AHML Staff Choices

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The irony and appeal of this book is that the author, Jill Bolte Taylor  is a Harvard-trained brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke at the age of 37  and survived.  As a neuroanatomist by profession, Taylor realizes she is having a stroke when it occurs and is able to experience her brain injury and recovery from a patient’s and Dr.’s perspective.   She provides the reader with first person narrative of her experience in the ICU, her experience with rehab doctor and nurses, and her long  journey of relearning to walk, to speak, to read, and to communicate, and to live.

Taylor explains the anatomical elements of a brain injury in practical layman’s terms but also shares the mystical and powerful lessons she  discovered along the way.

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The Handmaid’s Tale is set  in the near future in the Repuplic of Giliead, a country that was formed when the United States was overthrown by  racist, chauvinistic, theocratic military coup.  The story is told from point of view of a slave named Offred (of Fred, referring to the man she serves) who is a “handmaid” – a woman kept for reproductive purposes by the ruling class.   Margaret Atwood explores many social issues including:   gender roles, reproduction and sexuality, caste and social classes, and religious fundamentalism.  The author gives the reader a  thought provoking view into a future society.

This book would make an excellent choice for a book discussion group as it could lead to spirited discussion on many issues and provokes “What If” thinking.

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This is Mitch Albom’s first nonfiction book since Tuesday’s with Morrie.  Have a Little Faith opens with Albom facing  an unusual request: an eighty-two-year-old rabbi from his old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy.  Albom begins meeting with this rabbi to understand his life better and begins to renew his relationship with the rabbi.  Over time, these meetings become a re-connecting  with his Jewish faith.  At the same time, Albom begins a relationship with a Christian pastor of a broken-down impoverished congregation in Detroit.  Through these two very different relationships, Albom explores how faith connects us all, despite our differences.  As one editorial review said, ”

Have a Little Faith is a book about a life’s purpose; about losing belief and finding it again; about the divine spark inside us all. It is one man’s journey, but it is everyone’s story.

As an added bonus, it is important to note that ten percent of the profits from this book will go to charity, including The Hole In The Roof Foundation, which helps refurbish places of worship that aid the homeless.

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In Shanghai Girls  the reader follows two sisters, Pearl and May as they travel from Shanghai  to the US as young women. Lisa See vividly describes life in pre-World War II Shanghai and takes readers on an unforgettable journey through the Japanese invasion of China and its aftermath.  Even after leaving China, the sisters face many hardships  in the United States.  Pearl and May are detained on Angel’s Island for months undergoing untold suffering.  They finally meet their “arranged spouses’, but life for the sisters has many more trials in store, and a secret shared between them threatens their future.  The novel spans several decades and does end on a bit of a cliff hanger. . . On a personal note, I wasn’t sure that I liked the characters although I most certainly empathized deeply with them.  I greatly appreciated the author’s writing and found myself learning about a time and place in history that I did not know much about.  Also, I have not read Lisa See’s prior novels so I don’t have anything to compare, but I think this is a departure from her previous works.

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I have long known that Jennifer Weiner is a very popular author of “chick lit”, but I have  never read any of her books.  Certain Girls is actually a sequel to the bestselling novel Good in Bed.   The reader does not have to read the prequel to understand and appreciate this fun and enjoyable read.   In Certain Girls, Cannie Shapiro, the main character, is happily married  and is a very proud mother of her daughter, Joy.  Cannie has settled into a routine of being a mom and wife, and writing science fiction novels for teenagers.  But, life gets interesting and a  little crazy as Joy hits adolescense and begins to explore her mother’s past.  At the same time, Cannie and her husband our trying to decide if they should have a child through surrogacy.   The narrative switches from Cannie’s point of view to Joy’s and this is an interesting way for the readers to hear and experience both sides of the story.   This is not a deep reflective book, but one that you will enjoy as a humorous and fun look at mother-daughter dynamics.

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The Help is Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel about black domestic servants working in white Southern households in the early 1960s.  The author gives us three remarkable woman who are changing the times:  Skeeter, Aibileen and Minnie.  Skeeter has just graduated from college and her mother would like her to marry, but she wants to be a journalist.  It is Skeeter’s idea to work with the black “help” to document life of the hired help in the tumultuous civil rights time.  Skeeter works with Aibileen, a black maid who is  a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child.  We also hear personal stories and challenges  from Minnie, Aibileen’s best friend, a short, fat, and sassy maid.  These three women come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.  These brave woman are challenging the stereotypes and segregation in this town.

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Kristin Hannah gives us an epic look into a lifeflong friendship and the ups and downs of life through the years.  This books begins when the main characters, Kate and Tully are in junior high and follows them through 40 years of friendship– high school and college on into adulthood, other relationships, careers, children, a husband, lovers, geographic moves. The friendship defines each of these women and it is central to who they are.  With that said, some of the issues they face feel more like a lifetime movie than real life.  But, the author does a great job of placing the reader in these women’s lives and feeling the love and friendship that endures.

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At a recent Readers Advisory Training, reknown book reviewer Nancy Pearl mentioned that she was currently reading The Girls by Lori Lansens and found it to be a well written interesting book written from the perspective of conjoined twin girls.  Based on her recommendation, I checked this book out of the library and was engrossed in this fictional account of conjoined twins from page one.  The Girls are Rose and Ruby Darlen, craniopagus  conjoined twins, connected inseparably, facing the world side by side. The book chronicles their life journey; a story of love between sisters.   The narrative switches between sisters; each chapter giving the reader a personal glimpse into the spirit of each girl.  The writing is rich in detail and provides you with an intimate look into the struggles and triumphs of the “girls”.

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

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As an avid reader, I have always meant to read a book by Adriana Trigiani and this book did not disappoint.  Very Valentine is the first in a new trilogy by this author.  Most readers are probably familiar with her books Big Stone Gap and Home to Big Stone Gap.  Valentine Roncalli is a young woman from a tight knit family living and working in Greenwich Village.  Val lives and works with her Grandma  Angelini as artisan of fine custom shoes.   We follow Val as she attempts to save the shoe boutique, balances her love life with work life and travels to Italy.  Throughout the story, Trigiani has the ability to describe the surroundings, the characters, the food, the clothing, and most importantly, the SHOES.  This is a character driven book, but the plot moves along  and is interesting and fun.   This book had me rooting for the main character and left me feeling contented.

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The Middle Place is a poignant memoir of what it is like to be in “the middle place” –the  place between childhood and adulthood.  Corrigan is a wife and mother to two young girls, but in many ways her life is still shaped around being a daughter.    This book centers around Corrigan finding a lump in her breast, being diagnosed with cancer and fighting it with humor, strength, determination and love.  At the same time, Corrigan’s father faces a recurrance of cancer himself.   By alternating chapters between present and past, Corrigan moves the reader from her present  to her past with stories of her life as her parents’ child.   One reviewer says, “”Kelly Corrigan has a great sense of humor, an honest voice, and a brilliant way of telling it like it is — but that’s just for starters. It’s her heart that really counts. The Middle Place is a love letter to family and home and life.”