2016 has really started off with a bang. You could maybe tell by my lack of posting? I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. But, I have managed to get a little reading done (just not a lot of review writing. I have been writing, but that’s another story.)
The bang 2016 started out with was a family member in the hospital. (They’re fine now.) While they were in the hospital, I tried to do my best and not panic. If I’m calm, they had no reason to not be calm, right? They had to be taken out of the room for various tests (Again, they’re fine now) and to occupy myself while they were out of the room I read a book on my phone. I read Witches, Midwives, and Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English.
I thought that was an appropriate thing to read in a hospital.
This is a short pamphlet of a book written in the 1970s. It discussed midwifery, the rise of medical professionals (as opposed to healers), the popular health movement of the 1830s and 40s, and feminism and the need for women in medicine today. This was a really short book; it was only 59 pages, but I learned a lot from it. I didn’t know about the popular health movement. Or, I knew about it tangentially because I know a little bit about patent medicine from visiting the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. (And, even though there was probably a lot wrong with some of the ideas the popular health movement was spreading, there was also probably a lot right about it.) Ehrenreich and English tell us a story about the movement pushing the equivalent of know-your-body courses (still a good idea) and also supporting a lot of self-advocating amongst patients. (The movement is described as espousing the virtues of frequent bathing, loose-fitting clothing for women, temperance and eating whole grain cereals. Any of that sound familiar?) The movement they describe also seems to have been initially supportive of women and minorities and in line with the cause of civil rights. While some of the professional societies out right banned women and minorities from their ranks, schools in the popular health movement did not do so (at least with the same frequency.) Unfortunately, from the description that Ehrenreich and English give, it would also seem that women threw other minorities under the bus in order to gain legitimacy and when favor to their causes. No cool, bros. So, I learned a little about the insidious underbelly of the history of the women’s rights movement.
What I found most interesting about this book (and also incredibly sad) were the conclusions. They conclude that the medical profession isn’t just an institution that discriminates against women, it is one that has been designed to exclude them. That was probably true in the 70s and it is still true today. Last year I reviewed the book the First Twenty Minutes and one of the things I found hardest to swallow about that book was the amount of research the author presented that was done only on male bodies. Women and men are different! There is a fairly large amount of scientific evidence to support that! (Also, there’s probably not just men and women! Gender as a binary is probably not a real thing!) Just as examples from recent news: women have different heart attack symptoms than men (and new research shows women aren’t aware of this) and women with ADHD present differently than men. They also conclude that we have become mystified by science and don’t know how to argue for what we need in the face of a scientific (or scientific sounding) argument. (Recent blow ups of twitter about whether or not the Earth is round seems to show that we still have a lack of scientific literacy.) They suggest that there needs to be an opening of the medical profession so that all women can have access to medical expertise when they need it. I still think that’s true.
So, this was a good read and a quick read. Not a bad way to start out the year in reality!
Since I have already done a 
Cruel Crown is the collection of two prequel novellas to Red Queen. The first novella is Queen Song where we get the backstory of Cal’s mother and what really happened to her. The other is Steel Scars that follows Farley as she leads the Scarlet Guard into Norta. They both were pretty good. Giving more insight into world the books take place. Since Red Queen is told from Mare’s point of view, things like how the silver hierarchy is set up and how the Scarlet Guard works isn’t give much detail because Mare doesn’t know these things in much detail. That’s what kind of great but these little novella’s. I’ve written in the past about how it’s trendy for YA authors to write novellas or short stories that take place in between books or prequels. Sometimes they are just filler but other times they serve the purpose of filling in wholes that didn’t have time to get to in the narratives. They also usually focus on supporting or minor characters instead of the protagonists in attempt to flesh out the world a little bit but usually they are of little importance. If readers don’t read them, it’s no big deal. They will still be able to the novels without missing anything.
As I read this book, I go back and forth being enthralled and “why am I reading this again?” I’m interested enough in the story to keep reading to find out how it’s going to end but some of the cutesy words is well eye rolling. I know that it takes place under the sea and they are mermaids but I find it annoying. They call each other merls instead of girls but why don’t they call boys, moys or something like it? It’s a small thing. The other thing that bothers me is that there are six mermaids who must come together to stop the evil Orfeo but only Sera, Astrid and Becca seem to get the limelight. Ling (who is on the cover) Neela and Ava are little more then afterthoughts. I realized there are a lot of characters and not easy to give all them equal time but Marissa Meyer did a wonderful job of doing just that in the Lunar Chronicles so it is possible. I want to know more about the other mermaids. I was excited when I saw the cover and Ling on it. The last time we saw the merl (god I hate that) she was captured by the big bad guy on her way to find her piece. You would think that would be center stage but we don’t even get to Ling until 50-60 pages into the book. The little we get from her is exciting as she tries to escape from Orfeo, find her piece and also escape from the work camp she is sent too. At least she got a couple of chapters. Ava got one and Neela none, which is weird since she was a big part of the last book. Maybe that means we will get more of them in the final book coming out later this year but I have a feeling it’s going to be more of Sera and Astrid. Not that I don’t like them but I want to know about the others.
*Spoilers*
2 Women, So Many Books 