Book #16 was "The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl: How Two Brave Scientists Battled Typhus and Sabotaged the Nazis" by Arthur Allen. I read a positive review of this in Science News magazine and knew I would want to read it. There are a lot of Ukrainian and Polish names and places that are unfamiliar and a fair bit of scientific terminology, but I still felt this was a fairly smooth read for non-fiction because it's the personalities involved in fighting Typhus - while simultaneously trying to sabotage the Nazis and keep their Jewish co-workers alive - that make this book so interesting. The descriptions of using lice to incubate typhus for vaccines might make a squeamish reader's skin crawl, but it is worth it because the book is just so interesting, touching on facets of World War II that I wasn't familar with. It has many horrors related to war, sickness, poverty and hunger, but there are also moments of heroism and humor. Highly, highly recommended!
1. The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood [non-fiction]- James Gleick
2. Stones from the River [fiction]- Ursula Hegi
3. The Penelopiad [fiction]- Margaret Atwood
4. Woman Warrior [non-fiction/memoir]- Maxine Hong Kingston
5. The Son of Neptune [ficiton]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
6. The Poe Shadow [fiction]- Matthew Pearl
7. Nat Turner [non-fiction graphic "novel"]- Kyle Baker (illustrator)
8. Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception [fiction]- Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook)
9. The Daughter of Time [fiction]- Josephine Tey
10. Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) [non-fiction/biography]- Stacy Schiff
11. Gilgamesh: A New English Version [literary criticism/epic poetry]- Stephen Mitchell
12. Back When We Were Grownups [fiction]- Anne Tyler
13. Red Azalea [non-fiction/memoir]- Anchee Min
14. The Mark of Athena (#3 in the "Heroes of Olympus" series) [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
