The Paris Apartment

The Paris Apartment is probably my favorite read of the year. Such a gripping, tense tale. Jess comes to Paris to hang with her half brother for a bit- she just lost her job- but he's not super keen on having her there. See, he's looking to move out of the posh apartment he's been enjoying in Paris- we see right from the get go that he's in some sort of trouble, and his wastrel sister coming to visit isn't going to help. Alas, something happens to brother, and when Jess arrives no one is very nice. 

This book grabbed me right from the start. I'm always a fan of stories like this- someone arrives in a foreign city, preferably Paris, and finds someone missing and/ or has to solve a mystery. This one has short, punchy chapters told from alternating POV's- we get our heroine as well as the five POV's that make up the apartment dwellers. The story reminded me of the movie Frantic a bit, where Harrison Ford loses someone close to him in the city and finds everyone not super helpful. Jess though is in even more trouble since she's not loaded. 

There are two or three HUGE twists (at least I thought they were) and this is the kind of book I love 

Cloning- Yea or Nay

I seem to gravitate towards books on cloning- there's something about it that appeals to me I guess. Lately especially I've been thinking- what are our views on cloning? As a society and as book readers? Are we okay with it under some circumstances- or should it be outlawed altogether? The old saying goes that just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should. So... cloning yea or nay? 

I love reading about cloning and all the ethical dilemmas it presents. Below I'll list a few books that have captivated me lately, but one in particular inspired this post. Golden City is a graphic novel from Europe and one of the plot points is cloning as a means of organ harvesting. The protagonists' mother commissioned a secret lab where clones of her son would be raised, to be used for harvesting if her son ever became ill. She later changed her mind but an unscrupulous scientist continued the program, instead of aborting the cloned baby as ordered. 

If that sounds pretty monstrous, well, it is. The question I have though is- would any of us do that under certain conditions? Would we clone our children in order to maybe save their life later? Would that be murdering the clone to do so? Seems pretty cut and dried- the answer I think is yes- but I can totally see this happening. Are there any cases where you'd consider it? Does it matter if the clone is aware as opposed to just being basically a body bank? 

And what if you didn't have to kill it? What if you just want another version of Emma or Johnny? Or a back- up body for yourself? Even more out there- let's say you can transfer consciousness someday to a new body. This one wears out, but you have clones on back-up. If you could be essentially long- lived or immortal through cloning, would you? 

Okay discuss away. Meanwhile here are some recent books with cloning that have piqued my interests. 

 

Cover Love Statue of Liberty

This week I am redoing an old post to highlight a post apoc look at a famous icon.    

Tuesday Tagline #217

Ruthless survival in a world of elements gone mad!  

Top Ten Tuesday #289

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new Top Ten will be posted. Everyone is welcome to join. Link back so everyone can check out other bloggers' lists. It's a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers.

This week is Books on my summer reading list. Man, are there a lot. I have mentioned lately that my reading has been down so who knows what I will get to, but here's (sorta) the top of my list?