February 2011 - Page 2 of 3

Woman\’s Doctor

A Year in the Life of an Obstetrician-Gynecologist
by Dr. William J. Sweeney and Barbara Lang Stern

A collection of stories from the practice of an OBGYN who at first focused mostly on obstetrics but by the end of the book had decided to make cancer surgery his speciality. His stories encompass many aspects of women\’s health: menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, ovarian cancer, menopause, infertility, etc. The stories are all candid and show a great compassion and sensitivity this doctor had towards his patients. They\’re also easy to read; he\’s a pretty good storyteller (or his co-author is). The hardest chapter for me to read was the one about abortions, which had just recently been legalized when this book was published. It\’s pretty dated. So I know medicine isn\’t practiced this way anymore, but it was still intriguing to read about. Reminded me quite a bit of Intern. Some things really jumped out at me, like when the author referred to Alzheimer\’s as a rare condition- was it really uncommon some forty years ago, or just not diagnosed as frequently? I was also surprised to read things like the doctor thinking that smoking eight cigarettes a day wouldn\’t hurt a pregnant woman\’s baby, that he used hypnosis to help women in labor manage pain, or that to procure sperm for an infertile couple to use for artificial insemination they would simply ask young doctors and medical students at the hospital to provide a sperm sample on the spot, paying them $15 or $20! (Which apparently was a lot of money back then. Sperm banks that screened donors were a very new thing at the time). Things sure were different. But people were still people, and women faced many of the same problems they do today; I guess that\’s what makes these stories still interesting to read even though treatments are so different now.

I picked up my copy of Woman\’s Doctor at a thrift store, out of pure curiosity. It wasn\’t a disappointing read!

Rating: 3/5 …….. 318 pages, 1973

anyone else read it?

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, Nonfiction (general)

Scent of the Missing

Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog
by Susannah Charleson

This wonderful book is about a dog handler involved in search-and-rescue work. She began first by flying light aircraft, then later assisting search teams on the ground. The book gives a little background on how she got involved in this intense volunteer work, but mostly chronicles her first year with the search dog she trained and lived with- from first acquiring the puppy through training sessions, practice runs and final certification. I\’ve read a little about search-and-rescue before, but this book really gets into the details of exactly how trying and rewarding it can be. I\’m amazed that people do this work all night, often after long drives, tramping over rough terrain, and then get up next morning and go to their normal jobs. Add to that all the hours she had to spend training her dog- although it sounds more like a joy than a chore. And the adorable golden retriever, Puzzle, certainly loved to work! I was amazed not just at how well the dogs could use their noses, but also how subtly they could indicate to their handlers what they had found- no human scent at all, scent but not of the right person, scent of the person but too old, or fresh scent- and each dog communicated this differently. Although they trained for work at disaster sites, in burned or semi-collapsed buildings, most of the stories Charleson shares are of smaller searches through neighborhood streets. For wandering Alzheimer\’s patients, missing children, drowning victims. Some end happily, with the missing person found quickly, others are left open-ended, the volunteers not knowing if the case was ever solved. It can be a very emotional read. Scent of the Missing is a well-written, intense heart-tugger of a book. I\’m really glad I got the chance to read it.

I first added this book to my TBR after reading Caribousmom\’s review, and then the publisher so kindly sent me a copy to read. Thanks to both of them. I\’ll probably be holding onto this book for several re-reads. It\’s that good.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 288 pages, 2010

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

Belly Laughs

the Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth
by Jenny McCarthy

I don\’t really follow the doings of celebrities, or even recognize who they are half the time, so I had no idea who Jenny McCarthy was when I picked up her book to read. All I can tell you is she\’s rather funny. And blunt. In Belly Laughs she shares anecdotes about all the uncomfortable, embarrasing things about being pregnant that most people won\’t talk about (at least in public). The nausea, constipation, vivid dreams (mine are much weirder than hers!) mood swings, bloating, acne, etc. I haven\’t experienced all the things she mentioned (nor did she; some of the stories are of her friends) but recognized plenty of what she went through. It\’s nice to know you\’re not alone, and nice to be able to laugh about it. But the book doesn\’t give you much more than that. You can read it all in one sitting. The stories are all very short, and not very descriptive. I was expecting a little bit more. She uses lots of profanity and crude humor, so be forewarned, if those things offend you. It did get rather tiresome (as did the constant mentions of her celebrity lifestyle).

Rating: 2/5 …….. 165 pages, 2004

more opinions at:
Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Tags: 2/5- Just Okay, Current Reads, Parenting / Pregnancy

Mormon Enigma

Emma Hale Smith

by Linda Newell and Valeen Avery

Not sure how many of you blog readers know this, but I grew up in the LDS church. I don\’t recall learning much about Emma beyond that she was Joseph Smith\’s first wife and founded the Relief Society. So it was with a lot of curiosity that I approached this book. For being a well-researched, historical text, Mormon Enigma is also a surprisingly good read. It\’s engaging and well-written and didn\’t bog me down like a lot of historical books tend to do. Although the authors are both members of the church, the book doesn\’t feel biased but simply presents facts. I appreciated that they only included information that was verified by at least two separately documented sources (including diary entries, letters, public and church records, and news articles). The book encompasses the life of Emma Smith, and tells a lot about early church history, particularly from the perspective of women. Emma was a very strong character and it\’s hard to imagine living through her trials. She faithfully followed her husband through all kinds of difficulties but bitterly opposed the introduction of polygamy. After her husband\’s death she raised his children by herself, and one of her sons became the leader of the Reorganized church, which she also joined. An interesting read, if you\’re curious about early church history or this remarkable woman.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 432 pages, 1984

more opinions at:
Shelah Books It

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Current Reads, Nonfiction (general)

How to Talk to Your Cat

by Jean Craighead George

I initially picked up this book at a used sale because of the author; I still remember how thrilled I was as a kid to read her descriptions of wolves communicating via body language with a lost child in Julie of the Wolves. What can this author teach me about communicating with my cat? I thought. A few days ago when I actually picked up the book to read, I felt a little more dubious. It\’s pretty brief, and kinda old, so I wondered if I\’d actually learn anything new. Glad to say that I did, and this one is worth holding onto.

How to Talk to Your Cat isn\’t just about feline body language, although there are detailed sections on what different postures, tail waves, whisker positions, vocal sounds etc. can mean. But it\’s also a lot about cat behavior, what your cat does and why, that lets you understand it better. I didn\’t know how far an outdoor cat could roam; according to George my Irwin could have a ranging territory of up to 2 square kilometers! (That\’s twice what I\’d previously imagined). I also had assumed that cats claim a patch of land and defend it against all other cats, keeping them out, but she says they\’re not like dogs in that regard. They keep other cats out of their particular home turf- which in this case would be my house- but in the greater ranging territory don\’t mind other cats using their pathways and hunting grounds, as long as they don\’t encounter each other doing so. They just like to keep their distance. It gave me a very different picture of what my cat does when he walks outside by himself.

One section I particularly enjoyed reading was about how a mother cat communicates with and teaches her kittens; the author had a cat who raised several litters in their house, and wrote about her observations (most things in the book are described via little anecdotes about her cats or the cats of people she knows). I can\’t ever picture myself allowing one of my cats to reproduce, so it was charming to read about what that\’s like, watching kittens be born and raised in the house.

This little book is actually an abridged version of a longer text. The opening and closing chapters talk about all kinds of animals communicating with people, and I gather that the original book then had a section on dogs and maybe a few other domestic animals too; this volume just focuses on the cat. I also gather there\’s a much newer edition with lively illustrations, which seems more geared towards children than my older copy (and I wonder if the newer version edited out all the parts that describe in detail the cat\’s mating behavior).

Rating: 3/5 ……. 101 pages, 1985

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

The Birth of Love

by Joanna Kavenna

Four stories are woven together in this novel, each in some fashion related to birth. They span the centuries; the first is placed in the year 1865 when one Ignaz Semmelweis has realized that childbed fever or puerperal sepsis, which killed hundreds of women in hospitals annually, could be prevented by doctors simply washing their hands. He tries to convince other doctors to follow this simple practice but is ridiculed, ostracized and eventually goes mad (the story is actually centered on a man interviewing him in an insane asylum). The second storyline focuses on an author who decades later has just published a book about Semmelweis and is struggling to deal with the sudden publicity, which he finds very uncomfortable. Then there is a modern-day setting of a woman in London preparing to give birth to her second child at home with a midwife. The last story is set in a futuristic dystopia, when every womans\’ eggs are \”harvested\” and only those eggs considered genetically superior are fertilized and raised in laboratories. One woman is condemned for having given birth naturally, as a threat to the survival of the species.

All of the stories in The Birth of Love seemed to me to have a common theme of lack of control, on the part of those giving birth. Not only the women going through childbirth, but also those, in a sense, birthing new ideas. Semmelweis suffered mental agonies trying to make his ideas of cleanliness a reality that would save the lives of childbearing women. The fictional author Michael Stone is overwhelmed by events when his book is finally published (or \”born\”)- being hustled here and there to events planned by others, forced into meetings with strangers, etc. The mother in London expects her second birth to be easier than the first, but instead finds herself struggling through hours of pain and finally capitulates to being moved to the hospital, things not at all going the way she\’d planned. And of course the dystopian story is all about women having lost control of their bodies, not only can they never give birth, but some are forced to work in \”sexual release centers\” solely to please men, and when one does bear her own child, others refuse to even acknowledge that it happened.

I found every one of these storylines intriguing, even though none of the segments really went into the kind of character depth I love. After finishing the book, I was anxious to read more about Semmelweis and discover what finally convinced doctors in later years to follow his practices (germ theory was not yet known when he claimed that handwashing would stop the spread of contagion). Being interested in things bookish, I was curious to read about the turmoil the author went through after his words, written in solitude, were suddenly thrust into the public view and scrutinized. I could really relate to the woman in London, who worried about how her first child would adjust to having a new sibling, while she anticipated her new baby\’s arrival (although I thought it amusing that every time the older child- still not quite talking clearly- needed distracting he was offered food or drink. Didn\’t they ever give him a toy or game, but always ply him with food?). And of course it\’s always horrifyingly fascinating to think of the future and what extreme measures might be taken if we actually do destroy our planet with global warming, pollution and overcrowding, as the final tale vividly portrays.

Altogether a most interesting book. The interweaving of birthing themes kept me intent. I borrowed this one from the public library, read it after seeing the review on Farm Lane Books Blog.

Rating: 3/5 …….. 304 pages, 2010

more opinions at:
Savidge Reads
Reading Books, Reading Stories, Reading Life

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, General Fiction

winners!

Random.org has chosen the winners for my cougar bookmarks!

Jenny won the baby cougar set

Esperanza won the adult cougar set

If the winners would email their address to jeanenevarez (at) gmail(dot) com, I\’ll send your bookmarks out on Monday! If you didn\’t win the cute cougars, don\’t be sad. Check back again the coming weekend for my next giveaway!

The Midwife

A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times

by Jennifer Worth

As a young nurse, Jennifer Worth moved into a convent in the 1950’s, to become a midwife for the very poor. The dockside slums where she worked were dismal, squalid and packed full of humanity- many buildings were condemned and yet families with ten or more children often lived in just a few rooms. Birth control was non-existent, antibiotics barely making their appearance on the scene; doctors were mistrusted and the hospital setting feared. It was quite a different time period, and Worth really makes it come alive. Her storytelling is full of wonderful characters and descriptions of human suffering that will wring your heart. Two of the stories really moved me- I admit I literally cried tears when I read about the workhouse conditions that had rendered an old lady destitute with grief. And the family with twenty-four children (yes, twenty-four!) whose last baby was born under dangerous circumstances, very frail indeed, kept me breathless on my seat. I was amazed at that mother’s love and tenderness for her child, even when her own life was in jeopardy.

There are darker sides, too. Neglect and ignorance, women beaten by their husbands, young girls forced into prostitution, children starving. To it all Worth brought her helping hand, sometimes extending herself beyond the call of duty. She absorbed the love of the nuns who taught her. On first arriving at the convent she (not being a religious sort) found the nuns and their way of life odd, perhaps even amusing, but throughout the book you see her attitude slowly changing towards them. It was just as intriguing to read about life in the convent as it was to read about her visits to patients; the book wasn’t all entirely stories of childbirth as I rather expected. The Midwife is really about people, people doing their best and keeping their humor in the worst of circumstances.

I happened to really enjoy the appendix, where the author explains the Cockney dialect as its own language; it was very interesting and I enjoyed reading the sentences as they were written phonetically out loud, to see if I could figure out what they said before she explained it to me! It really added some extra flavor and depth.

Rating: 4/5

340 pages, 2002

More opinions at:
The Curious Reader
The Book Nest

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Current Reads, Parenting / Pregnancy

Baby Owl

by Aubrey Lang

Baby Owl is a lovely little book about how great horned owls grow up. I really picked it up for the beautiful photographs (acquired when the author\’s husband, a wildlife photographer, built a platform 25 feet up in a nearby tree to observe the owl nest for nearly three months!) but was quite pleased with the text as well. It\’s easy to read and although written for a younger audience, very informative. Together the words and pictures describe how the young owls grow and develop, from the moment the eggs are laid until they are old enough to fly off on their own. It\’s really neat to see how the owlets change, from fuzzy little blobs, to getting the first patterned feathers, then finally becoming sleek adults. All the stages of their first year are well-illustrated; at first they just sit around the nest eating and sleeping, when a little bigger they stretch their legs and flap their wings, eventually the biggest one hops out of the nest to glide down to the forest floor where he perches on a short tree and the parents continue to feed and protect him. The owls are really striking animals and it\’s amazing to see how well-hidden they are with their stippled plumage blending into the surrounding tree bark. I\’m so taken by this little book that I now want to look for others in the series and share them with my kid.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 36 pages, 2004

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads, Juvenile Nonfic

the Dare month!

Well, I’ve done it! Made it through January only reading off my shelves, thanks to CB’s TBR Dare. I feel like I kinda outdid myself, reading a total of twelve books (usually my monthly reads only average to about six, I think). As you can see, there are now some nice leaning gaps opening up in my shelves! Soon I’ll have to rearrange (and make space for more books, ha ha!)

In the last few days there I really crammed in a bunch of shorter books, because I have already reserved quite a few pregnancy books from the library and am anxious to get to them right away (some on hold by other patrons so I can’t renew them) and thus I didn’t want to have a new, longer book half-started on the first day of Feb. Silly me. The last one I read last night, a juvenile non-fiction about great horned owls, will get a review tomorrow as I feel I’ve already posted enough today!

It really feels nice to clear some of these books off my shelves, that have sat there so long waiting to be read. Even though I’m not officially going to be part of the Dare anymore I’ll still be following along in spirit, reading as much off my shelves as I can between the books I borrow from the library. And now I’m going to dive into the pregnancy titles!

Good luck to the rest of you, who are sticking it out until April!

Month: February 2011

A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times

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