Better Than Hollywood Stars

The Secret Life of Stars by Lisa Harvey-Smith

New York : Thames & Hudson, 2021.

182 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

     

This is a light (but super informative) read. At times the over-anthropomorphizing of stars is a bit much, but that's the only fault I have with this really good introduction to the wild variety of stars that astronomers and astrophysicists study.

From the sun to massive black holes and all the weird variations in between, this book offers a tempting exploration through what is currently known about stars and also introduces readers to some of the stellar mysteries that astronomers hope to unravel when they get the chance to employ tools like the new Webb telescope. 

Harvey-Smith does a great job explaining some pretty complicated concepts about how stars produce their light and heat and how elements are created in the collapse and explosions of huge stars. I would recommend this to both astronomy fans and to students who are just curious about the stars and current astrophysics.

Sad Sadie

Sadie by Courtney Summers 

New York : Wednesday Books, 2018. 

311 p. ; 21 cm.

I think I picked up this book after a student returned it last month and said they liked it. It's a thriller dealing with a dead girl and a her missing older sister. The novel is woven from two strands. The narration from the missing older girl - Sadie - and the transcripts of a fictional podcast "The Girls." The podcast is one that was set in motion when the producers heard of the murdered young girl and her missing older sister. We follow the podcast host as he tries to figure out - through visits, research and interviews - what happened to Sadie.

In the narration from Sadie we figure out that her young sister was probably raped and killed by someone she may know and she has taken off in a car to see if she can find him. Along the way she interacts with people and tries to figure out who killed her sister and where he lives. We also learn that Sadie has been the victim of pedophiles and is in search of revenge for both her sister and herself. You might be wondering about parents. Her father has never been in the picture and her mother is a long-time addict who abandoned Sadie and her little sister.

So the novel is a mystery, a road trip, a podcast, and a revenge tale - one that will leave you with as many questions as answers when you finish.

I think Sadie is a good novel and I'd recommend it for someone wanting a thriller/mystery dealing with murder/family troubles/ and sexual abuse. However, I just never really found myself taken with the book. I think there were too many times where the plot felt a little overwrought and many times where I got confused about who was who (after all there are several abusive men involved and one of the villains has several aliases). The who podcast set-up also didn't resonate with me, but it might with other readers. I'd say it's a solid read, but one that just didn't appeal so much to me.