Hidden Figures, Book Vs Movie

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So, I have recently come back from holiday and on the plane I watched the movie Hidden Figures. Now if you have read my review of the book, you will know that I was a bit disappointed by it. In general, I find books to be better than their movie counterpart, but not always, Lolita is an example of the movie being better than the book in my opinion, and Hidden Figures is another one.

With the book Hidden Figures, I felt there was too much maths for someone who isn’t a mathematician, and it made things just drag a bit. In the movie however, it was more limited and what was there was sort of romanticised. 

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June Reading Wrap-Up

June has been another not so great reading month for me. I haven’t had any less time to read lately, I just haven’t been doing it is much as before, I haven’t even managed to get to my book subscription book from June yet. Technically I have still been reading, but I have been reading blogs more than books.

Unfortunately none of the books I actually did manage to read really stood out. I think that is part of the problem really, I keep ending up reading books that are just meh, so I’m less enthusiastic about reading in general.

Book Review- Hidden Figures

Title- Hidden Figures
Author- Margot Lee Shetterly
Published-  December 2016
Genre- Non-fiction, History, Science
Length- 349 pages
Rating- 3/5
Synopsis (Goodreads)- Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space.

Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South’s segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly these overlooked math whizzes had shots at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam’s call, moving to Hampton, Virginia, and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.

Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley’s all-black West Computing group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War and complete domination of the heavens.

Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the space race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades as they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellects to change their own lives – and their country’s future.

Review- I think how much you enjoy this book will depend on how many sittings you read it in. I think most people would struggle to read it in one sitting, but three or four would be ideal.

The book covers parts of history that most people know nothing about, despite the entire world knowing about the moon landing. The story itself is interesting, and eye opening in terms of the extent of segregation, and particularly the behaviour of the Virginia school system. Personally I wouldn’t have dealt with things as well as these women! There is a lot of discrimination where I work and it makes me incredibly angry but these women just got on with it and managed to change things!

Book Review- Etta and Otto and Russell and James

Title- Etta and Otto and Russell and James
Author- Emma Hooper
Published- 2015
Genre- Contemporary
Length- 278 pages
Rating- 4/5

I’ve gone. I’ve never seen the water, so I’ve gone there. I will try to remember to come back.

Etta’s greatest unfulfilled wish, living in the rolling farmland of Saskatchewan, is to see the sea. And so, at the age of eighty-two she gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2,000 miles to water.

Meanwhile her husband Otto waits patiently at home, left only with his memories. Their neighbour Russell remembers too, but differently – and he still loves Etta as much as he did more than fifty years ago, before she married Otto.

Review- I received this book as my March book from my subscription service, The Willoughby Book Club.

Whenever I get my subscription book I look at the reviews before starting it. This one had quite mixed reviews, some people seem to absolutely love it, and others hate it, claiming that it is unrealistic. It is unrealistic, incredibly unrealistic, but it is still a wonderful book. 

Book Review- Unspeakable

Title- Unspeakable
Author- Dilys Rose
Published- March 9th 2017
Genre- Historical fiction/literary fiction
Length- 288 pages
Rating- 2.75/5

Synopsis (Amazon)- Based on a true case, a young man pays the ultimate price for saying what he thinks in this masterful historical novel by a writer at the height of her powers. Edinburgh in the late 17th century is the centre of religious authoritarianism, intolerance and fear. The flames of the city’s famous Enlightenment are yet to burn. Based on the true story of Thomas Aikenhead, this is the fictional account of a 20 year-old student who was the last person in Britain to be tried and executed for blasphemy.

Review- I was sent an ARC of this book from the publisher for review, so thank you to them.

This is a difficult book to rate and for such a short book it took me a long time to get through, I very nearly gave up on it multiple times. The story is ok, nothing spectacular, but ok. The language is the main issue.

February Reading Wrap-Up

So, February has been another good reading month for me. The last week was a little slower than the rest of the month but I am still pretty pleased with myself. I have finished 9 books so far this month but should finish my current one this evening.

I have read a good mix of genres this month, YA, thrillers, crime, contemporary and non-fiction!

I have also read a variety of formats this month. Until about six months ago I read almost exclusively on my Kindle but this month I have read ebooks, hardcovers and paperbacks. I have managed to persuade my fiancé to take me on two trips to the bookstore in the last few months and am building up a nice stack of books on my desk as a result!

Book Review – Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners

Title- Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners
Author- Therese Oneill
Published- 2016
Genre- Non-fiction, History, Humour
Length- 309 pages
Rating- 2.5/5

Synopsis (Goodreads)- Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era?

Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there’s arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn’t question.)

UNMENTIONABLE is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on:

~ What to wear
~ Where to relieve yourself
~ How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating
~ What to expect on your wedding night
~ How to be the perfect Victorian wife
~ Why masturbating will kill you
~ And more

Irresistibly charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and featuring nearly 200 images from Victorian publications, UNMENTIONABLE will inspire a whole new level of respect for Elizabeth Bennett, Scarlet O’Hara, Jane Eyre, and all of our great, great grandmothers.

(And it just might leave you feeling ecstatically grateful to live in an age of pants, super absorbency tampons, epidurals, anti-depressants, and not-dying-of-the-syphilis-your-husband-brought-home.)

Review- So, this isn’t the type of book I normally go for but I saw it on BookTube and thought it sounded interesting.

Well….it was ok.