Reviews and Comments

Less of a review, more of just some general thoughts. Sometimes pop sci annoys me, but I didn't mind this one. Some parts related to the author adding in some of his life experiences (not really TB-related) weren't my favorite, but now I'm guilty based on explaining my interest in this book. My original interest stemmed from my grandpa being a survivor of TB and learning about how it shaped so many things in his life, including how he spent 3 years at a TB sanatorium in the Chilean Andes Mountains in the late 50s/early 60s. The book covered this time period and sanatorium experiences but also prior and leading up to current day. I appreciate the heavy emphasis on the systemic issues related to TB care and cures. There is such a stigma around TB and so much racism impacting access to care. The book also dives into the fucked up profit-based pharmaceutical companies. I love that the book includes a section on other books and resources to read related to various TB topics and data sources.

Wow, I loved this book so much. So many things about it. Her descriptions, imagination, the emotions of her characters. The way and order of how this story builds was really exciting, too. I loved the gore, violence, and all the things that will probably make a lot of people uncomfortable, and possibly dislike or not want to read this book. Might not be your thing. (I’m not going to post any CW stuff but there is probably a long list or feel free to ask.)

The nerd in me was really excited to read a perimenopause book, thankfully I have two others to follow up on that will hopefully be more informative and less redundant. Some positives - she stresses advocating for yourself and highlights key topics related to perimenopause. I am sure it will be useful to many people and it is a pretty quick read.

Things I didn’t enjoy: -Unfortunately this felt like reading a blog post or click-bait news article. It was like a bad combo of self help and popsci. -I don’t need someone to remind me constantly about something they wrote about in a previous chapter. I get that people may jump around on topics of interest, but maybe just briefly reference the chapter number if you are that concerned that the reader may have forgotten. Or omg is that a play on perimenopause brain fog?! Anyways, overall super repetitive. - It truly bums me out that a book on this topic uses incorrect anatomical terms. Especially since she stresses the importance of understanding these terms and talking about your health. See page 164: “…and labia minora (your inner vagina) to become less responsive.” Noooo :( that is not your vagina and especially not your inner vagina.

I have more to say but I’ll leave it at that and will hopefully find a more useful book on the topic.

another book I had paused on so I could give it more of my attention during summer. I’m getting totally sucked into this story now. I keep saying 'ok last page and then I'm going to sleep' but then I’m 10 more pages in.

I had to pause reading for a couple of months ago so I could give it more attention and focus later. It was nice to come back to and finish. My brain was so confused when I started reading it because it was so familiar but I knew the book just came out (I had to search and realized it is based on novella he wrote in the 80s but never felt like he had finished it). I enjoyed this story and always appreciate Murakami's writing style and imagination. The only thing that wasn't my favorite was his overuse of his technique where characters are in conversation about something confusing, and they repeat/summarize the other person as they try to understand what is happening. "So, what you are saying is..." He does this in his other work but seemed extra. It did not over shadow the things I liked about this story though.