My Stroke of Insight

by Jill Bolte Taylor

I read this book right after I finished Mr. Chartwell and they complimented each other well.  As explained in my previous review, the first book is about depression and is fictional, but quite unique and rather funny.  It is a story about how much we can or cannot control depression in our lives.  By far the best book I've read in a long, long time.

My Stroke of Insight is a non-fiction book written by a brain-scientist who actually has a stroke and lives to tell about it.  Not just lives, but thrives and is able, over a long period of time, to come to understand what happened in her brain and then explain it to the reader.  It is fascinating!  The detailed description of how the stroke starts to effect her is scary and intriguing all in one.  How she struggles to get help is miraculous.  I personally appreciated very much her discussion of her long and difficult recovery and found it very true and personal to me about what things helped her recovery and what things hindered it.  Been there, done that!  And I also have to say that Taylor's amazing mother that helps her through every step of her recovery reminds me of my own.  There is nothing quite like a strong mother to literally work miracles when you need them most.

And finally, after she goes through her own personal experience, she then lays out a fascinating discussion about the left brain and right brain and how the work together and separately.  She brings science into the realm of PMA (positive mental attitude), spirituality, and creativity, and describes how we can actually use our brains to help ourselves be better people.  She makes it clear that we really can control our thoughts and our actions and our brain a lot more than we think we can.  Yet she also praises the amazing strength of the human brain and recognizes that we have a lot more to learn and that we cannot control everything.

I found her science very accessible for a non-logical reader like myself, and the diagrams and pictures were helpful.  Taylor also included a couple of extremely helpful lists, two of which I think everyone should check out.  The first simply listed the signs of when someone is having a stroke so that they can get help faster.  Here it is, so you will know:

S = Speech, or problems with language
T = Tingling, or numbness in your body
R = Remember, or problems with thinking
O = Off-balance, or problems with coordination
K = Killer headache
E = Eyes, or problems with vision

The second list was even more important to me.  It was called "40 Things I Needed the Most" and it laid out the things that she found most helpful for recovery.  Having been through numerous surgeries and in and out of hospital settings, I found this list to be very true and should be read by anyone visiting a hospital, nursing home, or someone recovering at home.  A couple of the items on the list that I especially agreed with are these:

1. Please don't raise your voice—I'm not deaf, I'm wounded.
2. Honor the healing power of sleep.
3. Speak to me directly, not about me to others. (this should apply to doctors and nurses especially)
4. Remember that in the absence of some functions, I have gained other abilities.
5. Call in the troops! Create a healing team for me. Send word out to everyone so they can send me love. Keep them abreast of my condition and ask them to do specific things to support me
6. Approach me with an open heart and slow your energy down. Take your time.
7. Make eye contact with me
8. Trust that I am trying—just not with your skill level or on your schedule.

This is a rare and fascinating book where science, miracles, spirituality, and the brain all come together to form a wonderfully inspiring read, and its all true!

The Midwife's Apprentice

by Karen Cushman

A lot of depth is packed into this simple-looking book.  The story is set in the medieval times and is about a young girl who is an orphan and unloved by everyone.  She eventually is taken in and becomes the midwife's apprentice, learning who she is in the process. 

What I love about this book, and which is obviously why it won the Newbery Medal, is that it really puts you into the time and place it is set.  The descriptions are visceral and thick with wonderful imagery, both of the beauty and the darkness of the times.  I felt like I could literally touch and walk right into the meadows and cottages.  The main character is the same way, a very authentic feeling girl who does not know where she fits in.  The language she and the characters use also feels true to the times.  Not once does the book fall into any sort of a trite or romanticized way of looking at the world it portrays.

At times I am grateful for a book like this because it is a breath of fresh air from the complicated, dark, and romance-laden children/young adult books that are all the rage now.  A small and honest story that nevertheless can be told in any time and age - the story of a young girl learning that she too is of worth in the world.

Perfect Square

by Michael Hall

Have I mentioned how much I love libraries?!  There is something so rewarding when you find a book that you can touch and turn pages, and the illustrations are beautiful.  Especially when it is a children's book.  Online just can't do them justice.

My recent find is called Perfect Square and its a simple book, but really is almost perfect in its loveliness.  It starts out introducing a perfect square who is happy to be a square.  But then something happens to it and it gets torn up, or cut, or ripped.  So instead of being sad, the square picks up the pieces and makes itself into something wonderful, like a fountain, or river or bridge.  In the end, the square finds that being perfectly square isn't quite as wonderful as it thought at the beginning so it makes itself into something new.

The colors are vibrant, the pictures simple but imaginative, and the book shares a lovely thought that is not too overbearing - that maybe being what we think of as "perfect" isn't all its cracked up to be, and being different is fun.

So, from one "imperfect" square to another, go get this book and share it with your kids.

Auntie's Bookstore and My "Little" Brother

I wish I had a new book recommendation for you.  I have been reading a lot of things lately, but none worthy of a full post.  I read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton which was interesting but a little anticlimactic at the end.  I tried reading a couple of other highly recommended books but found there was just too much junk in them, which for me usually means sex on a too weird or too graphic level.  I find that I just don't feel like wasting my time on those books, no matter how good they are, because its the bad images that seem to stick in my mind.  Not worth it for me.

I will say that I did read an excellent book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.  The reason I didn't do a full post on it was that it was rife with language that I did not appreciate and did not find necessary at all to the story, which really annoys me and makes it hard for me to recommend to just anyone, unless I know that language doesn't bother them.  However, the book was good enough to keep me turning pages despite the language.  Its fascinating because the narrator of the story is autistic so its a bit bizarre, but also fascinating and quite funny at times.  And I found that it gave me a small bit of insight into the thought patterns of a few autistic people I know, and I hope it might help me a little bit both understand and empathize with how they interact with the world and with me.

My "little" brother and me - 2004

Anyway, I digress.  My post is about Auntie's Bookstore.  Actually its really about my brother.  He's the youngest of the family, but now the tallest.  We've always had fun hanging out together.  He recently went to basic training and then to jump school for Airborn (where they jump out of military airplanes at very short distances with full gear on - crazy!)  and is now being stationed in Alaska.  He's pretty excited, and we are all happy he has found something that he loves to do.  So we were able to get a few hours together yesterday for a lunch date.  And then he said the magic words: "Could we run down to Auntie's and get me a couple of books for the flight?"  Is there really any other answer to a statement like that?!

Auntie's Bookstore is a mecca for book lovers in Spokane.  Its locally owned, right downtown in a beautiful old building with a big grand staircase right in the middle.  I especially love the little alcove for young readers.  Its got character, unlike the chain stores.

We wandered blissfully through the shelves and parked the kids in a big chair to look at picture books.  I gave my brother a couple recommendations, mostly focused on his current interest which is sci-fi and some fantasy.  We got him a copy of The Hunger Games, and then found a copy of a one of my latest favorite fantasies, The Name of the Wind.  He should be well-entertained on the long flight to Alaska.  The kids each got a "Max & Ruby" book.

And I left without a single book for me.  But it was worth it because I got to spend a couple hours with a great brother - love you Toady!

Mr. Chartwell

by Rebecca Hunt

Sir. Winston Churchill, the famous British politician, was a brilliant and talented man.  What some do not know is that he also suffered all his life from bouts of manic depression.  He called his depression the "Black Dog."

This book takes that premise and creates a fabulously inventive, original, and witty fiction about Churchill's interaction with his "Black Dog" and also tells the story of a woman named Esther who is also dealing with her own depression.  It is a quick read and quite compelling.

When you first start, the story is a little strange and mysterious.  But it leaves you intrigued, wondering just who this "Mr. Chartwell" is, and if you are able to suspend your disbelief a bit and let the story unfold, it is a wonderful narrative.  It may sound depressing, but it is actually full of subtle humor and wonderful descriptions.  I especially loved the historical details that Hunt includes about Churchill and his family relationships, and one cannot get enough of his fabulous words. 

My mother has long suffered from depression and while hers may not be as bad as what Churchill struggled with, it has many of the same characteristics.  This book gave me a better understanding of what it must be like to live with depression constantly threatening otherwise happy days.  It is an inspiring book and gives hope to those with depression, or those who try to help others deal with it.

If you know of anyone with depression, this should be high on your reading list.

A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle

A classic science fantasy novel about Meg, a young girl who goes on an adventure to solve the mystery of her father's sudden disappearance.  He vanishes while working on a government project called a tesseract.  She travels with her little brother Charles,  and a friend from school named Calvin.  They also meet three old ladies who help them on their journey - Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which.

Eventually they travel to Camazotz where they find Meg's father trapped in a society which is controlled by a single mind that doesn't allow anyone to think for themselves.  To rescue their father, the children must fight against the powerful controlling mind and discover the one that cannot be controlled - love.

This is a lovely story about a family that is a little different than most (both parents are scientists and Charles is a super-genius) but who love and take care of each other.  It incorporates simple ideas of science and dimension easily, allowing even young children to understand the concept of a "wrinkle in time."  It has a little touch of romance, and fun realistic characters who are far from perfect and make decisions based on pride, flattery, and jealousy.  But ultimately it is a wonderful story of how good virtues can overrule the bad. 

This book has two others that follow it, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, but I found that I did not enjoy them nearly as much as this first book.  It has been some time since I read them, but it is not usually a good sign when I cannot remember a thing about them.  This book however is one that you will remember for a long time, and enjoy reading again and again.

Unbroken

by Laura Hillenbrand

I cannot wait a minute longer to write about the book I just finished.  I had not planned to finish it so quickly, as there were a number of other activities going on this weekend, but I could not stop.  

Unbroken is an astounding story about Louie Zamperini who starts out life as a wild kid but ends up channeling all that pent up energy into running.  He becomes a world-class athlete and even runs in the Olympics.  But everything changes when he's drafted into WWII.  What then follows is a harrowing story of a crash-landing in the ocean and a miraculous story of survival.

One feels like this part of the story alone would be enough for one amazing story, but it continues as Louie is then taken as a POW and put through horrific experiences.  It would not do the man or the book any justice to try to even describe what happens to him, but suffice it to say it will stay with you, both in the horror and in the wonderful depths of human spirit shown.

And then at the end, it becomes a miraculous story about a man who loses his life and then finds it again and ends up being able to do what, to most of us, would seem almost incomprehensible in such circumstances.  He forgives.

As many of my friends and family know, I am pretty squeamish when it comes to things such as violence and torture (which I don't find to be a problem - perhaps more people should be less tolerant of it).  This book is definitely a hard read through some passages, but I will say that although I was horrified at the things done to the POWs, the book was written in such a way that told the truth but made it readable for me, without feeling that it would give me nightmares for weeks.  I guess I feel that the book pulls your through all those things by the sheer unbroken spirit of the main character.

I also very much appreciated the details put into the end of the book, especially in discussing the troubles that POWs and military men faced when returning from the war.  Both my grandfathers served, one in WWII and one in Korea.  One was injured by a grenade and sent home.  He still has nightmares, flashbacks, still flinches at the sound of loud explosions, cannot watch fireworks, and kicks and attacks imaginary foes in his dreams.  He is now in his 80s, but even this many years later, the things he survived haunt him.  And that was just as a soldier, not even as a POW.  I knew about some of his experiences and appreciated his great sacrifice, but I know I'll never be able to truly understand how it changed him.

However, something about this book helped me more fully realize the reality that many of these men faced and are still facing.  I thought of some of those old vets who perhaps I've seen begging or homeless and I feel a great love for them.  I am ashamed that perhaps I have judged some of these people in the past without knowing the things that they may have gone through and survived, so that I can have the freedom and comforts I so often take for granted.  I now have a brother and brother-in-law in the military and am so grateful for those who are so willing to serve, because it is not small thing.

Finally, I say again that for all the sadness contained within this story, it still gave me an ever-pervading feeling of hope throughout even the darkest moments of the narrative.  It is a great gift for an author to be able to convey that feeling in a book.  It is an even more priceless gift for a person to have this in their life, as Louie did.  I have felt it an honor to have spent the last few days in such amazing company.