Books

The Mistresses of Cliveden: Three Centuries of Scandal, Power and Intrigue in an English Stately Home by Natalie Livingstone: What an interesting idea to spin a story around a house instead of a character. Cliveden is a stately manor not far from London and its history starts somewhere in the 17th century. All five women who get their place in the sun here are intriguing characters. Take the last one, Nancy Astor, the first woman elected to the House of Commons. A fresh view on English history.

Artemis by Andy Weir: I loved ‘The Martian‘ which was a very funny and entertaining book. So I hoped for the same pleasure read for the second book from Andy Weir. It’s not quite as entertaining. The story is all over the place, from crime to love and sci-fi. It was a bit much for me and there is just too much happening. The main figure, Jazz Bashara, left me with ambivalent feelings and I don’t believe her to be a midget-sized James Bond.

Armada by Ernest Cline: What do you make of aliens who wait 42 years to attack? First I thought the 42 was an analogy to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but then the number of years had nothing to do with anything. Except with the learn effect this waiting time has on earth. And this is what I liked about the book. It makes you think how we as humanity would actually deal with this kind of scenario. Or rather with similar problems here on earth. We still have a lot to learn!

The Radium Girls: They paid with their lives. Their final fight was for justice. by Kate Moore: This had me enthralled from the moment I started listening to it. The fate of the Radium girls was inevitable. Doomed from the moment they started working at one the different radium companies to paint luminated dials on clocks. The companies not only didn’t warn them but actually lied to their faces that all was safe. But they fought back and eventually changed the history of industrial law.

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