What a Woman

Elizabeth Keckley was born a slave, freed after she purchased her own manumission, then became personal seamstress and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln. This remarkable book tells the story of her indominatable spirit and grit, never accepting what the world would tell her she deserved. Despite her successes, she endured plenty of hardships, and somehow kept her head up and feet moving. This book was, of course, written over a century ago, yet the writing style was engaging and was able to overcome my short (device age) attention span. Could I have done what Elizabeth Keckley did, then, with her disadvantages? Nope, not even now, with my advantages. She was remarkable.

Couldn't Make It Work

This book is kind of a cross between the movie "The Town", and The Omega Man. Except not nearly as engaging as either. Two elderly sisters live out their solitary lives with a vague memory of a maternal warning against outsiders--scared of peering beyond their garden walls. Why, you wonder? Well, you'll have to plod through the book to (kind of ) find out. One very cranky sister seems to be the workhorse, and the other the cook and . . . artist? seems to be the workhorse, and one the cook and . . . artist? As the second secretly works on her dance routine, the story is told from the perspective of the long-suffering gardener. Dinner appears on the table, while she resents all the work she had to do to provide the basis for the meals. Interesting, since from what the book tells us, the effort put into the actual gardening doesn't account for the yield. Of course this weird existence has to be upset by an unexpected interloper, and then things really start to unravel. The sisters' relationship, their memories of their parents, all kinds of things. Honestly, I didn't care about the main characters at all, and just wanted it to end. Nothing about this garden was remotely edible.

All The Fun Without Having to Go to Med School

Wow--this guy isn't "just" a trauma surgeon, he's a bona fide writer, too (and lots of others stuff, as you'll learn). The pages practically turned themselves as I devoured this collection of memories, adventures and medical nuggets as fast as my eyes would let me. 100% recommend, and although I don't read books twice, I'd reconsider my stance for this gem.