'In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey to the Heart of the Saudi Kingdom' by Qanta Ahmed

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey to the Heart of the Saudi Kingdom, Qanta Ahmed (2.5)

While this book had many interesting elements, I did not find it to be well written or edited. The tone of the book changed so much, that one suspects there were multiple editors. It is the autobiography of a Muslim woman who grows up and is trained as a doctor in the west. As her visa to live in the US expires, she leaves New York City to work at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her viewpoint is interesting as, while not devout, she is familiar with the basics of her religion though continues to be surprised by how the tenets of Islam are enacted in everyday life in Saudi Arabia. Much of what she must wear, can or cannot do without a familial male, and rules of behavior, are dictated by laws theoretically derived from her religion. As with all religions, the key is in the interpretation, and I found it odd that she did not question the Saudi interpretation at the time more rigorously. She spent much more time on the looks and clothes of those typically hidden. Maybe it is normal to be obsessed with looks when you are in a situation where most are covered, but it was rather off-putting to read. I did find her passages on her Hajj and her experiences as the attacks of 9/11 were occurring very moving and interesting.

'My Brillant Friend' by Elena Ferrante

My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante (3.0)

I have given this book the dubious award of ‘Worst Book Cover Ever’. The picture of a married couple skipping along seemingly post ceremony with flower girls seems to have nothing to do with the story. I was interested in reading this book after I heard about the scandal with the author, Ms. Ferrante, which is a pseudonym. Recently an investigative reporter in Italy searched through public records and announced who he believed the true author, living a private life in obscurity, was. Her fans were outraged by the unveiling of this country treasure (her 4 books are some of the most beloved in modern Italian literature) and their revolts were heard worldwide. The book follows two girls growing up in a poor Naples neighborhood as they go from childhood to become young adults. The characters are interesting, though they are plentiful and the names are hard to follow. I liked the writing in general – though like some South American writers- the emotions come across as over-wrought to me. One of my biggest complaints is that the book starts with a passage from current day describing a mystery before going back to when the girls were young. It seems very possible that the current day mystery will not be revealed until the end of the fourth book. I didn’t enjoy the characters enough to follow them on that journey.

'The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds', by Michael Lewis

The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed our Minds, Michael Lewis (3.5)

Mr. Lewis has a knack for writing approachable non-fiction. He is most famous for ‘The Blind Side’, ‘The Big Short’ and ‘Moneyball’. In this book, he tells the biography of two scholars who brought together psychology and math to discover cognitive biases and understand how we value risk and make decisions. Few know their names, but their accomplishments include winning the Nobel Prize in Economics. The first third of the book consists of Lewis’ interest in numbers, and the early biographies of the two Israeli psychologists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. At this point, Lewis jumps into their various research topics and published theories. Personally, I found the first 30% of the book to be a bit distracting, as I was itching to hear about their work. Once he got into the details, I was not disappointed. Most readers will find the results startling and often disturbing, particularly when attributing the decision processes described to many people in power today. While it’s not hard to believe the average person will think that if a flipped coin has been ‘heads’ for 9 times, the 10^th time will likely be ‘tails’, it is startling to see statisticians make the same mistake! Kahneman and Tversky’s experiments and results are interesting and thought provoking

'The Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey (4.0)

This book started slowly, but caught my attention with its unique approach to an interesting mystery in English history. For those who mainly know Richard III from the Shakespeare play, the detective work done in this quiet novel to uncover his true nature will surprise you. Basically an injured detective (known from Ms. Tey’s earlier novels) is bored during his recuperation and his friend gives him a group of photos of various menacing characters of history. His task is to use his touted skills of reading people’s faces to decide if the evil person was really all that bad. He settles on Richard III and his initial reaction to the portrait draws him in to learning more about this much-maligned king. With the help of a student of history, he uses detective work and objective data, rather than the words of the victorious Henry VII’s chroniclers of history. His findings are quite remarkable concerning the motivations and timing of the key events – particularly the alleged murders of the two Princes he is purported to have killed in order to take the thrown. My biggest complaint with all historical novels is that while I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative, in the end of the day, this is a novel and the author does not have to stick to the facts. The story made me pine for my own student of history to verify the information!

'The Girl on the Train' by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (3.0)

I’ll admit this book is a page-turner, though I wasn’t as enamored with it as its bestselling status implies others were. As with the other famous ‘Girl’ fiction, the mystery is based on surprises and literary manipulation. The coincidences become a bit hard to take. In this case, the girl is a sad case who has lost her husband, job, etc. and continues to ride the train each day in an attempt to add normality to her life – and hide from others the fact that she has no job. During her daily commute, she watches people in their homes and gardens near the train tracks. She even creates a fake narrative for one such couple, complete with names, occupations, etc. When something happens to the couple, the main character inserts herself into the investigation. Now the coincidences and oddities emerge. She used to live a few houses down from them, her husband still does with his new wife… you get the picture. To top things off, she is a poor witness as her alcoholic bouts often lead to blackouts. Generally, as the reader, you are curious to see how it all unfolds, but you don’t care too much how it does. Unfortunately throughout the book, I also had the picture of the beautiful Emily Blunt playing this supposed overweight, out of shape, alcoholic in the movie adaptation.