Scarlett Reviews 'The Book of Madness and Cures'

by Regina O'Melveny

 Book Description (per Amazon)

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

Dr. Gabriella Mondini, a strong-willed, young Venetian woman, has followed her father in the path of medicine. She possesses a singleminded passion for the art of physick, even though, in 1590, the male-dominated establishment is reluctant to accept a woman doctor. So when her father disappears on a mysterious journey, Gabriella's own status in the Venetian medical society is threatened. Her father has left clues--beautiful, thoughtful, sometimes torrid, and often enigmatic letters from his travels as he researches his vast encyclopedia, The Book of Diseases. 

After ten years of missing his kindness, insight, and guidance, Gabriella decides to set off on a quest to find him--a daunting journey that will take her through great university cities, centers of medicine, and remote villages across Europe. Despite setbacks, wary strangers, and the menaces of the road, the young doctor bravely follows the clues to her lost father, all while taking notes on maladies and treating the ill to supplement her own work.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company (April 10, 2012)
• ASIN: B008KUEGLQ

My Review

I was so excited to finally receive The Book of Madness and Cures in the mail.  It was a book I’d requested from the publisher and I was beside myself with excitement when it arrived.  I love historical novels and, if you toss in a bit of medicinal lore sprinkled with early treatments for madness, you’ve got this clinician drooling! I couldn’t wait to read about the adventures of Gabriella Mondini: a 16^th century Venetian physician determined to practice medicine during the Renaissance, when doing so could be construed as heretical.  Remember, most gals in the 16^th century used needles for needlepoint, not suturing wounds!  Gabriella’s unseemly interest in such manly things is tolerated by the physicians in Venice only because her father, a renowned physician, acts as her mentor.  When he abandons her in pursuit of a personal quest, Gabriella is no longer permitted to practice the healing arts.  The tale of her attempts to find her father, and complete their book of cures for madness, moves the story along. I could scarcely contain my excitement as I settled in for, what I was sure would be, a delightful read.

It really should have been.  All the requisite pieces for a perfect story were there, yet, the story fell flat.  I regret to say that it just did not pull me in.  The dialogue, in general, was stilted and the interactions between mistress and servant were unrealistic for the Renaissance period.  Interesting case histories of patients suffering from madness are interjected sporadically throughout the book.  All-in-all, the clinical feel of the writing was such that it left me removed from the supposed distress of the protagonist. Still, this is a debut novel and O’Melveny certainly has talent.  Her next book, I’m sure, will flow more freely.  This one, however, earned 3 of 5 hearts from this reviewer.

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Disclaimer:  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  My review reflects my honest opinion of the work.

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Scarlett's Review of 'The Innocent', by David Baldacci

A well-written, fast-paced, action-packed, thriller!

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Book Description
Publication Date: April 17, 2012

America has enemies--ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target. But Will Robie may have just made the first--and last--mistake of his career.

It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway-her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.

Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power. Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life . . . and perhaps his own.

Product Details (per Amazon) 

·        File Size: 678 KB

·        Print Length: 433 pages

·        Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0446572993

·        Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 

·        Sold by: Hachette Book Group

·        Language: English

·        ASIN: B006VFLIYK

My Review

David Baldacci puts the reader through a fast-paced obstacle course in The Innocent, never allowing time to decompress as the story unfolds in terse chapters, averaging about 3 pages in length.  This rapid-fire delivery gives the reader a feel for Will Robie’s complicated life.  We begin to feel conflicted about Will.  He’s a “stone cold killer” and all, but, geeze, the guy’s life stinks! …and, all for the good of the country?

Hints of chinks in Will’s armor become evident as he deviates from his usual MO of kill-or-be-killed and becomes the protector of a young girl.  His humanity creeps further out from hiding when he admits his attraction to two, very different, women.  As he lets down his guard and interacts with them, his social skills are laughable.  His idea of seductive repartee is just shy of a grunt…yet, we understand.  The poor guy’s charisma has taken a beating: his charm blunted by years of trying to avoid bullets and bombs. Who has time for such nicety's? If Will reaches the ripe old age of 45, it will be a miracle …and most likely from the vantage point of a coffin.

The part of The Innocent that stretched reality too much for me was the concept that this “stone cold killer” has latent altruistic tendencies that would make Gandhi humble.  I mean, really, I’ve reared 4 teenagers and the only thing that kept me from killing them was a fear that my gene pool would die out!  So, how can I believe a killer would put up with Julie: a cheeky 14 yr-old, wise-cracking, smart-a##, girl who thinks she knows everything?  Come on, wouldn’t he just shoot her with his trusty Glock and be done with her?  I’m tempted, and I don’t have his creds. (BTW, I’m kidding about my children, of course.  I would never harm them. They are my last line of defense against Nursing Home admission.)

On the subject of ‘shooting’, there is one part of the book that, I must say, I found troubling and extremely offensive. Early in the story, Baldacci included the gruesome murder of an infant.  I almost stopped reading the book at that point. This inclusion contributed nothing to the story line and certainly distanced me from the book, and author. Aside from that disturbing fact, the book is well written and engaging.  Over-all, The Innocent earned 3 of 5 hearts from this reviewer.

Disclaimer:  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  My review reflects my honest opinion of the work.

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Review of: Opening Up

LADIES, LEAVING BEHIND A TWO-TIMING, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, MAN IS DO-ABLE...IF YOU ARE WEARING YOUR FAVORITE SHOES AND TOTING A DESIGNER HANDBAG!

                                                                                                                        

 

 Published :  4/25/2012    

Kindle Edition: about 294 pages

Sold by Amazon  Digital Services

(ASIN:B007XNRD7A)

Language:English

My Review

Bronwyn Mitchell's living large...arm candy for her self-absorbed husband, Ron, whose super-charged libido gets him into all sorts of trouble.  Well, Bronwyn's liberal enough in her thinking but, when Ron brings home the next 'Marilyn-Monroe-Wannabe' actress and proposes a threesome...thank Heavens Bronwyn has sense enough to get out!  The only problem with leaving the old cushy life behind and starting fresh is that she has no real skills: except, of course, she looks great in a skirt. 

Bronwyn's soul searching as she struggles through the confusion of her life-change, leads her to some interesting conclusions about her personal value.  On the way to enlightenment, she bumps into her old flame (that she ditched to marry the wealthier, Ron) and an insular clerk at Changes, the bookstore her friends keep telling her to visit.  Changes, symbolically enough, is a bit of a metaphor for Bronwyn's experiences.  The author cleverly weaves in some of the passages of books Bronwyn chooses from Changes, which help her reflect on her situation.

The story is fast-paced, and, at the beginning I found it a little hard to bond with Bronwyn.  The theme of a poor little rich girl -shaken up by one more decadent thing in her life- just wasn't getting it for me.  I wanted to slap her a couple of times when it seemed she really was clueless.  I was pleasantly surprised by the soul searching she did and the realizations that resulted.  Over-all, I enjoyed this book. I rated it with 3 stars and plan to read Campbell's next one.

                                                                                                                         

This review copy was provided to me by the author.  The content is my honest opinion of the work and was not influenced by the gift.