Portal Bookends

Oooh, that looks like a fun thing to add to a bookshelf. :)

Mine already has so much useless stuff... one more wouldn't hurt.

Early Review: Death by Petticoat by Mary Miley Theobald

Death by Petticoat: American History Myths Debunked
Mary Miley Theobald, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Every day stories from American history that are not true are repeated in museums and classrooms across the country. Some are outright fabrications; others contain a kernel of truth that has been embellished over the years. Collaborating with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Mary Miley Theobald has uncovered the truth behind many widely repeated myth-understandings in our history including:

• Hat makers really were driven mad. They were poisoned by the mercury used in making hats from furs. Their symptoms included hallucinations, tremors, and twitching, which looked like insanity to people of the 17th and 18th centuries—and the phrase “mad as a hatter” came about.

• The idea that portrait painters gave discounts if their subjects posed with one hand inside the vest (so they didn’t have to paint fingers and leading to the saying that something “costs an arm and a leg”) is strictly myth. It isn’t likely that Napoleon, King George III, or George Washington were concerned about getting a discount from their portrait painters.

• Pregnant women secluded themselves indoors, uneven stairs were made to trip up burglars, people bathed once a year, women had tiny waists, apprenticeships lasted seven years—Death by Petticoat reveals the truth about these hysterical historical myth-understandings.

Genre: Nonfiction

Publication Date: June 5th 2012

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Format: eARC, 160 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

___________________________________

My Review

First line: Burning to death sounds gruesomw, and there were some instances in which women died of burns when theur long skirts, or petticoats, came too close to hearth fires.

Last line: In the back room, women could socialize, buy takeout, or eat the popular free lunch - free, that is, with the purchase of a drink.

Favorite quote: Armchairs were an indication of status and were reserved for the head of the household or other important people.This is a very short, very funny book filled with myths and curiosities of American History. It was very interesting to read more about how people lived at that time and how many of the unfounded myths came about.

The author is highly amusing in her way to expose silly and absurd myths and the truth behind them, but it's too bad there were so little of them and such short explanations. The book made them clearer and easier to comprehend, but in the end they came out sounding a bit trivial, without very much depth into actual history. But I'm not a historian, so I had fun and learned quite a few things.

It's a great book for when you need to kill some time or just before going to bed. A very light, funny and informative read.

So, if you are wondering if men were shorter back then, if people didn't bathe, if potatoes and tomatoes were considered poisonous by early colonists, if women ate arsenic to lighten their complexions and were not allowed to use the front door of taverns or if cooks used spices to mask the flavor and odors of rotting food, this is your book to read and find out. ;)

It will make for some great conversation topics and ice-breakers.

*I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* 

The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story - Review

The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story
by Richard Preston

A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the
appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.


_________________________________________________

My Review:



I first read The Hot Zone when I was 15 years old (that was 5 years ago, in case you're wondering), and I came upon the book at a supermarket. I thought, 'why not?' I usually just go with fiction, but I'm glad I gave the nonfiction genre a chance with this one.


The events in this book go from 1967 to 1993. Richard Preston tries to convey dialogues and person's thoughts basing narratives in interviews with all the subjects. He makes it very clear that every word has been extensively cross-checked. And I believe him. The way he describes the characters' life and actions show that he is not only an excellent researcher, but also a very good writer. He makes you care, he makes you feel what they were feeling. And that's not exactly a good thing in this book, mind you. You might not want to start reading it after lunch or pretty much any other meal. LOL. Things get a little bit less yuck by 2/4 of the book, but the images stay in your head. And then the action really begins.


The book describes the history of the disease, showing an inside look of how Risk Group 4 Pathogens are dealt with Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment. It teaches us quite a bit about personal protective equipment and virus studies. The author gives very good insight on how the government acts when viruses are involved, and how the high security world of the CDC and the U.S. military's viral technicians work. You can see many of the proceedures and space-suits mentioned on the book in the movie Contagion.


There are many active characters, and even more are mentioned in the book, but there is no doubt as to who the main characters really are. The viruses. So you should know more about them. They are 4 filoviruses, they are all highly infectious and deadly. They come from Africa within their various possible carriers, but their exact origins are still unknown. The thing is, they would love to get inside you.


They are four sisters: Marburg, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire and Ebola Reston. Zaire and Reston are so much alike that it's hard to say how they are different, but, thnakfully, Reston is deadly only to primates.Marburg and Ebola virus, are serologically, biochemically, and genetically distinct. Marburg virus was first isolated during an outbreak in Europe in 1967, and Ebola virus emerged in 1976 as the causative agent of two simultaneous outbreaks in southern Sudan and northern Zaire. Although the main route of infection is known to be person-to-person transmission by intimate contact, the natural reservoir for filoviruses still remains a mystery. They are four sisters: Marburg, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire and Ebola Reston (supposedly comes from Asia). Zaire and Reston are so much alike that it's hard to say how they are different, but, thankfully, Reston is deadly only to primates.


I was curious to know if there were any new discoveries about these viruses in the last decade. If you are like me, and would like to know more about the viruses, try visiting these websites:


http://www.tarakharper.com/v_ebola.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/ebola.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease