didn’t care if that meant he wouldn’t be her boyfriend. I think that’s important.

What I didn’t like:
Kaitlyn has this need to always want to find and actual closet and hide in it. If the closet were figurative I’d get it, but the physical hiding thing was strange. She didn’t seem to have ever suffered from some traumatic event in her life that made her want to hide, and she wasn’t terribly shy. This was just weird quirk. I fully support wanting to be drama free, and maybe wanting to be invisible in uncomfortable situations, but the hiding in actual closets thing was just weird to me.

We don’t get enough of Martin’s back story. I’m hoping we get more in the next installments, and knowing that this is a novella you can’t really dock the author for not giving you more because it’s a serial. Martin is kind of a douche sometimes, but you don’t know why. He appears tortured and sad, but you don’t know why and he won’t talk about it. I feel like that’s coming, but we didn’t get it in this episode.

The cliffhanger ending. I hate cliffhangers! The plus side is the other 2 books are out.

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