I *loved* The Radium Girls! The author does an incredible job of telling their story. You almost do not even know that it's non-fiction. It's exciting, page-turning, suspenseful, and you really come to know the girls. The author gave them a life that endures. Their voice, their experiences, their suffering, their pluck and determination, their zest for life, their faith and loyalty... it is all amazing and inspiring. 
 I suppose you could say that I was already inclined toward this book, as I used to be a Nuclear Reactor Operator in the Navy. And to an extent, this is true. There is a certain wonder and fascination with radiologic material. But, in my time, also a healthy caution, respect, and sometimes fear. I live in an age which is after things like Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and Chernobyl. We know of the power and destruction that fissile material can cause. We also know how it can be used in positive ways, including in the fields of medicine and power generation. I suppose you could say that I am a proponent of nuclear energy. 
 But reading this book gave me this sense of horror from the beginning. These girls were literally using it as makeup some evenings. *Coating* themselves in it. It made me want to reach over and pluck those brushes right out of their mouths and give lengthy lectures. Throughout the book, I was wondering about the lingering radioactivity of items that came in contact with the girls. Towards the end, the author commented on how a sister of one of the girls developed cancer later in life which was likely ascribed to the fact that the two girls had shared a bed. What about the radioactivity of their houses? Their beds? The plumbing that was surely coated in radium after they showered at the end of the day? The book describes the impact that the sites of USRC and Radium Dial had on their communities, but what about the effect the girls had on their neighborhoods? It leaves an Erin Brockovich question mark in the air. 
 I loved this book. Not because it was cheery, but because it is important. More than that, I came to really love the girls. I read this book when I probably should have been sleeping. In the middle of the night both Thursday and Friday night. Their story resonates with me and is not one that I will soon forget. I finished it sometime around 3 am this morning -- all 496 pages of it. I had borrowed it from the library, having snatched it up from the New shelf. It had been published in April and I remember having been interested in it when I first saw it months ago in a Barnes & Noble, but it had fallen off my radar until recently when I paid my library fines and again went to pick up way too many books for me to possibly read before their return dates (Horrible, I know, but I can't help taking too many and then owing money - my civic duty is monetarily supporting the library via fines, apparently). 
 I can only highly encourage everyone to read this book. Even if you only read one non-fiction book in a decade, read this one.