Since I am still going through the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell, I decided to add an extra page to the website. I will give a little blurb about each book as I go along. I will start from book 1 and go from there. Any comments on any of them through "From Potter's Field" can be sent via the contact me page. I'll post em as I get em. You can also find a biography for Patricia Cornwell, along with direct links to the books through Amazon.com.

So I bought and read "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova in 2 days. The book was chosen as the first "Book of the Month" by my readers. Great choice! This book is a definite read!

"Still Alice" is a stirring novel about a woman, just turned 50, who learns she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Genova takes the approach of telling the story from Alice's point of view, which makes the story more poignant and devastating as we see through her eyes. Ironically, Alice, the main character, makes her living as a professor at Harvard in cognitive psychology and speaks at numerous conferences around the world. The novel details how Alice discovers the disease, how she deals with telling her family and colleagues, and how she changes her life and daily activities to accomodate her diagnosis and rapid decline.

This book takes the reader into the daily life of the patient - forgetfulness, losing direction, putting things in the wrong place - things that increasingly happen to this brilliant, vibrant woman who is faced with leaving her professorship, her primary self-definition for more than 20 years.

I'm not going any further with the discription of this book. I don't want to give too much away. I will say that you must read it. I couldn't put it down.

"Hanna's Daughters" by Marianne Fredriksson.

This book is a study of the uneasy truces that form the ties between mothers and daughters. It is the telling story of three women; Hanna, Johanna and Anna, set in motion by the need of Anna, a modern middle-aged woman, to reconcile with her mother, Johanna.

Divorced from her cheating husband, and grown distant from her own adult daughters, Anna is searching for something to ground herself, a bond with the past that will help her be strong and show her a way to happiness. She begins a search through old photos, letters and diaries that will allow her to piece together her family's past, which helps her to gain insight into herself. As she unearths the stories of her mother and grandmother, she also reveals her own hidden welspring of strength and self worth.

Sweeping through one hundred years of Scandinavian history, the story follows three generations of women, whos lives are linked through  a century of great love and loss. The novel explores the often difficult but enduring ties between mothers and daughters, the sacrifices, compromises, rewards and the patterns of emotion that repeat themselves through generations.

"Hanna's Daughters" also has a lot of things to say about aging, dealing with older relatives who are troubled by cultural change, finding your own path in the world, and remembering your heritage in order to understand yourself.

I can't believe I've been posting with the year as 2009. That shows you how old I am, but I fixed it...Anyways, "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks is my next review.

I know his books are predictable, but I still find myself squirting a tear every time. His books are like poetry, they make you turn the page even when you have an idea of what's coming up. He has a way of making you feel for the characters.

This is a touching story (of course a love story) of a love that never dies. The main character, John Tyree, first meets the love of his life, Savannah Curtis, on the beach in North Carolina. At the time, John was on on leave from the military visiting his father. Savannah was in town with a group working on a Habitat for Humanity project. The two are very different, both in personality and upbringing, but from the beginning a powerful bond is formed. Even when John returns to his military obligations in Germany and Savannah returns to school, they stay committed.

As is the tradition with Nicholas Sparks, there are circumstances working against them. I would go on, but I don't want to tell you what happens. My daughter, along with a couple of friends predicted an outcome when they were only half finished with the book. They were all wrong. You will squirt a tear.

Reader Comments:

Mary Beth - I love Nicholas Sparks books. This one was great. It was a typical boy meets girl story, but the twists and turns and the sacrificial love that two guys made for one girl is heart warming. The end is a tear-wrenching chapter.

Jamie - This is a light and enjoyable novel, one that will give you a few hours escaping reality and plunging into a sappy and romantic fantasy

"From Potter's Field" by Patricia Cornwell is the 6th book in the Kay Scarpetta series. This book brings the FBI consultant/forensic pathologist up against Temple Gault once again. The story begins as Christmas arrives. A female body is found naked in Central Park. It is propped against a fountain with a gunshot wound in the head and incisions suggesting the trademark of the familiar serial killer. Another body, that of a transit policeman, is discovered in a subway tunnel. It seems as if Temple Gault is leaving "presents" for Dr. Scarpetta.

The usual team is assembled; Scarpetta's niece Lucy, her partner officer Marino, and her friend/lover Benton Wesley. Like all the Patricia Cornwell novels I've read thus far, the dead bodies each tell their own silent stories until the pieces come together.

As always, Dr. Scarpetta and her crew perform brilliant forensic work that brings to the forefront the science of criminology. It is a good story, taking off with a thrilling and unnerving game of cat and mouse.

Reader Comments:

Ralph - This is one of my favorites so far. The book focuses almost all its attention on the crime with only minimal personal problems of the characters (but enough to make you feel for them). I read this book in 2 days - couldn't wait to read what was coming next.

So here we go with "Push" adapted to the novel "Precious" adapted to the recent movie. First let me say this was probably the hardest book I have ever read. I don't mean it like I had to get a dictionary to translate. The content was so intense, but still enlightening. It's hard to describe how I felt when reading it. Sometimes I found myself just staring at the pages with my mouth open. I kept looking back to be sure it was actually fiction. The way Sapphire wrote this makes you feel like you're following the life of real person. It was heartbreaking and very realistic. I give Sapphire so much credit for tackling these issues in a brutal manner. This subject is one that is swept under the rug so often. People know it happens, but choose to pretend it's not really there.

"Push" is the fictional story of Claireece Precious Jones. Sexually abused by both parents, illiterate and obese, she gives birth to a daughter with down syndrom at the age of 12. When her next pregnancy, also fathered by her own father, is discovered, she gets expelled from school.

Finally, at age 16, through the intervention of her school's principal, she is sent to attend a literacy program. This is where she meets her teacher and learns to read and to understand she has value. Precious was so miserably failed by the education system that she has to start at the beginning - the alphabet. Despite her tremendous progress she makes at school, her social worker is more interested in trying to get her out of the system and into the workplace, instead of encouraging her to achieve her G.E.D. or strive for something better. To top it off, Precious learns the she's H.I.V. positive, another "gift" from her father's abuse.

The book is very realistic, so don't look for the girl riding off into the sunset with the prince. Despite the hard nature of the novel, there is hope. When reading it, look for the triumphs through Precious' eyes, not your own. To you it may be hopeless, but to Precious it isn't.

Reader Comments:

Anonymous - An easy read, yet disturbing. Precious has so many redeeming qualities considering her circumstances. Her goals are high despite what others think of her and she succeeds. I'm passing this book on to another but I have qualms about how this emotional story may push someone over the edge who is an abuse survivor

Anonymous - I would like to read the book and watch the movie...as a person that works with some of the most severely abused children in our society I think a movie will help keep these issues back to the fore front...I think it's a shame so many of today's children and youth are being hurt daily...graduating from high school not being able to read...and people are not speaking out...if you feel a child is in danger speak out get them help...