The books our Book Whisperer Linda Sullivan recommends this week are both challenging, as one will challenge our human capacity and the other our human development.
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore is this author’s debut novel, making it to the New York Times bestseller list. Prior to Valentine, Wetmore published short stories in various literary magazines.
“When a young teenager is the victim of a violent act, how will the citizens of Odessa, Texas, respond in 1976? How will race and class play a factor?”
Linda throws us a couple of cautions for this novel. It is written in a non-traditional structure with seven narrators and few quotation marks to separate the speakers, but she rates it a 4.5!
The second recommendation, The XX Brain by Lisa Mosconi PhD, is one we all need to read for our own preventative health.
Linda previews her reason for reading:
“I was looking for a kitchen tool to use on a carrot, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of the word. When I asked JD to help me find it, he supplied the word. ‘PEELER’. Gah! I knew that!
“You may have heard me say jokingly, ‘Early onset Alzheimer’s right here.’ Yes, I’m kidding. A little bit. There’s a part of me that isn’t, and I know I’m not alone.
“If you have some of the same fears or walk into a room wondering why, and need some tools to calm your anxiety about it, check out this book.”
The author, Lisa Mosconi, holds a doctorate in neuroscience and nuclear medicine, serving as the director of the Women’s Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medical College as well as director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She is ranked amongst the top 1% of scientists, and was listed as one of the 17 most influential living female scientists by The Times.
The foreword in XX Brain is written by Maria Shriver whose father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2003, igniting her personal mission to wipe out the disease by starting The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. Read more about Maria Shriver and her work to find that cure: Maria Shriver.
Remember: Knox County Online Library to search for Linda’s recommendations each week.
Don’t forget Reader Trip 2024 with Book Whisperer on the Danube: see story Reader Trip 2024 Story.
All of us have a story and I want to tell yours! Send them to susan@knoxtntoday.com