The Radium Girls by Kate Moore – a true story, 432-page e-book from our local library

In 1917 a company in Newark, New Jersey began manufacturing watch dials that glowed. Girls were hired to paint the numbers on the dial using radium paint. To make the fine detailed numbers they used a method called lip-pointing (lip – dip – paint) where they sucked the brush to taper it to a point. Skilled painters were paid well and girls who got the jobs felt privileged. Little to nothing was known of the dangers of radium; when girls started dying, corporations didn’t care – Profits Mattered More. This is the story of their fight for justice and accountability against corporations driven by greed and no regard for human life.

This story is disturbing! It is long and detailed. Descriptions of the effects of radium on the girls’ bodies are numerous and cover years of cover-up by corporate bosses, doctors, politicians and the legal system. The edition I read says, “for kids 9 to 12,” “young readers edition.” I advise proceeding with caution; I stopped reading about two-thirds of the way through; I got the point! The painters suffered horrible injury and death.

The Town I Call Home by Veronica Mixon – Book 1 of Mixon’s Loblolly mystery and suspense series. A 267-page thriller. Kindle edition.

When a close childhood friend is arrested for murder, Jackson leaves behind his law practice in Atlanta to return to his hometown of Loblolly. There he will be able to spend time with his father, who is suffering from Alzheimers, and represent his friend.

Full of twists and turns, unexpected developments, Veronica Mixon does an excellent job of weaving many storylines into this short thriller. It captured my attention for the very first page, a letter to Jackson from his mother after she died. Mixon uses the letter expertly to introduce several of this stories’ characters. I don’t very often read books written as a series, but look forward to reading what mysteries await in Loblolly.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, fiction, 532 pages in paperback

This was a re-read from 2017. you can read my review from December 2017 here.

Stephen King, On Writing – by Stephen King, a memoir, 288 pages, hardcover

You can read my recent post here.

October might be a slower reading month as I am planning/hoping to write more often. Hubby retired recently and is a bit lost as to what to do all day; we are adjusting or trying to. He worked from home; so I am taking over the office. I will have my own space, away from reminders of laundry or dirty dishes, dust on the baseboards; and I will have a door that closes.

If you have read any of these stories, I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave comments.

Happy reading, you all!