"Inside the O'Briens" by Lisa Genova (Effects of Huntington's Disease)

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova is about a Catholic Irish family living in Boston.  Joe, a cop, loves his wife, Rosie and his four grown children but starts acting strange.  He is diagnosed with Huntington's Disease (HD) but still tries to do his job without telling anyone.  When he is told it is a genetic disease, he is afraid for his children. 

I finally decided to read this book because my husband kept saying how good it was.  Inside the O'Briens informs the reader about HD through the life of Joe and his family.  We see how it doesn't just affect the person who has the disease, but everyone around him.  I liked Joe and felt sorry for him and his wife, and his son JJ the firefighter and his family; however, I did not care for the other three children much at all.

There is a blood test that can be done to see if a person has HD even before the symptoms show up so the big question in the book for the children is if they want to know.  It is thought-provoking because the reader can't help but question what they would do in this situation.  Would you want to know if you were going to have this disease in your future?  I don't think I would want to know ahead unless I was thinking about having a baby.

I did not care for the rough language throughout the book, nor for the lifestyles of Patrick and Katie which caused me not to like these characters, two of his grown children.  My husband loved this book, but I found it to be sad, depressing and was very disappointed in the ending that left me hanging.  I liked this author's other books much better:  Still Alice and Left Neglected.
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

See also my blog post inspired by this book:  Just sayin' We Should be Humane to Humans Too! 

Gerard's review 4/24/15, 5++ stars:
Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova is about Joe, a Boston policeman.  He has been having some health issues and his wife wants him to see a doctor.  He thinks it is nothing, but agrees to go.  It turns out he has Huntington Disease!  You find out all about it when you read this book--trust me, you do not want this disease!  Not only that, but his kids are at risk of getting it too.

Lisa Genova's books are always top notch and this is no exception.  I loved the interaction between Joe and his wife and kids.  This book had me from page 1.  Make sure you read the "Call to Action" part of this book as well.  The ending is perfect!  I LOVED this book and highly recommend it and her other book too:  Still Alice and Left Neglected.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Love Anthony" by by Lisa Genova

WOW! Love Anthony by Lisa Genova is a fantastic book to start off the month. Love Anthony is told by two women, Olivia and Beth who are facing issues in their lives, one dealing with the death of a boy and the other with an unfaithful husband. I loved both women but not their husbands.

This is a really good book and hard to put down. I enjoyed Lisa’s other two books very much too (Still Alice and Left Neglected) and this one is just as good as those. Read and enjoy! I look forward to her next book!

(Gerard’s review, rating 5++)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Still Alice" by Lisa Genova Gives Great Insight Into Alzheimer's

We both liked Still Alice!

Karen's review:

Ever know someone with Alzheimer’s and wonder what they are thinking?  Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a brilliant novel that shares what it is like to have Alzheimer’s from the point of view of one who actually has it!  Most stories about people with Alzheimer’s are told from the caretaker’s point of view.  Still Alice lets the reader inside the mind of the person afflicted with this degenerative disease which has no cure.  Alice is only 50 and already has some symptoms of Dementia.  She is a college professor at Harvard, the wife of a scientist and mother of three grown children.  This is a story about a family and how the mother with Alzheimer’s feels as she discovers she is losing her memory, becoming confused and is sometimes disoriented. 

Reading this is a great way to learn about Alzheimer’s and become aware of the symptoms.  It was a bit scary for me to read this and find that my “senior moments” of forgetting words and names happened to Alice who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 50!   The author actually interviewed people who had early onset of Alzheimer’s.  Questions for discussion are included in the back along with an interview by the author. 

This is a good read and did not drag at all.  Some parts were even humorous.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about families, relationships or wants to know more about Alzheimer’s.  I think it would be a good book for a book club to discuss.

Another book Gerard and I highly recommend by Lisa Genova is Left Neglected.  To learn more about Still Alice or get in touch with Lisa Genova, visit www.StillAlice.com.  To learn more about Alzheimer’s or help those suffering from the disease, visit www.actionalz.org or www.alz.org.

Gerard's review 3/2/09:
Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a book I saw on Amazon and saw it got a good review so thought it would be worth reading. It sure is. This is just a fantastic book! It is a story about Alice Howland who gets early Alzheimer's disease. It's funny, sad, powerful and tells how she and her family handled having it. This, I think, is the definitive book on Alzheimer's. Hard to put down. I'm not surprised if people could read it in one sitting. It's that good. Do not miss reading this. It will stay with you for a long time!



Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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"Left Neglected" by Lisa Genova

I liked Left Neglected because even though it dealt with a career woman and super mom, Sarah, who suffered brain damage, it was funny because of her sense of humor.  The way the book is written makes it very interesting because it is told from Sarah’s perspective.  I enjoyed reading about the mother-daughter relationship and how Sarah understood her son's attention deficit better after her accident.  The ending was very good and I am glad I read this book! 

Until I read this book, I never knew that someone could not know their left side existed.  Reading this book was a good way to learn about Left Neglect.  The author has a PhD in neuroscience and talked to people who actually had Left Neglect.  This is an interesting story about how a person’s whole life can change in an instant. The lesson is not to talk on your cell phone while driving!  I recommend this one too!
(Karen)

Put this book on your MUST READ list--it's the best book I've read so far this year! Left Neglected by Lisa Genova is a wonderful read! Sarah has a husband, three young children and a very high prestigious job. There are just not enough hours in the day for her until her car accident. The brain damage she suffered from the accident makes life as she knew it not there anymore. How she and her family copes is the basis for this book.

I really enjoyed Left Neglected from page one! The writing and humor makes it hard to put down. It’s very funny and thought provoking with a wonderful ending. In short, please read this book! Here's my Tuesday Teaser from it.
(Gerard)

Here's a short interview with the author:




Have you read this one? What did you think of it?