A Few Good Books

I may have mentioned this before, but I LOVE to read! I don't discriminate, either...I read a wide variety of genres - historical fiction, chick lit, mystery/crime, memoirs, and pretty much anything in between.

Here are a few books I've read over the past couple of months. They are all VERY different from one another, so there's something for everyone.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

This book was fascinating and powerful. It's about a brain condition called Left Neglect that I had never heard of before reading this book. The short summary: A busy, career-oriented woman (wife and mother of 2) doesn't have time for anything to deviate from her perfectly planned schedule. When an accident leaves her with a traumatic brain injury, she is forced to reconsider what is important in her life. The author is a Harvard trained neuroscientist, so she really knows her stuff. She writes about brain disorders/injuries - her other book is Still Alice, which is about Alzheimers. I want to read it but think it will be very sad, especially because my grandma has Alzheimers. This book is fast-paced and very interesting, but it also makes you stop and think about your life. What if something tragic happened and you would never be the same again? Would you look back and regret spending time and energy on things that didn't truly matter?


East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

This is a fun book about three young women on a journey to India in the 1920s. One is going over there to marry a man she hardly knows. One is following her best friend with hopes of big adventure and romance. One is returning to the place where her parents died when she was young. I enjoy books set in other eras and other countries - and this one had both!

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

This historical fiction book was incredibly fascinating to me, since I had never read ANYTHING on this subject ever before. It takes place in Hawaii in the late 1800s/early 1900s, when the island of Moloka'i was used as a leper colony. A little girl is torn away from her family when it is discovered that she has leprosy. She is banished to the island to grow up without knowing if she will ever see her family again. The book follows her life, and I couldn't put it down. I read it in one day! The book just had so many interesting aspects - a different era, an exotic location, and a little-known disease, all woven into a picture of what life was like in this remote location during the early 20th century.


Also, not sure if I ever mentioned it on the blog, but one of the best books I've read in YEARS, if not EVER, is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.


I read it over a year ago at this point, but I still think about it. Read it. You will love it.