Fly Girl: A Memoir by Ann Hood (★★★☆☆)
Audiobook • Spotify/Hoopla • Nonfiction • 2022
Short synopsis: In 1978, Ann Hood became a flight attendant for TWA during the golden age of air travel. She recounts her journey, sharing tales of adventure, romance, and the challenges of a rapidly changing airline industry.
I’ve had this book on my TBR list for a long time; I think it was originally a Modern Mrs. Darcy recommendation, and I stopped reading her blog/listening to her podcast many years ago. I was excited to pick it up, though, because I find the lives of flight attendants (especially flight attendants from the 70s/80s) to be fascinating! Ann Hood became a flight attendant in 1978 but it wasn’t long before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 took effect, vastly changing the experience of air travel and flight attendants. I was mesmerized by all of Ann’s training to become a flight attendant and what it’s truly like to be running around the plane all flight long, ensuring everyone has what they need and calming down irate passengers. Ann was there when a man died on her flight and a passenger got so drunk and belligerent that the cops had to be called. She got to meet celebrities and many men she would later go out on dates with. And while I found her stories to be fascinating, there was something about this book that tempered my enjoyment. Her stories felt scattered at times and I think the book could have been organized better. I wanted a bit more personality from her, too—she read the audiobook herself and took a very flat tone, even with the more insane stories she told. Also, I found it such a letdown that she told all of these long, drawn-out stories about her romantic relationships but we never got the story of how she met and fell in love with her husband (who I think she’s still with today!). I found that to be a bit odd. All in all, a bit of an uneven reading experience but I did enjoy getting a glimpse into what it was like to be a flight attendant in the late 1970s/1980s.
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston (★★★★☆)
Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Contemporary Romance • 2024
Short synopsis: Elsy Merriweather is on her way to a solo weekend away when her car unexpectedly breaks down… and she suddenly finds herself in Eloratown, a city that only exists within the pages of her favorite romance series.
This is the kind of book that’s not going to be for everyone. It is a very, very sweet romance novel with very little spice. But for me, it worked. I really loved Elsy’s character and I could relate to her so much, especially being resentful when all of her friends cancel on her (hence the solo trip) but not wanting to tell them how much it hurt. (Elsy’s an Enneagram 9, right?!) I loved how enamored she was with being in the world of her favorite fictional series and it made me do a lot of thinking of what world I would want to be in (maybe Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series since it’s a town filled with queer people, ha). This town has a grumpy bookstore owner who seems to be the only one, aside from Elsy, who knows that they are in a fictional town, and Elsy believes she has been sent here to help him find his love story (which isn’t with her). At times, I wanted to shake Elsy because don’t you see that he’s perfect for YOU? I just wanted her to get it together. The novel did have a slow middle, so my official rating is 3.75 stars, but it was a satisfying read overall.
All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today by Elizabeth Comen, MD (★★★★★)
Audiobook • Hoopla • Nonfiction • 2024
Short synopsis: For centuries, women’s healthcare has been shaped by a history of objectification, ignorance, and male-dominated narratives, leaving women’s voices and experiences overlooked. In her exploration of this legacy, Dr. Elizabeth Comen, sheds light on the systemic biases and untold stories that have shaped modern medicine, offering a compassionate and insightful guide to understanding women’s bodies and health.
Wow, you guys. This book. THIS BOOK! It’s only January and I cannot see how this won’t make my favorites list at the end of the year. This book was sensational. And horrifying. And maddening. Dr. Comen structures the book around the body’s 11 systems—integumentary (skin), skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary, immune, nervous, endocrine (hormones), and reproductive. Each chapter delves into the medical field’s journey to understand a specific system, the conditions affecting women within it, and the many ways the medical community has historically failed to address women’s needs. And also how the medical community failed women doctors. Textbooks only had male bodies in them, cadavers were mostly men, X-ray machines weren’t even set up to protect a woman’s breasts, and even some of the medical instruments were more difficult for women to handle. What really horrified me was how so many women were labeled as hysterical and sent to asylums as a result. What a scary time to be a woman! Any simple symptom could earn a woman the label of hysteria, and worse, a woman’s husband could simply make up symptoms and send their wife to an asylum at any point. Good god. I am so grateful to be living in modern times where my anxiety and depression are treatable conditions and I’m not labeled with hysteria. Anyway, if you, too, want to be horrified but also enlightened by the history of medicine, I encourage you to pick up this book. Dr. Comen had a really friendly, personable writing style and I really enjoyed the audiobook.
What are you reading?
I currently have A Novel Love Story checked out right now, but I think I’m going to skip it based on your review. I liked her first book, the seven year slip, but I didn’t care for her last book that I read, and this one seems to have a sort of magical realism to it with her traveling to a fictional place. I need my romance grounded in reality! Have you read summer Fridays? I’ll finish that today and have really liked it. It’s probably more of a one chili pepper kind of read, but I liked the character development and it’s a rare romance that includes infidelity that I enjoyed!
OMG all in her head sounds maddening. When I first moved back to Minneapolis after living in Charlotte, I had to find a new rheumatologist. I ended up seeing a male physician and he questioned out loud whether I actually had rheumatoid arthritis! Can you believe that? I was on really expensive weekly injections that are difficult to get approved by insurance because of how costly they are, and yet he was questioning if I really had this disease. I’ve thought of him over the last week while I’ve been recovering from the surgery. i’m giving him a metaphorical middle finger. It’s been over 10 years since I was under his care, but I’m still mad at him. I felt so belittled when I sat in his exam room and was questioned whether I’d made up a diagnosis like rheumatoid arthritis! I know there are good, male physicians out there, but I currently only see female physicians! The boys pediatrician is also a female.