Still Alice by Lisa Genova 293 pages

The author of this book, Lisa Genova is a Dr. of Neuroscience from Harvard University.  This is her first novel.  The story may be familiar to some of you because it was made into a movie that has won several awards.  In fact Julianne Moore won an Academy Award for best actress.  The story may also be familiar to you because you know someone suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. 

 I do.  

Alice is a 51-year-old cognitive psychology professor at Harvard.  She is world renown for her knowledge in this field.  She is married and has 3 grown children.  She is a runner, She has everything going for her.  When she starts forgetting things, it is easy to attribute it to the fact that she is too stressed or too busy.  But one day, after a run, she is blocks from her home but cannot remember where she is or how to get home. She begins to search for words she should know.  They are on the tip of her tongue but she cannot remember them.   She cannot remember how to cook, and cannot hold a thought long enough to read, she wants to sleep all the time. But she is still Alice. And she knows all too well what is happening to her.  This novel is great for book clubs and has discussion questions in the back.  It also offers links to anyone wanting to know more about this disease with no cure.

The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian, 272 pages

"The Leisure Seeker" is the story of Ella and John, who have been married for nearly 60 years.  Ella has cancer and has stopped treatment and John has Alzheimer's and sometimes knows Ella, and sometimes doesn't.

He is still a pretty darned good driver though when Ella is the navigator.  To the horror of Ella and John's doctors, she decides they need to take one more trip in their Leisure Seeker camper.  They live in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan and they set out to travel Route 66 in its entirety.

The book is bittersweet, laugh out loud funny and sad.  It is one of the best books I have read in a long time.  Michael Zadoorian did a wonderful job of portraying 80 something year old Ella.  Thank you to Alison for recommending this book to me!

Curveball : the year I lost my grip by Jordan Sonnenblick 285 pages

This was a solid book by Jordan Sonnenblick.  Sonnenblick is no stranger to having his books nominated for young reader awards and there's good reason for it.  This book follows Peter Friedman, an amazing pitcher on his baseball team, after he injures his elbow and discovers he'll never play again.  He discovers that he has more to offer the world than just baseball, but it's a tough lesson to learn.  Peter begins his freshman year of high school adrift.  No sports.  His best friend still convinced that he'll recover and play again, and a girl who throws him completely off balance.  Add to that odd changes appearing in his beloved grandfather's behavior and you can guess it will be a rough year for Peter.  This was handled well and believably.  I thought this was a very good book.