Category Archives: Book Reviews

Review: NDF novels #4

Posted on by
Reply

A Life in Trauma
Memoirs of An Emergency Physician
Chris Luke

“Concern. Compassion. Doubt. Despair. Anger. Hope. Imagine juggling these feelings every day in a situation where your work could mean the difference between someone’s life or death.” I confess that I didn’t finish ‘reading’ this book (I read it as an audiobook). I found the tone to be extremely dry and everything was delivered in a flat tone of voice. The only reason that I got most of the way through it was because I had a 4 hour commute by myself, and I forgot to download a different book! That being said, I still enjoyed this book more than Undoctored.

Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Adam Kay

Another audiobook that I listened to. Plenty of interesting trauma stories as long as you filter out the voice of Adam Kay. What can I say? I was super bored, this was short, and I could easily tune out of it to pay attention to the rest of the conversations in the room. After awhile it became a bit more repeditive (the same stupid people still do stupid things at Christmas). Someone keen for more Adam Kay is going to love it, someone wanting to hear more about the lives of medical doctors will probably cringe and enjoy it in equal measures.

Made in China
Anna Qu

This book read like a sensationalised novel, and I’m not certain I got something particularly valuable out of it. I have read many other books about the experiences of Chinese immigrants, some that are memoirs (Mao’s Last Dancer, Shanghai Acrobat) and others that are fictional (Tiger Daughter). This is the second in a series of unremarkable memoirs I’ve read recently. I wouldn’t pay to buy this book, and I’m sad at home much time I spent reading it. I don’t think that the story within is particularly unique any more. There’s usually not much to comment on for a non-fiction novel, and this one even more so.

Review: Samer Nashef – The Naked Surgeon

Posted on by
Reply

The Naked Surgeon
The power and peril of transparency in medicine
Samer Nashef

“We are not meant to touch hearts. We all have one, but most of us will never see one. The heart surgeon now has that privilege but, for centuries, the heart was out of reach even for surgeons. So when a surgeon nowadays opens up a ribcage and mends a heart, it remains something of a miracle, even if, to some, it is merely plumbing. As with plumbers, the quality of surgeons’ work varies. As with plumbers, surgeons’ opinion of their own prowess and their own attitude to risk are not always reliable. Measurement is key. We’ve had a century of effective evidence-based medicine. We’ve had barely a decade of thorough monitoring of clinical outcomes.”

As someone who has a regrettably bad grasp on statistics, this book was fantastic! It explained some pretty complex modelling scenarios in a way that didn’t make me feel stupid and that I’m certain a non-scientist would understand. I didn’t expect to enjoy reading it, but the author does a great job delivering the material in a way that kept me preferentially keep going over other parallel reads I was doing. Also, I felt the need to share some random facts with others in my vicinity. Cool stuff!

It’s terrifying to think about the success rates of some of the earliest surgical interventions. Reading old veterinary novels (eg. James Herriot) reminds us of a time when medicine wasn’t actually all that good at fixing things! I think that’s it’s quite common that if you are facing surgery you just trust that the surgeon is going to do the right thing, and try to get a good outcome for you. This is particularly true in Australia and Britain where the public health system is free/low cost. This book is a timely reminder to check your options and seek a second opinion if you need one. Trust doctors, but also do your own research.

This book was quite British based, but still has relevance to healthcare around the globe. I found it so interesting to see that my preconception that governments see the most ‘efficient treatment’ to be the cheapest as true. Sometimes (perhaps even always?) this might lead to poorer patient outcome in terms of survival – because someone who dies on the operating table doesn’t have any expensive post-surgery rehab!

I recently lost an uncle to a mostly unexpected heart attack after he’d already had a successful intervention earlier in the year. I’m certain that his surgeon is one of the ones who obsesses over those that they lose and improves from that loss. The other heart scenario I have personally encountered is an aortic dissection – which is actually quite rare! All this sends home the message that even though heart surgery has come a long way it’s still better to keep yourself in shape to stay out of the operating theatre.

It’s a book best ‘enjoyed’ slowly, so that you can let the statistics sink in. I’d keenly read more books by this author, if he chooses to share his thoughts on other medical topical matters.

Review: NDF novels #3

Posted on by
Reply

Believe
Sam Frost

I tried so hard to like this book because I requested it for review. I was expecting it to have actionable points to improve my life. Instead, I got some serious navel-gazing by the author that didn’t encourage me to keep reading. I am a fan of ‘believing’ in yourself, but I’m also not a subscriber to the idea that if you ‘just believe’ you’ll find everything you need coming your way. Sam’s words around her anxiety and depression didn’t work for me, but might appeal to others. I’m always hesitant to recommend a book that suggests you can just think your way out of being anxious and depressed – sometimes medication is a must, and books like this one can occasionally actually make people think drugs are optional or the easy option. It wasn’t for me.

Hachette | 30 March 2022 | AU$32.99 | paperback

Mind Fuel
Bear Grylls

Who doesn’t like Bear Grylls? Known for his survival beyond the odds, Bear Grylls has plenty of tips to share of how to overcome fears and achieve feats! I’ve grouped this book with ‘Believe’ though, because once again it’s all about the power of the mind. I was hoping for a inspirational read of some of the science behind surviving crazy environments, and instead got a series of quotes from other people that Bear Grylls seems to think are important. I’m never fond of quote books at the best of times, and this one, with random quotes for a year, I just couldn’t get into. I tried reading from the beginning, reading one a day, jumping into the middle of the book – nope, no good. I’m not even really sure who to recommend this book to, because liking Bear Grylls didn’t make the book more accessible for me.

Hachette | 11 October 2022 | AU$34.99 | paperback

You Can Do It
How to find your voice and make a difference
Marcus Rashford & Carl Anka

This lime-green book is the final one in this set of three horrible self-help books that I couldn’t get into and enjoy (and thus left them sitting on my shelf for almost a year before calling it done). This book promises a nice mix of stories, hot-tips and advice to keep you on your footballing toes. For me though it ended up just being more ‘believe in yourself’ advice. I really wanted to like it! I felt sure that I’d enjoy it – I absolutely think that young people need more support to become themselves. The big print text and shoutouts didn’t work for me as I’d much prefer to read a bit more dense text. I think I’ll give it to my local teenage reader and see what she thinks of it. Ultimately though, I think it’s destined to leave my house.

Pan Macmillan | 26 July 2022 | AU$19.99 | paperback

Review: Misa Sugiura – Love & Other Natural Disasters

Posted on by
Reply

Love & Other Natural Disasters
Misa Sugiura

“When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind. That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer. Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for.”

What a sweet little read! Don’t come here hoping for anything deep though. You’ll need to suspend your disbelief a bit, and also be willing to play along with the stupidity of some characters. I was all for ZoZo not having done anything wrong. Ok, she didn’t explain herself very well, but hey! Everyone else was happy to go along with the lie! And they blame her. Pah.

Is it just me, or did the cultural backgrounds of each of the characters not really mean anything? I knew that ZoZo was of Asian descent because of her name, but the rest? I didn’t really keep track. It’s refreshing that it didn’t matter and that I didn’t notice, but is that truly the way things are? I very briefly noticed that Arden was darker than the rest due to Willow’s make-up stash, but that was about it.

I’m not sure how I felt about Baba’s ending. Was there a right answer? I wanted there to at least be another answer. Even if hiring help just delays the problem, I thought that Baba deserved something more. Also, it’s been years since I thought about Saruko’s thousand cranes. How old is Dela in that her parents could get away with that for so long? I guess there is seeing and realising, and seeing and pointedly ignoring!

A refreshing lack of straight relationships here! I didn’t really get Max and ZoZo’s relationship – I can’t imagine being that rude to my older brothers (who would no doubt sit on me at the thought of such a thing!). The only straight relationship we see is approaching divorce. Oh, and I guess Baba and Jiji, but we don’t actually know what happened to Jiji.

Anyway, I gulped this down as an eBook from my library and now, a couple of months later, barely remember the storyline and don’t really care about any of the characters. So I guess it’s 3 stars from me.

Review: Mette Jakobsen – The Snow Laundry

Posted on by
Reply

The Snow Laundry
Mette Jakobsen

“Sixteen-year-old Ally is one of 400 homeless young people who have been promised new and better lives in exchange for their votes. The once homeless children and teenagers are now warm and fed. But they are forced to work for the new administration – and their new home is really a prison. When Ally’s boyfriend Bon vanishes into thin air, her search for him leads her to discovering that the homeless kids are really lab rats intended for scientific testing. And as Ally delves deeper into her search for Bon, she learns the frightening truth behind his disappearance.”

This novel is really just another dystopia end of time book, unfortunately probably best compared to The Hunger Games. All the homeless children have been trapped/rescued into a single building where they slave away in a laundry / kitchen for the right to live.

What I don’t get is why they haven’t wiped out the undesirables of the population already. Everyone is armed, and apart from the clean up if they were shot, it doesn’t seem too different to Maslin’s end game. Is Maslin meant to be Mussolini?

Ally makes herself sick over Bon! For someone who has apparently survived on the street for a long while, she’s not very resilient. She’s got sort-of friends, and sort-of talents, but the situations and solutions she ends up in are highly improbable.

I don’t regret reading this novel, it passed the time on a very long bus ride, but I felt like there could be more substance. 3 stars, and I guess when the follow-up novel is done I might read it.

Review: Phillipa McGuinness – Skin Deep

Posted on by
Reply

Skin Deep
Phillipa McGuinness

“This is a book about skin. The strange wonderfulness of our bodily covering. What happens to it when something goes wrong. How the world responds to imperfection and difference. It’s about how skin makes us who we are. Skin serves as a barrier between us and the germs that would otherwise invade and destroy us. You will intuitively compile information and judgements about a stranger based on their skin and the clothing that covers it. Skin shouldn’t give you the measure of a person but we function as if it does.”

This is filled with interesting factiods about skin! I found it very dense reading (it had so many LAYERS hahaha), and I couldn’t just keep reading on through it. I wanted to take notes at times, because some of the things that the author described were fascinating. I put this book down and took a long while to pick it up again. I wasn’t sure if I could cram more information into my brain that isn’t directly relevant to my day job at the moment (sad, but true).

I’d recommend this as not-particularly-light reading for almost anyone! The science is definitely quite dense, but it has multiple powerful messages. I particularly liked the discussion of ‘race’ and how skin colour (which we have known for a long time is linked to multiple genes and factors) is almost completely irrelevant to a person’s rate. Well worth reading, and probably worth sharing around in your family, even if you sell it off as ‘well, read it so you’ll be convinced to get your skin checked for skin cancer!’

Penguin | 16 March 2022 | AU$34.99 | paperback

Review: Karelia Stetz-Waters – Satisfaction Guaranteed

Posted on by
Reply

Satisfaction Guaranteed
Karelia Stetz-Waters

Cade never expected to inherit anything from her family – it’s not like she’s ever fitted in and she’s always privately thought that she must have been adopted. Serena on the other hand hasn’t been able to plan for the future after her last falling-out left her with nothing. Thrown together to try to save a sinking sex toy store, will Cade and Serena be able to save the shop, their sex and their lives?

Cade and Serena are great examples of characters that some people will recognise themselves in (I graviated towards Cade) and others may think are just too stereotypical. The good news is that you don’t have to like them both to enjoy the novel! You also don’t need to like sex toys (it’s perfectly ok if you don’t like or need sex) or art to appreciate the novel.

Karelia and her publisher kindly provided me with a eBook copy – which I promptly failed to review (darn, I hate eBooks). I then waited patiently until my physical copy arrived in the mail, and then began reading it aloud to the other two lesbians in my household. Unfortunately, I was really REALLY invested in the story again, and so I wanted to read ahead of them. So… I finished it without them. My copy is actually looking a little beaten up, which I guess shows how much I love it.

I then wrote a review… and WordPress ate it! Grah! I’m back again now considering my third re-read because I loved it so much. I thought it was much better than the previous novel in this ‘series’ which was Worth the Wait. I’m now waiting impatiently for the next book, Behind the Scenes. If you’re a person who identifies as queer, know someone who identifies as queer (which is surely just about everyone?) – this author is for you.

I passionately recommend all of Karelia’s novels to the Queers in your life. Karelia writes a really enjoyable romance style where the sex is a bonus rather than expected. I find that most of her characters come alive for me, and even though I know what the ending will be, I still feel certain that I might be tricked and there won’t be a happily ever after.

Review: Baba Prasad – Nimble (S)

Posted on by
Reply

Nimble
Make Yourself and Your Company Resilient in the Age of Constant Change
Baba Prasad

“Today’s world is best described by one word: turbulence. Every leader today knows they need to be nimble, agile and resilient–but how? In this engaging and insightful new book, management strategist and Wharton Fellow Baba Prasad sheds new light on the subject, and offers practical advice for executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone else who’ll need the skills to face the unpredictability, risk, and deep uncertainty that lies ahead. Filled with vivid examples and insights from around the world and throughout history – from the Brazilian rainforest and the “frugal innovation” of 19th century Indian engineers to Ericsson, Lego, Burt’s Bees, and Zara–Nimble reveals what sets the most nimble leaders and organizations apart from the competition, presenting five types of agility that help individuals and companies not just survive but thrive in times of great change”

This book gives readers a guide to becoming more agile in today’s fast-paced business environment. The 5 agilities discussed in the book are:

  1. Analytical agility – allows a company to change the means and methods of analysis.
  2. Operational agility – helps the company gain dynamism through its operational resources.
  3. Inventive agility – enables the generation of new ideas, creative solutions, and alternate uses of resources to solve problems the company has not seen before or to take advantage of new opportunities the company faces.
  4. Communicative agility – is the skill a company has to persuade its audiences and to convey the value of its ideas through words and speech.
  5. Visionary agility – allows the company to recognize the long-term impact of the decisions it is making.

Each chapter of the book focuses on one of these agilities, offering a detailed explanation of what it is and why it matters, as well as real-world examples of companies that have successfully developed and leveraged that agility. The author’s use of business examples helps bring these concepts to life, making them more tangible and easier to understand.

The author also includes exercises and activities that readers can use to help them develop their own agility in each of the five areas. These practical exercises help readers apply the concepts to their own lives and businesses.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to succeed in a world that is constantly changing, this book is sure to be a valuable resource for leaders and professionals across all industries. If anything, it’s a great reminder to be agile in business. 3.5 stars

Quick Reviews of Non-Fiction Business Books #1 (S)

Posted on by
Reply

The Resilient Leader
Life Changing Strategies to Overcome Today’s Turmoil and Tomorrow’s Uncertainty
Christine Perakis

This book is designed as a quick read that presents a good storyline, but falls short in delivering specific tips on leadership. While the book contains some generic advice, it offers nothing new or groundbreaking. However, it does have action points at the end of each section, making it a practical guide for those seeking to apply the advice presented. Overall, while the book is a fast read, it is not suitable for readers seeking in-depth knowledge on leadership or looking to learn new and innovative strategies.

Great Quotes for Great Businesses
Words That Leaders Live By
Bud Carter

This book presents a collection of quotes from successful business leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, and sports stars. While the book has a range of quotes, it is an average read. The book covers different chapters, but there is not much variance in the content. I’m not a huge fan of quotes in general, as there seems to be a quote for everything, even contradictory.  While the book provides some inspiration, the content can be repetitive, and some quotes may not be relevant to all readers. Overall, it is an average read but it is what it says it is.

Engineer Your Business
The 6 Proven Steps to Evolve
Mike Dowsett

The book does not delve deeply into any particular concept, but instead offers a diverse range of perspectives on business systems, process, cost savings and more. While some of the sections may be familiar to readers who are already well-versed in this area, there are also some fresh insights and unique strategies that will be useful to readers seeking new ideas. It’s a nice quick read and is easy to flick through to sections you’re interested in. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick and easy read that offers a diverse array of ideas and perspectives on business.

Review: Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments #1-3

Posted on by
Reply

The Mortal Instruments #1-3
Cassandra Clare

Clary’s seeing things that she knows shouldn’t exist, and interacting with demons that can’t be real. Or are they? Clary’s mom has disappeared and her mom’s best friend is acting strangely, and Clary can only think of the ShadowHunters as the enemy. Or maybe Jace could be more than a friend, if only he wasn’t so prickly?

Clary is a decent enough protagonist considering her background as a regular old mundie (mundane) means that she’s at a disadvantage most of the time. Honestly though, I feel like she just kept being told she was too weak and noone bothered to train her. Also, the thing with the stele – wouldn’t you be kind of bothered if you lost it as many times as she seems to? Wouldn’t you put an AirTag on it? I don’t know how well this story will age into the future, but it’s still pretty good (10 years on??).

I picked up books 1-3 and 5 from the opshop for a grand total of $10, thinking that they could be a good fit for the emerging teen reader in my life. I thought I’d better have a quick read of them first to make sure they were good though! I’d previously tried to get into this series by listening to an audiobook (why did things happen so slowly?!?) and testing the TV series (too disconnected and visually distracting). They are pretty dense books and the action is quite slow which is why it didn’t work for me in either of those two media. This time around I knew that I had the next couple of books waiting for me so I could just gobble them up.

I’m undecided about the ‘twists’ in this novel. Ok, so I’m probably weird, but I was totally ok with the fact that they might be siblings and attracted to each other. They were raised individually, so what do you expect?! Anyway, that conundrum is sorted out by the end of book 3, which is why I stopped reading at that point.

I’m giving this three stars – pretty compelling while I was reading it, and I felt quite driven to keep reading the next two inther series. But! Once I finished book 3, I was actually ok with just putting the series down again. What more could I want than darkness vanished?