Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Review: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova











About (from Simon & Schuster):

Sarah's life is on track—the fast track. She and her husband both work 80 hour weeks at high-powered jobs in Boston, while spending as much time as possible with their three small children. Sarah is a juggler extraordinaire, keeping her demanding job and her family as balanced as she can. But when a car accident leaves her recovering from Left Neglect, a neurological impairment that robs her of her ability to control the left side of her body, she can barely get out of bed on her own. As Sarah struggles to resume her over-scheduled life, she must juggle new things—her son's ADHD diagnosis, the return of her estranged mother, and her own limitations. Given a traumatic opportunity to reassess what is really important in life, Sarah must decide where her priorities lie.







My Thoughts:

I read Left Neglected a few months ago and believe it's a book that everyone should read. It is the kind of book that makes you stop and think about how life can change in an instant. Our culture and society in the U.S. is one that  has become very success driven and often for good reasons to be financially secure to take care of our families and hopefully have a retirement down the road.  This is a hard balance for many working parents. I understand that as I was a working professional in a high stress career prior to having my son and then chose to stay at home after he was born. I went back to work part time a few years ago and am able to work around my son's school schedule and have summers off,  for my family I am fortunate that I can do that. Our priorities can become unbalanced and often working 60 plus hours a week as parents with young children is an example of how that effects the family dynamics and each person individually. This is how Sarah and Bob's life was, as they both had highly stressful and demanding jobs and were raising three young children. Sarah was the master of multi-tasking often using her drive time to/from work and  taking her kids to/from daycare and to sporting events to make phone calls on her cell phone for her job.

Sarah has an accident while on her cell phone and driving. She suffers a  brain injury which manifests itself as Left Neglect, a neurological condition which causes a person to visually neglect the left hand side of space and they behave as if the left side of space is not there. Sarah has this condition of Left Neglect and although she has her vision, her brain doesn't process or register things on her left side. She cannot tell that something is on her left side and has difficulty controlling the left side of her body as well.  If  she sees a plate of food, she will only register that the right side has food and that the left side is empty. She may only see the numbers on the right side of a clock, numbers 12 through 6 and believe that the left side is blank.

The novel is written in the first person, from Sarah's point of view and follows Sarah from her accident through her rehabilitation process, her family's adjustment and her mother coming to help her and her family and their struggles working through past issue as mother and daughter. Ms. Genova did a fabulous job giving a voice to what Sarah was experiencing and thinking as she struggled through the rehabilitation process and realization of how different her life had become after her accident. As a medical professional, Occupational Therapist, I found that Ms. Genova's neuroscience background helped tremendously in explaining in layman's terms how the condition of Left Neglect can affect an individual such as Sarah.  I have treated patients with Left Neglect and understand the challenges and difficulties they face. Ms. Genova did an excellent job of allowing the reader to be inside the head of someone with Left Neglect and to get an understanding of how they may feel and what they experience. I did have some reservations about the way Occupational and Physical Therapy were presented in the book and felt that the portrayal of the roles of the two professions weren't always accurate. In my opinion, some of the treatments that the Physical Therapist was doing with Sarah would most often be done with an Occupational Therapist and I found the Occupational Therapist's role too limited in the rehabilitation process with Sarah.

This is a wonderful novel with a strong message about cell phone safety as well, as Sarah had her accident while on the phone and driving. It made me stop and think about my own cell phone use and how important a call or text can be compared to the safety of yourself and your family. I highly recommend this novel, this is the first book that I've read by Genova who is well known for her first book Still Alice. I have a copy on my bookshelf and look forward to reading that as well.

For more information on the author, go to Lisa Genova's Website.

Check out this interesting interview with the author, Lisa Genova on The Diane Rehm Show, HERE.

Check out this trailer for Left Neglected:





Sunday, August 28, 2011

Mailbox Monday





~Mailbox Monday~  
is hosted by Staci at  Life in the Thumb during the month of August.
We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

MAILBOX MONDAY
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

 I received one book in my mailbox this week: 



My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir


My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock 
win from Holly at 2 Kids and Tired Books -Thanks Holly!





Sunday Salon: Back to School








Things have been quiet here on the blog as it's Back to School week for my son and I. My son started 7th grade and sadly, he thought it wasn't too cool for mom to take a first day of school picture. I disagree and fortunately, we took family pictures last week so I have a good picture of him around this time of year. The school district I work for starts next week and I am starting the scheduling, planning and organizing process with changes ahead for the school year. I'll be working with 5th through 12th graders so it will definitely be an interesting year.  I'm fortunate to work part time and I have great team members to work with.  

I've finished reading a few books and have reviews to work on for:

Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy (Audio book)


What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Kindle)




I am currently reading:



The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara (For September book club)


The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Audio book)


The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht (Audio book on ipod)


Sunday, August 21, 2011

Mailbox Monday





~Mailbox Monday~  
is hosted by Staci at  Life in the Thumb during the month of August.
We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

MAILBOX MONDAY
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This is what I received in my mailbox. Thankfully, it was a much lighter week and I received some great books!


Only Time Will TellBefore I Go to Sleep: A NovelThe Very Thought of You: A Novel





Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer win from Bookfan- Thanks Mary!


Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson win from A Bookworm's World- Thanks Luanne!


The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison from Paperbackswap




The Sunday Salon: The Help Movie Review








I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett when it first came out in 2009 (my review is here)and then discussed it with my book club last year. It was on my list of best books for 2009 and remains a favorite book for me. I saw the movie together with my book club instead of a book club meeting this month. The Help, the movie is based on the best selling book by Kathryn Stockett  in which both look at  the relationships between the white women and the African American maids that work for them in a southern town in Jackson, Mississippi  in the early 1960's.  

I  believe that they did an excellent job adapting the book to the movie. Although it's been awhile since I've read the book, I didn't notice any significant changes.  I felt it stayed true to the heart of the book. I was drawn into the movie from the start and didn't want it to end. The casting was excellent and true to the characters in the book. They were all outstanding in my mind and I hope to see some academy award nominations down the road. The Help is a movie that engages the audience, even if you have not read the book. I heard laughter, tears, cheers and clapping from the movie theater. It touched my heart and I loved it. This is definitely a must see movie, perfect to see with your friends, book club, for mothers & daughters and couples. 








Sunday, August 14, 2011

Mailbox Monday




~Mailbox Monday~  
is hosted by Staci at  Life in the Thumb during the month of July.
We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

MAILBOX MONDAY
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).


This is what I received in my mailbox, it was overflowing again this week. I'm almost embarrassed to share all my books. I had a streak of luck and won several giveaways which you can see below:





This was the most exciting item in my mailbox this week. We received a large box filled to the brim with vintage kids books. My son and I won this fabulous giveaway of Vintage Kids Books from the fabulous website Forgotten Bookmarks. If you haven't checked out this site, you must! It's one of my favorite sites to visit and my son and I love to see the fun and even weird things that they have found inside the rare and vintage books that they buy at their bookstore. As you can see in this picture, I have given these books to my son  and they are now filling up one shelf of his bookcase. He is 12 years old and loves old things, especially books and has a small collection of older vintage kids books. He likes to see the publication date of when the book was published and the personal inscriptions, often in fountain pen. M from Forgotten Bookmarks was so kind in sending extra books for my son who is a collector and added a nice collection of Hardy Boys books (which my son collects) and others. I'm not going to list all the titles but you can click on the picture and can see up close the titles. There are many wonderful titles from The Hardy Boys, Little Men by Lousia Alcott to Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and many more. 




I won this great giveaway of a ONE DAY prize pack from Booking Mama  which included an autographed copy of ONE DAY by David Nicholls (movie tie-in edition) a clear cosmetic case, necklace and Moleskin Journal.



Wildflower HillYou Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl: Observations on Life from the Shallow End of the PoolComing Up for Air

If Jack's in LoveA Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness--and a Trove of Letters--Revealed the Hidden History of the Great DepressionHow to Bake a Perfect Life: A Novel





Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman  from  Touchstone/Simon and Schuster 


You don't Sweat Much for a fat girl by Celia Rivenbark from Wunderkind PR


Coming Up for Air by Patti Callahan Henry from Wunderkind PR

If Jack's In Love by Stephen Wetta  from Amy Einhorn Books/Penguin


A Secret Gift by Ted Gup from Paperbackswap


How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal  from Paperbackswap