Wednesday, April 10, 2013

What I Read Wednesday

What I learned is that I need to stop saying that I don't like non-fiction, because I'm reading more and more of it. Are my tastes evolving? Is non-fiction getting better, maybe? Let's go with the latter.

The Still Point of the Turning World
This book tore at my heart, as I knew it would. The author's son was diagnosed with Tay Sachs as a baby, even though she had the screening for it while pregnant. At this point, she was powerless as mother to do nothing but stand by and watch him deteriorate. This book isn't really a memoir of her son Ronan's last days, because it was published while he was still alive. It's more her thoughts on grief. The pain of watching his eyes dull, watching him slip away. Knowing that he won't hit any milestones beyond what he'd already hit at his diagnosis. While losing a child is unimaginable, so is the thought of simply having to watch him go.

Looking for Alaska
Becky recommended this one because we both loved The Fault in Our Stars (please recommend me books--or if you do book posts, I've seen a few people doing that lately, too, link me up!). I loved this. It was a little more raw than The Fault in our Stars, but it was also real. The characters were humorous and heartbreaking and I loved the storyline. I absolutely love this author and I definitely think he's one that transcends that Young Adult lit genre.

The Dinner
Okay, blog readers, I want you all to read this book and then we'll discuss it. Seriously. This book, wow. Two couples meet over dinner to discuss something that happened between their teenage sons. The story goes from appetizer through dessert and the ending was not at all what I expected. That's all I'll say, but please, someone read this and email me so we can talk about it. Or if you have read this, email me. I want so badly to discuss it, but I don't want to say anything here. This was definitely one that kept me up late reading. It was great.

Her: A Memoir
Look, more non-fiction. I was interested in this one because my older sisters are twins. The statistic that when one twin dies, the other usually follows within two years was interesting. This is one twin's story of how she beat that statistic. I realize that there were some serious co-dependency issues, among other things, with these twins, but their story was interesting. There is a lot of survival and strength in this book.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
I love Mary Roach. All of her books answer those interesting, disgusting questions that you've wondered about but don't know who to ask. She asks them for you and answers them in a way that's scientific but understandable. Gulp is about food, stomach digestion and all other manner of disgusting but interesting things. As always, I loved it.

6 comments:

One crazed mommy said...

Well - still working on The Angry Woman Suite - can't say it's bad, but it's obviously not a page turner as it has taken me about 5-6 weeks to get through 1/3 of the book. I think I'm going to move on to something that grabs my attention a little more. Maybe I'll read Dinner...I added that one to my Wish List a couple weeks back...now I really want to give it a go!

InTheFastLane said...

Looking for Alaska is next on my list. Right now I am reading The Burgess Boys, although I haven't made very good progress because I keep wanting to sleep instead. I have seen the Dinner and am interested. After your review, it is now on my list too!

Corrin said...

I preordered The Dinner and read it as soon as it arrived. I still dont't know how I feel about it, but wow -- what a read.

Gulp is on my list but my list is now about 200 books long. Not enough time to read!

Becky said...

YAY! I'm so glad you liked it! How fun this is!

OK I'm putting The Dinner in my library queue.

Are you the one that recommended The Snow Child? If not, READ IT! Loving it so.

Anonymous said...

I love that I get at least one new book idea from you every Wednesday. As you know, I just finished Wilderness and definitely recommend it. Now reading & enjoying Keeping The House by Ellen Baker.

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

I love John Green! I read Looking for Alaska first and then The Fault in Our Stars. I have heard from others that his other books aren't as amazing as those too. I've also heard great things about The Dinner. Have you read Little Chilren by Tom Perotta? That was an interesting read. I'm currently reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, rereading The Great Gatsby and The End of Your Life Book Club.