October 2017 Book Club - The Radium Girls

I started this today and am really getting into the story.

 

I'm still reading and am sure I'll finish it...but I'm starting to lag a bit with it. It's interesting, it's appalling as it's a true story, and I'm hoping it grabs my interest more as I read (I'm about 1/3 into it) b/c if not then I'll have to start skimming a bit to get to the end.

 

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does that!

 

I do that a lot. If I get more than 1/4 into a book that I am starting to lose interest in, I still want to know how it ends. I will flip thru, skimming a paragraph here and there, to get the gist of what is going on and then will read the last 5-10 pages to finish it up. That way I know the ending, have a good idea of what happened to the characters but didn't have to suffer thru the whole book.

 

I finished it this morning, skimming thru the last 150 pages. So I was able to keep up with the story but didn't read every line. I'm glad I read it, it is a powerful story, but I wish they had condensed it more. It did get a bit repetitive and textbooky for me.

Bottom line, an important book, fascinating and horrifying account of the women's experiences but a bit too wordy for me, hence the skimming until the last 20 pages or so, wanting to read the ending to understand how it all resolved.

 

This was a long tedious book. I'm not sure I would have read it if I hadn't had the audiobook version. About half way through I remembered that we can adjust the speed of audiobooks and I listened to the rest of it at at least 1.5x speed. Toward the end I increased it all the way to 2x!

It's such a horrifying story. How can people be so cruel just to save their company? Also, it makes me wonder what we are doing today that is regarded as safe but will be determined unsafe in the future. I am impressed with the amount of research the author put into it, actually walking the streets the girls lived on and interviewing their descendants. In the author note, she says she wanted to put more life into their stories so it isn't just a cold account of court cases, and that's something I always wish for more of from history books. I like the way we got to know the individual people a bit. I'm very moved that she surrounded herself with portraits of the girls was she wrote the book.

 

Y'ALL, Radium Girls is a Kindle Deal today! $2.90!

 

Okay.... do I even want to start this now.....?

 

I might start another book for October and do a review... lol
@Karen

 

I think it's worth reading but I also think it's a bit longwinded so some skimming through the last 1/3 helps. I'm not sorry I read it though. Lilac Girls was my next and I loved it.

 

I think it was worth reading for expanding knowledge of history. But wait until you're in the mood for a serious story. Or a court drama. And if you can get it in audiobook form and up the speed 1.5x or 2x, that will help!

 

I just downloaded the audio version of the story. Thanks for the heads up for the end. I'll be ready for it. I am really looking forward to reading the book. Several years ago, I saw some high school girls perform an interpretation of the play that the author worked with and decided to write a book to tell the story.

 

There are 9 people ahead of me at the library so it looks like I could get this one in October. Fingers crossed.

 

Sheez! 55 people waiting for 1 Kindle edition at my library!

 

This is me too!

 

I have to admit-- I usually only read with my daughter anymore. She is nine and actually into some really interesting books, so it is pretty awesome. BUT-- I decided that reading a few on my own might be nice, so I placed a hold for this one at my library. There is only one person ahead of me, so hopefully I can get it and finish it this month.