Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

I’m a huge huge fan of Star Trek Voyager – I watched virtually every episode in order as they aired over seven seasons – and so also a fan of Kate Mulgrew (who played Captain Kathryn Janeway). I couldn’t resist reading her memoir, even though I’m not a big memoir reader.

It’s a well written work by one tough cookie. It starts at the beginning of her life and stops five years into Voyager’s run. The book contains a lot of detail, more, really, than I was interested in, and not much about Star Trek (although that was okay). Mulgrew believes in herself and her talent, that’s evident.

I did enjoy this quotation about Robert Beltran’s Chakotay, one of my favorite Star Trek characters: “Strikingly good-looking, he was a curious combination of come hither and go away.” (p. 262) For me it was worth reading Born With Teeth for that quote alone!

If you like memoirs by strong, interesting women, I’d recommend Born With Teeth.

The Galesburg Public Library has Born With Teeth as a print book and as an ebook.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I very much enjoyed Station Eleven and had no trouble following the many character threads across the years as the timeline moved back and forth.

The situation  - a pandemic that kills 99% of the world’s population in a few days - feels so very possible, and that certainly increased my interest in the plot. What might happen after such a pandemic also felt plausible. And I am wholeheartedly in support of the Traveling Symphony, a group of actors and musicians trying to keep the arts alive “Because survival is insufficient.” (I’m also happy to see a Star Trek Voyager reference in a book, as Voyager is my favorite Star Trek spin-off.)

Most of the main characters were well drawn. One thread (Jeevan’s) felt somewhat pointless, but I suppose was necessary to convey what it was like immediately after the catastrophe.

I did feel the ending fell a little flat. I expected a few more connections and explanations than were made.  Still, I definitely recommend Station Eleven to readers of dystopia and science fiction.

The Galesburg Public Library has Station Eleven in regular print and large print, as an audiobook, and as an ebook.