The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

"This was radium, the wonder drug, they were using. They were lucky, they thought, as they laughed among themselves and bent their heads to their intricate work. Grace and Irene. Mollie and Ella. Albina and Edna. Hazel and Katherine and Mae. They picked up their brushes and they twirled them over and over, just as they had been taught. Lip… Dip… Paint."

Radium. Many of us today hear the word of this element and a shiver of fear runs down our spines. In a society where nearly every substance is heavily regulated it is near impossible to believe that the story contained within the pages of this book once occurred. Yet they are all so very true.

The Radium Girls is a book documenting the occurrences of radium poisoning in women who were employed at either the United States Radium Corporation or the Radium Dial Company starting around 1922 and continuing until about 1930. These women worked as dial painters and were paid to trace the numbers on watches with radium infused paint so that numbers would be visible in the dark. How did they get the tips of the brushes so fine? By sticking the brushes in their mouths. Lip... dip... paint. You can probably see where this is going.

The Radium was never once thought of as harmful. The women would often play in it, draw silly mustaches on themselves with it, and one woman even elected to paint the walls of her home with it. They were known as the glowing girls as they were seen walking the streets at night covered in the remnants of the radium infused dust. It wasn't until many of the workers started to have unbearable jaw pain, tooth loss, and puss filled lesions that stumped even the most practiced dentists that anyone began to question whether the "wonder drug" was really safe at all.

Many of them lost pieces of their jaws (described as appearing to be eaten by moths), a few had issues with their limbs (I'll spare you photos), but ALL of them slowly died.

This book chronicles their stories in a way that is captivating and also very disturbing. Those in power should never exploit their employees for financial gain and The Radium Girls seeks to document the legal battles that arose from this fatal misinformation.

Seriously give this one a read! You won't forget it. 

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

“'How do you know if you can really trust someone?' I finally ask. Noah raises his eyebrows and takes a sip of his drink. Then he looks into my eyes and the expression in his is so earnest I feel like he's answering from a deeply personal place. 'If you need to ask that question, then you probably already know the answer'."

A psychiatrist, her husband, and one anonymous girl create quite the tale filled with twist and turns in this classic cat and mouse story. During many occasions while reading this book I actually gasped out loud or made remarks in reaction to some of the crazy situations.

The book starts out with Jessica Farris- a makeup artist struggling to make it in New York. During one of her client appointments she learns of a study being offered by a local psychiatrist that pays quite well. In an effort to pay her (and her families) bills Jessica Sneaks herself into the study.

"Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt? Describe a time in your life when you cheated". This is quite ironic since Jessica had cheated and lied to get into the survey and the uncanny slew of questions makes her quite uneasy. However she apparently does something right since at the conclusion of the initial study she is signed on by Dr. Lydia Shields to continue in another study as subject 52. I can assure you that what happens from this point is a roller coaster of emotion and manipulation.

"Your loyalty has been methodically cultivated. You have been paid thousands of dollars for your services. You have received carefully curated gifts. Your emotional state has been attended to; you have received the equivalent of intensive therapy sessions for free. You belong to me."

Despite slower parts towards the beginning of the novel, the plot picks up substantially towards the midway point and keeps you engaged until the thrilling end. Overall I’d highly recommend giving this a read!

The Circle by Dave Eggers

"No one’s forcing you to do this. You willingly tie yourself to these leashes. And you willingly become utterly socially autistic. You no longer pick up on basic human communication clues. You’re at a table with three humans, all of whom are looking at you and trying to talk to you, and you’re staring at a screen, searching for strangers in Dubai."

A world where the fear of not knowing is eliminated. Crime ceases to exist. Lies are never told again. All in the name of transparency. Sounds great right? The circle dives into the implications of the advancements of technology and social media and what could happen if our online presence began to overtake our individuality. 

The book starts out with the main character, Mae Holland, who lands her dream job working for The Circle thanks to a recommendation from her college friend, Annie Allerton. Slowly but surely Mae begins to realize that while it's nice to have a well-paying and steady job, that it is rather hard to break out of the mold for what is considered "normal" to her co-workers. Constant access to social media, alerting everyone about what you are doing 24/7, constantly being transparent about every detail of your life is all the name of the game. 

Mae seems to be fine with this new lifestyle until a new mysterious figure shows up in the shadows that challenges her and the companies way of thinking- Kalden. What is right and what is wrong quickly become intertwined in a vicious cycle of battling for privacy that seems to have no end.

While this isn't the best book I've ever read it's far from the worst. It did an excellent job of making me consider just how much of our privacy is compromised by technology and social media and why I should think twice before making all of my information available (sort of ironic I'm currently posting to a blog now that I think about it).

My biggest qualms with The Circle is how unattached I felt to the characters. Each person seemed very bland and part of a mold. But- this could have been intentional in order to demonstrate how the more and more each person tried to conform to The Circle's way of life, the less interesting they actually became.

Overall it was a decent read!