November Read 2018

Title: Paradise in Plain Sight: Lessons from a Zen Garden
Author: Miller, Maezen Karen
Call Number: 294.3444 M648P 2014
Book Description from amazon.com:
When Zen teacher Karen Maezen Miller and her family land in a house with a hundred-year-old Japanese garden, she uses the paradise in her backyard to glean the living wisdom of our natural world. Through her eyes, rocks convey faith, ponds preach stillness, flowers give love, and leaves express the effortless ease of letting go. The book welcomes readers into the garden for Zen lessons in fearlessness, forgiveness, presence, acceptance, and contentment. Miller gathers inspiration from the ground beneath her feet to remind us that paradise is always here and now.
My Read:
     Page 66--The beauty of a pond is that it is muddy.
          A saying is popular among Buddhists: Lotus flowers come out from a muddy pond. A lotus flower is color of white. It stands out by itself: straight and beautiful. The murky water is actually the lotus flower's fertile source. This world is like the muddy water. We live among others with various backgrounds, values, attitudes, skills and beliefs we hold on. How do you see this world, the people around, things happened on a daily basis? What makes you stand out among others? Where do you stand when things happen? Which side do you take when conflicts occur? When is the time you speak up for yourself and others? Answers to these questions define who you are or what you think you are.
     Page 84--When a good thing is not done silently, it's not good. Always start over.
          To be humble is hard for some people. To me, humble people are the strongest humans with kind hearts and passion. They are usually wise people with compassion and knowledge. The Way/Path is only one way. I believe everyone is walk toward the Way. The difference is lots of people unconsciously take wrong turns or detour to wrong directions. Eventually each of us will step on to and walk on the Way. Time will tell.

October Read

Title: Thoughts Without A Thinker
Author: Epstein, Mark M.D.
Call Number: 616.8914 E64T 1995
Book Description from amazon.com:

The line between psychology and spirituality has blurred, as clinicians, their patients, and religious seekers explore new perspectives on the self. A landmark contribution to the field of psychoanalysis,Thoughts Without a Thinker describes the unique psychological contributions offered by the teachings of Buddhism. Drawing upon his own experiences as a psychotherapist and meditator, New York-based psychiatrist Mark Epstein lays out the path to meditation-inspired healing, and offers a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life.

My Read:

The concept of "emptiness" is not easy to understand. At page 90, the author listed two well-known poems of Shen-Hsiu and Hui-Neng allowing readers to "see" what emptiness "looks" like.

"The body is the Bodhi tree,

 The mind is like a clear mirror standing.

 Take care to wipe it all the time,

 Allow no grain of dust to cling."---Shen-Hsiu

"The Bodhi is not a tree,

 The clear mirror is nowhere standing.

 Fundamentally not one thing exist;

 Where then is a grain of dust to cling?"---Hui-Neng

September Read 2018

Title: Magnesium
Author: Blashfield, Jean F.
Call Number: J 546.392 B644M 2002
Book Description from amazon.com:
Presents the basic concepts of magnesium, a chemical element found in the Earth's crust used in making spacecraft and cars; present in the human body it helps activate enzymes that metabolize carbohydrates.
My Read:
It's a children's nonfiction book. Though it's for kids the knowledge stated in the book is good enough to glean basic information about the element "magnesium." 

August Read 2018/2

Title: Perseverance
Author: Hague, Tim
Call Number: 616.83309 H147P 2018
Book Description from amazon.com:
An inspiring story of beating the odds and learning to overcome--no matter what life hands you.

After starting a family and flourishing in his career, Tim Hague was struck by misfortune. The irritating tremor in his foot turned out to be early onset Parkinson's disease. He was only 46 years old. But what seemed to be an end became a new beginning. Just three years later, Hague won the inaugural The Amazing Race Canada (with his son, Tim Jr., as his teammate). His remarkable life story shows that perseverance is not just a matter of willpower: it is a skill that can be learned and honed. 
     And perseverance is the theme of his life. From the day he was born, Hague has gone from one struggle to another. Yet, remarkably, he doesn't have a trace of self-pity. In fact, he feels blessed. From his tough start in life as an unwanted mixed-race baby born in Texas in 1964, to his eventual move to the unforgiving climate of Winnipeg, Canada, to start a family under difficult circumstances, and his continuing battle with Parkinson's--Hague's life is a roadmap of perseverance. 
    Parkinson's has forced him to retire early from the work he loves as a registered nurse. But as a healthcare professional, and now suffering from a challenging disease himself, Hague discusses living with Parkinson's like no one else could. He now works with charities to help promote Parkinson's awareness and his "Live Your Best" message. Drawing on his experience winning The Amazing Race, and referencing cutting-edge research and studies, Hague weaves a moving story of failure and success, outlining the elements of his philosophy that anyone can apply to their own lives, including:

  *  The nature of luck: Luck comes to those who keep trying until the end--never stop until the race is over.
  *  Find community: As a nurse, a husband and father, and a man living with Parkinson's, Hague knows better than most that we all need to ask for help sometimes, and that's a good thing.
  *  Accept limits: By focusing on what we can do, we accomplish more than we ever thought possible.
  *  Cease striving: We think of striving as a positive attribute, but all we end up doing is banging our heads against the wall. Have goals, but have fun. Do not create anxiety out of nothing and maintain perspective.
  *  Live Your Best: No such thing as giving 110%--can only do your best. 

Inspirational and entertaining, Hague's message is both simple and profound: perseverance isn't just something a person has, or a trait we admire in others. Hague's book, like his life, is a guide to how we can all learn to persevere in the face of daily struggles--or even life-changing illness.

August Read 2018

Title: Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life And Maybe the World
Author: McRaven, William H.
Call Number: 158.1 M174M 2017
Book Description from amazon:
On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university's slogan, "What starts here changes the world," he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life; and he explained how anyone can use these basic lessons to change themselves-and the world-for the better.

Admiral McRaven's original speech went viral with over 10 million views. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage. Told with great humility and optimism, this timeless book provides simple wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement that will inspire readers to achieve more, even in life's darkest moments.
My Read:
It's all about self-discipline.

July Read 2018

Title: Get Out of Your Own Way at Work..and Help Others Do the Same
Author: Goulston, Mark
Call Number: 158.1 G699G 2005
Book Description from amazon.com:
Shares practical recommendations for employees and managers on how to overcome self-sabotaging behaviors that can compromise career advancement and satisfaction, in a guide that addresses forty self-defeating actions including fear of change, failure to delegate, and expecting too much.

June Read 2018

Title: Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone
Author: Goulston, Mark
Call Number: 650.13 G699J 2010
Book Description from amazon.com:

Foreword by Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone and Who's Got Your Back The first make-or-break step in persuading anyone to do any thing is getting them to hear you out. Whether the person is a harried colleague, a stressed-out client, or an insecure spouse, things will go from bad to worse if you can't break through emotional barricades. Drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist, business consultant, and coach, and backed by the latest scientific research, author Mark Goulston shares simple but powerful techniques readers can use to really get through to people-whether they're coworkers, friends, strangers, or enemies. Just Listen reveals how to: * Make a powerful and positive first impression * Listen effectively * Make even a total stranger-a potential client, perhaps-feel "felt" * Talk an angry or aggressive person away from an instinctual, unproductive reaction and toward a more rational mindset * Achieve buy-in, the linchpin of all persuasion, negotiation, sales, and more Getting through is a fine art but a critical one. With the help of this groundbreaking book readers will be able to turn the "impossible" and "unreachable" people in their lives into allies, devoted customers, loyal colleagues, and lifetime friends.

May Read 2018

Title: Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life
Author: Herman, Amy E.
Call Number: 152.14 H551V 2016
Book Description from amazon.com:
How could looking at Monet’s water lily paintings help save a company millions? How can noticing people’s footwear foil a terrorist attack? How can your choice of adjective win an argument, calm your children, or catch a thief?

In her celebrated seminar, The Art of Perception, art historian Amy Herman has trained experts from many fields to perceive and communicate better. By showing people how to look closely at images, she helps them hone their “visual intelligence,” a set of skills we all possess but few of us know how to use effectively. She has spent more than a decade teaching doctors to observe patients instead of their charts, helping police officers separate facts from opinions when investigating a crime, and training professionals from the FBI, the State Department, Fortune 500 companies, and the military to recognize the most pertinent and useful information. Her lessons highlight far more than the physical objects you may be missing; they teach you how to recognize the talents, opportunities, and dangers that surround you every day. 
My Read:
     "Remember in your quest for the big picture not to lose sight of the small details. 
Don't be afraid of complexity, and don't rush to judgment. Step back and take things apart one layer at a time the way you would a complicated work of art. Start at ground zero. Prioritize by importance. Make sure you've considered all of the data possible. Did you miss a mahogany table?
Always ask questions, especially of yourself. No matter how "obvious" it seems to you, state what you see, because it's possible that no one else will see it. Don't forget the basics; say that one scene is a photo and one is a painting. to crystallize your communication, assume that the person you are communicating with can't see what you're seeing at all. Ask yourself, "Was I as clear as possible? did I ask the right questions to elicit the answers I need?"
Make sure you are only dealing in objective facts. Describe what you see without letting your emotions and assumptions block your perception. Don't divorce yourself from your experience, but be conscious of it and how it might affect you so it doesn't lead you toward faulty assumptions."--page 277
     The author advises to ask 1)what do I know?, 2) what don't I know?, and 3) what do I need to know?
Also to find answers of who, what, where, and when.
It's a good read.

April 2018 Read

Title: Mindhunter
Author: Douglas, John
Call Number: 363.25952 D734YD 2017
Book Description from amazon.com:
Discover the classic, behind-the-scenes chronicle of John E. Douglas’ twenty-five-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he used psychological profiling to delve into the minds of the country’s most notorious serial killers and criminals.

In chilling detail, the legendary Mindhunter takes us behind the scenes of some of his most gruesome, fascinating, and challenging cases—and into the darkest recesses of our worst nightmares.

During his twenty-five year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement, pursuing some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time: the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle's Green River killer, the case that nearly cost Douglas his life.

As the model for Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, Douglas has confronted, interviewed, and studied scores of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Ed Gein, who dressed himself in his victims' peeled skin. Using his uncanny ability to become both predator and prey, Douglas examines each crime scene, reliving both the killer's and the victim's actions in his mind, creating their profiles, describing their habits, and predicting their next moves.

March 2018 Read/3

Title: Into the Gray Zone: A Neuroscientist Explores the Border Between Life and Death
Author: Owen, Adrian
Call Number:616.849 O97I 2017
Book Description from amazon:
In this startling and thought-provoking book, which will remind readers of works by Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande, a world-renowned neuroscientist reveals his controversial, groundbreaking work with patients whose brains were previously thought vegetative or non-responsive but turn out—in up to 20 percent of cases—to be vibrantly alive, existing in the “Gray Zone.”

Into the Gray Zone takes readers to the edge of a dazzling, humbling frontier in our understanding of the brain: the so-called “gray zone” between full consciousness and brain death. People in this middle place have sustained traumatic brain injuries or are the victims of stroke or degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Many are oblivious to the outside world, and their doctors believe they are incapable of thought. But a sizeable number are experiencing something different: intact minds adrift deep within damaged brains and bodies. An expert in the field, Adrian Owen led a team that, in 2006, discovered this lost population and made medical history. Scientists, physicians, and philosophers have only just begun to grapple with the implications.

Following Owen’s journey of exciting medical discovery, Into the Gray Zone asks some tough and terrifying questions, such as: What is life like for these patients? What can their families and friends do to help them? What are the ethical implications for religious organizations, politicians, the Right to Die movement, and even insurers? And perhaps most intriguing of all: in defining what a life worth living is, are we too concerned with the physical and not giving enough emphasis to the power of thought? What, truly, defines a satisfying life?

This book is about the difference between a brain and a mind, a body and a person. It is about what these fascinating borderlands between life and death have taught us about being human.
My Read:
It's a good read. Unlike the other books I have read, I had to read this book from chapter one all the way to the last chapter so that I would have ideas what's been mentioned in the previous chapter.

March 2018 Read/2

Title: The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: the History of the Human Brain
Author: Kean, Sam
Call Number: 617.48023 K24T 2014
Book Description from amazon.com:
Early studies of the functions of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike-strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, lobotomies, horrendous accidents-and see how the victim coped. In many cases survival was miraculous, and observers could only marvel at the transformations that took place afterward, altering victims' personalities. An injury to one section can leave a person unable to recognize loved ones; some brain trauma can even make you a pathological gambler, pedophile, or liar. But a few scientists realized that these injuries were an opportunity for studying brain function at its extremes. With lucid explanations and incisive wit, Sam Kean explains the brain's secret passageways while recounting forgotten stories of common people whose struggles, resiliency, and deep humanity made modern neuroscience possible.
My Read:
     As I close this book one of the cases stated in it stays with me. It's listed in the chapter named "Wiring and Rewiring." Pedro, father of Doctor Bach-y-Rita, suffered a massive stroke in 1959 and was left half paralyzed and speechless. George, Bach-y-Rita's brother who was also a doctor, refused to send their father to a nursing home suggested by the patient's doctors. George designed his own rehab regimen. George made Pedro crawl like an infant at first, learning how to move each limb again, before gradually working him up to his feet. Then he made Pedro do household chores such as sweeping the porch and scrubbing pots and pans. Pedro struggled and appeared to make little progress, but the repetitive motions eventually retrained his brain. Not only did he regain the ability to talk and walk, he also resumed his teaching job, remarried, and started hiking again. His brain proved plastic enough to reroute the cues for walking and talking around the ravaged tissue. Instead of routing signals from A to B, it now routed them from A to C and then C to B.--page 90

March 2018 Read

Title: The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope
Author: Hamilton, Allan J. M.D.
Call Number: 617.48092 H217YH 2009
Book Description from amazon.com:
A Harvard-educated neurosurgeon reveals his experiences—in and out of the operating room—with apparitions, angels, exorcism, after-death survival, and the miracle of hope. For the millions who have enjoyed Proof of Heaven, Heaven is Real, To Heaven and Back, andGetting to Heaven—an inspiring tale from where the veil between life and death is often at its thinnest.

The Scalpel and the Soul explores how premonition, superstition, hope, and faith not only become factors in how patients feel but can change outcomes. It validates the spiritual manifestations physicians see every day and empowers patients to voice their spiritual needs when they seek medical help. Finally, it addresses the mysterious, attractive powers the soul exerts during life-threatening events.

My Read:

     Chapter Eleven is titled "Thread of Hope." It's about what happened to a young brain tumor patient when cruel message had hit home, when hope he had been hold was taken away. "Donald, you remember once you asked me to tell you straight when it was time to go fishing?" the doctor asked. Donald nodded and looked down at his feet. "Well, it's time. Now, Donald." Donald didn't look up. He just sat there with his head bowed with tears falling onto his lap.---page 139 The next morning Donald's mother called the doc telling him her son, Donald had expired during the night. He was gone. The doctor said on the same page that 'He is convinced Donald died that night because the hope that had sustained him was taken away. He mistakenly cut the thin thread of hope that had kept him alive and aloft.' Indeed, hope keeps a person strongly motivated and sustains powerful will to survive and live.

     Chapter Thirteen is named "For the Love of God." It's a about child with poorly treated hydrocephalus and his grandmother who was suffering from IV stage of ovarian cancer.The grandmother was informed by her doctors that she only had 4 months to live and her grandson would never be "normal." But this grandmother who has strong belief and trust in God asked her doctors to pray with her and told her doctors that she expected her grandson to earn a wage, keep a checkbook, and marry and have a family. What happened after the conversation with her doctors was incredulous: Less than three years after she was declared unlikely to live more than four months, this grandmother attended her own doctor's funeral. Her grandson recovered intellectual abilities and makes birdhouses for a living. He also got married and his grandmother was at his wedding. The grandmother said the following to a group of cancer patients: You need to be a realist to believe in miracles, because one can only see the real truth with the heart and not with the eyes."--page 165     

     Chapter Twelve is titled "Singing in the Brain." It's about a neurologist named Norm Mueller. Dr. Mueller had a theory and observations on aphasia and singing. It seemed to him that there are different legions and areas in the brain to process functions of speech and singing. The author was treating a renowned researcher on Alzheimer's who was suffering from aphasia. This patient doctor had to give a speech in a ceremony to award him for his contribution in the Alzheimer's research. Delivery the award speech in singing earned him a standing ovation. ---page 151-152

     I expect to reread this book in the future. It's a good read.

February 2018 Read/4

Title: Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart
Author: Doty, James R. M.D.
Call Number: 617.48 D725I 2016
Book Description from amazon.com:
Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, with an alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a dead end until at twelve he wandered into a magic shop looking for a plastic thumb. Instead he met Ruth, a woman who taught him a series of exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires. Her final mandate was that he keep his heart open and teach these techniques to others. She gave him his first glimpse of the unique relationship between the brain and the heart.

Doty would go on to put Ruth’s practices to work with extraordinary results—power and wealth that he could only imagine as a twelve-year-old, riding his orange Sting-Ray bike. But he neglects Ruth’s most important lesson, to keep his heart open, with disastrous results—until he has the opportunity to make a spectacular charitable contribution that will virtually ruin him. Part memoir, part science, part inspiration, and part practical instruction, Into the Magic Shop shows us how we can fundamentally change our lives by first changing our brains and our hearts.
My Read:
Lady Ruth's Four Tricks:
1-Relax your body
     Breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the mouth. Close your eyes then relax/scan your body from toes to scalp then to your heart and the heart's muscles. Sit for some minutes before relaxing. Think about how you are sitting and imagine that you are looking at yourself. With intention remember the sense of relaxation, calmness, and warmth. Slowly open your eyes. Sit for a few minutes with eyes open and just be with no other intention or thought.
2-Calm/tame your Mind(20 to 30 minutes)
     Focus on your breath
     Focus on an object
     Pick any word as the mantra and chant
3-Open your heart
     Think of people and send unconditional love
4-Clarify your intent(10 to 30 minutes)
     Visualization
The alphabet of the heart the author has:
C-Compassion
D-Dignity
E-Equanimity
F-Forgiveness
G-Gratitude
H-Humility
I-Integrity
J-Justice
K-Kindness
L-Love

February 2018 Read/3

Title: When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery
Author: Vertosick, Frank Jr., M.D.
Call Number: 617.48 V568W 1996
Book Description from amazon.com:

The story of one man's evolution from naive and ambitious young intern to world-class neurosurgeon.

With poignant insight and humor, Frank Vertosick Jr., MD, describes some of the greatest challenges of his career, including a six-week-old infant with a tumor in her brain, a young man struck down in his prime by paraplegia, and a minister with a .22-caliber bullet lodged in his skull. Told through intimate portraits of Vertosick’s patients and unsparing yet fascinatingly detailed descriptions of surgical procedures, When the Air Hits Your Brain―the culmination of decades spent struggling to learn an unforgiving craft―illuminates both the mysteries of the mind and the realities of the operating room.
My Read: 
Page 176-"The professor removed his glasses and began cleaning them slowly, squinting up at the high ceiling as he continued his dissertation.'These facts matter a great deal. What  patient does for a living, what his background is, what level of education he has achieved...all of these issues must be addressed in great detail in order to put his complaints and his disease in the proper context. If I ask a man to take the square root of 100 and he cannot. I might take this as proof of a left-hemispheric brain tumor, unless I know he has worked on a farm since childhood and never attended school. Likewise, I might find it normal that a patient could not tell me the current exchange rate of the pound in Japanese yen. But if I knew that person was a merchant banker, on the other hand, ignorance of this fact would indicate a grave illness indeed! Americans have grown so dependent upon their scanning toys that they fail to view the patient as a multidimensional person. To have the audacity to cut into a person's brain without the slightest clue of his life, his occupation...I find that most simply appalling.'"
     Personally, I found page 234 to page 238 very interesting in this book. 

February 2018 Read/2

Title: Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity
Author: Epstein, Ronald M.D.
Call Number: 610.695 E64A 2017
Book description from amazon.com:
The first book for the general public about mindfulness and medical practice, a groundbreaking, intimate exploration of how doctors think and what matters most—safe, effective, patient-centered, compassionate care—from the foremost expert in the field.

As a third-year Harvard Medical School student doing a clinical rotation in surgery, Ronald Epstein watched an error unfold: an experienced surgeon failed to notice his patient’s kidney turning an ominous shade of blue. In that same rotation, Epstein was awestruck by another surgeon’s ability to avert an impending disaster, slowing down from autopilot to intentionality. The difference between these two doctors left a lasting impression on Epstein and set the stage for his life’s work—to identify the qualities and habits that distinguish masterful doctors from those who are merely competent. The secret, he learned, was mindfulness.

In Attending, his first book, Dr. Epstein builds on his world-renowned, innovative programs in mindful practice and uses gripping and deeply human clinical stories to give patients a language to describe what they value most in health care and to outline a road map for doctors and other health care professionals to refocus their approach to medicine. Drawing on his clinical experiences and current research, and exploring four foundations of mindfulness—Attention, Curiosity, Beginner’s Mind, and Presence—Dr. Epstein introduces a revolutionary concept: by looking inward, health care practitioners can grow their capacity to provide high-quality care and the resilience to be there when their patients need them.

The commodification of health care has shifted doctors’ focus away from the healing of patients to the bottom line. Clinician burnout is at an all-time high. Attending is the antidote. With compassion and intelligence, Epstein offers a crucial, timely book that shows us how we can restore humanity to medicine, guides us toward a better overall quality of care, and reminds us of what matters most.
My Read:
The author shared with readers "eight leaps" which help him refocus, explore, grow, and begin again with each patient. He invites readers to find their own leaps: "What is it that you face every day that is unresolved? What dilemmas and paradoxes do you face? "(page 187).
The eight leaps are:
From fragmented self to whole self
From othering to engagement
From objectivity to resonance
From detached concern to tenderness and steadiness
From self-protection to self-suspension
From well-being to resilience
From empathy to compassion
From whole mind to shared mind
Page 82-"They have learned to see their mental states as something they can control rather than the other way around; they know that these states are transitory and not enduring, that they ebb and flow. For example, they more readily distinguish between I am feeling angry-an emotion that they can control-and I am angry- a person whose anger is part of their identity. They learn to set aside their immediate reactions so that they can respond more mindfully." This statement is very helpful.
Page 170-"'What, in my work setting, gives me the greatest sense of joy, fulfillment, and meaning?'" Think about that question for a moment and then consider how much of my time do I actually spend doing those activities? It doesn't have to be 100 percent. Research shows that if physicians spend even 20 percent of their work time in the activities that they regard as the most meaningful, they're much less likely to be burned out, meaning that they're more able to tolerate the difficult moments."

February 2018 Read

Title: Slow Dancing with a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzhiemer's
Author: Comer, Meryl
Call Number: LP 616.831 C732S 2015
Book Description from amazon.com:

When Meryl Comer’s husband Harvey Gralnick was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 1996, she watched as the man who headed hematology and oncology research at the National Institutes of Health started to misplace important documents and forget clinical details that had once been cataloged encyclopedically in his mind. With harrowing honesty, she brings readers face to face with this devastating condition and its effects on its victims and those who care for them. Detailing the daily realities and overwhelming responsibilities of caregiving, Comer sheds intensive light on this national health crisis, using her personal experiences—the mistakes and the breakthroughs—to put a face to a misunderstood disease, while revealing the facts everyone needs to know.

Pragmatic and relentless, Meryl has dedicated herself to fighting Alzheimer’s and raising public awareness. “Nothing I do is really about me; it’s all about making sure no one ends up like me,” she writes. Deeply personal and illuminating, Slow Dancing With a Stranger offers insight and guidance for navigating Alzheimer’s challenges. It is also an urgent call to action for intensive research and a warning that we must prepare for the future, instead of being controlled by a disease and a healthcare system unable to fight it.

My Read:

Page 199-"If Harvey hadn't been in denial, we could have planned better financially on how to care for him. He could have written down his express wishes on how much care he wanted and when to stop."

     We, the living, tend to take things for granted. We wake up in the morning, eat and dress for the day, Then after work we go home and mind our own business. Day in, day out, day after day. We didn't have time to plan or should I say we don't reserve time for ourselves. If we can save some time to communicate with ourselves we can be more mindful about our life: what's going on in my body, my mind, and those around us. Being mindful is to pay attention to what our body is telling.

Page-207-"Sometimes I took out old photo albums to remind myself of good times together, but Harvey's personality was no longer the same. He had none."

Page 227-"Can you have true intimacy with another human being without shared memories?"

Page 222-"Researchers tell me that as once-robust networks of nerve cells start to weaken and connections get lost, it gets harder to remember things and keep track of people, objects, and events. At this point, I assume that my hippocampus-a hub of 100 billion nerve cells deep in the brain that helps make and store memories-is too worn out to activate and encode new memories or ever grow new nerve cells again?"

     Memory is who we are; there are happy memories, sad memories, events that made us cry and laugh, people we love and love us, beautiful scenes we had visited, even dreams we had dreamed. It's hard to imagine when our memories got lost. It got me wondered "Where am I?" "Who am I?" questions that scared me. It's a disease affecting everyone around.

     It's a good read. The author is very brave, honest, and sincerely kind.

January 2018 Read/2

Title: Admissions: Life As a Brain Surgeon
Author: Marsh, Henry
Call Number: 617.48092 M365YM 2017
Book Description from amazon.com:

Henry Marsh has spent a lifetime operating on the surgical frontline. There have been exhilarating highs and devastating lows, but his love for the practice of neurosurgery has never wavered.

Following the publication of his celebrated New York Times bestseller Do No Harm, Marsh retired from his full-time job in England to work pro bono in Ukraine and Nepal. In Admissions he describes the difficulties of working in these troubled, impoverished countries and the further insights it has given him into the practice of medicine.

Marsh also faces up to the burden of responsibility that can come with trying to reduce human suffering. Unearthing memories of his early days as a medical student, and the experiences that shaped him as a young surgeon, he explores the difficulties of a profession that deals in probabilities rather than certainties, and where the overwhelming urge to prolong life can come at a tragic cost for patients and those who love them.

Reflecting on what forty years of handling the human brain has taught him, Marsh finds a different purpose in life as he approaches the end of his professional career and a fresh understanding of what matters to us all in the end.

My Read:

Page 72-"There has always been a tension at the heart of medicine, between caring for patients and making money. It involves, of course, a bit of both, but it's delicate balance and very easily upset. High pay and high professional standards are essential if this balance is to be maintained. The rule of law, after all, in part depends on paying judges so well that thy will not be tempted to accept bribes." 

---Dr. Marsh's saying about balance is true and can be applied to our daily life as well. What's a balanced life? More or less, we are dealing with balance in every aspect of our life.

Page 172-173-"But it is very easy to underestimate the importance of endless practice with practical skills. You learn them by doing, much more than by knowing. It becomes what psychologists call implicit memory. When we learn a new skill the brain has to work hard-it is a consciously directed process requiring frequent repetition and the expenditure of energy. But once it is learnt, the skill-the motor and sensory coordination of muscles by the brain-becomes unconscious, fast and efficient. Only a small area of the brain is activated when the skill is exercised, although at the same time it has been shown, for instance, that professional pianists' brains develop larger hand areas than the brains of amateur pianists. To learn is to restructure your brain. It is simple truth that has been lost sight of with the short working hours that trainee surgeons now put in, at least in Europe." 

---This description of Dr. Marsh's reinforces the saying: practice, practice, and more practice.

January 2018 Read

Title: Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery
Author: Marsh, Henry
Call Number: 617.48092 M365D 2015
Book Description from amazon.com:

What is it like to be a brain surgeon? How does it feel to hold someone’s life in your hands, to cut into the stuff that creates thought, feeling and reason? How do you live with the consequences of performing a potentially lifesaving operation when it all goes wrong?

With astonishing compassion and candor, leading neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reveals the fierce joy of operating, the profoundly moving triumphs, the harrowing disasters, the haunting regrets and the moments of black humor that characterize a brain surgeon’s life. Do No Harm provides unforgettable insight into the countless human dramas that take place in a busy modern hospital. Above all, it is a lesson in the need for hope when faced with life’s most difficult decisions.

My Read:

Page 85-"The operating is the easy part, you know," he said. "By my age you realize that the difficulties are all to do with the decision-making." Dr. Marsh went to visit a senior neurosurgeon and told him of his deep desire to be a neurosurgeon. In real life decision-making is some kind of art hard to be excelled. In some cases listed in the book the outcome of an operation was unexpected. 

What I found after reading this book is that Dr. Marsh is a very disciplined person; he rode bike to work and ran in the morning, even when it was snowing or raining. To be a surgeon the doctor's hands must be steady. It's amazing that Dr. Marsh practiced more than 30 years as a neurosurgeon.

December Read/3

Title: Morgue: A Life in Death
Author: Di Maio, Vincent
Call Number: 616.07092 D582YM 2016
Book Description from amazon.com:

In this clear-eyed, gritty, and enthralling narrative, Dr. Vincent Di Maio and veteran crime writer Ron Franscell guide us behind the morgue doors to tell a fascinating life story through the cases that have made Di Maio famous―from the exhumation of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald to the complex issues in the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

Beginning with his street-smart Italian origins in Brooklyn, the book spans forty years of work and more than nine thousand autopsies, and Di Maio’s eventual rise into the pantheon of forensic scientists. One of the country’s most methodical and intuitive criminal pathologists will dissect himself, maintaining a nearly continuous flow of suspenseful stories, revealing anecdotes, and enough macabre insider details to rivet the most fervent crime fans.

My Read:

"Sorry, but that's not your exit wound," I repeated. "That's an entrance wound."-page 157

Exit wound or entrance wound? When I read the cases listed in this book I wondered how many cases in the real world are really solved, how justice is defined, how innocence is really innocence and, vice versa. Interpretation and assumption are dangerous, specially the later one.

Page-53 "Today, there are only about 500 working, board-certified forensic pathologists in the United States-about the same number as twenty years ago. Problem is, we need as many as 1,500 to keep up with the steadily increasing parade of unexplained deaths." When I read about this my mind went back to the well-known medical examiner back home, Dr. Yang. He is a legend in the field of pathology. One of the things people remember about Dr. Yang was his respect to his "patients." 

Cases/stories included in this book are fascinating. It's a good read.