The Orphan's Tale - Pam Jenoff

 This was another one of those "recommended for you" books from the library's list.  Overall, it was "meh".  The story was reasonable but not special.  Style of writing fine.  Characters pretty within the normal lines.  Honestly, the only piece of this book that really stood out as special to me was the way the author rationalized the acceptance of the Nazis' atrocities by regular, non-jewish people.  The author explicitly goes over some characters' excuses, which I thought were extremely well thought out.  

"I'm just a poor average Joe.  What can I do?"

"My father is trying to help as many people as he can, so he's had to sacrifice a few Jewish families to keep everyone else safe."

"It's not really that bad.  Those people in camps aren't dying, they're just being kept safe and organized by the government."

"I am already doing all I can hiding two Jews in my business.  There is nothing else I can do."

"My identity is being a German and Germans hate Jews.  So that must be who I am."

Heartfire - Orson Scott Card (The Tales of Alvin Maker, Bk. 5)

 I think I like these books, and all of Cards books for that matter, because the characters are SO logical.  I mean, they have outbursts and anger, but I love how so many of his characters are smart and emotionally intelligent enough to make sound choices regarding other characters.  Most of this book was:  "Well, that person will surely do X, so we better get game plan Y organized".  

I was delighted he addressed the witch trials aspect previously only vaguely referenced in the other books.  I could not think of a better scenario to demonstrate the range of opinions about witch trials.  He has every view covered through the collection of characters.  Though in the end, you know Alvin can do whatever he wants, so it doesn't have that gut wrenching terror that they could burn at any time and the reader is free to focus on the absurdity of it and enjoy the legal wrangling to get out of the trial.  You know the MC gets away in the end with ease, but it is a delightful journey to that point. 

I was less interested in the explanation of the different types of magic, particularly those used by slaves in this book.  I hated how the newly off-boarding slaves gave up their essence and I hated that the return of it didn't coincide with a great (but organized and meaningful) uprising.   However, I'm sure it will come up again.

When I finish all the OSC books, I think I might go back and re-read them all over again when I'm in the mood for a comfort book.

The Bears of Blue River - Charles Major

 For those of you unaware, this is a children's book written many years ago romanticizing America when it was untamed.  Coming from a different era and a completely opposite background as not only the writer but the intended audience, this book came off as beautiful but tragic.  

The MC is a boy in his early teens on the cusp of manhood living in middle Indiana back when it was sparse log cabins and even fewer dirt (mud most of the time) roads.  As a biologist, the portrayal of the untamed wilds of Indiana sing a stunning song of nature.  The angle of the book, as was appropriate for that time, was one of domination over that nature, of bringing her, through the many bears killed, to her knees.  

While I love this side of Indiana, it is now lost, and reading about what I'll never see almost made me sad.  You do want the MC to be successful, but I didn't want him to be at the same time, sort of like watching a lion chase a gazelle.  You want both to win somehow.  

How to Make Tea: The Science Behind the Leaf - Brian Keating & Kim Long

 This is a fantastic review paper for all things tea, covering all the basics. It was super useful, however not terribly exciting to read.  Nonetheless, I would recommend it as an excellent primer for anyone who would like to get into tea, but doesn't have any background and doesn't know what to buy or where to start entering the world of tea.  I know a reasonable amount about tea, and I still learned a few new useful things like water that just reached boiling point is not the same as water that has been boiling for a while.  I have observed the difference but didn't know what the pattern was.  I was amused to learn that when the leaves unfurl in the hot water it is called "the agony of the leaves".  Very dramatic!  Oh, and smelling the tea is absolutely part of the experience and even has some likely health properties as well, so hold that hot tea under your nose and breathe it in.  You'll feel better and it's not all in your head!

Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook - Anthony Bourdain

 The first 2/3 of this book about great food and where to find it, bad food and where to find it, and the general ridiculousness one can find in such a general, world-wide topic were great.  I enjoyed the food porn about pho and the rants of how to separate rich people from their money with dry chicken.  It is beautifully written in all the wrong ways.  The last 1/3 of the book was speaking about various famous chef and food-related people, many of which I did not know, and therefore did not care about in any way.  That part of the book was not entertaining for me because I just didn't care.  So read up until you reach the people part, then ditch it, unless you know those people.  

Small Favor - Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Bk. 10)

 I haven't read a Dresden book for quite a while.  The last one was good, but I'd still had a bad taste in my mouth from one several years back.  This book, however, cleared that up.  This book was lots of fun and engaging without the waffling inconsistencies of other books.  It was a read solid book and I don't plan to wait as long to read the next one.  

Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just about Everything Book - Randi Hutter Epstein

 Everyone should read this book. It's a pretty wild ride from our first observations that nerves don't do all the communicating in the body through folly and happy accidents to controversies of modern hormonal medicines.  It is intense, but fascinating from beginning to end.  This book not only has the factual, and frankly amazing, timeline of the human understanding of hormones but keeps intact the sexism, racism and hubris rife in the medical community.  

This book is a journey that begins with doctors and surgeons unanimously declaring they had solved all anatomy problems by discovering the nerves and the rest was only minor details, thorough rooster castration and reinstallation of testes elsewhere in the body to the brown dog affair (spoiler alert: they used to dissect dogs alive to show how the nerves work because, despite knowing the nerves transmitted pain, somehow never dawned on people that these dogs were in excruciating pain being fileted alive).  Then the book travels through a few of the major players and their lives like Dr. Harvey Cushing and his brain collection to Dr. Rosalyn Sussman Yalow and her unwillingness to quit due to pregnancy leading to her jokes about having a 8.5 pound 5-month-old fetus. Starting with the horror of brain spongiform disease acquired from pituitary gland injections to make short children taller to political arguments about using hormone blockers at the onset of puberty for trans children.  This book brings to life a seemingly boring topic in a way I've rarely seen before and I highly recommend it for anyone with a curious mind.