Monday, September 17, 2012

MARIE CURIE AND HER DAUGHTERS : THE PRIVATE LIVES OF SCIENCE'S FIRST FAMILY
by Shelley Emling

Marie Curie is probably the most famous female scientist that ever lived. She received two Nobel Prizes: one for physics and the other for chemistry. Her discovery of radium and how it could be used was an enormous breakthrough. Ironically, it started out curing people of cancer and in ten years, it was making people sick. Radium eventually killed Marie along with many others.
She had two daughters: Irene and Eve. Irene would follow in her parents' footsteps and become a physicist herself. Not so with Eve. She loved the arts and was an accomplished pianist and then became a writer.
Unfortunately, I didn't finish the book because I struggled with the prose. It's very dry and plodding. Don't believe any of the reviews. It's certainly not page-turning, exhilarating, nor riveting. 
Not recommended.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

CAVEAT EMPTOR : THE SECRET LIFE OF AN AMERICAN FORGER
by Ken Perenyi

In Latin the phrase caveat emptor means "let the buyer beware." I would say the definition for this book is "let the reader beware."
Ken Perenyi was an art forger for over forty years and was never caught. This is his story. Alas, I didn't get any further than page sixteen. The writing is horrible and juvenile. It probably would have been much better if somebody else had written about him and had the writer's touch.
It's pretty dismal.
Not recommended.