"Black Hearts" by Jim Frederick is An Outstanding Read!

Black Hearts by Jim Frederick is an outstanding read!  I loved it!  It is the story of 1st platoon, a group of men known as the “Black Heart” brigade, and what led up to the horrific murder of an Iraqi family and the rape and subsequent burning to death of their daughter by members of this group.  However, there are lots of other true stories too.  The writing is so good I felt like I was right there with them!  I really got to know better what our soldiers and the people who lead them go through.  This is for sure my book of the month and it has a good chance of making my top ten books of this year!  If you really want to know what our troops face day-to-day, read this book!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.

"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?

You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March.  We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.

"Strength Training For Seniors" by Michael Fekete, CSCS, ACE

I liked Strength Training For Seniors by Michael Fekete because it gave some really good information about exercising in general, about how the muscles, tendons and ligaments all work in addition to some good exercises and instructions for developing a personal exercise program.  Blank worksheets are included to help the reader set specific goals, manage stress, and record progress in workouts.  This is a short book but packed with helpful and interesting information on strength training specifically for people over 50.  It also includes several different scenarios from real clients he worked with who had different problems so the reader can see how to tailor a personal workout program. 

To answer the excuse of having no time, Michael Fekete says on pg. 122:

Put your priorities in order.  Eliminate the useless, the unproductive, and the nonsensical.  You will be surprised at the amount of time freed up for training.  The time you allot to exercise is your best investment.  If you think that you cannot make time for exercise now, then be sure to make plenty of time for illnesses and hospitals later.

I highly recommend Strength Training For Seniors by Michael Fekete!
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.

"Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen was pretty good but not great.  I was not “wowed” by it. 

Reasons to read this book:
(1)  great characters; (2) animals are part of the story; (3) Jacob Jankowski at 93 or so yrs. old, he’s not sure.  The part of the story when he is in the nursing home is hilarious!! (4) it has a very good ending; (5) it is going to be made into a movie.

Reasons not to read this book:
(1)  The plot of the story was a little confusing to me; (2) The prologue gives away the story.  I suggest you skip it if you decide to read this book; (3) some swearing in it.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.

Tuesday Teasers: 3 This Week!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser. 

I'm back in the gym again!

Karen's Two:

I have found that strength training brings about the widest range of immediate, maintainable, and long-lasting physical and mental/emotional benefits.  Recent research proves that even with the very elderly and the very weak, effective strength training increases independent function skills and produces significant improvements in stair climbing, getting up from the floor, rising from the chair, and walking speed.

From p. 7 of Strength Training For Seniors--How to Rewind Your Biological Clock by Michael Fekete, CSCS, ACE (See "It Feels Great To See Progress" on our other blog about my gym experience.

Here's another I'm reading:

She looked up at John, his eyes patient, waiting for an answer.  How could she tell him she had Alzheimer's disease?  He loved her mind.

From p. 78 of Still Alice by Lisa Genova.

Gerard's:

"The Disaster March," he said, wrestling the apron over his head.  "Means something's gone bad--real bad."

From 13 of Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen.  (contains lots of swearing)

You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.