All Is Not Forgotten

All Is Not Forgotten
By Wendy Walker
2016
St. Martin's Press
ISBN:  978-1250097910

Digital Galley from NetGalley.com
Release Date: July 12, 2016

I got the review copy of this book after reading an excerpt in BuzzBooks. The brief except had intrigued me in part because of the premise (a young rape victim treated with a medication that erases her memory) and partly because of the voice of the narrator, unnamed in the excerpt.

So first, as a future psychiatrist, I feel the need to point out that the option to give someone a medication and prevent consolidation of their memory of a traumatic event doesn't exist. That part is science fiction. However, it is science fiction of the plausible near future variety, and there are medications available now that might reduce the risk of PTSD when administered shortly after a trauma. Other than the medication, the rest of the writing in this book about how memories form and can be manipulated is relatively scientifically sound, which is, frankly, part of what makes the whole thing frightening.  Some of the stuff about psychopaths and personality disorders I personally don't agree with, but it's mostly within the realm of things that reasonable people in the field might believe.

There's not too much that can be said about the plot of this one without giving away spoilers, and I don't want to do that. This book was not, however, what I expected it to be. It is more psychological thriller with a number of morally complicated situations than mystery. The questions that drive the narrative forward are far more complex, and frankly, more interesting, than the identity of the rapist.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting and innovative thriller, if an occasionally uncomfortable read. The narrator, a psychiatrist who is treating more of the characters than would likely be recommended by professional boundries, is a distinctive and complex voice, and a particular strength. I will definitely be recommending this one once it hits shelves this summer. I would be a great beach read.

And if you read it, let me know, because I would love to talk about it with someone who doesn't need me to avoid the spoilers.

Smarter Faster Better

Smarter Faster Better
The Secrets of Being Productive in Live and Business
By Charles Duhigg
2016
Random House
ISBN:978-0812993394

Digital Galley from NetGalley.com
Release Date: March 8, 2016

I really enjoyed Duhigg's earlier book, The Power of Habit, which was well-researched, accessible, and entertaining. So when I saw this one come up as an available option on NetGalley, requesting a copy was a bit of a no-brainer. I was actually pretty excited when I got approved, since I figured it would be a pretty popular choice.

In Smarter Faster Better Duhigg turns his attention to the science of productivity, and tips for thinking processes and ideas that can take your work to the next level. He cites Atul Gwande in the Introduction as a model for prolific producitivity, and with that had me sucked in from the beginning.

This is a very readable book, and very clearly intended for a general audience. Even when Duhigg is talking about the science that backs up his assertions, he does so without feeling the need to go into too much detail about methods, so if you're seeking that level of detail, look elsewhere. That being said, I found this an enjoyable, quick read, and felt that it brought home some ideas in ways that were accessible.

One of the most powerful ideas for me was introduced in the last chapter. Interestingly, Duhigg uses as an example the impressive turn-around of South Avondale Elementary School, which is less than 2 miles away from where I sit as I write this, and is the school that a child living in my house would attend. The core idea is one similar to something that I have been advocating with my tutoring students for a number of years: information is only internalized if one manipulates and uses it right away. Duhigg calls this process, that of taking information and forcing effort-full engagement, "disfluency." And points out that sometimes it requires the counterintuitive step of taking information from the representation that is most comfortable and clear, and translating it into another form. Interestingly enough, reading this chapter helped me see how the tactic that I use often (and I think well) when studying myself, and in helping other students study and designing board-prep plans, could be applied more broadly to other areas of my thinking, especially in terms of manipulating information as I read. (Of course, this very activity, the act of sitting down and writing deliberately about a book is a form of disfluency, forcing me to think more deeply about what I have just read than I might have otherwise. It is a form of disfluency that I know is effective, since I certainly remember the books that I write about better than those that I don't, and I am better able to talk about books that I have read lately if I am blogging regularly.)

In the spirit of disflunecy: Here's a summary of the core ideas in the other chapters.
1.Motivation - Marines are badass. Creating a sense of control will both help you to maintain motivation and help to create a "bias towards action" (which is a phrase I have personally been repeating in my mind when I've been tempted to procrastinate over the last few days.) It helps to have big picture reasons for the things that you are doing, and the reflect on those when things are challenging.
2. Teams - Google is cool. The most important characteristics of teams are culture-based, and a sense of ownership and a feeling of openness to risk and flexibility, which come together in something called "psychological safety" is essential.
3. Focus - Airplanes are scary. Focus is good, creating stories that you tell yourself about what you expect can help you anticipate situations and identify problems more readily, too much focus or getting trapped in a single cognitive structure can be (very) dangerous.
4. Goal Setting - Israel should have seen the Yom Kippur War coming. SMART goals are good, but can keep you trapped in small picture ideas, the best structure combines SMART goals with large ambitious ones that force transformative thinking.
5. Managing Others - There used to be a very uncomforting amount of debauchery going on in auto plants. Somewhat similar to teams, give people flexibility and autonomy, recognize that each person is an expert in their own area is essential.
6. Decision Making - Annie Duke is good at poker. Probability is hard to understand, but not so hard that you can't help your brain get good at it, and probably worth it, but even if you do that, your accuracy will depend on your base assumptions.
7. Innovation - Frozen almost sucked. Claiming things and making them personal is important. The highest impact creativity most often comes from novel combinations and pulling together ideas from different fields. Some stress is necessary.
8. Absorbing data - See above. There are good stories coming out of the Cincinnati Public School System, so my taxes aren't entirely wasted, even though they gave me a parking ticket today.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot, and I think that some of the ideas, if I can make them cognitive habits, will be a help. It's a quick and simple read, so you can probably get as much benefit as you are going to from an audiobook or a quick tour of a library copy, but if you're glad that you bought The Power of Habit (I gave my copy away) then by all means, buy this too.

The Upside of Stress

The Upside of Stress
By Kelly McGonigal
2015
Avery
ISBN: 978-1-58333-561-1

ARC from LibraryThing.com
Sent to my mother for now, but likely keeping in the long run

The LibraryThing Early Reviewers program sent me a copy of The Upside of Stress many months ago. I actually picked up the book last week for two main reasons. (1) I am trying to get through all the books that I ever said I was going to review, both because I hate the feeling of having things like that hanging over my head and because I want to be in good shape with the fine people at LibraryThing so that next time they have something I really want I am more likely to get it. (2) SO MUCH STRESS.

I just came back to Cinci for my last 3 months of medical school, during which I will also (finally!) defend my dissertation. In June I will officially be a "double doctor" and done with school FOREVER. The moving back to Cincinnati was stressful (also the leaving of husband and kitties in Boston). When I picked up this book I was still waiting for board scores (released today, all happiness!). I am 43 days, 16 hours, and 57 minutes from finding out where I will spend the next stage of my training, and if I will get to spend 4-6 months of next year in pediatrics (joy!) or if I will have to do adult medicine (something other than joy!). There's a lot going on right now.

This book was just right for me right now. I will admit, it was occasionally repetitive, over-simplistic, and perhaps occasionally a little to "upsidey" for me, but overall it was a very helpful check in. I recommend it to anyone that's feeling overwhelmed.

McGonigal's central thesis is that stress is not inherently bad, and that what matters more than the amount of stress in your life is your attitude towards the things that you find stressful. She points out (compellingly) that stress is actually the result of having meaning in your life, and that focusing on that meaning, having a growth mindset, and aligning your thoughts about the stresses in your life with your values and your sense of general humanity can turn "stress" from a pro-inflammatory health disaster into a positive force for your health.

There was not terribly much in here that someone in psychology will not be at least peripherally aware of, but McGonigal's clear writing, examples, and short simple exercises are a powerful synthesis of the information into a "mindset intervention" that likely all of us could benefit from. This is a quick read, and one I think is well worth the time.

Buzz Books Spring/Summer 2016 - Adult Fiction

Buzz Books 2016
Spring/Summer Edition
E-book free from NetGalley.com

So, in addition to the quick browse of the YA version of Buzz Books for the first half of this year, I gave a more in depth read to the adult side of things. Specifically, this post is going to deal with the fiction excerpts provided (I'll get to the smaller number of non-fiction excerpts later). I read all but one of them, and the one that I passed over was only because it was a sequel to a book that I plan to read but have no read yet, and I didn't want to set myself up for spoilers.

There are some things here that I am SUPER excited about, some that I am curious about, and some that are probably just not for me. I'll comment in progressively less detail about the titles that fall into those categories.

Category One: YES, please.
Everyone Brave is Forgiven – World War II London, a privileged young woman flees boarding school the day the war is declared to volunteer for the war effort, and finds herself assigned as a school teacher. I liked her, almost instantly. I found her optimism and energy delightful, and based on her voice alone I requested the whole book. I've already been given a free copy from NetGalley, so you can expect to read more about this pretty soon.

LaRose – I loved Eldrich’s The Round House, so I started this excerpt dealing with relationships in the face of morally complicated situations full of hope. I was engrossed in only the first few pages, and was sad to see the little sample that I’ve been given come to an end. I will be reading this book as soon as its released, unless I can get my hands on a copy sooner.

Jane Steele – Jane Eyre is one of the only assigned books in high school that I read cover to cover with pleasure (and at the expense of my “more important” math and science homework.) In this retelling, Jane is apparently a serial killer, and possibly from what this excerpt suggests, a psychopath. I am intrigued.

The Fireman – I love Joe Hill. I’ve read all his books and very much enjoyed them. He’s on my list of authors that I go to the bookstore on the day the new book comes out. So this would have to be truly bad for me not to want to get the whole thing. But it’s not bad. It's very good. I am so curious. Can’t wait.

All Is Not Forgotten – Psychological thriller / mystery in which a young girl who was the victim of a brutal rape is treated with a medication that leaves her with no narrative memory of the event. The premise is interesting enough, and the narrator, whose identity is not at all clear in the excerpt, is a clear enough voice that I will definitely be reading this one at some point.

The Nest - I've been hearing about this book on all of the "Things to look forward to in 2016" lists. From what I had read about it before this, I was on the fence, but the excerpt is pretty great, and now I really want to read it.

Last Call At The Nightshade Lounge - I really liked the voice of the narrator, and I am very curious about where it is going, so they got me.

Category Two: Hummmm, maybe.

The Summer Guest – A novel told in a combination of excerpts from a diary from the late 19^th century, and the modern lives of the publisher and translator that are about to bring it to publication. It appears that the titular “summer guest” will be Anton Chekhov. Interesting because I like Chekhov, but do not know much about his life, and the story seems to be inspired by true events. I was not overly charmed by the excerpt, but it was promising, and I might give the whole thing a go later in the year.

All Things Cease to Appear – A mystery in the vein of Gone Girl, which as we saw just last week can be either amazing or just junk food. The husband who is the focus of the first couple chapters is unlikable, and up to something, but probably not the actual killer. The three year old daughter, absolutely home, but only possibly a witness, adds an interesting twist. I’m curious after reading the bit of this that they gave me, but not enough to make this a super high priority.

Where I Lost Her – I’m not sure about this one. The summary suggests that it’s going to be a suspense/thriller in the vein of Jennifer McMahon, who I generally enjoy. The excerpt doesn’t really get into anything like the meat of the story though and didn’t have the same atmospheric feel, so it didn’t really pull me in. I’ll probably give it a chance, but I am not going to bend over backwards to seek it out.

Brighton – Interesting. Set in Boston, there’s clearly something very bad about to happen, but we don’t actually get to see it in the excerpt. Still, to manage to create an atmosphere of foreboding in such a short space, and one which contains a youth baseball game, is something, and I think that I would like to read the whole thing. High on the maybe list.

Maestra – Art dealer in a not great job, wants more. Not completely sure where this is going, I’ll wait for the buzz to see if I want to get sucked in.

Don’t You Cry – Roommate disappears. Again, what we’ve got isn’t enough to make me decide to read the whole thing, so I’ll let other people go first.

Christadora – Interesting premise, taking the spot in a neighborhood and using it as the basis for a long story talking about the modern history and near future of New York. I can see it being interesting, but I am not sure that I got there in this short introduction, on the fence.

Modern Lovers – Adults with children becoming adults and the challenges of that identity. Felt a little meh. Will maybe take it on if the buzz is good, but I don’t think that I need to preread.

Invincible Summer - The blurb makes it sound like a co-ed version of A Little Life (which was 2015's best book), but the excerpt was only OK, so we'll see when the release date gets closer.

The Versions of Us - A bunch of slight variations on the same story, interwoven in a kind of "what if things had gone only a very little bit differently?" sort of way. I can see it being very good, I can also see it being not good at all, so I will let other people take it on and let me know.

Under the Harrow - Thriller by debut author. Maybe great, maybe just meh. Will wait for others to tell me which.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper - Elderly man finds his deceased wife's charm bracelet and learns about the life that she had before he met her. Just maybe.

The Decent Proposal - Pair of strangers offered half a million dollars to sit and talk for two hours a week. Who knows why? Could be great, but there wasn't enough to convince me.

Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet - Young girl who is apparently going to be saved by the interesting people of a side show type museum. I think that I would have put this on the read right away if I hadn't just been relatively unimpressed by The Book of Speculation. Instead it goes on the top of the maybes.

Category Three: Probably not.

The Choices We Make – Very clearly “women’s fiction.” I say this not to put that whole genre down for literary merit (just in case Jennifer Weiner ever reads this blog), but it is not always my cup of tea. The story of a woman who agrees to be a surrogate for a friend, and then suffers a severe medical complication at the very edge of viability. I didn’t find the writing enough to pull me in to a tag that I wasn’t all that engaged with initially.

At The Edge of The Orchard – A family of settlers ripe with conflict regarding the management of their apple orchard in northwestern Ohio. I didn’t find the teaser summary interesting, and wasn’t impressed with either of the narrators in the sample. Skipping.

There Will Be Stars – I get the impression from the blurb and the general feel that this is going to be something like Groundhog’s Day, without the comedy, and with a more religious redemption, which just doesn’t appeal to me.

If I Forget You – Not much from either the concept (old lovers reunited following a chance encounter), or the excerpt to really pull me in. The main female character’s daughter is away at Miss Porter’s, which is amusing, but not a reason to read the whole book. I’ll probably skip it unless the buzz pulls me in more than this little bit did.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism – Four teen girls, one gets lost alone in the woods overnight and comes back not quite herself. Felt very YA, don’t think that I need to read the whole thing.

Before the Fall – My read on the premise is that most of the characters are about to die in a crash, and that the book is going to bounce between the story of the aftermath and the backstory of how they all came to be on the plane and a possible sinister reason for the crash. Reasonable in theory, but the excerpt didn’t pull me in, so probably not unless the buzz when it comes out wins me over.

The Sport of Kings – A little dense, and maybe just not for me.  

Girls on Fire – The author has published mostly YA before, and this felt very YA to me, so maybe later if what I hear from other people is great, but I am unlikely to seek this one out.

Daredevils - Girl converted to Fundamentalism Mormonism, married off against her will. Just didn't feel all that interesting.

The Last Road Home - Meh. I didn't get any feel that there was something here to really love.

Jazz Moon - I found the characters annoying even on the first couple of pages, so no thanks

And the One I Skipped:

Glory Over Everything – A sequel to The Kitchen House, a book that I haven’t read yet, but plan to. I figure reading the first couple chapters of a sequel is inevitably going to give me spoilers for a book that I have been told I will enjoy very much, so why ruin it?

No One Knows

No One Knows
By J.T. Ellison
2016
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1847-0

Ebook Galley from NetGalley.com
Release Date: March 22, 2016

I like a good thriller. For example, I really love Gillian Flynn. I was totally engrossed in all three of her novels, reading each in as close to a single sitting as possible. To me, a good suspense novel is like literature candy, you don't want it to be all you eat, that would make you feel sick, but when you have a craving, having some can feel so good.

So when I got the email from NetGalley that said that I could have this book, which was billed as a "masterful thrilled for fans of Gillian Flynn," I figured I'd take the free book plunge.

This is a fast-paced and entertaining novel, one that I read in two days. The plot pulled me in and I honestly did want to know what happened to the characters. So, you know, as candy goes, it was fine.

But really just fine. To extend this metaphor to the breaking point, Gillian Flynn is really. good. candy. Gourmet chocolates, or those really high quality fruit slice things that I love, hand pulled saltwater taffy. This book is more like skittles. Sweet, tasty, fun, but also generic and unremarkable.

Couple basic problems, which given that this is a thriller and I am very anti-spoiler, are impossible to explain in detail: (1) the connection between two of the characters was completely implausible. Like, breaking the story because WHY implausible. (2) The ending was annoying, its supposed to be a twist, but it's too much. (3) The epilogue pissed me off.

Most of all, I think that this book just really really wants to be Gone Girl. The parallels are had to ignore: story narrated by the spouse of a missing person who is being accused of murder with no body. Relationship that gradually becomes more complicated as the story progresses. Challenging family interactions. I would have trouble believing that Gone Girl had not been in the forefront of the author's mind when this plot was designed.

But Gone Girl it is not, because Gone Girl is gourmet chocolates.

There is a time and a place for Skittles. As Skittles go, this fits the bill, entertaining, engrossing, easy reading for the beach or study breaks, but it won't stick with you afterwards.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley.com, which requests an honest review in return for the books that it sends you. The freeness did not influence the content of this review in any way other than ensuring that I wrote it (because review percentage matters).

Buzz Books YA Spring Summer 2016

Buzz Books 2016
Young Adult Spring/Summer Edition
E-book free from NetGalley.com

I've written before about the Buzz Books, a marketing collection of excerpts of upcoming books. (You can get it for free from NetGalley.com if you so desire.)

Buzz Books as an idea is fun because it gives me as a reader information that lets me identify books that I am excited about before they come out, including some that I might not have noticed without the excerpt provided. There's two volumes, the adult version, which includes both fiction and non-fiction, and the fiction-only YA version. I'm still working my way through the adult version, which has some real gems in it.

Buzz Books YA is particularly useful for me because, frankly, I find the tremendous majority of YA to be not worth my time. However, I can't just dismiss the genre as a whole, because the good ones are so good, and can be easy to miss because the bad ones (or at least vapid) ones are so prevalent.

So my approach to the YA Buzz Books is to try to find these gems, and thankfully there are some that I am interested in excerpted here. Here's the three that I will be trying to get the full galleys for:

Girl in the Blue Coat - A story of a young girl in WWII Nazi-occupied Amsterdam who works as a "finder" of black market items, and who apparently ends up searching for a missing Jewish girl who was hiding in the home of one of her clients. The promise of the complexity of the story it clear from the first few pages, and I want to read more.

Every Exquisite Thing - Written by the author of The Silver Linings Playbook (which is a very beautiful story about very broken people). This one is about a young person and reading and "the very formidable power of story." These are things that I like, and so I am going to read it.

Highly Illogical Behavior - A story of a young boy with agoraphobia and a young, super ambitious girl who has decided to save him. I found myself relating to the super-ambitious young woman who is interested in psychiatry (I wonder why), and I think that the possibility of reading something written from the perspective of a person with agoraphobia interesting, since I think that this a disorder which is relatively neglected in the realm of psychiatric illness narratives.

There are a couple of others on the list with vague potential, but those three are the only ones that actively made me want to seek them out. So that's what I'll do. Here's hoping that you'll be seeing reviews of these three sometime around the time they are released right here on this blog.

Note: As stated in the beginning of this post, I got Buzz Books YA for free from NetGalley.com. That did not influence the content of this post at all, although it did make the existence of this review more likely, since review rate matters for getting future books.

Did You Ever Have a Family

Did You Ever Have A Family
By Bill Clegg
2015
Scout Press
ISBN: 978-1-4767-9817-2
Hardcover
Purchased that Joseph Beth on my Man-Booker Kick
Stamped and Keeping

So here's an embarrassing thing about me as a reader. I read all the time, but sometimes, I have trouble holding what I have read recently in my head. Often, if you ask me what I've read lately that's good, I will have a hard time coming up with something, not because I haven't read anything lately, or because none of it is good, but because I just don't remember. I do much better when I have visual reminders (I will never have trouble recommending something in a bookstore or standing before the bookshelves in my living room) but I can't always pull something out of my head to a general question about reading.

This fall, that was potentially a problem, because I listed reading as one of my hobbies on my residency application, which I knew would lead to people asking me about what I was reading or had read lately. The combination of my baseline interview nervousness and the fact that I sometimes draw a blank in response to that question even in the most casual of circumstances led me to decide that I needed a strategy.

The strategy I choose was the Man Booker Longlist which had just come out around the time that I started thinking in earnest about my impending residency application process. I figured this was a good strategy for two main reasons. (1) It gave me structure, such that when asked what I was reading lately, I could say something like, "Oh well, I've been reading books from the Man Booker Longlist." This would both give me a second and remind me what connected what I had been reading lately so that I would actually be able to come up with the titles. (2) The novels that make the longlist are generally pretty good books.

So I read A Little Life (breathtaking, gorgeous, the best book of 2015, and what I actually ended up talking about on most of my interviews when asked if I had read anything good lately), Satin Island (different, very interesting), The Illuminations (lovely, atmospheric), and A Brief History of Seven Killings (which I just didn't like. I know, I know, it won the whole shebang. I can see that it is an accomplishment, virtuosity and all that. I personally didn't enjoy reading it, and frankly, I read fiction for pleasure.)

So that is how I came to have Did You Ever Have A Family in the "To Read" pile. I suspended hardcover buying limitations, and grabbed up a number of the other books on the list as well (eventually, I hope to get through them all).

Did You Ever Have A Family is one of those books that it is difficult to say, clearly, what it is about. The event that the story centers around is a home gas explosion which leaves June, a former galley employee, the only survivor, killing her boyfriend, ex-husband, daughter and daughter's fiancee, on the morning of what was to be her daughters wedding day. We hear from multiple narrators, most prominently June herself, and Lydia, who is June's boyfriend's mother and June's good friend.

The theme running though the whole thing is loss, but loss seems such a little word for the enormity of what is presented here. The title is apt, because really, what I came away from this was with a sense of the beauty and pain of the emotional ties that make us families, both by blood and by choice. The book is filled with all kinds of families, and wrapped in each are love and anger, hope and loss, guilt and pride, blame and joy. It is to Clegg's credit that he can so finely craft some of these voices that only a single chapter can both push the story forward and show us, "yes, I did have a family, and it caused me both joy and sorrow."

So overall, this is beautiful. It's a small book, a relatively quick read, and well worth the effort. I'm keeping it forever, so if you want to borrow it, come visit.