Dr. Bookworm
gonzo book reviews
These are my riffs on books: old and new, fiction and non- fiction. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Cathy Luh
Labor and Delivery*
When a friend gave me Ariel Lawhon’s 2023 novel The Frozen River about a midwife in 1700s Maine, I slipped easily into the pleasurable rhythm of living other people’s experiences. Martha Ballard was a wife and mother in her fifties. She lived in northern Maine by a river that would freeze every winter. Her life revolved around…
The Power of Art to Change Your Heart
“You weren’t there.” Agnes Shakespeare’s grief coalesces into those words directed at her husband Will. Despite Agnes’s ministrations and skill in herb lore, she could not save their eleven-year-old son Hamnet from the plague. William was working as an actor and a playwright in London when he got word that his daughter, Judith, Hamnet’s twin,…
Everything Is Tuberculosis: Not Really an Exaggeration!
What do Ringo Starr, Eleanor Roosevelt, my dad, Erwin Schrodinger (of the cat fame), and all three of the Bronte sisters have in common? The answer is tuberculosis, also known as TB. For Schrodinger, Roosevelt and the Brontes, their TB was fatal. In some ways, this is the least surprising connection because, according to the…
The Easy Way Out
I’ve written a lot about my early life in these blogposts. Readers know about my childhood in Shanghai, my mom’s daring escape to Hong Kong, my struggles to learn the English language and American culture. I’ve also written a ton about my current life as a happy retiree, living in the St. Louis suburbs with…
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Dr. Bookworm 