Memorial Days: Book Review

Published
29 January 2022

I have read three other books by Geraldine Brooks (People of the Book being my favorite), and I had the chance to meet her at a book signing at Watermark Books and Cafe in Wichita, Kansas. Consequently, when I saw that she had a nonfiction book out, I picked it up. 

The occasion of Memorial Days is heartbreaking: her husband Tony Horwitz died unexpectedly on Memorial Day 2019, and this was obviously devastating form Brooks. As many writers do, she worked through her grief by writing about him, his work as a journalist and book author, and their relationship. Additionally, this caused her to stop writing for a time. However, Tony had expressed the importance of her work in progress, so she finally pushed herself to finish the book--which was Horse, which she managed to publish in 2022--despite her persistent grief. 

Remember: Book Review

 

Published
23 March 2021

I had the opportunity to read Lisa Genova's novel Still Alice prior to the release of the film based on her fictional account of a woman living with early onset Alzheimer's. Because she has a doctorate in neuroscience, Genova's novel was informed by science.  

I make an effort to read books about cognition -- fiction and nonfiction, expected age-related changes in cognition and disease-related changes. My octogenarian step-father is living with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, which includes dementia, and my octogenarian step-mother is living with dementia (vascular? Alzheimer's? mixed?). Consequently, when I saw that Genova wrote a nonfiction book about memory--Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting (2021)-- and then bought the hardback so that I could reread parts if not all of her description of how human memory works. 

Three Days in June: Book Review

 

Published on
11 Feb 2025

I have been reading Anne Tyler's novels since the 1980s, and I am delighted that she is still publishing. Her main characters are often middle aged adults or older. I have joined several online sites for discussing books, and most of the novels have protagonists who are 12 to 30.  I have to overtly look for novels featuring protagonists who are midlife or older. (I am very helpful when someone in these Facebook or Instagram groups asks, "Do you know of any books featuring older protagonists?") 

Here is a novel that features a 61-year-old protagonist. 

When the Cranes Fly South: Book Review

 

Published in English
19 August 2025

This book uses a technique that helps readers have increased compassion for older adults experiencing their decline. I chose this book among candidates selected by Goodreads for earning a virtual bookmark for debut author. Because this was already translated from Swedish into English, I though that it must be a good book for the publisher to go to that expense. 

I am glad that I made this selection! When the Cranes Fly South is among my favorite reads for 2025 so far. 

Lisa Ridzén shows us more than one perspective about the main character, Bo, an older adult living by himself with his dog.  Bo is starting to experience some frailty so his adult son--Hans--sets up caregivers to assist Bo with meals, cleaning, and personal hygiene. Primarily, we read imagined conversations that Bo is having with his wife, Frederika, who has recently been moved into town to live in a care center given her growing memory issues. However, Bo's conversations alternate with notes left by four paid caregivers and notes left by the son.   

Oh, the discrepancy between Bo's view of himself and the caregiver's views are strikingly different.