Book Review

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb is a fascinating look into the world of a therapist and how therapy works. Sprinkled throughout the book are snippets of psychology, including explanations of defence mechanisms, stages of change, tasks of mourning, and brief glimpses of the contributions of Freud, Erikson, Rogers, Franklin, and others to the field of psychology.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks opens in “Leaf-Fall, 1666”, after the worst of the Plague in their village, with Anna attending to the grief-stricken Reverend Mompellion.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is such a classic of modern English literature that I fear I can't add anything to the discussion other than to say how much I appreciated it. I loved the thoughtfulness of the writing, how Virginia would cover a scene from several points of view, and how characters would argue with themselves.

Counted as one of the most controversial books of all times for the ideas it purports, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown directly challenges the authority of the Vatican, garbing real facts in clever fiction and telling a narrative that's interesting, full of intrigue and thought provoking, not to mention an unforgettable cast of characters and events. 

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown introduces Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon in a breathtaking adventure to save the Vatican City, Rome from a perilous threat from an ancient brotherhood died four hundred years ago.

Thoughts Alight by Kawtar Elmrabti evokes romance and revolution in my consciousness, a riot of metaphors impregnated with sui generis imagery, an intense celebration of love and beauty, a flood of high emotions that assails my senses and then dulls them.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is a sharp, sensitive and absorbing novel of 17th century Netherlands, combining history art and fiction. The remarkable author Tracey Chevalier fleshes out and embellishes the story who the girl in the painting by Johannes Vermeer could be.

This story of March by Geraldine Brooks is about Mr. March, the husband and father of the famous family, and his pursuit of self perfection that leads him to join the Union army as a chaplain and help contribute to the cause of freeing the slaves. This was a cause dear to the March family as they had used their home as a stopover on the underground railroad.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett follows the lives of three women living in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi. Two of the women, Aibilene and Minny are black, hired as help to wealthy, or trying to appear wealthy, white families.

Weaving together the stories of two abandoned children, one from the past and one from the present, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline explores the depths of emotion children experience and the devastating consequences of abandonment.

The basic plot of The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom was intriguing. The idea of a young white orphan girl being taken to live on a slave plantation and placed under the care of the slaves is a unique take on this time period.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova is not a sugar coated story, Alice has a very cruel unforgiving illness and the outlook is bleak. I found her story extremely powerful for a couple of reasons.