Spiritus Mundi

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would. I'm not gonna lie - I sincerely love reading Dan Brown's novels. His are the only suspense/mystery books I really read. I appreciate the academic puzzle style that keeps me engaged in his fast-paced stories.  That being said, I think his latest novel,  Origin , missed the mark.  What I love most about Dan Brown's serial main character, Robert Langdon, is how he uses his career as a symbologist (and professor at Harvard) to resolve the strange situations he finds himself in. As is usually the case with the first of a series, I think the first Langdon novel,  Angels and Demons , is the best example of this. The other books do a decent job of utilizing symbology and code breaking, too, which is what keeps me invested in Dan Brown.  Origin , though, feels like it could have existed without Robert Langdon at all

"I hate going to the gym and seeing those overweight people wearing leggings and workout tops. If you need to wear anything bigger than a large, you should just stick to baggy t-shirts and sweatpants." An old coworker said this loudly while standing directly behind me. And I wear XL. I interacted with this person on a daily basis, and I assume the best in her. She didn't direct this statement toward me, and I'll give her the benefit of the doubt by assuming she didn't notice I was sitting right in front of her. I don't begrudge her for saying it, nor do I think the statement makes her mean or stupid or anything like that. But that doesn't negate the fact that I had to leave to go cry in the bathroom when I heard it. I didn't confront her or say anything to anyone about her statement. Maybe that's why it hurt so much. Obesity is a taboo subject for most people. We avoid talking about it because we don't want to make other people fee

Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would. Before I started reading it, I only knew two things about this book: 1. I thought the cover was absolutely stunning. 2. It seemed like everyone was talking about it. Now that I've finished it, I know one more thing: 3. Everyone should  be talking about it. Briefly,  Station Eleven  by Emily St. John Mandel is about the world before and after a devastating flu epidemic that brings civilization as we know it to an end. (As a note: Although it's about the flu, I wouldn't say this book is gory at all, so if you're squeamish like me, you'll still be okay.) As the story unfolds, we follow the lives of Arthur Leander, an actor who dies the night the pandemic starts, and those associated with him. After Arthur's death, Kirsten (a child actor who sees Arthur die on stage, then survives the flu) journeys around