The Arcanum by Janet Gleeson - It's eighteenth century Europe, the start of the Age of Reason, and a young apothecary's assistant performs a trick, apparently turning lead into gold. This bit of slight-of-hand eventually lands Johann Bottger into the hands of Augustus the Strong and life-long "imprisonment." But between his efforts in transmuting gold, Bottger eventually hit upon the formula for recreating Chinese porcelain--a different sort of gold that nonetheless fattened Augustus' pockets. Gleeson's account of the development of Meissen porcelain and the secrecy behind its formula or arcanum can be pretty suspenseful at times. As progress in European porcelain crept onward, one can't help wonder which greedy backstabber was going to hit next. I thought this was a fascinating intersection between chemical science and history (and would probably make a kickass film of period drama--I mean, it's got everything--sex, violence, espionage, grudges, greed, you name it). Highly recommended.
Escape from the Antarctic by Ernest Shackleton - I like very few stories which pit man against nature--unless it's something completely unavoidable like man against disease. Unfortunately, the majority of the more famous nature stories which get made into movies feature guys climbing mountains. Completely uninteresting. The whole subliminal "mine is bigger than yours!" thing totally doesn't work for me. Survival stories, however, have held a certain morbid fascination ever since I was introduced to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet when I was ten. I think it's because there are more factors coming into play other than something like falling off a mountain. There's exposure, temperature, weather, starvation, psychological issues, lack of navigation or rescue, and infighting. Escape from the Antarctic has all of these things although the sparse prose only hinted at the psychology and infighting. As the first World War ravaged Europe, Ernest Shackleton led the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition in hopes of crossing the Antarctic. There were two parties, one which laid out supply dumps and the second which would make the crossing. The second party was marooned on Elephant Island after ice crushed their ship the Endurance, 800 miles away from the nearest settlement, at the onset of winter. At this point, Shackleton made the desperate decision to split the group: the less fit men would remain at base camp while Shackleton and five other men would seek help. Shackleton's account is matter-of-fact and a testament to his leadership. But it does not detract from the amazing feat that these men managed to get help across 800 miles in nothing more than a twenty-foot boat.
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