Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

This is an artical once published in a TIME special report.

A copy can be found here: http://livingwithmcl.com/BitterPill.pdf

Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us was written by Steven Brill and provides a sobering, disturbing, and slightly depressing view of our medical billing system in the USA as well as large amounts of evidence from individual cases as well as some more generalized figures.

I would not say this articles was particularly politically aligned, in fact it commends political parties for what they do write while at the same time chastising that which is done wrong.

The parties the article is least kind to are non-profit hospitals and medical industry lobbyists, while also doing its best to leave medical device providers and pharmaceutical companies in an unflattering light.

This article seeks to explain why health care costs so much in the USA and providing a contrast of showing where costs are reasonable and how even then there are flaws.

I would strongly encourage people to read the 28 page article.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

“The Girl Who Kicked the Horner’s Nest” is unfortunately the third and (thus far) final book in the “Millennium series” by Stieg Larsson who passed away before he could write a fourth (maybe someone will fill in for him someday).

By far this book has the most revelations regarding who Lizbeth Salander is, her past, her allies, her friends, and her enemies. While all of this is good what is really great regarding Salander’s character is that by the end of this book she has grown and matured some, and also seemingly realized that friends are not a terrible thing to have.

This book is heavily dedicated, from the perspective of many characters, the investigation of what happened at the end of “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and what led up to those events. I would argue that this book has the largest cast of characters from whose eyes we see the plot unfold. It is very heavily investigation driven and fantastic for it.

There is a section dedicated as a distraction regarding a vengeful stalker of Erika Berger which… I’m not convinced should have been in the book, but, whatever.

Also, the climax in the courtroom is phenomenal and was fantastic to read.

The falling action at the end of the book raises questions about what happened to Elizabeth Salander’s twin sister, which if a meeting took place between the two has been hinted throughout the “Millennium series” to pack explosive potential of disastrous proportions. It makes me really want to read a fourth book, but alas, there is not one (yet, maybe some author will take up the mantle).

I’m very glad I read the series though, it was a very different style and pace than I’m used to.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

The second book in the “Millennium series” was also quite enjoyable.

One part that bugged me though was that the beginning started out very slowly and almost completely off topic for the rest of the book for no apparent reason. It seemed unnecessary, especially because the main cast of characters, not including some that would become more important, were introduced in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. The real problem is this slow rolling introduction does not even introduce the new important characters. I would have preferred a more direct jump into the action.

“The Girl Who Played with Fire” concentrates a lot more on Elizabeth Salander and her past, while not revealing too much of it until the end, and a lot less on Mikael Blomkvist.

This book was more interesting as there did not necessarily appear to be a protagonist who was dominating the book from their viewpoint. In many ways I would say Salander was the protagonist in this book but we often learn about what may or may not be happening to her through the eyes and narration following other characters who are entangled in her story. I liked this aspect a lot.

I would definitely suggest that anyone who has read “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” should read “The Girl Who Played with Fire” as well.

Also, it should be noted that “The Girl Who Played with Fire” ends on such a strong note and cliffhanger that I really would strongly encourage having “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” on hand to read as soon as you finish the book.