I just wanted to let you all know that I am now a proud member of Reedsy Discovery – another book review site that will highlight all types of genres! Look for my reviews under the category Reedsy Discovery.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you soon!
Month: June 2022
The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and little-understood stowaway—COVID-19—days before the world shut down in March 2020. This riveting narrative thriller takes readers behind the scenes with passengers and crew who were caught unprepared for the deadly ordeal that lay ahead.
In early 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading on different continents, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the cruise ship Zaandam, owned by Holland America, was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, loaded with 1,200 passengers—Americans, Europeans and South Americans, plus 600 crew.
Most passengers were over the age of sixty-five. There was concern about the virus on the news, and it had already killed and sickened passengers on other Holland America ships. But that was oceans away and escaping to sea at the ends of the earth for a few weeks seemed like it might be a good option. The cruise line had said the voyage (three weeks around the South American coastline to see some of the world’s most stunning natural wonders and ancient ruins) would carry on as scheduled, with no refunds. And it would be safe.
Among the travelers there is a retired American school superintendent on a dream vacation with his wife of fifty-six years, on a personal quest to see Machu Picchu. There is an Argentine psychologist taking this trip to celebrate her sixty-fourth birthday with her husband, though she finds herself fretting in her cabin on day one, trying to dismiss her fears of what she’s hearing on the news. There is an Indonesian laundry manager who’s been toiling on Holland America cruise ships for thirty years, sending his monthly paycheck to his family back home.
Within days, people aboard Zaandam begin to fall sick. The world’s ports shut down. Zaandam becomes a top story on the news and is denied safe harbor everywhere. With only two doctors aboard and few medical supplies to test for or treat COVID-19, and with dwindling food and water, the ship wanders the oceans on an unthinkable journey.
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for this review copy!
CABIN FEVER is an amazing, scary, well-written book about the pariah cruise ship Zaandam, one of the last ships to depart before the Covid-19 pandemic forced a worldwide lockdown. The book follows a few passengers’ stories as well as some of the crew’s; these are told with humanity and a lot of detail. Reading about the passengers’ confinement to their cabins made me feel as claustrophobic as they must have been.
I have never been on a cruise ship, so I found the descriptions of the inner workings of one fascinating. There was a portion of the book noting how much food and beverages are needed on a cruise; over 40,000 eggs, pallets of bottled water, etc. The sheer size of the ship amazed me; I marveled at all the activities that were a regular part of a cruise. Some of you might find the detail gratuitous, but I was enthralled. (I will say that after reading CABIN FEVER I will never go on a cruise; one of my nightmares is being stuck out at sea like the Zaandam was.)
Authors Smith and Franklin did a wonderful job of moving between passengers and crew as their stories were told. It was easy to feel sorry for them as they were shuttled back and forth from port to port, looking for a friendly place to dock. The tension ratchets up as the book goes on, people are getting sick(er) and the Zaandam turns into an exiled Covid vessel.
Even if you had followed the story on the news and know how everything turned out, the authors create a layer of human interest that makes you hang on every word – will your favorite characters get sick, or die? The behind-the-scenes inclusion of the diplomatic struggles are epic, strings are pulled, favors are called in, yet everything continues to be a struggle for the beleaguered ship.
Also emphasized is the abject fear of Covid – these events take place as the virus rapidly spreads around the world; humanity closes ranks and eyes others (especially foreigners) as personae non gratae – virus vectors. The fear is palpable as more people get sick, both on and off the ship. As I kept reading, my own fears came flooding back as I remembered the onset of this emerging disease. We have come so far from those days; a lot of people have taken their masks off due to “Covid fatigue” while others are super cautious and may still be wearing double masks and stocking up on supplies in case of another lockdown.
CABIN FEVER is one of the best books I’ve reviewed this year. It reads like a fictional suspense novel, made more riveting because it’s all true. The authors’ style makes the reading easy as the story flows seamlessly by. The story held my interest as the plot moved between the crew, the passengers, and the massive ship itself. I urge you to grab this book right away. I loved it!
You can pick up a copy here.
A leading microbiologist tackles the scientific and sociopolitical impact of viruses in twelve striking essays.
Invisible in the food we eat, the people we kiss, and inside our own bodies, viruses flourish—with the power to shape not only our health, but our social, political, and economic systems. Drawing on his expertise in microbiology, Joseph Osmundson brings readers under the microscope to understand the structure and mechanics of viruses and to examine how viruses like HIV and COVID-19 have redefined daily life.
Osmundson’s buoyant prose builds on the work of the activists and thinkers at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS crisis and critical scholars like José Esteban Munoz to navigate the intricacies of risk reduction, draw parallels between queer theory and hard science, and define what it really means to “go viral.” This dazzling multidisciplinary collection offers novel insights on illness, sex, and collective responsibility. Virology is a critical warning, a necessary reflection, and a call for a better future.
About the Author:
Joseph Osmundson is a professor of microbiology at New York University. His work has been published in leading biological journals including Cell and PNAS and in the Village Voice, Gawker, the Feminist Wire, and elsewhere. He lives and works in New York City.
Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton for this ARC for review. I was quite excited to read this book, and I ended up quite disappointed. This was a DNF for me, 14% in. The beginning seemed disingenuous as the author kept mentioning “queer” this and that. To me it seemed like he was pushing a gay agenda on the reader even before the book started. I am certainly not a foe of gay or trans people (one of my best friends is trans) but I was expecting a science book, not a diary of a gay man with some mentions of DNA, Covid and Ebola thrown in here and there.
There was also a mention of one of the author’s first sexual experiences in the first few pages of the book. Again, I am not a prude, but I truly don’t believe fellatio belongs in a book claiming to “tackle the scientific….impact of viruses”. The style is not “buoyant prose”, it’s a mishmash of personal stories that are vaguely connected with viruses, by the thinnest of threads.
The author also notes that viruses come out of us in our “piss and shit”. WHY?? Why is this not written using proper scientific words such as urine and feces? This attempting-to-be-glib is so heavy handed.
Yet another sentence starts out with “Even if I were straight, God forbid…” which nearly caused the DNF right there. But no, I kept on struggling along. This interweaving of sexuality and viruses continued to be harsh and disconcerting, as it read more like a diary than a science book.
The final blow to my reader’s sensibility came when the author talks about how he wanted to contract AIDS to be closer to a man he was in a relationship with, for him to acknowledge their togetherness to the public. Or something like that. I stopped reading right in the middle of that sentence and shut down my Kindle. I had wasted enough time. That is time I will never get back.
Sorry for the straight talk, but this is an honest review. Those of you who seek to learn more about viruses should pass this by and read Richard Preston or one of these five books. I include the link here for those readers who might actually find this book an enjoyable read. You can pick up your copy here.
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