The Real Rosalind: The Truth About Rosalind Franklin's DNA Discovery and How It Was Erased

 The Real Rosalind: The Truth About Rosalind Franklin's DNA Discovery and How It Was Erased is a non-fiction account written by Debbie Loren Dunn and Janet S. Fox.

This is a very interesting look at the life of Rosalind Franklin who was among the first to discover that DNA was a double helix. She worked during from 1930 - 1950 in science labs in Paris and London with a variety of colleagues and competitors all racing to be the first to discover and understand DNA.

 She wanted to collaborate and share knowledge but was working in a mostly male dominated environment who were very competitive and not open to working with a woman. She also was determined to work only with proven facts and not rush to an incorrect answer with shoddy research or unverified facts. Another strong woman scientist who should not be forgotten and possible should get her awards posthumously .

This book is written aimed at a young adult audience. It is very scientific in its descriptions.  It is a great learning experience and if you are interested in the science will be fascinating to those readers.

Queen of Poisons

 To round out the weekend I read the newest Robert Thorogood mystery novel, Queen of Poisons.  This is the latest in the Marlow Murder Club series.

Each novel gives the reader a little more information about the main characters, Judith, Becks and Susie.   Judith has a pst she is trying to escape and keep hidden from her friends.  She has to come to an understanding with that past.  Susie has to see that her life is very full and she cannot take on any more projects. Becks is having trouble this time with her mother-in-law, Marian.  Marian has run out of money and wants to move in with Becks, Colin and her kids at the church rectory. Becks will try everything she can think of to entice her mother-in-law to move out.

Again they are invited by the police to help investigate another death.  Susie was at the town council meeting when the mayor took a sip of coffee and fell off his chair dead. Tanika the police detective inspector is called in to solve the case.  She knows that the women will investigate no matter what so she decides to work with them instead of trying to get them stay out of the way.

As Judith and her friends start interviewing suspects they find out everyone has something they are trying to hide.  There are so many red herrings and characters that it becomes a little complicated to keep it all straight. But in the end Judith again ties up all the missing pieces, twists and turns and brings the murderer to justice.

She not only discovers which of the suspects is guilty, she also figures out how they were able to kill the mayor right under the noses of everyone at the meeting.  Another entertaining novel in this series and this time it took me longer to figure out who I thought committed the crime.

Death Coms to Marlow

Death Comes to Marlow is the second book in the new mystery novel series written by Robert Thorogood.  

In book one Judith, Susie and Becks helped the police solve a murder and became the Marlow Murder Club.  Now a year later Judith is invited to a engagement party for a man she does not know.  Sir Peter suggests he is afraid of something bad happening as his reason for the invitation.  Judith shows up at the garden party with her two friends in tow.  Of course there is a death and once again the Marlow Murder Club is ready to investigate.  His young nurse and fiancée, Jenny is there along with Sir Peter's two adult children, Tristram and Rosanna when the catastrophe strikes.  It is up to Judith and her friends to help the police get to the bottom of the crime.

This continues to be an entertaining light mystery series. With many twists and turns, a cast of unusual characters and various reasons they could all be suspects. Judith and her tin of boiled sweets is always ready with a question for a suspect and a suggestion of how the murder could have taken place.

Judith Potts creates crossword puzzles for the local paper, and solving murders as if they are a puzzle is her specialty.  Susie is a dog walker by trade and now also a local radio personality.  Becks is the vicar's wife and a mother to two teenagers.  She brings the personal side to the trio.  She knows the citizens of Marlow and also can converse easily with the suspects and the victims making them feel calm and secure to reveal their secrets.

I will just mention also that this series has been made into a television series. I found the books much more in depth than the TV show.  Too many shortcuts are taken with the TV series, which takes away from the plot. Also the characters are so different from the characters I pictured in my head from the reading the books first.

The Lion Women of Tehran

Yeah, I finally read The Lion Women of Tehran, written by Marjan Kamali.

I have missed two in person opportunities to meet Marjan and listen to her speak about her book.  That is disappointing. But I did finally sit down and read the book and I am so glad I did.  This is a powerful, fast moving, intimate look at the life of women living in Tehran during the 1950s through the 70s.  You will not put the book down once you start reading.  You will not be able to wait to make sure the characters you become close to are safe.  

Kamali makes the characters so human and likable you will be invested in their successes and failures.  You will be concerned when they suffer and cheer when they are succeed.

Ellie at the age of seven and her mother are forced to move from the wealthy neighborhood of Terhan to a small home in a poor neighborhood when her father dies unexpectedly.  Her mother always concerned with her standing in society tries to keep Ellie from making friends with Homa, a girl from the neighborhood.  Ellie does not understand her mother's opinions and rebels.  Homa and Ellie will be live long friends. 

When her mother remarries her Uncle he brings them back to the wealthy society that her mother feels comfortable in.  The girls are separated and Ellie is now a popular student in a fancy school.  Homa works hard to pull herself up and attend the same high school and reappears in Ellie's life. Homa is a strong person with a great self image.  She is herself wherever she is.  Ellie is the weaker person, not secure in herself, needing to fit in and follow the crowd.

Though the girls have different dreams in life, they connect and separate many times because their friendship really runs deep.  Life experiences bring them together and tear them apart over and over again.

Against the backdrop of Iran's history we follow Homa and Ellie through college and marriages,,, through the country struggling with political turmoil toward democracy.

This book will bring back all the news stories of the 1970s and 80s, The Iran Hostage Crisis, the Shah leaving Iran in disgrace and the Iran Revolution and the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini.  

Ellie now married moves to New York in the 1980s.  She is following the news about Iran from there.  Homa is a part of the women's resistance movement in Iran trying to get women's rights. 

With many twists and unexpected turns this is a fabulous story about the power of friendship, and the tenacity of "Lion Women"fierce, courageous, and brave women.

The Phoenix Pencil Company

 The Phoenix Pencil Company written by Allison King.  I picked this book off the self because it must have something to do with pencils. I enjoy writing and my father and sister use pencils for their artwork. So the book might be interesting, and maybe I could recommend it to one of them.

Ok, so the book is about pencils and a company that makes the pencils. But that is where any connection to real life use of pencils pretty much ends.  So if you suspend your attachment to reality and go along with the premise of the novel this is a romantic story of cousins and their jealousy and connection.  A story of true love and heartbreak.  

Narrated by Monica Tsai , a young woman living in Boston with her grandparents.  She is in college and working with her professor coding a new program that connects strangers online.   Her grandmother, Yun, whose memory is beginning to fade, has lived through two wars in China and spent her youth working with her mother, aunt and cousin, Meng, in a Pencil Factory in China.  But this was not just a pencil factory and the owners had a secret.   They had a special gift that allowed them to see what had been written with the pencil, which was called Reforging..

The pencils were hollow. Whatever was written with the pencil would be saved and if it was brought back to Yun and her family, they could reforge it and know everything that has been written with the pencil.  When the government finds out about this power they are forced into a life of espionage, revealing people's stories to survive.

Monica meets a woman through her new program who brings Yun a pencil to reforge after so many years.  Through this relationship and the memories of Yun we learn the history of and story of Yun and Meng and how they lost touch.

Monica learns about the family secret and reveals a secret of her own. She learns about trust, love and memory.  The book also quietly compares how the reforging of pencils and the technology of the computer to save memories and personal information are similar.  

Too Old For This

 Too Old For This is anther in my pile of mystery novels about elderly women. Again the author, Samatha Downing may just be a little too young to understand that 75 years old is not considered so old these days.

As I get closer to the that age it dos not seem so much like the old ladies I remember as a young person.  We are mostly not the old lady stereotype that wears a housecoat all day and walks bent over with a walker.

Lottie Jones is living the quiet life she thought she wanted, bingo at church with friends, her son is getting married for the second time and she has two teenage grand children from her son's first marriage. The past is behind her until one day a young persistent woman rings her doorbell.

Plum Dixon comes calling with a file from Lottie's past, when she was Lorena Mae Lansdale.  Plum wants to make a documentary about Lottie and she says help clear her name from the three murders she was accused of killing forty years ago.

When Plum doesn't take a simple no as the answer, Lottie has to take action even though she really does not want ruin her idyllic lifestyle. 

This starts Lottie off on a killing spree to cover her tracks. As the list of missing persons grows, Lottie has to be careful not to make a mistake that will lead back to her. This is both a very entertaining look at an elderly woman trying to keep her secret safe and a disturbing story about a woman who kills first and asks questions later.

A funny, macabre novel with a great twist at the end.  You are enthralled with Lottie and her friends as they cook together and play bingo .  Then you are nervous anxious every time Lottie someone knocks on her front door.

A Study in Secrets

 A Study in Secrets, Last Chance Academy #1is written by Debbi Michiko Florence.

This book is a fun middle grade novel showing how friendship can be really strong or sometimes can go sideways.

Learning to trust friends is difficult and learning to be a trustworthy friend is hard.  

Meg is sent to a boarding school after her mother dies and because she thinks her father is too busy too live with her.  Her best friend from childhood has turned her back and Meg thinks she needs to only take of herself.  As her new roommate starts to get Meg to let down her guard a secret contest begins at the Last Chance Academy.  Along with two other classmates they start solving the puzzles that will lead to the prize, a vacation trip. Meg really wants to win, but is it all costs?  A lesson in working together , realizing that sometimes trusting your friends leads to a better outcome than working alone.

It looks like author, Debbi Michiko Florence has more plans for Meg and her friends at the Last Chance Academy.