Book Blogger Hop/Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - 6/2/2017

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ramblings of A Coffee-Addicted Writer, Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The idea is to share a sentence or so from the first page and the 56th page of the book you are currently reading!  Also, I will now also include a brief synopsis.

This week's Book Blogger Hop's question.
Do your bookshelves have books ONLY or do you also have bookish items on the shelves?

Most of the books I have are on my Kindle now.  I keep a pile of my most recent books that I've bought at used book sales, etc. on my nightstand, but those on a bookcase in the basement, I believe only have books, but I'm not in the basement much, so my husband may have somethings other than books on there.

A Brief Synopsis: The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women's cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
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Beginning of the Book

Dear Readers,
When you are entrusted to tell someone else's true story - whether as an author, actor or director - I believe you have a responsibility: to do justice to whose story it is. That's how I approached the true tale of the radium girls from the very first moment I discovered it.

Page 56

It was the "lip, dip, paint routine" all over again, but with an all new cast.

Is this something you would read?  What are you reading this week?