Monday, April 29, 2024

Some Thoughts About Nonfiction and The Cure for Women by Lydia Reeder

 Whenever I go on a mystery/thriller spree, I remember my father encouraging me to broaden my habits--to the point of examining the books I brought home and telling me "No more Nancy Drew (or whatever mystery) unless you bring home something else.  

Because I didn't really know what he meant, I started to wander the aisles in the adult nonfiction sections and pulling books on ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, the kind with stunning photographs and simple text, developing a fascination with ancient history.  When I found something especially intriguing, I'd show him and we'd look at the photos and read the associated descriptions.

The librarians never interfered or made an eleven-year-old feel awkward.  Sometimes they would flip through a book and comment on the photos.  It was years before I realized, they were probably checking to see if the books were appropriate.  I just appreciated their interest.  Yay, librarians! 

Did it change my love of mysteries and thrillers?  Not at all, but it encouraged a love of historical fiction and for nonfiction.  My father's influence on something "worthwhile," and my mother's love of reading have guided my reading ever since.

So when I realized I was overdoing the mystery thing again, I selected some books to provide balance.

You Only Go Extinct Once sounded interesting, and in-between the author's attempt at humor there are some interesting facts.  Three or four essays in, I'm skimming out the "humor" and learning a few interesting tidbits.  (Did you know opossums have two vaginal tracts and two ovaries?  And why?)

But for every essay, I'm overlooking the superfluous and the annoying humor and finding only a few sentences that make the essay worth reading.
Will probably skim through some more, but even the "funny" introduction annoyed me.

Not recommended.


Thanks goodness for the next one!  I am on the last few pages now, and The Cure for Women will go on my list of all time favorites.

All really good nonfiction for the layperson is as readable as fiction, well-documented, and fascinating.  The Cure for Women is all of that.  

It begins with Elizabeth Blackwell the first woman to earn a medical degree in America in 1849.  I was familiar with the name through both fiction and nonfiction, but knew nothing else about her.  Her efforts (and those of her sister Emily) for the advancement of women in medicine were remarkable.

However, Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi, who studied privately under Blackwell and worked with Blackwell at various times throughout her career, is the main focus of the book.  Both women addressed and fought for higher education for women, for the right to attend medical school, and for women's suffrage.

"Full of larger than life characters and cinematically written, The Cure for Women documents the birth of a sexist science still haunting us today as the fight for control of women’s bodies and lives continues."   

I'll be reviewing the book later with some of the salient details of the tremendous obstacles these women and many others that the book discusses.  Highly Recommended.  

You'll probably be tired of hearing about it before I'm finished talking about it.  My husband already glazes over when I say, "That reminds me of _________ in The Cure for Women.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Lydia Reeder, author for a book that I could hardly bare to put down.  Publication date:  Dec., 2024

I just realized that Lydia Reeder is the author of The Dust Bowl Girls, another nonfiction that I loved.  Reviewed here

11 comments:

  1. I've always loved reading nonfiction...though I mostly read fiction these days. The Cure For Women sounds like one I would really like. I read a book about Elizabeth Blackwell's sister-in-law, Lucy Stone, once that I totally loved. She played a role in women's suffrage. Great post! :D

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    1. Lucy Stone and several other well known names come up for their roles in suffrage and for fighting for education for women! Do your remember who wrote the book about Lucy Stone?

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    2. I think it was by Andrea Moore Kerr.

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  2. Great advice from your father, and the influence of your mother who showed you how wonderful a life of reading could be without having to beat you over the head with it. And the librarians probably loved seeing it all happen, I'm betting.

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  3. His advice has served me well, Sam.

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  4. I'm looking forward to reading The Cure for Women.

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    1. I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm going through my highlights to post more information that reflect the similarities of what is happening now. If you have NetGalley, you can get it as an ARC, Cathy.

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    2. I do have the ARC, I just haven't read it yet. :-)

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  5. I agree that it is very important that nonfiction read as well as fiction, at least for me. I don't read a lot of nonfiction, but I have a lot on my shelves to read.

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    1. I will abandon boring nonfiction as quickly as I abandon boring fiction. Some authors are better at getting their point across. :) I often find that fiction leads me to nonfiction, but also there are always topics that intrigue me.

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