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Book club?

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notBastet:
I'm pretty much willing to give anything a shot...

I try not to read things I have "preconceived notions" about... try to wait long enough for my "preconceived notions" too pass, lol...

Kelda:
I read a great book on holiday I had picked it up a few months before on recommendation as it was about my holiday destination - Crete.

Or more specifically the old leper colony of Crete - Spinalonga. Which I went on a day trip to during my holiday - the guide was great and between that and reading the book i found the trip very emotional.

Its called The Island - by Victoria Hislop

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Victoria-Hislop/dp/0755309510
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinalonga

whether for a book group or just for an individual read I'd recommend this book.

MaineWriter:
Sounds interesting, Kelda. Thanks!

When we were in Norway, we visited the Lepramuseet (Leprosy Museum) in Bergen. It was very interesting. A Norwegian physician--Armauer Hansen--did a great deal to further our understanding of this disease and now it is more properly called Hansen's Disease, in recognition of his work.

Just a little bit of medical trivia. Back to our regularly scheduled discussion!

L

Kelda:
Yes - they told us that on the tour about him. Another interesting fact is that they used Thalidomide in the leprosy treatment.

In the UK, this word has a lot of horrible images as it was given to pregnant women in the 50s and 60s to help with morning sickness and caused sever birth defects. But in this case it gave mildly positive results.

The guide also said she wanted to state that actually Thalidomide is a wonderful drug if used correctly - she said her husband used it when he had terminal cancer and it allowed for weight gain or at least keeping weight on. Used for cancer & aids patients apparently.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

mvansand76:
I'm reading Atonement by Ian McEwan right now! Hope to watch the movie with my colleague next week!

Anybody read the book?

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