Readers United Book Reviews | The Girl on The Train and Hidden Figures

It is amazing how many people we pass daily, on our way to classes or sports or clubs, and it is even more amazing to think of how everyone, from the girl sitting next to you in math class to the teacher who scanned you in before school meeting, has a lively, elaborate life story of their own. Cici Curran '20 reviews two novels with protagonists that have much more complicated stories than it may initially seem.

The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins

A change from the everyday mystery novel, The Girl on the Train recounts a refreshingly twisted tale that consistently challenges your moral compass. Though the use of three perspectives, Hawkins makes it confusing for you to determine who exactly is the “good guy," and who exactly can be trusted. 

As its title implies, The Girl on the Train is centered around a middle-aged woman named Rachel Watson, who is a severe alcoholic, recently unemployed, and divorced. She is in a downwards spiral, seemingly harassing her ex-husband and his new family. Rachel also pretends she still has a job, continuing her daily routine of riding on the train to London, where she observes the seemingly perfect lives of her ex-husband, his new family, and their neighbors. Throughout the story, you are left constantly wondering if you can trust an alcoholic, a liar, or an obviously biased narrator.

Rachel’s husband, Tom, has moved on and now lives with his new wife, Anna, and their daughter, Evie. Anna is assisted in caring for Evie by Megan. Anna lives a seemingly perfect life with Tom, to the point in which she intentionally brags to Rachel that while her life has gotten better, Rachel’s has fallen apart. While Anna may have relished it in the moment, her actions spur Rachel to escalate her harassing, to the extent that Anna feels that she should begin reporting these incidents to the police.

In addition, Rachel's life intersects with Megan's. Megan also seems to lead a perfect life, but hides many secrets from her past and present. Once Rachel discovers Megan’s secrets, she sets off a cascade of events that eventually lands her into the middle of a serious investigation. Rachel begins to discover that no life is perfect and no person is without flaws. 

Verdict: Pick this up if you want a fresh start on a murder mysteries. With twists and turns on every page, you absolutely won’t be able to pu​t T​he Girl on the Train down.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Based mainly around the lives of the 'human computers' of NACA (which later became NASA), Hidden Figures brings you into the lives of the women who broke color and sex barriers as they worked tirelessly to help the United States triumph in the Space Race. In a time when women were expected to stay in the domestic sphere and raise the children, and when African Americans couldn’t vote, Shetterly introduces us to some spectacular women. 

First, you have Dorothy Vaughn, a genius who limited herself to the profession she thought was all she had, teaching. However, when she saw the opportunity to do something more with NACA, she went for it. Defying the odds, she started a new life, moving to a new place alone and leaving all her family and friends behind. She didn’t shy away from any task at NACA, even if that meant forcing her way into meetings she felt she belonged in. Vaughn quickly climbed the ranks.

Another example of a strong woman is Katherine Johnson (originally Goble). She attended West Virginia State college and later became one of the three African-American students, and the only African-American female, to desegregate the graduate school at West Virginia University. Like Vaughn, she climbed the ranks at NACA. Johnson also held together her household after her spouse's death, balancing both her work and home life. 

These two women represent only a fraction of the women who worked day in and day out on getting the first man on the moon while managing their households. The stories of these many different women show how each and every one of them broke barriers in some way or another before most even realized the fact. Shetterly shows us how us how artificial many of limitations imposed based on race and gender were, proving that if you have the talent, you can do anything. 

Verdict: If you can get past the dense reading and the many tangents and footnotes thrown at you, you’ll find yourself quickly entangled in the stories of these inspiring women. Pick this up to entertain yourself with the spectacular and intriguing lives of these 'hidden figures.'

Readers United Meeting Minutes | January 23, 2017

Readers United meets every Monday from 5:30-6:00 in the Rare Book Room of the Library. We have decided to start publishing our meeting minutes with our thoughts about the readings we do as club to the blog.

January 23, 2017

At this meeting, we discussed what book to read from now to Winter Long Weekend. Over a dozen novels and collections were suggested, and we whittled the list down to four. 

Our decision came down to:

1. Opposite of Loneliness

2. Things Fall Apart

3. Cat's Cradle

4. Ray Bradbury Short Stories

The club decided on: The Opposite of Loneliness, with the promise to read some Bradbury short stories together in the future!

Readers United Book Reviews | The Collector and The The Miniaturist

In this installment, Ava Hathaway-Hacker '18 returns to share some deeply thought-provoking stories with convoluted themes and plots.

  

The Collector

John Fowles’s The Collector, often hailed as the first modern psychological thriller, explores the frightening product of one man’s obsession. Frederick Clegg is a lonely, uneducated, and antisocial man whose one true passion is his butterfly collection. Lacking social skills, Clegg has little interaction with others and is isolated and removed from the rest of the world. When Miranda, a beautiful middle-class art student catches his eye, he quickly becomes obsessed, unable to approach her and yet desperate to be with her. After winning a large sum of money in the lottery, he constructs an elaborate plan to collect her. He buys an isolated house in the English countryside and, in a way that feels emotionless and even involuntary on his part, kidnaps and keeps her in his carefully prepared cellar. There, Miranda becomes a part of his collection.

The story is told in three parts: The first from the point of view of Clegg, the second from the diary entries of Miranda, and the third again from Clegg’s point of view. Throughout the gripping and disturbing novel, the most unsettling aspect is the way in which Clegg tells it. Removed, cold, and sociopathic, Clegg never realizes that what he has done is wrong. He understands his collections, but not human emotions, and he tells his portion of the story in a detached voice. He seeks to capture the beauty that he is unable to appreciate and collect that which he cannot ever truly possess.

This is a gruesome novel, not in gore or violence, but in its stark exploration of the darkness and coldness of one man’s soul. Clegg is broken and unhinged, and while it is impossible not to despise him, it is also difficult not to pity the harsh and unfeeling way in which he views life. The ending is devastating, taking the story to a whole new level. Dark, sinister, and troubling, this novel will likely haunt you long after you put it down.

Verdict: Fans of psychological thrillers who can stomach a bit of horror will appreciate the gripping narrative and deeply complex characters.

The Miniaturist

Set in 1686, The Miniaturist, by Jessie Burton, tells the story of 18-year-old Nella Oortman, who moves to Amsterdam after being married off to a wealthy and much older businessman, Johannes Brandt. In the Brandt house, where Nella rarely sees her husband, Johannes Brandt’s cold and strict sister, Marin, commands the household. For her wedding, Nella receives an intricate replica of her new home, with tiny miniatures that match almost every aspect of the house. Nella begins requesting replicas of people and things from the elusive miniaturist. But things are hiding under the surface of the Brandts’ life in Amsterdam, and secrets seem to swirl in every corner of Nella’s new life. When they finally come to light, the revelations are shocking.

A detailed work of historical fiction, The Miniaturist tells a complex and interesting story. Yet, despite its intrigue, some aspects of the story fall flat. The beginning of the novel is fast-paced and exciting, but the plot begins to devolve as the novel progresses. The characters are strong and wonderfully developed, yet the title character, the miniaturist, remains a mystery that the story never seems to truly solve.

Despite its flaws, The Miniaturist manages to touch on multiple intriguing topics: racism, sexism, sexuality, societal repression, greed, and many other themes that transcend the story being told. In addition, the writing is beautiful and evocative. Barton tells a captivating story, if not a perfect one.

Verdict: Historical fiction set in the rich and captivating city of 17th century Amsterdam, this novel is easy to get into, yet slows as the story progresses. Those who love to examine the intricacies of society through literature will love the complex themes the author explores throughout this book.

Readers United Book Reviews | Race In Mind and Independent Filmmaking Around The Globe

Readers United is excited to announce that we will be increasing the frequency at which we publish book reviews! Expect new posts biweekly, on Mondays and Thursdays.


For our first Monday installment, we enlisted the help of Caroline Rispoli '20, an ardent book aficionado. Rispoli is a frequent visitor to the library, and she has checked out many of the new books on display. Her enthusiasm about reading is contagious, and she shares some of the books she has recently read below.

Race In Mind

Written by Paul Spickard with contributions by Jeffrey Moniz and Ingrid Dineen-Wimberly

A collection of essays surrounding race relations both in the past and the present day, Race In Mind delves deeply into how the idea of race came to be and what race truly means. Paul Spickard defends the notion that race is not just one thing, and his knowledge on the subjects of race and ethnicity are evident as he provides a thorough, thoughtful opinion that will have readers questioning their own perception of race today.

Exploring racial multiplicity not just in the U.S but around the globe, the book includes multiple perspectives, and contributions from other civil rights researchers provide a fresh outlook with every turn of the page. With an emphasis on “today’s increasingly multiracial America,” the book does an extraordinary job providing a step by step timeline of the development of race relations over the years.

With much of the book inspired by W.E.B Dubois, an American civil rights activist, historian, and sociologist, Race In Mind ties historical and contemporary racial studies together, exploring them in further depth and comparing and contrasting them. The book gives multiple definitions of race and ethnicity, ranging from the interpretation of Pacific Islander Americans and the significance of race in Hawaii, to interpretations of race from people and populations around the world. Paul Spickard gives insight into the subject of race, something most people would assume they were thoroughly educated in, but, after reading Race In Mind, will realize there is so much more to learn.

Verdict: A fresh and unknown perspective on race and ethnicity, engaging, powerful, and informative. I’d recommend Race In Mind to any and all interested in broadening their education on racial studies.

Independent Filmmaking Around The Globe

Edited by Doris Baltruschat and Mary P. Erickson

Informative, compelling, and eye-opening. Independent Filmmaking Around The Globe provides a much needed glimpse into the hardships, successes, and evolution of what has become independent filmmaking worldwide. Made up of a series of essays, the book comments on the meaning of independence, the changes and progress of independent filmmaking in the present day, and the struggles of independent filmmakers trying to distance themselves and their work from major movie making corporations.

The book provides information and strives to educate the audience on independent filmmaking in places including Greece, Turkey, Iraq, China, Malaysia, Peru, and West Africa. This collection of essays does an extraordinary job comparing the range of difficulties among filmmakers around the globe, highlighting independent filmmakers' motivations to succeed in a line of work where success seems hard to come by. With very little funding, equipment, and actors, it is often hard for filmmakers today to create a finished project. 

However, not all is lost. The book adds that independent films seem to have gotten more and more popular among modern-day consumers, and many independent films have been recognized and awarded for their work. Thus, Independent Filmmaking Around The Globe is a must read that will enlighten you on the topic of independent filmmaking, provide a history as to how independent filmmaking came to be, and provide a global perspective.

Verdict: Anyone interested in filmmaking should read this book; intriguing content and fantastic writing come together to create a book that will leave you feeling satisfied!

Readers United Book Reviews | The Da Vinci Code and Gone Girl

Have you ever been thoroughly flummoxed by a mystery novel? You just know that the author has kindly dropped a hint of breadcrumbs along the way, but the answer itself is still obscure. In this installment, Readers United Vice President Fritz Legaspi is bringing to you some beloved mystery, horror, and thriller novels. He always has something to say and a new perspective to explore.

The Da Vinci Code

Note: This book is part 2 of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series, but can be read as a standalone novel.

As suggested in the title, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code centralizes around a theory behind one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings, The Last Supper. You have probably seen this famous painting, or at least have heard references to it. Supposedly, the man standing to the right of Jesus in the painting is actually the woman that Jesus married, Mary Magdalene. The search for her crypt, also known as the Holy Grail, has inspired many to dedicate their lives searching for it.

In one of the beginning scenes of the book, a Louvre curator named Jacques Sauniére is shot and killed in a museum, causing the police to call upon Robert Langdon. Much like the rest of the book, Langdon is required to solve a puzzle, this time being a code written in Sauniére’s final moments. Soon afterwards, Langdon meets Sophie Neveu, a cryptographer, who reveals that she is Saunière's estranged granddaughter. After deciphering the message written by Sauniére, Robert and Sophie follow the address, arriving in Paris, where their adventures continue taking them around the globe.

Brown’s masterful usage of the third person point of view is immensely intriguing for the book, giving the reader a desire to devour more. Switching points of view at different points of the book, Brown keeps up an extremely mysterious air about the nefarious characters scheming behind the book. As Sophie and Robert get closer and closer to solving Sauniére’s puzzle, the connections between religious organizations and the Holy Grail are developed by Brown. Masterfully tailored with real-life research, Brown paints a burning question: Is the Holy Grail actually Mary Magdalene’s tomb and bones?

Verdict: Extremely recommended, especially if you have some time to burn. If you know a decent bit about art or the Christian religion, it’s pretty helpful, though not necessary.

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is a book unlike any other that I had ever read before. This mystery and thriller capitalizes on a few exceptional motifs, and features a cast like no other. Nick and Amy are a couple that met in New York, but they both lose their jobs, due to the growing technological world. Soon afterwards, the couple move to Nick’s hometown of Missouri to take care of his ailing mother. Amy stays resentful of the move, missing her previous life in New York.

On their fifth anniversary, Amy is nowhere to be found, with the house’s door wide open, as Nick is informed of by a worried neighbor. The mysterious disappearance is the major plot-driving point, as the world crashes down on Nick. Seen as the primary suspect, Nick somehow refrains from revealing too much information, though this merely brings more suspicion onto him. The book continues, switching from the views of Amy’s diary and of Nick’s present-day experiences, and we focus on the question: What has happened to Amy?

Throughout the book, Flynn exquisitely relates between present and past, using Nick and Amy’s diary, respectively, to display how the relationship had deteriorated. Perhaps commenting on the effects of a long-term relationship, Flynn epically depicts an extreme scenario, with both halves of the couple arguably crazy, though one is definitely more so than the other. Via the medium of sharp twists and turns, Flynn leaves readers with an eagerness to read the rest of the book, but also with a slight thrill of excitement as to what might be next.

Verdict: Extremely engaging psychological mystery and thriller book, I’d highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in any of the mentioned topics.

Readers United Meetings Minutes | A Darker Shade of Magic

For our Thanksgiving and winter break reading, Readers United decided to read A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. For all of December, we gathered weekly as a club to discuss what we had read together. We recently finished the novel for winter break, and here are our thoughts about it!

December 13, 2016

Status: Up to Chapter 6 

Thoughts:

• Slightly slow paced beginning; harder to get into than other books
• Great world building
• Discussion and clarification of the four different types of London that constitute the setting of the story:
• Kell lives in Red London, which is the magical London
• Grey London is the one in our world, and it's magic-less
• White London is getting corrupted by magic

Question for blog readers: What do you think of protagonists Lila and Kell so far?

January 9, 2017

Status: Finished book 

Thoughts:

• Positive reaction
• Loved the world building
• Second half of the book is better, faster paced
• Discussion (spoiler alert!): 
• Is Holland alive?
• Holland appears to die in the book, but Kell sends him and the stone to black London without it being confirmed
• There is a second book in the series so it’s likely to resolve this
• Are the brother and sister Danes definitely dead?
• What will the romance be? Kell and Lila? Lila and Rhy? Rhy and Holland?
•  It's nice that the romance isn't really a focus in this story; it's a great example of how a novel doesn't always need romance to be riveting.

Overall, everyone really enjoyed the book and most are thinking of reading the sequel (and some already have!) We would definitely recommend for everyone to check this novel out.

Readers United Book Reviews | Flowers for Algernon and Disrupt Yourself

Dystopian, science fiction, fantasy, nonfiction—each genre has its own appeal, but good writing transcends the categories others may draw. For that reason, Readers United President Truelian Lee ’17 does not have a favorite genre. Over winter break, she grabbed a handful of books randomly off the shelves of her library and started reading, and in this post, she shares with us what she thinks of those impulse picks.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 

Note: This is both a short story and a novel. I review the novel, but the short story is also superbly written. Check it out!  

Noteworthy Quote: “How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes–how such people think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence.”

A refreshing departure from the intergalactic battles so common in science fiction, Flowers for Algernon chronicles a man's meteoric intellectual rise and equally devastating mental deterioration.  

Protagonist Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68, making him an ideal candidate for a scientific experiment that artificially increases his intelligence. This experimental surgery has been performed successfully in a mouse, Algernon, who is now able to solve any of the mazes he is put into. Charlie’s operation is successful, but his happy ending quickly unravels. 

Keyes delves masterfully into the ways intelligence isolates. Even though Charlie’s IQ has now tripled, he still cannot achieve emotional and social well-being. Charlie realizes that his friends have mocked him for years; that his romantic endeavors are complicated by his childhood growing up in a household that desperately wanted him to be normal; that the scientists who gave him the surgery are not as clever as he had thought.

However, after the death of Algernon, Charlie is haunted by a new fear: the regression of his intelligence. When he analyzes the scientific theories behind his newfound intelligence, he finds a loophole—his increased mental dexterity is only temporary. Knowing this, he becomes obsessed with figuring out the flaws in the theories that created the procedure for his operation, poignantly naming the error the Algernon-Gordon effect. 

In the end, Charlie finds that he cannot seamlessly return to his life before the operation. He eventually retreats from the world, his last note a reminder to plant flowers at Algernon’s grave.

His rise and fall are artfully narrated, and after I finished reading, I couldn’t help but feel that Keyes had delicately set up a story for readers to grapple philosophical questions with. What is the worth of life? How important is intelligence? How isolated are we, after all? 
 
Verdict: Pick this up if you like thought-provoking science fiction books. You won't be disappointed.

Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work by Whitney Johnson 

 

Noteworthy Quote: "There is no shortage of jobs-to-be-done and problems to be solved. But there's only one of you. The right problems are those that you somehow feel called to solve, and are capable of solving, because of your expertise and accumulated life experience."

You may have seen the S-curve before in math class or in a biology lecture about cultivating cell cultures, but in Disrupt Yourself, the S-curve features heavily as the key to reinventing yourself in the ever-changing workforce. Johnson articulates a theory of disruptive innovation, which encourages people to take risks and leap into new opportunities. She shares numerous stories of people who have effectively reinvented themselves in their fields.

The book heavily draws from examples in the finance and technology industries, which can be very helpful for those interested. However, I found that the focus on career advancement seemed a little limited, as I would have rather read about the ways this theory could be practically applied in other areas aside from industry.

Nevertheless, this book was very good at distilling the theory into pithy statements, presenting information that may have been gleaned instinctively in day-to-day life with startling clarity. There were more than a couple of times where I would read a statement that I knew about beforehand, but had never consciously recognized. Thus, this book was helpful for me to crystallize my thoughts as I challenged myself to lean into risk and grasp new opportunities.

Disrupt Yourself is a book that exults the lifelong leaner and the self-aware thinker. For those interested in finance, this book will give you a lot of examples and more practical advice. For others, it will serve as a great reminder of the benefits of disrupting yourself.

Verdict: Pick this up if you like self-help books and need a dose of can-do attitude.