Book Review: NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman

Perhaps this is not so much of a book review as a life review as a result of this book's powerful affect on me. You decide.

I went to a school concert recently. As the teenagers leisurely tromped onstage, I idly scanned the crowd. My eyes stopped instinctively at one young man—then a second. Who knows, maybe everyone else in the audience was doing the same thing: something about these boys just caught the eye for some reason. Perhaps it's because it's such a strong part of our human nature to notice, categorize, and analyze why someone else is different.

 These young men who caught my attention looked ill at ease in their own skin. They weren’t chatting with their neighbors like most of the other kids. Without knowing anything of importance about them I could tell they were socially awkward. Geeks. Nerds. I could even armchair psychoanalyze these kids as being on the autism spectrum.

How could I tell? How can any of us sense, even from a distance, that someone is just “not quite right”—in other words, not like us? I’ve seen this same analyzing stare from strangers for many years as they watch my kid, who is also on the autism spectrum. I know it well. In a way, it bothers me—“Just let him be who he is without your personal judgments on what kind of a person he is or what kind of a parent I must be.” And yet I find myself at times, like at the school concert, doing the same thing.

Are we instinctively programmed to value human symmetry? Are our personal worlds not right until we homogenize everyone around us? It seems true. And yet there’s something so “ugly American” about the thought. Many of us would probably reject the idea on its surface—but then go right on staring.

Before I could write a review of NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman, I’ve had to digest it for the last month. I’ve had to reconsider everything I’ve thought about autism and do some soul-searching as I’ve examined our family history “on the spectrum.” This is a long book, a comprehensive history of autism and the development of the field of psychology in the 20th century, and although I think it's fascinating reading, I'm not sure if a casual reader would want to read in its entirety or would benefit from just reading excerpts.

Book Review: Unbroken, A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is an unequivocal 5 stars. Put it on your bookshelf with other powerful WWII survivor stories like Night and Man's Search for Meaning. It's an incredible story of survival, of rising above insurmountable challenges, and of hope and faith.

Laura Hillenbrand took seven years to research and write before Unbroken was published! The notes section, in its tiny font, accounts for close to 1/4 of the pages in the book. Hillenbrand provides details and backstories that give the reader a very clear understanding of events. Each page is so information-dense, I had to slow my usual reading pace way down to make sure I got everything.

After reading this, I saw Devil at My Heels: A Heroic Olympian's Astonishing Story of Survival as a Japanese POW in World War IIat the library, which looked an awful lot like "Unbroken." Turns out it's an autobiography of Zamperini written with a co-author. I was astounded to see the difference between the two books.

I thought that the reason Unbroken was so superior to Zamperini's autobiography was that with an omniscient eye, Hillenbrand could include details that came from many sources, not just Zamperini's memory. It was a much more thorough picture of his life. I also didn't like his ghost writer's voice; it read like sport journalism. There's nothing wrong with that if you enjoy that style, but it made me appreciate Hillenbrand's approach that much more when I had something to compare it to. Her style just doesn't draw attention to itself. She lets the story speak for itself and gets out of the way.

I was concerned before reading this that the subject (WWII POW) was going to be very dark, and I steeled myself. But the overall feeling of the book I've come away with is not one of darkness but truly the unbroken nature of one man's spirit and his ability to overcome, and through that, seeing the ability of the human spirit itself to triumph over tragedy and despair. It was inspiring.

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Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a really fun book, told in letters, that it seems everyone loves. Although it's like a light and fluffy story with a little twist of romance thrown in, Shaffer deepens it through first-person accounts of Holocaust survivors and details from post-war reconstruction and its effect on so many people--details that we don't really think about anymore.

I enjoyed spending time with these characters that became quite real to me. This is more of the book I was expecting Ella Minnow Pea to be, and so I was a bit disappointed when I read that. But no disappointment here after my trip to Guernsey! Highly recommended.

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Book Review: Sacred Hunger, by Barry Unsworth

Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Don't let the title put you off. This is one of my favorite books. "Sacred Hunger" refers to the way the British felt about the slave trade. They felt that they were doing the Africans a favor by sending them to a "better life" of slavery in civilization. They would have the opportunity to leave their life as savages behind and convert to Christianity. And as a result of profiting from the slave trade, Britain would grow in power and financially.

Although it's set in such an intriguing historical setting, it's truly the characters that drive this book. I am one who can read a book and completely forget it within a few years. This book has stayed with me from the first time I read it. I have now read it probably 4 times. I warn you, you won't be able to put it down! Highly recommended.

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Book Review: The Tales of Uncle Remus, by Julius Lester

The Tales Of Uncle Remus: The Adventures Of Brer Rabbit by Julius Lester
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is of an audiobook, which is perfect, because I tried reading the original and the dialect was so complicated as to make it unreadable. The reader does a beautiful blend of modernizing the narration with the original dialogue, so you get the feel of the original stories without what we think of as the offensive dialect.

I feel like the Brer Rabbit stories are an important part of our nation's history--besides just good fun--and wanted to share them with my kids. They couldn't get enough of Brer Rabbit's exploits even when I tired of them! What I didn't realize was how much Bugs Bunny is like Brer Rabbit. I'd like to find out more about if Bugs Bunny was modeled on him.

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Book Review: The Terror, by Dan Simmons

The Terror by Dan Simmons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a really hard book to review. It is amazing and very well-written, but it also has some offensive material in it that make it hard for me to recommend it. This is a very creepy, chilling novel set in a true historical setting: The ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror are looking for the northwest passage in the 1840s and end up frozen in the arctic ice for a few years.

What is true in the book and what is fiction? I still don't know. What is real to us in the tradition of Western thought, and is our reality any better or worse than that of a native Indian culture? Is just one reality true? I've been mulling these kinds of questions quite a bit after finishing The Terror.
It's a mammoth book, and I knew it was well written when I felt like I personally had been stuck in the ice for three years while reading this. It's so torturous. You live moment by moment with these men.

And since this is a book about sailors, there is plenty of sailor language that you have to skim over as you read, and also a couple of sexual situations (again, not surprising, considering the cast of characters). So you have to self-edit when you read this. But the part you can't skip is the scenes where an unknown terrible monster/polar bear/malevolent force (you decide!) stalks its victim and sometimes leaves some carnage behind. The monster scenes are central to the plot, and besides, the anticipation really gets your heart pounding. So you can't skip that.

So...to read or not to read? I can't say. I thought it was an incredible novel--an experience, not just a read--but you have to be willing to wade through some offensive stuff. (If you read it, let me know, because I'd like someone else's take on it.)

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Book Review: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollan

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I began reading this somewhat reluctantly, but I'm so glad I read it because it is excellent and I keep ruminating over it. One interesting element on a personal level was the types of foods that Pollan recommends eating completely corresponds with my own religious dietary code as a Mormon (and I believe he is Jewish). Basically--don't put crap in your body, and treat it right.

I have a hard time summarizing the book, so here's a blurb from the cover: "Most of what we're consuming today is not food, and how we're consuming it--in the car, in front of the TV, and increasingly alone--is not really eating. Instead of food, we're consuming 'edible foodlike substances'--no longer the products of nature but of food science. Many of them come packaged with health claims that should be our first clue they are anything but healthy. In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. ... Our personal health cannot be divorced from the health of the food chains of which we are a part."

I am not a health nut--in fact, I secretly have looked down on "health Nazis"--but as a result of reading this book, I have resolved to shop and eat differently: to buy more whole foods, avoid ultra-processed foods, shop at farmer's markets/farms and join a CSA (community supported agriculture) group, and also to make more things from scratch so I know what the ingredients actually are (and can pronounce them!). I'm also interested in the Slow Food movement. We can't continue to ignore the fact that we can only be as healthy as we eat. Thank you to Michael Pollan for this call to return to common sense.

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Book Review: The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read this book several times. I even enjoyed the movie as much as the book. It's tender, disturbing, exciting, spellbinding at times. Highly recommended. 1983 Pulitzer winner.

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Book Review: Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another beautiful Thomas Hardy book with a great heroine. I get tired of all the Jane Austen hooplah. Try some Hardy for a breath of something fresh that is still definitely in the "classics" vein.

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Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book should, frankly, be required reading for anyone who has or will come in contact with people with autism--essentially, all of us. Told immaculately and concisely from the point of view of a young man with autism, it often spoke more to me by what it didn't say. It was a sweet and poignant novel of growing up and the pain that change causes this young man. I was also moved by the stories beyond the narrator--particularly the incredible strain it is on parents to raise an autistic child and the toll that takes on their relationship to each other and the world. This is a beautiful and thought-provoking book that I basically read in one sitting.

Language alert: Although it's no "Catcher in the Rye," the book has some pockets of profanity, including a liberal sprinkling of the "f" bomb.

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Book Review: A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this because I hadn't read Forster in probably 15 years and wondered if I would still think he was "all that" in a novel I'd never read. The answer is: "Oh yes!" This was a beautiful, sweet, sad story that hooked me quickly and kept me rapt until the end.

What I think is Forster's brilliance is first, his uncanny understanding of British mindsets and classes at the turn of the century, but more importantly his understanding of human nature. It's as if he plucks real characters out of the world and sets them in a fictional setting and then just lets the wheels turn and the story play itself out.

In this novel, particularly, I appreciated how I didn't feel manipulated into thinking one person or group was right and another was wrong. Characters were portrayed in all their human-ness, in the same ways that we all encompass elements of good and bad, right and wrong.

The last thing about Forster that I enjoyed rediscovering was just the beautiful prose. I kept feeling around for a highlighter pen and had to curb the impulse since it was a library book! Just gorgeous writing.

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Book Review: Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, by Myla and John Kabat-Zinn

Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Myla Kabat-Zinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A must-read for parents. Wonderful essays by both John Kabat-Zinn and his wife remind us to be joyful in the parenting journey. Throughout my pregnancies and the toddler years, I was always reading the "What to Expect" and the other top parenting books. They told me what to do to physically care for the child. But when I found this book I knew it was the missing piece I had been looking for--the emotional piece of how to care for the child as well as strengthen your relationship and the home. Highly recommended.

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Book Review: Growing Up on the Spectrum: A Guide to Life, Love, and Learning for Teens and Young Adults with Autism and Asperger's, by Claire LaZebnik

Growing Up on the Spectrum: A Guide to Life, Love, and Learning for Teens and Young Adults with Autism and Asperger's by Claire LaZebnik
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I highly recommend this book to parents of kids with AHDD, Asperger's, or any learning disability. It's the practical "how to" book I've been looking for for a long time...chapters on how to teach your teenager and young adult the social, school, job, and other skills they need to learn to be self-sufficient and hopefully move out of your house someday.

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Book Review: The Time-Starved Family, by DeAnne Flynn

The Time-Starved Family by DeAnne Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many great ideas about raising a family and making sure you get to the "best" uses of time instead of getting stuck in a rut of "good" and "better" activities. I keep rereading this one, and my kids are not even in that many activities. A fabulous parenting book about strengthening your family.

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Book Review: A Night on Moon Hill, by Tanya Parker Mills

A Night on Moon Hill by Tanya Parker Mills
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My friends who enjoy LDS fiction/mystery/romance would probably enjoy this book quite a bit. I have conflicted feelings and am having a hard time giving it an all-around rating. Here are some specific areas I'd rather rate:

Believable characters with emotional issues/disabilities: 5 stars (really enjoyed the character with Asperger's)
Independent book/LDS fiction: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Romance: 3 stars

I am impressed with Tanya Mills' writing. The poetry she includes as part of the story is especially lovely. The beginning and end are strong bookends. I actually did not think she was an LDS writer until she wove that in much later in the book. (Sorry, but to me that is a plus, since I think the LDS books can get cheesy.)

Like other reviewers, I noticed that the book seems to fall into three sections. The first section is a great opening, an unlikely hero, a single professor who seems to have some uncontrollable compulsions, who finds a dead body in her pool. As she finds out more, it even increases the delicious little mystery.

The second third (that was fun to say) of the book turns more introspective and heartfelt. How does the protagonist open her heart to the possibility of love (which is incredibly difficult given her personality, compulsions, and being single and independent her whole life)? Can she love a child who is thrust into her life in unusual circumstances? And could she ever love a man who has to compete in her mind with the larger-than-life memory of her high school sweetheart? The very real difficulties of ill-prepared adults trying to raise a child with Asperger's was very much in the vein of the excellent book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

These sections of the book worked well together. So I was startled when the last third of the book suddenly turned into an odd mix of evil two-dimensional villain/domestic abuse/chase scene/rescue. The pacing was so wrong. The book to this point was a really nice little mystery turned into affairs of the heart and how people grow through past issues and pain. I thought that we were firmly in "Curious Incident" territory. Too bad we weren't.

Mills is a good writer. I blame her editor. Was the sudden ending change a ploy to appeal to the typical LDS book fans? If so, it seems to have worked. The book seems to have overall high praise from Goodreads reviewers. For me, it was a letdown that a great book changed so quickly into a mediocre one.

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Book Review: Seabiscuit: An American Legend, by Laura Hillenbrand

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I rate this 5 stars with the caveat that I liked Hillenbrand's book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption better. But this was an excellent book in its own right.

I never thought of myself as a nonfiction fan, but I feel I may be turning into one. What makes Hillenbrand's books golden is her extensive research that lets the reader see and understand things from multiple perspectives. She gives detailed background information and history and explains it in such a way that I never felt talked down to, even though I had no knowledge of horses or horse racing--or frankly, even cared to know--before I picked up the book. I cared while I was reading "Seabiscuit," though!

One of the jacket reviews said that Hillenbrand writes a horse race that makes you feel like you're actually there watching it, and I have to agree. If I were to hear a race broadcast I would have no idea what was going on, but here I felt like I was watching it AND knew what I was seeing. I came to love Seabiscuit and the interesting, quirky people behind him, which made me invested in the races because I was routing for him! (Seventy years too late, but still...)

If you want to read a life-changing kind of book, go for Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption first, and then for entertainment, settle down with "Seabiscuit." I highly recommend it.

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Book Review: The Collected Poems, by Theodore Roethke

The Collected Poems by Theodore Roethke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a must-have for your poetry shelf. Some of his poems speak of circles, and they spin in circles as well. His sparse and unusual use of words makes for wondrous exploration and discovery. I have loved Roethke's poetry from the first poem of his I read. Read, savor, enjoy.

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Book Review: Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I relished this delightful, gentle little book of "women's wisdom" that still feels so applicable to my life today and not old-fashioned despite being written over 50 years ago. Lindbergh takes us into her inner thoughts through this writer's journal kept while she was on retreat at the sea. The pace is slow and meandering, reflective of her inner dialogue and introspection as she finds metaphors for life in the various shells she finds on the beach.

There were many little gems of wisdom in this book that I anticipate rediscovering as I buy my own copy and savor it in slow morsels with my own writer's journal. Thanks to Mara for this book club selection and turning into a wonderful full-sensory experience with a beautiful dinner as well!

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Book Review: The Collected Poems, by Sylvia Plath

The Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Haunting, moving, full of life and fire and joy and terrible, beautiful despair. I was obsessed with Sylvia Plath in my teenage years, which is a good time of life to read her work, because nothing is calm and mellow in her world: just as with teenagers, it's either ecstasy or anguish. Her sweet, sad life still moves me.

I remember when I had a birthday a few years ago and I randomly realized that I was now older than Sylvia when she took her life. Some of the best and most moving art (including literature) sadly comes from a tortured soul. Sylvia was one of those brilliant and shining tortured souls.

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Book Review: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just reread this. I think it should be required reading for humanity. It's only 128 tiny little pages, and it's chock full of wisdom.

This is classic Lewis. I just want to keep analyzing every line:
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. to those who knock it is opened." (p. 72 of my old edition)

THINK ABOUT IT. And then every day--seriously and constantly seek JOY!

Original review:
A fabulous parable about what will eventually keep us from God. Is it him that keeps us out of the kingdom or, unfortunately, our very selves? An all-time favorite, I reread this every few years.

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