FO Friday - Book reviews

Today I'm reviewing three books kindly given to me by NetGalley. I don't always publish my finished reviews on the blog, I normally just chat about them on Wednesdays, but I've finished these three very different books, so here we are.

If you want to see all my reviews, follow me on Goodreads, where I am Sharondblk.

The Menopause Manifesto by Dr Jen Gunter is an interesting read. I didn't really know much about the subject before I read this book, and, since I'm 44 I thought it would be good to educate myself a bit more. This book is deeply and fiercely feminist, which is a good place to start. it is science based, and discusses the benefits and risks of various approaches. The main thing I took away from it is that the best things I can do is exercise and eat a balanced high fibre diet,. I'm pretty sure that if you read this book, you'd take away something different, but also helpful and supportive. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this stage in life, without shame or fear.

Bittman Bread is a completely different type of book, but it is also a manifesto of a sort. Did you, or all your friends, start making no knead sourdough in a cast iron pot during lockdown? This is an extension of the method from the New York times, but the author believes very strongly in the taste and health benefits of wholemeal bread. It's a well written, well presented book. Has it convinced me to change the way I make bread? No, but that's mainly because Leon does most of the bread baking these days, and already uses a variation on this technique. Has it convinced me to order a sack of wholemeal flour? yes it has.

And finally Screams from the Void by Anne Tibbets. I don't know if I read the back of this book properly:

For two years in deep space, the freighter Demeter and a small crew have collected botanical life from other planets. It's a lesson in patience and hell. Mechanics Ensign Reina is ready to jump ship, if only because her abusive ex is also aboard, as well as her overbearing boss. It's only after a foreign biological creature sneaks aboard and wreaks havoc on the ship and crew that Reina must find her grit - and maybe create a gadget or two - to survive...that is, if the crew members don't lose their sanity and turn on each other in the process.

When I started it I thought it was like Lowerdecks, which it sort of is, in that it follows the ensigns on a small, not particularly important ship in a federation (not Star Trek, but close enough). What I wasn't expecting was the level of menace. It is called "Screams from the Void" so I don't know what i was actually expecting, but not that. This book is a thriller, and a horror and domestic suspense and a revenge fantasy. It's a lot, and there is a lot of running around the ship with axes. The characters  are well developed, and the ending is satisfying. I haven't read any sci-fi for a bit, although this isn't really about the science it's about the people. Maybe that's true for all good books.