the book post

[anotheranon]

As promised:

Fingersmith - excerpt behind the link for just a taste - you'll want the whole thing, trust me. I'm not far enough in to say it rivals "Tipping the Velvet", but, yes, it's good enough to make me consider that :)

The great influenza: the epic story of the deadliest plague in history - started reading the same time as "Fingersmith" (one chapter in F.S., switch, one chapter in this, lather, rinse, repeat) and am finally getting to the beef of the bug, so to speak. I have this strange fascination with epidemic disease - not just the biology and mechanics of it, but how it affects peoples, countries, and history. This looks to feed that interest nicely :)

Vaccine A: the covert government experiment that's killing our soldiers and why GI's are only the first victims - Found on jlsjlsjls' latest list, the inside cover suggests that it's less about experimental vaccines and more about vaccines that are knowingly tainted with substances (in this case, squalene) already known to be toxic. Should be interesting.

The lions of Tsavo: exploring the legacy of Africa's notorious man-eaters - another off JLS' list, and caught my eye after seeing the stuffed maneaters at the Field Museum last year. What made them what they are? Don't know - that's why I checked out the book...

Sex with kings: 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry, and revenge - I gather from the flap that it's about royal mistresses. It's an interesting subject, given that for most of the past 500 years being the lover of royalty was one of the few ways a woman could wield any political influence, un-PC though that is to modern sensibilities. I thought it might be worth a peek.

Christina, Queen of Sweden: the restless life of a European eccentric - All I've heard about Christina is the fact that she abdicated, wore men's clothes, and allegedly had the piercing named after her. I'm all for eccentricity, so I figured this would be a fun bio.

The life of the world to come - the latest Kage Baker that I've been waiting for since I finished The Graveyard Game, because hopefully it will tie up the many tantalizing loose ends set up in the previous Company novels, and I'll finally learn why Mendoza's lover keeps coming back! This series has history, science fiction, romance, adventure - all the things you can find in a book :)

Comments

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

> Vaccine A: the covert government experiment that's killing our
> soldiers and why GI's are only the first victims - Found on
> jlsjlsjls' latest list, the inside cover suggests that it's
> less about experimental vaccines and more about vaccines that
> are knowingly tainted with substances (in this case, squalene)
> already known to be toxic. Should be interesting.

I'd be surprised if it was squalene per se, since (a) the body manufactures quite a bit of squalene, and (b) it's present in olive oil and probably other oils too. Long term high doses are considered harmful, but that's not how vaccines work, and a one-time dose that'd cause problems would be huge.

Now a squalene derivative... that's a possibility. Some of those are lots nastier.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

All it mentioned on the flap was squalene - I would guess it's a derivative, as I agree, there shouldn't be much harm in olive oil (though, injecting it might be another story)...

I'll let you know more details once I start reading this one, if you're interested.

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

Do let me know what the mystery toxin turns out to be. I did some more looking and squalene itself is present in a number of common oils, as well as quite a few supplements derived from oils. In some cases oral admin is quite different from injection, but I don't think squalene is one of them. Plus it looks like the body manufactures a fair amount of it anyway.

On the other hand I find it very easy to believe that the military/gov't/drug companies would (continue to) experiment on soldiers... mainly I'm curious what the exact substance is, and what the point would be. Maybe the authors had to be misleading about what the substance was "so the terrorists wouldn't get any ideas". (Joke. I think.)