books

I just finished reading two books. (My husband would say "Hell that's no big surprise, you're always reading.) One was of the genre that I like - suspense and the other a historical. As a writer you always hear "read something you usually don't"- well this was it, plus my sister recommended it.

I've read a couple of Jeffery Deaver's books and like the pace that he usually writes in. EDGE is no exception. The suspense is reborn with more vigor at each new twist. There were several of these turnings and a couple took me by surprise especially the small one at the end which made me say "hmm cool". I was a bit disappointed in the real person the lifter, a person hired to extract information, was after and why. But what can you do, it's still well written. I won't go into any details because I don't want to give anything away.

MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER by Robin Oliveira is a historical with strong romantic elements. Mary is a midwife who wants desparately to be a surgeon. When Lincoln asks for 75,000 volunteers and Dorothea Dix advertises for nurses to help in the upcoming Civil War, Mary travels from Albany, New York to Washington hoping to get the training. It is her experiences, her fears and her feelings that transports you through the months of her struggle. I liked this book though the pace and subject matter is not what I would normaly read.

What I found interesting about it was how little was known about medicine, disease and the care for wounds. I was also surprised to find there was a National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Fredrick, Maryland and the Civil War exhibit in the National Museum of Medicine at Walter Reed. Ms. Oliveira obviously did her homework and it shows in the richness of her words .