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Friday, August 2, 2013

Books: Bedpans and Bobby Socks, Greece, Brain on Fire

Bedpans and Bobby Socks by Barbara Fox and Gwenda Gofton

This is the true story about five nurses from Great Britain who come to the US to work in the 1950s in Ohio. After a few years of working they quit their jobs and road trip across the continent, including Canada and Mexico. I feel like the best descriptor of this story is that its cute. They're adventurous girlfriends who just take the trip of a lifetime and get into some interesting situations. The writing isn't the best but the stories are interesting. It's definitely a different time in our country and almost made me wish I lived back then, but not really. I give it 3/5 stars.
Greece: A Love Story edited by Camille Cusumano

I just happened to be picking up another book at the library and this book caught my eye sitting on a travel display. Since we were days before our vacation when I picked this up I couldn't resist. To be honest I had low expectations and they were met. It's women authors writing essays about their experiences in Greece, varying from being apprenticed at an island restaurant to a girl who travels there for school and befriends locals. The stories weren't super well written and none of them really drew me in. It wasn't so bad I stopped reading it but I don't feel better about myself for reading it. Skip this one. 2/5 stars.

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

Woah. This book is interesting. Its a memoir Cahalan wrote about her experience facing a debilitating and mysterious illness. She writes first hand about the weeks leading up to her hospitalization when she begins to go crazy, does interviews and went through records to find out about the month in the hospital that she has no memory of, and then writes about her recovery period. (it's not really a spoiler to tell you she survives...). I read it at the recommendation of my friends at Appraising Pages and finished it in two days. It's a super interesting story and the writing tells it well. By the time I got to the end, after you know what happened, I was a litte over it, but she sums the story up well. 4/5 stars.

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