Currently Reading One Hundred Names For Love by Diane Ackerman

One Hundred Names For Love:  A Stroke, A Marriage and The Language of Healing is a memoir by world-renown author Diane Ackerman.  Diane and her older husband are both a member of the elite literary genius.  Together they built a loving relationship revolving around their passion for words.  They are both writers, both artists who wield pens.  When her husband suffers a massive stroke, Diane suffers too.  Her husband loses the ability to both understand words and speak them.

We chose this novel for my book club.  At first I rolled my eyes.  Sad memoirs are not what I typically enjoy reading.  I am about six or seven chapters in and I find myself sympathizing with Diane, as I knew I would.  Her writing is beautiful.  Her words are poetic and brilliant.  One sentence can make you throw your head back and laugh while the next can move you to tears.

I knew I was going to like this book and I knew it would make me emotional – which is why I didn’t want to read it.  And now I am glad to be reading it – I knew that was going to happen too.