Monday, September 30, 2013

Bartlett Reads 2013: What's Next?



We are celebrating the inaugural Bartlett Reads community reading event by reading the New York Times bestselling book The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by local author David Finch. This September, the community will come together to read the book, and attend events based on the themes in the book. 

Now that you've read The Journal of Best Practices, what's next? Try these books! 

The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's by Temple Grandin

In this innovative book, Dr. Temple Grandin gets down to the REAL issues of autism, the ones parents, teachers, and individuals on the spectrum face every day. Temple offers helpful do's and don'ts, practical strategies, and try-it-now tips, all based on her "insider" perspective and a great deal of research. These are just some of the specific topics Temple delves into: How and Why People with Autism Think Differently, Economical Early Intervention Programs that Work, How Sensory Sensitivities Affect Learning, Behaviors Caused by a Disability vs. Just Bad Behaviors, Teaching People with Autism to Live in an Unpredictable World, Alternative Medicine vs. Conventional Medicine, and Employment Ideas for Adults with Autism. This revised and expanded edition contains revisions based on the most current autism research, as well as 14 additional articles.

 Dummy: A Memoir by David Patten

From his birth in 1954, David Patten was unbearably sensitive to the world around him. Unable to concentrate or learn the basics of reading and writing, he was punished and pathologized, labeled lazy, stupid, and a troublemaker. David was finally diagnosed with dyslexia, among other elements in the autism spectrum. But at a time when these disorders were little understood, David was unable to get the help he needed, and he gradually fell into the dark underbelly of American life. David's struggle to survive and find a life worth living included time in a mental institution for attempted suicide at fourteen, and life as a drug dealer in Chicago's criminal underworld. Eventually, David's exceptional abilities in abstract and analytical thinking led him into the technology field, and a lucrative six-figure career as a crisis manager and trouble shooter. His story of gradually transforming disabilities into skills, hopelessness into freedom is a testament to the power of the human spirit.

Atypical: Life with Asperger's in 20 1/3 Chapters by Jesse A. Saperstein

The poignant, funny, and truly unique observations of a young writer diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. "Please be forewarned that you are about to read the observations and life lessons of someone who entertains himself by farting in public and conversing in gibberish with his cats." Thus begins the charming, insightful, and memorable story of Jesse Saperstein. Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, Jesse has struggled since childhood with many of the hallmark challenges of his condition-from social awkwardness and self-doubt to extreme difficulty with change and managing his emotions. He has also worked hard to understand and make the most of his AS- developing his keen curiosity and sense of humor, closely observing the world around him, and most of all, helping others with AS to better cope and even thrive. Told with endearing and unflinching honesty, Jesse brings his unique perspective to the circumstances of his life and his condition.

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison

Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits--an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother in them)--had earned him the label "social deviant." No guidance came from his mother, who conversed with light fixtures, or his father, who spent evenings pickling himself in sherry. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on. After fleeing his parents and dropping out of high school, his savant-like ability to visualize electronic circuits landed him a gig with KISS, for whom he created their legendary fire-breathing guitars. Later, he drifted into a "real" job, as an engineer for a major toy company. But the higher Robison rose in the company, the more he had to pretend to be "normal" and do what he simply couldn't: communicate. It wasn't worth the paycheck. It was not until he was forty that an insightful therapist told him he had the form of autism called Asperger's syndrome. That understanding transformed the way Robison saw himself--and the world. Look Me in the Eye is the moving, darkly funny story of growing up with Asperger's at a time when the diagnosis simply didn't exist. A born storyteller, Robison takes you inside the head of a boy whom teachers and other adults regarded as "defective," who could not avail himself of KISS's endless supply of groupies, and who still has a peculiar aversion to using people's given names (he calls his wife "Unit Two").

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

Born on a Blue Day is a journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today -- guided by its owner himself. Daniel Tammet sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. Daniel has a compulsive need for order and routine -- he eats the same precise amount of cereal for breakfast every morning and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. When he gets stressed or is unhappy, he closes his eyes and counts. But in one crucial way Daniel is not at all like the Rain Man: he is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life. He has emerged from the "other side" of autism with the ability to function successfully -- he is even able to explain what is happening inside his head. Born on a Blue Day is a triumphant and uplifting story, starting from early childhood, when Daniel was incapable of making friends and prone to tantrums, to young adulthood, when he learned how to control himself and to live independently, fell in love, experienced a religious conversion to Christianity, and most recently, emerged as a celebrity. The world's leading neuroscientists have been studying Daniel's ability to solve complicated math problems in one fell swoop by seeing shapes rather than making step-by-step calculations. Here he explains how he does it, and how he is able to learn new languages so quickly, simply by absorbing their patterns. Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it's like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human -- our minds.

Carrie

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Divergent by Victoria Roth

I did not see this coming: I loved this audio!                                   

A young adult novel set in some dystopian Chicago world run by factions based on character attributes; how out of my comfort zone is that! But Divergent drew me in on the first disc and I never looked back.

Having turned 16, Beatrice Pryor must choose which faction she will train with and hopefully join for the rest of her life. When the society was formed, the factions were created to maximize the use of their members’ strongest attributes. The Dauntless embodied courage and were the protectors; Erudite were the thinkers and creators; Candor were the truth-speakers; Amity were peacemakers; and Abnegation were the selfless and therefore the general overseers. But as time has passed, some of the initial traits have been corrupted and hunger for power has entered the picture.

As Beatrice begins her initiation as a Dauntless initiate, she find herself becoming confused and frustrated by the cruelty of many of her fellow initiates and the other members of the faction. She is also a 16 year old living away from her family and unsure of who or what she wants to become. As worlds and philosophies collide and begin to fall apart, Tris, as she has named herself, is forced to make decisions and judgments that would stymie many adults and often under great duress.


Despite its fantastical premise, this is, in essence, a coming of age story very well told and peopled by believable characters. I often found myself driving at and even below the speed limit to get more listening time in before reaching my destination! As the first book of a trilogy, it ended with the story hanging and me eager to get to book two.
CAS

Monday, September 23, 2013

Battle for Ground Zero by Elizabeth Greenspan

This is an agonizing story that every American needs to be aware of, as the 12th anniversary of 9/11 has just passed.  Urban anthropologist Elizabeth Greenspan has written Battle for Ground Zero to answer the burning question, "When are they going to build something at Ground Zero?"  Most Americans outside of New York aren't aware of the trials and tribulations of the 16-acre site in the years following the attack.  Although a slogan of the aftermath was "America the Re-build-iful," the victims' families didn't want to rebuild at all, seeing the site as sacred ground.  That dichotomy is painstakingly detailed; even a simple act like building a viewing platform or putting up a fence is fraught with controversy.  The book recounts every phase of the process, from the selection of the master plan, to the design and construction of the memorial, museum and Freedom Tower. Greenspan gives equal time to the victims and the politicians and introduces us to the designers and architects who are caught in the middle.  In the end the reader gains an understanding of why it took ten years to build the memorial and design the museum and hopes that the soon-to-be-completed Freedom Tower lives up to its name.

Dawn

Bartlett Reads 2013: Stories on the Spectrum

We are celebrating the inaugural Bartlett Reads community reading event by reading the New York Times bestselling book The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by local author David Finch. This September, the community will come together to read the book, and attend events based on the themes in the book. 

Many novels feature characters that have autism and Asperger Syndrome. Here are a few.

Tilt by Elizabeth Burns

As a successful young urbanite, Bridget Fox experiences the typical joys and struggles of youthful New Yorkers, and she has happy expectations for her new family. But when her daughter Maeve is diagnosed with autism, Bridget's life as she knew it and her idealistic images of the perfect family are shattered. She tries to lean on her husband, her father, her best friend, but none can help her reconstruct her world as other tragic challenges begin to surface. But as she tries to choose between insanity and oblivion, Bridget discovers that matters are not nearly so simple--or so hopeless--as she once believed. Elizabeth Burns weaves the beauty and imagery of her poetic voice into a story of pain, humor, struggle and ultimate redemption. Bravely intimate, astonishing in its honesty, Tilt walks a path that most "normal" novels fear to tread as it follows the journey of a woman desperate enough to fall--and strong enough to survive.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.



 The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry

After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna's soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning ("do no let her…") before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish. A haunted kitchen isn't Ginny's only challenge. Her domineering sister, Amanda, (aka "Demanda") insists on selling their parents' house, the only home Ginny has ever known. As she packs up her parents' belongings, Ginny finds evidence of family secrets she isn't sure how to unravel. She knows how to turn milk into cheese and cream into butter, but she doesn't know why her mother hid a letter in the bedroom chimney, or the identity of the woman in her father's photographs. The more she learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there's only one way to get answers: cook from dead people's recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.

 House Rules by Jodi Picoult

"They tell me I'm lucky to have a son who's so verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the busted microwave and have it working again an hour later. They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there's a wider one to explore. But try having a son who is locked in his own world, and still wants to make a connection. A son who tries to be like everyone else, but truly doesn't know how." Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do and he's usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's: not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. Emotionally powerful from beginning to end, "House Rules" looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way and fails those who don't.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.


Carrie

Monday, September 16, 2013

Bartlett Reads 2013: Made for Each Other

We are celebrating the inaugural Bartlett Reads community reading event by reading the New York Times bestselling book The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by local author David Finch. This September, the community will come together to read the book, and attend events based on the themes in the book. 
 


 Real Love in Marriage by Greg Baer, M.D.

 Why do more than half of all marriages end in divorce? And why is there so much unhappiness in the marriages that survive? Greg Baer offers the solutions believes for a long-lasting marriage in his anticipated follow-up to Real Love. No matter how many wounds have been inflicted in a marriage, Greg Baer believes that they can be healed, giving both partners the sense of fulfillment and joy they've always wanted. With practical anecdotes and exercises throughout, Baer shows you: Why our spouses are not the root cause of how we feel and behave, The truth about why we get angry with our spouses and argue with them, How to eliminate-not just manage-anger and conflict, How to identify what we need to change about ourselves, How you and your partner can both get what you want out of the marriage, How you can break the cycles of expectation and disappointment, How to prevent divorce, and how to know when it's the right option. There are no quick solutions to fixing a marriage. With Greg Baer as your guide, you can begin to heal the wounds of the past and cultivate the lifelong commitment to stay with your partner while learning how to unconditionally love him or her.

Why Talking Is Not Enough by Susan Page

Susan Page  presents a novel relationship strategy based on subtle, powerful changes in your own actions. This method shows you the magic of "Keep your mouth out of it!" Page's pioneering eight-step program invites you to give up problem solving and move directly to a warmer, more loving and fun relationship, based on universal spiritual principles. In this book you will learn how to transform your relationship into a Spiritual Partnership by adopting these Eight Loving Actions: Adopt a Spirit of Good Will, Give Up Problem Solving, Act as If, Practice Restraint, Balance Giving and Taking, Act on Your Own, Practice Acceptance, and Practice Compassion.

I Do, Now What? by Giuliana and Bill Rancic

What happened once the honeymoon was over? After all, Giuliana's been stationed in Los Angeles as one of E! Entertainment's most popular personalities, and he's kept his home in Chicago, where this handsome winner of The Apprentice has been busy running an empire of his own. How, we've wondered, is this marriage really working out? With all the funny, frank, and characteristically down-to-earth personality that fans of their hit reality show, Giuliana & Bill, have come to adore, this glamorous couple takes you behind the scenes of their real-life marriage. Like all newlyweds, they've faced the big issues that wedlock manages to invite, including money (to merge or not?), household chores (she's disorganized, he's a neat freak), arguments (without staying mad), and trying to have a baby (it's not as easy as they thought!). Sharing their newfound and sometimes hard-won insights, they offer suggestions on such topics as communication, giving and receiving support, trust and jealousy, quality time, friends and in-laws, fighting fair, and sex and romance. A must-read for newly married couples, or those about to take the plunge, or anyone who wants to know the secrets of everlasting love, I Do, Now What? is an upbeat real-world resource for the most ambitious journey of a couple's life: marriage!

 The Man Whisperer by Donna Sozio and Samantha Brett 

For years, "whisperers" have gotten horses, dogs, and babies to behave. Through simple rewards and punishments, they encourage positives and discourage negatives. But why is it so hard to achieve in relationships? Enter "The Man Whisperer." This modern communication guide shows you how to adopt a new style--to get what you want! Authors Donna Sozio and Samantha Brett have men eating out of their hands, and here they share their secrets.




Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes by Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson

Are you happy in your marriage—except for those weekly spats over who empties the dishwasher more often? Not a single complaint—unless you count the fact that you haven’t had sex since the Bush administration? Prepared to be there in sickness and in health—so long as it doesn’t mean compromising? Be honest: Ever lay awake thinking how much more fun married life used to be?

If you’re a member of the human race, then the answer is probably “yes” to all of the above. Marriage is a mysterious, often irrational business. Making it work till death do you part—or just till the end of the week—isn’t always easy. And no one ever handed you a user’s manual.

Until now. With Spousonomics, Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson offer something new: a clear-eyed, rational route to demystifying your disagreements and improving your relationship. The key, they propose, is to think like an economist. 


Carrie

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Line of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen

OK, right off the bat I will admit that I love Andy Cohen. And the Bravo Network. And the talk show Watch What Happens. And of course, The Real Housewives of... All of them. Every single one. Orange County. New York. New Jersey. D. C.. Beverly Hills. Miami. I cannot get enough of these ladies!

So, that being said, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Andy Cohen had written a book about his life and with an emphasis on his time as an Executive Producer at Bravo. I just knew that he would be dishing (and dissing) all sorts of inside secrets and stories. And he did. However, Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Line of Pop Culture is way more than that. Andy discusses his college days and then his internship with CBS news (which he later went to work for). He produced a lot of very serious news stories during his tenure at CBS, most notably the Oklahoma Bombing. Something I did not know and would have never have guessed. He also discusses his many interviews with celebrities; some good, some, well, not so much. But certainly entertaining.

Always funny, flamboyant, and yes, talkative, this memoir is just as you would expect if you are a fan of his or the shows he produces. I highly recommend the audiobook as he is the reader and it is just fun to listen to.

Karen



Thursday, September 12, 2013

A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay

One of my favorite authors is baaack!!! This time, it is about a troubled man who gets in a huge mess just by being a good samaritan. Even though this is a well-used plot line (person in wrong place at the wrong time), Linwood Barclay is a master at this genre.

Cal Weaver is a private investigator who has just lost his teenage son Scott to an apparent suicide. One night, obviously distraught and looking for answers, Cal is sitting at a light when there is a tap on his car window. A young girl asks for a ride. At first he is reluctant, but then the girls says she was a friend of Scott's. Hoping that possibly she may have information regarding his son, he lets her in. And what a ride it is from then on!

As in all of his novels, not too much can be said without spoiling the book, so just know that A Tap on the Window has so many twists and turns that it will make your head spin. I could not put it down!

Karen

Read-alike author: Harlan Coben

A Box of Darkness: The Story of a Marriage by Sally Ryder Brady

I have struggled on how to proceed to blog this title. As the latter half of the title states A Box of Darkness: the Story of a Marriage is what it is; Sally Brady's memoir of her marriage. But it feels more like a biography of her late husband, Upton Brady. Upton was an editor for Atlantic Monthly, and  a very prominent force in literary circles in the 1960s and 1970s. The Bradys lived a life of glamour, hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Sally, a debutante and writer herself before marrying Upton, knew how to fit right in with this crowd.

But the Bradys also had some secrets that could (and would) almost destroy them. Alcoholism and closet homosexuality just to name a few.

So this is really a story of survival. Sally Brady waited until her husband's death to reveal what her life had really been like, and it is fascinating.

If you like non-fiction that reads like fiction, this would be a good choice. I listened to the audio version of this, and thought it was really well done.

Karen

Read alike:  The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus

The German village of Altenhain is the setting for this dark, disturbing mystery. Miss Marple definitely does not live there. Tobias Sartorious has served his time for the murder of two young women and has returned to the village. The decay and despair awaiting are shocking and infuriating to him. Despite his doubts about committing the murders (he was drunk at the time and blacked out) he’s not totally sure of his guilt or innocence. The inhabitants of the village all shun him as they did his family – causing their restaurant to fail and his parents’ marriage to break up. A waitress, a newcomer in town, becomes his only friend. Her Goth looks remind Tobias of one of the murdered girls, nicknamed “Snow White.”

Trying to live quietly and restore his father’s broken-down house and yard, Tobias has flashbacks and still drinks too much too often. Then the waitress disappears and her cell phone is found in his pocket – and he was drunk. Snow White Must Die is a story of guilt and innocence, sin and redemption, and power gone very awry. It’s not easy reading, but it’s rewarding to complete.

CAS


p.s. I don’t know why I keep returning to these dark stories set in contemporary, insular, small German towns, but if you like this, check out author Helen Grant as well.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Bartlett Reads 2013: Write Your Life

We are celebrating the inaugural Bartlett Reads community reading event by reading the New York Times bestselling book The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by local author David Finch. This September, the community will come together to read the book, and attend events based on the themes in the book. 

Have you ever thought about writing a memoir? These books can help!

Writing Your Life by Mary Borg

To many, the task of writing about one's life seems daunting and difficult. Where does one begin? What stories will inspire your children and grandchildren, and which will simply amuse them? "Writing Your Life: A Guide to Writing Autobiographies" breaks down the barriers of personal narrative with an easy-to-follow guide that includes thought-provoking questions, encouraging suggestions, memory-jogging activities, tips for writing, advice on publishing one's stories in print and online, and examples of ordinary people's writing. Writing Your Life has already helped thousands write their life stories, and this fourth edition is sure to help today's generations preserve their memories and wisdom for many generations to come.

 You Can't Make This Stuff Up by Lee Gutkind

From rags-to-riches-to-rags tell-alls to personal health sagas to literary journalism everyone seems to want to try their hand at creative nonfiction. Now, Lee Gutkind, the go-to expert for all things creative nonfiction, taps into one of the fastest-growing genres with this new writing guide. Frank and to-the-point, with depth and clarity, Gutkind describes and illustrates each and every aspect of the genre, from defining a concept and establishing a writing process to the final product. Offering new ways of understanding genre and invaluable tools for writers to learn and experiment with, 'You Can't Make This Stuff Up' allows writers of all skill levels to thoroughly expand and stylize their work.

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction by Jack Hart

Now in Storycraft, Jack Hart, a former managing editor of the Oregonian who guided several Pulitzer Prize-winning narratives to publication, delivers what will certainly become the definitive guide to the methods and mechanics of crafting narrative nonfiction. Hart covers what writers in this genre need to know, from understanding story theory and structure, to mastering point of view and such basic elements as scene, action, and character, to drafting, revising, and editing work for publication. Revealing the stories behind the stories, Hart brings readers into the process of developing nonfiction narratives by sharing tips, anecdotes, and recommendations he forged during his decades-long career in journalism. From there, he expands the discussion to other well-known writers to show the broad range of texts, styles, genres, and media to which his advice applies. With examples that draw from magazine essays, book-length nonfiction narratives, documentaries, and radio programs, Storycraft will be an indispensable resource for years to come.

Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart

Writing memoir is a deeply personal, and consequential, undertaking. As the acclaimed author of five memoirs spanning significant turning points in her life, Beth Kephart has been both blessed and bruised by the genre. In Handling the Truth, she thinks out loud about the form--on how it gets made, on what it means to make it, on the searing language of truth, on the thin line between remembering and imagining, and, finally, on the rights of memoirists. Drawing on proven writing lessons and classic examples, on the work of her students and on her own memories of weather, landscape, color, and love, Kephart probes the wrenching and essential questions that lie at the heart of memoir. A beautifully written work in its own right, Handling the Truth is Kephart's memoir-writing guide for those who read or seek to write the truth.

Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction by Dinty W. Moore

Crafting the Personal Essay is designed to help you explore the flexibility and power of the personal essay in your own writing. This hands-on, creativity-expanding guide will help you infuse your nonfiction with honesty, personality, and energy. You'll discover: An exploration of the basics of essay writing; Ways to step back and scrutinize your experiences in order to separate out what may be fresh, powerful, surprising or fascinating to a reader; How to move past private "journaling" and write for an audience; How to write eight different types of essays including memoir, travel, humor, and nature essays among others; and Instruction for revision and strategies for getting published. Brimming with helpful examples, exercises, and sample essays, this indispensable guide will help your personal essays transcend the merely private to become powerfully universal.

Carrie

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

In Susannah Cahalan’s memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, the author explores a strange medical incident that turned her from a successful young reporter at The New York Post to someone doctors thought was schizophrenic or severely bipolar. She has many of the hallucinations common to schizophrenics such as hearing voices and believing people she knows are being impersonated by actors. The disease she is eventually diagnosed with debilitates her to the point where it becomes hard for her to speak. While she can still write a few coherent thoughts, she also loses the ability to read. To friends and family, Cahalan turns into a person they feel like they don’t know who shows only the occasional glimpse of her former self.

Despite rather heavy subject matter and some lengthy sections on how the brain works, Brain on Fire is a page turner. And even though the rare disease the author is diagnosed with is not likely to happen to most people, the book shows the difficulty of correctly diagnosing someone and the assumptions doctors sometimes make about patients. For example, one of the first doctors Cahalan sees decides she is an alcoholic who is in denial that she has a drinking problem. He believes this despite Cahalan’s assertion that she only drinks socially. This and many other unexpected developments make Brain on Fire a book that will fascinate nonfiction readers and might even hook those who generally read fiction.


John

Monday, September 2, 2013

Bartlett Reads 2013: Awesomism!



We are celebrating the inaugural Bartlett Reads community reading event by reading the New York Times bestselling book The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband by local author David Finch. This September, the community will come together to read the book, and attend events based on the themes in the book. 

The titles in this week’s post focus on Asperger syndrome and Autism in kids. 



Following Ezra by Tom Fields-Meyer

When Tom Fields-Meyer's son Ezra was three and showing early signs of autism, a therapist suggested that the father needed to grieve. "For what?" he asked. The answer: "For the child he didn't turn out to be." That moment helped strengthen the author's resolve to do just the opposite: to love the child Ezra was, a quirky boy with a fascinating and complex mind. Full of tender moments and unexpected humor, Following Ezra is the story of a father and son on a ten-year journey from Ezra's diagnosis to the dawn of his adolescence. It celebrates his growth from a remote toddler to an extraordinary young man, connected in his own remarkable ways to the world around him.

Carly's Voice: Breaking Through Autism by Arthur and Carly Fleischmann

At the age of two, Carly Fleischmann was diagnosed with severe autism and an oral motor condition that prevented her from speaking. Doctors predicted that she would never intellectually develop beyond the abilities of a small child. Although she made some progress after years of intensive behavioral and communication therapy, Carly remained largely unreachable. Then, at the age of ten, she had a breakthrough. While working with her devoted therapists Howie and Barb, Carly reached over to their laptop and typed in "HELP TEETH HURT," much to everyone's astonishment. This was the beginning of Carly's journey toward self-realization. Although Carly still struggles with all the symptoms of autism, which she describes with uncanny accuracy and detail, she now has regular, witty, and profound conversations on the computer with her family, her therapists, and the many thousands of people who follow her via her blog, Facebook, and Twitter. In Carly's Voice , her father, Arthur Fleischmann, blends Carly's own words with his story of getting to know his remarkable daughter.

Raising Cubby by John Elder-Robison

The slyly funny, sweetly moving memoir of an unconventional dad's relationship with his equally offbeat son--complete with fast cars, tall tales, homemade explosives, and a whole lot of fun and trouble. Misfit, truant, delinquent. John Robison was never a model child, and he wasn't a model dad either. Diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at the age of forty, he approached fatherhood as a series of logic puzzles and practical jokes. When his son, Cubby, asked, "Where did I come from?" John said he'd bought him at the Kid Store and that the salesman had cheated him by promising Cubby would "do all chores." He read electrical engineering manuals to Cubby at bedtime. He told Cubby that wizards turned children into stone when they misbehaved. Still, John got the basics right. He made sure Cubby never drank diesel fuel at the automobile repair shop he owns. And he gave him a life of adventure: By the time Cubby was ten, he'd steered a Coast Guard cutter, driven a freight locomotive, and run an antique Rolls Royce into a fence. The one thing John couldn't figure out was what to do when school authorities decided that Cubby was dumb and stubborn--the very same thing he had been told as a child. Did Cubby have Asperger's too? The answer was unclear. One thing was clear, though: By the time he turned seventeen, Cubby had become a brilliant chemist--smart enough to make military-grade explosives and bring state and federal agents calling. Afterward, with Cubby facing up to sixty years in prison, both father and son were forced to take stock of their lives, finally coming to terms with being "on the spectrum" as both a challenge and a unique gift. By turns tender, suspenseful, and hilarious, this is more than just the story of raising Cubby. It's the story of a father and son who grow up together.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Raising Kids on the Spectrum

With its 101 stories from other parents and experts, this book will comfort, encourage, and uplift parents of children with autism and Asperger s. If you are the parent of a child from newborn to college age with autism or Asperger s, you will find support, advice, and insight in these 101 stories from other parents and experts. Stories cover everything from the serious side and the challenges, to the lighter side and the positives, of having a special child on the autism spectrum.



Carrie