Book 195: A Case of Need by Michael Crichton

Last week, I mentioned this book to my boss and told him I thought it was one of Michael Crichton's last books written before he died. I was completely wrong: this was one of the first books Crichton ever wrote - and in fact, he wrote it when he was still in medical school.

The book was a quick read, but a good one. It is the story of a pathologist (someone who figures out what kind of illness or cancer or infection a patient has based on evidence) that finds out that a colleague has been arrested on charges of performing an illegal abortion... because the patient died of a hemorrhage. He knows his colleague is innocent of the charges and decides to stretch the boundaries of his job description a bit to solve a murder and clear his friend's name.

I am the Ardent Reader, and I am very fussy about the books I read. I start and put down more than I finish, just because I know life is short and my bookshelf is stuffed with books I must finish before I die. I tell you this because I don't often find books that are as intense and engaging as this one - and it hooked me from the very first page. I don't want to spoil the book for you, but I'll tell you one thing: it definitely had momentum... and a ton of twists. And, like most Michael Crichton books, A Case of Need was filled with all kinds of real science, so I learned a thing or two along the way.

There were some hints here and there that the story was not set in today's modern healthcare setting. For one, the doctors all smoked inside and stowed flasks in their desk drawers. Abortion was also illegal in this book, so I knew it had to be set sometime before Roe v. Wade. In fact, Crichton wrote this book in 1969, which I didn't find out until the end. 

A Case of Need was available on Amazon Prime Reading, so I borrowed it for nothing! I hope you'll put it on your list of books to read. I found it fascinating.

The Child by Fiona Barton (Audiobook)

The Child by Fiona Barton was one of the best fiction books I've ever read [or heard on audiobook]. I will remember this book for a long time to come. It was very, very good.


Barton is an expert storyteller. The characters in this story - starting with the reporter, Kate - are realistic enough to touch.


When a newborn baby is found buried in a garden in Howard Street in a small UK village, a tiny blurb - not much larger than a classified ad - appears in the newspaper. The blurb catches Kate's eye, and she decides to pursue the lead. There must be a story behind the child's burial. How did the baby die? How did it get there? Who was responsible? Kate decides to uncover the truth about the newborn's death... even if it is the coldest case most police would ever encounter.


Barton assembled the story through a number of perspectives which can be very confusing. Hang on for the ride, and let her sort it all out. You won't be sorry. The story comes to a beautiful, poignant crescendo at the close of the book.


I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Book 186: The Last Jew of Treblinka by Chil Rajchman (Audiobook)

What a short, disturbing book. And yet, so powerful.

A lot of the Holocaust books I've read have focused on the concentration camps in and around Germany. I never read anything about the Polish camps. I never knew that the Polish camps were not concentration camps - they were extermination camps. With few exceptions, every person who entered Treblinka suffered a horrible fate: immediate gassing and cremation.

The only thing worse than being gassed and cremated was having to shave the heads of men and women who were headed to the gas chambers. And having to pull the teeth of the dead to extract gold fillings. And having to pick up bone shards and unearth corpses. Chil Rajchman did it all, until he escaped. Then later, he identified SS war criminals and testified against them in court.

This story is a profound, disturbing, and moving tale that needed to be heard.

Book 174: The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking

I wasn't totally in love with this book. Although I felt strongly that the lessons within it were worthwhile, the style is a little bit dry. Meik Wiking, the author, is an academic who studies happiness at the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. It sort of felt like a cross between a DIY book and an academic paper.

Despite the style, I learned quite a bit from The Little Book of Hygge about the Danish custom of sharing cozy spaces, warm lighting, comfort food, and comfortable furniture for one purpose: to enjoy each other's company. I didn't know that Danes will invest thousands in the right lamps to achieve Hygge in their cozy living rooms.

These days, with just over a month left in the year and complete my goal, I'll pick up any book that has "little" in the title. This book was just a hundred or so pages (I'm estimating this, since I read it on my Kindle) and went through the major points of Hygge (pronounced "hug-gah") and how to implement Hygge to improve your own quality of life. The author even included recipes to make some of the Danes' favorite comfort foods.

If you're into home decorating and entertaining, this is definitely the book for you.

Dr. Annie Norman: The quiet visionary who changed my life

A few days ago, I "met" a person who (until that moment) I never knew changed my life: Dr. Annie Norman, Delaware's state librarian. Check out this blog post on her from Wilmington University, where I'm working to complete my Master's of Science in Management. Take a look here:
http://blog.wilmu.edu/magazine/updates/the-introvert-steps-out/

How did this woman whom I have never met change my life - so dramatically - for the better? I'll tell you. She created the State of Delaware's online library catalog, and integrated 59 state libraries - including those at universities, to provide Delawareans with access to the State's 2.6 million books, CDs, audiobooks, videos, DVDs, and learning materials.

Let me tell you why Dr. Annie Norman's work matters so much to me.

First, I am a voracious reader. If I had endless amounts of cash, I would certainly spend a mind-boggling amount of money on books and audio recordings to feed my addiction. But I do not have endless amounts of cash. I work a regular job and I am a woman, which means I get paid less than a male who would the same job (that's a topic for another day), and I have other problems to solve with my money, such as keeping a roof over my children's heads and making sure their bellies are full. I cannot afford the books I need (those $200 Master's degree specials that I dread to read), much less pay for the books I want.

Second, I dig deep into books to learn how I can improve the life I currently lead. My formal education at universities are important to me, but quite honestly, they do not compare to the amount of learning and self-reflection I have been able to achieve through books. I consider my formal education (Bachelor's complete, Master's in progress) simply an outward validation of the fact that I am not a blithering idiot. Instead, what really matters to me is the fact that reading has given me insight about myself, about relationships with other people, about learning itself, about writing, about leadership, and about other people's lives. And (bonus!) I get a good dose of delightfully grisly horror fiction to indulge my dark side. (It's a good thing to indulge the dark side in reading, rather than action, if one has a choice.)

The Delaware Library Catalog (www.lib.de.us) allows me to request any item of interest from the 59 participating libraries throughout the state. For no charge, library couriers will deliver my requested items to the library of my choice (Smyrna Public Library), and I get a text message and email when I've got items waiting for me. I can stop by and see my beloved librarians Ms. Nadine, Ms. Jane, Carol, and Kriss, and the items are waiting for me just behind them. Usually, I get my selections within a day or two. And *poof!* I have a copy of the book to read for two weeks, with the option to renew them for up to six weeks. All anyone needs to access this library system is a library card and access to the internet. If a person doesn't have access to the internet, they can simply call their friendly local librarian, who can make a request on their behalf.

Until reading the Wilmington University blog about Annie Norman, I never knew who was behind this beautiful, seamless system I have come to love so completely. Thanks to Dr. Norman, I have cut the barriers between myself and continued learning. The online Delaware Library Catalog has proven to be an invaluable tool for achieving my own personal and career aspirations, and anyone who does not take advantage of this system is missing out.

Thank you, Dr. Norman, for creating a program that has provided me with endless access to books about self-improvement, how to make my own jewelry, genocide, eating the right stuff, Albert Einstein, crazed axe-wielding nurses, caring for and cleaning antiques, Mahatma Ghandi, love and relationships, zombies, Canada, transgender issues, George Carlin, war, peace, death, and taxes. Thank you for helping me learn that I love sociology. Thank you for exposing me to life-changing ideas which have my own understanding of myself and others, and reduced my own ignorance. Thank you for making it possible to avoid paying $22.50 for what I think will be an amazing book, only to open it, read six pages, and decide it's for the birds. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a better person, employee, mother, friend, daughter, and partner through reading and self-discovery.

A library card truly has been my ticket to the world. Thank you, Dr. Norman, from the bottom of my heart.