Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I love to listen to audio books while I work. Still Alice is the first audio book I've blogged about because usually I get the jist of the story while listening, but not the full effect of the book, if that makes sense. This book was different.

Alice is a 50 year old woman who has just been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. What a horrible thing to have to face when you are at the height of your career ( a professor at Harvard University) and with your children out there beginning their lives and families.

The book goes on to describe the slow deterioration of Alice and how her family, friends and colleagues react and interact with her after the disclosure of the disease. I think that the person who is hardest hit by the day to day challenges Alice faces is her husband. He is having a very hard time with the whole thing. Her children on the other hand embrace their mother and do whatever she needs to make her feel loved and wanted.

Still Alice is an emotional story that will touch your heart.

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson

There is just something about natural disasters and how they happen that just fascinate me-especially hurricanes. I love the beach, waves and thunderstorms. I often wish I could be on the beach at the very beginning--you know while it is still reasonably safe to be there. I know I'm a little weird, but that's just how it is.

I just finished Isaac's Storm and I have to admit one my greatest fears is coming true--I'm beginning to like reading NON-FICTION. Who would have thought? Anyways, this book covers the hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in September of 1900.

Isaac Cline was stationed at the fairly new weather station in the Galveston area. He had a house not more than a few blocks from the waters of the Gulf. This area and much more of Galveston was just a few feet above sea level, so you can just imagine what kind of damage could be seen if a huge storm surge were to hit this area.

With the beginning of the weather service there was a great need to not alarm people because many were very skeptical about the abilities of man to forecast the weather. At the time, Cuba was relying on a lot of intuition and experience to forecast large storms, but the United States believed that only scientific evidence should be used and therefore, discounted the forecasts made by the Cubans as emotional feelings, instead of facts. This turned out to be a huge mistake in this case. Cuba had alerted the U.S. of this gigantic storm that was heading toward the U.S. shores, but the U.S. ignored the warnings and eventually ceased to receive any correspondence from them.

Isaac was among those who thought this storm was not going to pose a great threat to their homes and lives. His brother, Joseph, felt exactly the opposite and actually encouraged those who could evacuate to do so. The storm hit and Isaac's house, along with many others were destroyed. The loss of life was great, including his own wife. The city of Galveston was devastated by this hurricane.

This book is a very interesting read. We are able to see how our weather service has grown from the simple calculations and tools used in the beginning to the computer models and satellite information we rely on now.

Undead and Unwelcome by Mary Janice Davidson

VAMPIRES! Oh how I am loving these vampire stories by Mary Janice Davidson and Charlaine Harris. They are my favorites!

I just finished Undead and Unwelcome, the 8th installment in the Betsy Taylor series, and loved it as I knew I would. Betsy Taylor, the vampire queen, has once again become entangled in a dangerous situation. This time it is with the werewolf population. One of their own was murdered in the process of saving Betsy's life, now she has to convince them that she is not at fault. Add, in the fact that her stepsister is a spawn of Satan and is killing her fellow vampires to "help" her out and she has a real mess on her hands!

If you have not tried these books, you should! They are fun and fast reads!