Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova (★★★★☆)
Audiobook • Libby • Nonfiction • 2021
Short synopsis: A fascinating exploration of the intricacies of how we remember, why we forget, and what we can do to protect our memories, from a Harvard-trained neuroscientist.
I enjoyed this book a lot, although I think it might have been a lot more impactful for me if I had read a print version rather than listening to the audiobook. There was so much practical application here, and I didn’t slow down to take it all in like I should have. I love learning about how our brain works and this book was no exception. Learning the science behind how we store memories and why we can sometimes forget the simplest tasks was fascinating. The author also talks frankly about dementia, how it happens, and what to expect from our loved ones experiencing it. I have not been personally affected by dementia (my great-grandma had it, but I wasn’t involved in her care), but it’s something I’m terrified of. The author did an excellent job of explaining the science behind memory as well as what we can do to help improve our memory. I am someone who is constantly leaving things at my mom’s house or forgetting to do a task unless I’ve written it down or do it right then and there, so I was heartened to learn my faulty memory for things like that is fairly normal. This is a quick read (it was just 6 hours on audio), but an impactful one.
Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell (★★★☆☆)
Audiobook • Libby • Contemporary Fiction/Romance • 2024
Short synopsis: In the summer of 1999, aspiring writer Sawyer, newly engaged and increasingly lonely, forms an unexpected bond with Nick, the skeptical boyfriend of her fiancé’s too-close colleague. As their weekly city adventures deepen into something more, Sawyer must confront what—and who—she truly wants before summer ends.
This book was so fun… and yet I have so many complicated feelings about it. I loved the setting of NYC in the summer of 1999. It was a time before cell phones and before 9/11 happened, and things just felt different (or at least I assume they did; I have yet to visit NYC). I loved that Sawyer was able to get out and see the city with Nick by her side, and I just loved their adventures and banter. It all just made me really happy! My complicated feelings about the book have to do with Sawyer and Nick’s blossoming relationship. Sawyer’s fiancé is basically MIA this summer because he’s working 80-hour weeks for a big case for his law firm. They barely see each other, functioning more like roommates than two people getting married in a few months. I just really needed Sawyer to say something. I needed her to stop being such a doormat with her fiancé and have an honest conversation with him. But she never did, and it was so frustrating. I wanted more introspection from Sawyer and more forward momentum. She eventually does start making some decisions about her life, but it all happens off page and I feel like that was a real disservice. So, I’m left with my complicated feelings.
Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom (★★★★★)
Print • Library • Historical Fiction • 2023
Short synopsis: This is the fictionalized retelling of a real woman. Her name was Goes First, and she was a Crow Native woman who marries a white fur trader and is renamed Mary to assimilate into his culture. She’s fifteen when she marries him (he’s in his thirties) and learns a new language and a new way of life, all while remaining true to her indigenous roots.
I first heard about this book on Sarah’s Book Shelves Live, a book podcast that I love. But I didn’t put it on my TBR list until Birchie raved about it. Previously, I had read and loved The Kitchen House by Grissom and I had a feeling this book would captivate me just as much. And it absolutely did. I love that the book begins with a chapter from the great-granddaughter of Goes First—this helped me feel better about a white woman writing an indigenous woman’s story. (Grissom’s afterword is also not to be missed!) This is the kind of story that you just want to sink into. It’s one to take your time with and let the story unfold for you. There is so much emotion to this book, so much joy and pain, and I found myself continuously impressed by our main character and the way she always stood up for what’s right, no matter the consequences. She was an incredible woman and I’m really glad her story got to be told.
What are you reading?
Yay for Crow Mary! When I heard about this on Sarah’s Bookshelves, I was hiking, and I whipped out my phone then and there and got it on Libby. I just had a sense that I couldn’t take the chance to wait until later or I might forget about it.
I was half-listening to the episode when Catherine or Susie (it was one of them) mentioned it and I remembered how much I loved Grissom’s other novel so I wanted to add it to my TBR, but completely forgot about it until you mentioned it on your blog. Yay!
I have DNF’d the last 3 books I’ve read so am kind of in a rut. One DNF was because it turned out that 2 books has the same title and I checked the wrong one. Then I DNF’d the remains of the day. And then last night I DNF’d Catalina because the stream of consciousness writing style did not work. She wrote the undocumented Americans which I have heard great things about and plan to read. Now I am reading ‘The Rental House’ which I started last night and am really liking!!!
Ugh, I hate when I have a string of DNFs. I always wonder if I’m being too harsh and I’ll never find a book I love ever again. (I can be dramatic, lol.) I’m glad The Rental House is working for you!
Crow Mary sounds so good, and everyone has raved about it. I’m putting it on my TBR.
I hope you enjoy it! It was an excellent novel.
Crow Mary! I really want to read it. I finished A. Lamott’s book “Somehow: thoughts on love” and now I am all in in short stories book “Friday Black” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah; horror stories with a twist. So great, but chilling!
Horror stories with a twist! Eeks. Not my genre but I’m glad you’re enjoying the collection!
I loved Summer Fridays! I was the exact same age at the time of the story, which I LOVE. It makes me remember my long-ago youth.
I loved Still Alice, and then I read a few more of Genova’s books, and they just weren’t as good, I found them formulaic. But I might like this as it’s non-fiction and sounds interesting.
Oh, what a great time and place for you to read about with Summer Fridays. I just loved the setting of the book so much and to remember a time when we couldn’t just call people at all times to tell them where we were!
The only other book from Genova I’ve read is Inside the O’Briens, which is one of my all-time favorite books. I need to read more of her books. I don’t mind formulaic writing, haha.
So I DID read Remember but here’s the irony: I forget literally everything about the book, haha!
HA! This made me chuckle. There’s a lot of information to remember!
Your comment about Summer Fridays being set in 1999 before cell phones reminds me of this book I’m reading – The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, that’s set in the early 1990s, and the main character keeps getting into situations where I think, “Wow, this wouldn’t be a problem if she could just take out her cellphone and take a picture.”
I’m reading a slew of very engrossing books right now. The above mentioned vampire book – not at all my thing, but works really well for me on audio.
-Master, Slave, Husband, Wife, my non-fiction read.
-True Biz
-Heartbreaker – finally started Sarah McLean’s latest series.
Yeah, there were a lot of times where I had to remember that texting wasn’t a thing in 1999 and if your partner was away on a business trip, you had to CALL THE HOTEL to talk to them and just hope they were in the room. Wild!
I loved True Biz. I learned so much about the Deaf community!
Okay, okay, you and Birchie both love Crow Mary; why haven’t I read it yet?
The Science of Memory book sounds fascinating. I constantly worry about my memory. I describe myself as having a TERRIBLE memory, like I cannot remember most of Middle School and High School at all, and only fragments of Elementary School. College is mainly a blur. I do have very specific memories of SOME things, and I have a very clear memory of many dozens of books and TV shows, so what does that say? My mother, on the other hand, has a near perfect memory and can remember conversations and snippets of text word for word. I am always checking with her to see if my memory of something in my past is accurate, or to ask her what happened at some event that has completely evaded my mind. Memory is super weird.
I think you would enjoy the memory book. What I learned is that we shouldn’t be too worried if we can’t remember things that we think we SHOULD remember. It doesn’t mean we have a poor memory or there’s something wrong! My brother is like your mom where he has such a sharp memory. He can remember scenes from sitcoms we watched as a kid (and haven’t watched since!), which boggles my mind.
I loved Summer Fridays! I thought the author did such a great job with Nick character (while still making him flawed – I HATE when the woman is flawed, and the guy is perfect) But for half the book I was like “Can Sawyer get some personality? Why does he even want to be with her?” and then of course, like you said, the backbone thing, and how she dragged everythinggggg out. I get it’s realistic but it was so frustrating that it just went on and on, and she did nothing.
Also I felt very cheated by end/HEA! I wanted just a few pages more of HEA after all the dragging.
Yes, I just needed Sawyer to DO SOMETHING because I couldn’t understand what Nick saw in her otherwise. And the fact that everything regarding her breakup and what came after happened off-page was frustrating to me. All of that build-up and you give us NOTHING? Gah.
The trick the author played on us to make it seem like Nick was in a relationship at the end of the book… so dumb!
That memory book sounds so good. I would need to read it with my eyes too. I’d like to understand more about dementia since we’ve had several family members with it and I am concerned about it.
I waited to read your review of Summer Fridays until I finished and I have to say I FEEL THE SAME. I was so annoyed there was never a big fight or hard conversation or whatever it was going to take with Sawyer and Charles. Felt like a cop-out.
I am listening to Look Closer and reading First-Time Caller.