Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Published by iUniverse in 2005
Genre(s): Contemporary, Adult, Psychology, Fiction
Format: Kindle
Pages: 292
Goodreads

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that is as compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Judith Guest's Ordinary People.

This book was recommended to me by my mother, through a recommendation that was made to her by a colleague are her University. I was anxious to read the story that tells the tale of a woman that is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease because my Grandma has the early stages of the disease herself. Then, recently, I realized that this book was made into a film starring Julianne Moore! This book was such a beautifully written description of the terrible disease that wreaks havoc on our society. Even though I felt that having experienced this disease affecting my Grandmother and others in my family I knew and understood the disease well enough, reading about the disease from an affected person's perspective was very grounding, moving, heart-wrenching, and just incredible. I very much loved the story. It made me laugh and cry. I highly recommend it.

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Current and Upcoming Reads:
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Any recommendations that I should add to my reading list?

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Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Published by Broadway Books in 2006
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
Format: Paperback
Pages: 254
Goodreads

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows, a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

I decided to read Flynn's debut novel after loving Gone Girl and Dark Paces so much. When I first opened it, I had no clue what it was about or what I was getting into, but that wasn't at all why this thriller had me so on edge to know what was going to happen next. The relationships Flynn creates between characters as well as how she writes to describe their feelings, thoughts, and personalities is so incredibly impressive. To say that this first release is exceptional is an understatement. After reading these three novels of hers, I do think Dark Places was still my favorite, but I think Sharp Objects beats Gone Girl. I definitely recommend this title. Quick, exciting, and easy read that packs the punch of a juicy, intimidating family/small town drama.

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This month's reads...

I know I haven't been as actively posting as I was in the Fall, so I am going to backtrack a little bit to catch you up on my reading list.

This will be a new ongoing topic I cover, as I am constantly reading and just as so, I am constantly looking for new books to read!

To keep up with my current and past reads, check out my profile on Goodreads here: Taylor Seitz's Profile

If you are looking for a way to get back into your reading spirit, consider joining the best book swapping site on the web, PaperBackSwap.com. PaperBack Swap allows members to freely request and send books to other people for no fee except the cost of the postage! I have been a member for nearly five years and I love it! I still post and send books to this day- in fact, I am currently expecting a book this week! But we'll get to that later.

Click each title and author to see the book review post.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

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The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriary

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Published by Berkley on Jul 30, 2013
Genre(s): Mystery, Adult, Contemporary, Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 396
Goodreads

At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

This book was very good. I recommend this for a sort of suspense/drama. It had a couple interesting twists and I quite enjoyed how the storylines that in the start were seemingly separate became intertwined and were all related somehow or another. Moriarty seems to do that a lot in her novels, which always adds an element of surprise as the characters continue to develop and meld into each other’s lives. This wasn’t as exciting a some of Moriarty’s other reads, but still definitely worth the time. It’s an easy read and very entertaining.

Coming up in January:
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

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