Review: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Everything is Tuberculosis - The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection by John Green is an in depth examination of tuberculosis (TB), it's causes, history, treatments and cures and why it is that so many people continue to die of the disease each and every year.

TB is an infection caused by bacteria and it's airborne, meaning anyone can catch it. According to the author, between 1/4 and 1/3 of all living humans have been infected with it but only a small percentage of those (up to 10%) will end up becoming sick with active TB. Malnutrition and a weakened immune system can trigger a dormant case of TB to become active, making it largely a disease of poverty.

The author of The Fault in Our Stars began to take a serious interest in the topic when he met a young boy with TB in Sierra Leone. Referring to Henry's case throughout the book enables him to put a face on the disease and Green sets the scene early on when he informs the reader just how many people have died from TB in the last 200 years.

"Just in the last two centuries, tuberculosis caused over a billion human deaths. One estimate, from Frank Ryan's Tuberculosis the Greatest Story Never Told, maintains that TB has killed around 1 in 7 people who've ever lived." Introduction

I remember learning this fact at some point in the last few years and it's precisely the reason I decided to read this book. Also known as consumption, and sometimes referred to as the white plague, tuberculosis is the oldest contagious disease and I wanted to know more about it.

The audiobook is narrated by the author himself and I was most interested in the history of TB and in particular the romanticisation of consumption in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At that time, it was believed TB was only acquired by people with great sensitivity and intelligence. If that wasn't bad enough, women with consumption were thought to become more beautiful, ethereal and wondrously pure. Ugh!

TB is a wasting disease and death was commonly a long and drawn out process during which sufferers became weakened and bed-bound. It's hard to believe now - until you recall the popularity of waif models and the heroin chic style from the 1990s - but this began to affect beauty standards of the time. Patients with active TB became thin and pale with wide sunken eyes and a rosy tint on their cheeks from fever and this beauty ideal became desirable and highly valued. (You can see this reflected in the art and literature of the time).

Green moves on to the science of TB and describes the various breakthroughs in medicine that led to TB eventually becoming treatable and then curable. In 2023, a million people died of TB and while Green acknowledges we can't eliminate TB completely, we can make sure nobody dies from it. So why haven't we?

The author explains that the drugs to treat TB aren't being produced and made available in the countries that need them most. Essentially, the drugs are where the disease is not and the disease is where the drugs are not.

A whole host of factors, including big pharma companies keep drug prices high; only a finite amount of aid sent to foreign countries is allocated to medicine and lack of access to basic medical facilities in poorer countries means that TB goes on to kill a million people unnecessarily each year. Learning TB is basically an expression of injustice and inequity was grim and depressing.

At the end of all this, there was no call to action, no website to donate to or petition to sign which was a lost opportunity in my opinion. Green is clearly calling for global healthcare reform, but provides little for the average reader to do with their frustration at the current situation.

For novels with consumptive characters, I can recommend:
- The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson by Belinda Lyons-Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Bone China by Laura Purcell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar by Kate Saunders ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: All Buttons Great and Small by Lucy Godoroja

All Buttons Great and Small - A Compelling History of the Button, From the Stone Age to Today by Lucy Godoroja was a dry yet interesting read. The Australian author owns her own button shop in Newtown, Sydney and her shop is called All Buttons Great and Small, inspiring the name of this book.

I'd love to visit her button shop one day, but Godoroja is clear from the start that she's not a collector:

"I am not a collector of buttons. I have always, however, been enthralled by them, and over the past 35 years millions of buttons have passed through my hands." Page 1

Over the course of the book, I began to appreciate the author's interests seem to reside in the creation and design of buttons and their materials across time and cultures. However, I did learn some interesting button facts along the way.

Buttons were worn as an adornment, but I didn't know they once served as a portable means of value for the wearer, as it enabled a person to carry their investment with them in the case of an emergency.

Venetian glassmaking is internationally renowned, but I didn't know the establishment of Murano was an inspired government decision:

"With the burgeoning trade in Venice, in 1291 the government of the day made the decision to relocate the glass industry to the island of Murano, for fear of fires from the furnaces breaking out and spreading to the city centre, but particularly, with the added benefit of being able to shield industrial secrets from prying eyes." Page 66

Buttons could be an expression of wealth and King Louis XIV of France shockingly spent more than $5M on buttons during his reign and once commissioned a set of at least 100 diamond buttons. 

I learned that during the 1790s, the Parramatta Justice Precinct was home to the second convict hospital and evidence has been found of colonial bone button manufacturing on this site. It's assumed the many sew-through buttons discovered by archaeologists were made by hand by the convicts recuperating in the hospital or living in the huts on site.

I learned the difference between pottery and porcelain:

"Clay is the basic material of all types of pottery, but while porcelain is a type of pottery, not all pottery is porcelain. True porcelain is known as 'hard paste' as it requires hard firing at very high temperatures, after which it becomes extraordinarily dense." Page 104

More interesting though was reading the brief section about koumpounophobia, the fear of buttons. Steve Jobs openly admitted suffering from this phobia, hence his preference for wearing skivvies or polo necked tops rather than shirts.

Those few highlights aside, there was way too much information provided on scientific developments and inventions of particular materials used to produce buttons for my liking. I didn't find it interesting at all to read about the evolution of various button making materials, and the chapter entitled The Plastics Evolution - comprising the invention and use of shellac, rubber, semi-synthetics, synthetics, bakelite, amino plastics, acrylic, plexiglass, perspex, lucite, acrylite - nearly sent me to sleep.

Borrowed from the library, button lovers and crafters won't find any button inspired artwork here. There's no chapter about button collections around the world - or within Australia - or research around the discovery and value of rare and precious buttons. High-end fashion designers and their use of buttons was included, but this wasn't of interest to me. There were some stunning colour photographs of buttons throughout this beautifully produced hardback, but ironically the captions didn't contain enough detail. There is an impressive bibliography and index, but no button trading or shopping references in the index or websites to visit.

All Buttons Great and Small - A Compelling History of the Button, From the Stone Age to Today by Lucy Godoroja is an academic button book for serious collectors, sellers or historians interested in the materials used to make buttons from ivory, wood and tortoiseshell right through to metals, alloys and plastics. I have a moderate interest in buttons but unfortunately it didn't extend this far.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: This is My World by Lonely Planet Kids

This is My World by Lonely Planet Kids was a delightful reading experience as 84 children from around the world tell us about their family, where they live, their hobbies and more. Each child enjoys a double page spread, and the eye-catching layouts include photos, flags, maps, fast facts and three adjectives they use to describe themselves.

Cleverly organised alphabetically by first name provides a stimulating criss-crossing of the globe instead of a dull trip alphabetically country by country. This also prevents readers from flipping pages to search for specific countries, although there is a handy index in the back.

Some of the entries are clearly written by the children while some have been helped by their parents, but all were informative, interesting and engaging. I loved learning new things along the way, for instance Noa (aged 10) lives in Japan and she says:

"I like this house because our living room is huge. There is a fireplace and horigotatsu (table-based heater) as well." Page 129

I didn't know what a horigotatsu was so put the book aside to find out and went down a lovely Japanese rabbit hole. They look super cosy and I really hope I get the chance to try one some day.

I was able to identify some similarities between the entries in that a lot of children fight with their siblings (who knew?), many have never seen snow and rabbits are a favourite animal for kids around the world.

According to the Foreward:

"To create this book, we reached out to cattle ranchers in the Australian outback, inhabitants of a fishing capital in Greenland, city dwellers living among skyscrapers in Nigeria and many more families!"

Sounds great but I'd really like to know exactly how they did that. How many children submitted a response and how were these 84 profiles chosen? Some of the children stated their parents were teachers and I found myself wondering if Lonely Planet reached out to schools as part of this project. Not that it's important, I'm just curious.

This is My World by Lonely Planet Kids is a great book suitable for readers young and old and I can highly recommend it.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Attic Child by Lola Jaye

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye is the story of two children almost a century apart locked in the same attic of a grand English home and treated abominably by the adults charged with their care.

The dual narrative begins in 1903 with Dikembe's life as a young nine-year-old boy living with his family in the Congo. The youngest in the family, his parents protect him from the dangerous political climate but his life takes a dramatic turn when he is convinced to accompany a white explorer back to England as his companion. Dikembe is re-named Celestine and his journey and subsequent adjustment to life in white society is deeply disturbing and heart wrenching.

Dikembe is a very likeable and inspirational character and my heart ached for his losses, sometimes to the point of not wanting to return to his story. After the demise of his sponsor, young Celestine is received poorly by distant relatives, treated like a servant and locked in the attic for days on end.

We join Lowra in 1993, and as a child she was locked in the same attic by her wicked stepmother after her father vanished on their honeymoon. Now an adult and orphan, she inherits the house and returns to the centre of her childhood trauma, the attic. In researching the history of the house, Lowra comes across a photograph of Celestine and enlists the help of an historian to trace his story.

The Attic Child was heavy reading and we're not spared Celestine's suffering in the first person nor the trauma suffered by Lowra presented in first person flashbacks. I found myself wishing the author had shielded us from at least one character's confinement or perhaps dialled down the sheer distress and horror of their combined abuse.

Lowra's research uncovers dreadful colonialism and racism in England in the late 1800s and early 1900s and a deplorable chapter of atrocities in the Congo where I later learned ten to fifteen million African people were slaughtered between 1885 and 1908. The historian becomes a key character and we learn his own history and ongoing experience of racism. Together their research takes them closer to Celestine and I kept reading to find out where it would all lead.

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye shines a light into some very dark places and if I'd known just how heavy and helpless it was going to make me feel, I don't know that I'd have chosen to read it. Knowing the story was inspired by historical fact made it harder to read, and I'm ashamed to say I guess I prefer a more sanitised version of historical fiction that doesn't give me an aversion to picking up the book due to the sorrow it contains.

The ending was satisfying even though it felt a little far fetched and Jaye includes an excellent Author's Note at the end expounding on the inspiration for the book. For more, you can read an article by the author from 2022 here.

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye is recommended for fans of historical fiction who can handle the darker side of history and child abuse page after page and still maintain hope.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Two sisters live together in their family home in Nigeria. Korede and Ayoola. The older sister is a hardworking nurse in a hospital and her sibling is a killer.

Ayoola is beautiful and manipulative and when things go wrong she calls her big sister Korede to help her 'fix it'. Korede has a crush on a doctor at work, but when he meets Ayoola and falls for her instead, it creates a painful wedge between the sisters.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite has a brilliant and engaging premise but I'll admit reading it was a little stressful. Ayoola's conduct was incredibly frustrating and I really felt for Korede and the complicated relationship with her narcissistic sister; seething with sibling jealousy yet bonded by familial love.

Braithwaite successfully ramps up the tension and it seems as though she took out all the stops to make the reader squirm. I don't recall squirming so much for the main character since reading Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater and wanting to shout out some pointed life advice at one of the characters.

My Sister, the Serial Killer is a quick read packed with dark humour as Korede must decide where her loyalties lie. Is she an enabler, an accomplice after the fact or her sister's willing victim? Will she choose family or justice? Can she choose both? The setting in Nigeria was refreshing and I enjoyed the scenes taking place in the hospital and in particular, the relationship Korede has with a coma patient.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite was popular when it was published in 2018 and reading it more than 5 years later, I can see what all the fuss was about. If you enjoy your domestic thriller light with a dash of black humour, you'll enjoy this!

And if you like books about sisters, check out my post entitled 4 Books About Sisters on my TBR. One down, three to go!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4 Books About Sisters on my TBR

I had so much fun putting together and publishing my post 8 Books on My TBR with Birds on the Cover earlier in the year, I decided to do another one.

This time, I've recently noticed I'm a sucker for a dark story about sisters, but don't worry, I'm not getting any ideas about bumping mine off! I've enjoyed some great stories about sisters in the past, but have the following four books about sisters (and with sister in the title) on my virtual TBR pile to read in the future. What are they?

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My Sister, the Serial Killer

Oyinkan Braithwaite

Published in 2018 and set in Nigeria, the title My Sister, the Serial Killer says it all for this one. Korede's sister Ayoola is a serial killer, but instead of going to the police, Korede helps her sister cover up her crimes and clear away the evidence of her murdered boyfriends.

I bet this is going to be tense!

Sistersong

Lucy Holland

An historical fiction novel set in the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, Sistersong is about King Cador's three daughters, Riva, Keyne and Sinne.

Published in 2021, and a re-telling of a murder ballad, I believe the narrative looks at the struggle between the old magic systems and an emerging Christianity.

My Sister Rosa
Justine Larbalestier

Published in 2016, My Sister Rosa has a brilliant premise... What if the most terrifying person you know is your ten-year-old sister?

In this young adult novel, Che Taylor is seventeen and believes his younger sister is a psychopath. Written by an Australian author, this sounds like it's going to be a nice and creepy read, reminiscent of The Good Son.

I also featured this book in my list of 8 Books on My TBR with Birds on the Cover.

Sister

Rosamund Lupton

Published in 2010, Sister by Rosamund Lupton is a crime thriller about two sisters.

Beatrice flies home to London when she hears her younger sister Tess is missing.

When looking into the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, Beatrice discovers how little she knows about Tess's life in London.

Apparently the book includes text messages and emails between the sisters, so it sounds intriguing.

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Do you have any books about sisters you'd like to recommend? Have you read any of these 4 sister-themed books? What should I read first? Let me know in the comments.

Review: I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka

I still remember the joy of having pen pals as a teenager, and the premise of I Will Always Write Back - How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda and Liz Welch appealed immediately.

In 1997, Caitlin Alifirenka was in her seventh-grade English class when she was asked to choose a place from a list of countries for a pen pal program the school was embarking on. Whilst other class mates chose countries like Germany and France, Caitlin wanted something different. Living in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, 12 year old Caitlin decided to choose the last country on the list, Zimbabwe. Although she had travelled outside the USA, Caitlin didn't know much about Africa and took great care when deciding how to begin her letter.

A few months later, Martin Ganda was a top student in a very poor part of Zimbabwe when his teacher entered the room, excitedly announcing the class had received pen pal letters from America. There were 10 letters and 50 students and it was immediately apparent many students would miss out. Luckily for Martin, his high scores in a recent test meant he was in Group One, and each high achieving student in the group received a pen pal letter.

In I Will Always Write Back, we learn about Caitlin and Martin in alternate first person POV as well as through the letters they exchange and I enjoyed seeing their friendship blossom. While other pen pal friendships soon petered out after a few letters, Caitlin and Martin remained pen pals for years, despite the oftentimes prohibitive cost of postage for Martin.

Their relationship begins to change both of their lives for the better and I enjoyed following each of their accounts through the years. I did have to take a break for a few weeks as I found myself struggling with the humungous economic and demographic gap between them and growing nervous about what would happen to Martin.

I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka is a real feel good book that will hopefully inspire you to be more generous with your time - and money - and be aware of your own unique privilege.

Caitlin's family deserve a standing ovation for their support of Martin and his family, and I found myself in deep admiration for Caitlin's Mum's ceaseless efforts to seek a scholarship for Martin. Talk about above and beyond, wow!

If you need a story to inspire you or lift your spirits - don't they call that Up Lit now? - then this is for you. Special thanks to my friend closer to home, Diana, for lending me this book. She and I enjoy exchanging snail mail and she knew I'd love this as much as she did.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Never by Ken Follett

* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan *

Carpe Librum readers will know I'm a fan of Ken Follett's historical fiction Kingsbridge series which began with The Pillars of the Earth, but the author has also written many successful thrillers across his illustrious writing career. Never is his first contemporary novel in over a decade though, so naturally I was keen to check it out.

Never by Ken Follett is a political thriller about the beginning of World War III and a whopper of a book coming in at 815 pages. In a complex plot that doesn't blame any one country for the escalations, the narrative is populated by various characters located around the world. The actions of these characters inform the plot and the tension slowly builds as each person narrates their role in a much bigger series of events. Major powers are involved and the situation realistically begins to snowball out of control.

Never could be called an espionage thriller or a spy thriller, but it also serves as a timely warning that despite a leader's best intentions, international politics is a dangerous game. In typical Follett style, the author had me looking up new-to-me words throughout the novel, (bellicosity on page 5 and vituperation on page 145)* but not so often as to spoil the rhythm of the book.

I'm not a huge fan of political thrillers, but I always enjoy Ken Follett's deeply layered storytelling and detailed character arcs and put my complete trust in him from page one. Fortunately I was rewarded by the close of this expertly researched - yet very long book - with a surprisingly enjoyable ending. Highly recommended.

* Bellicosity is an inclination to fight or quarrel, a warlike or hostile manner or temperament.
* Vituperation is verbal abuse or language that is full of hate, or angry criticism.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Winners of Blood Trail by Tony Park Announced

Thanks to the readers who entered my giveaway last week to win one of two signed copies of Blood Trail by Tony Park. Everyone correctly answered that the book is set in a South African game reserve.

The giveaway closed at midnight last night, and the winning entries were drawn today. Congratulations to:

Claire Louisa Holderness & Crystal Rudd

Congratulations Claire & Crystal! You've both won a signed copy of Blood Trail by Tony Park valued at $32.99AUD thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia. You'll each receive an email from me shortly with the details of your win, so start thinking about how you'd like your book signed and inscribed.

Carpe Librum!