Metropolitan’s Comments (group member since Aug 25, 2014)

Metropolitan’s comments from the Metro Library ReadUp group.

It was unbelievable, and it shows that sometimes you need to have lots of loved ones with you in times of medical distress, to really drive the point home that there's something wrong!

I just read the description of the brain biopsy procedure...yikes!

I'm at the part where she has just gone to stay with her parents, and her illness is getting worse. It is so creepy and terrible that there is something really wrong with her, but the doctors aren't seeing it!

I was astonished that the one doctor kept insisting that she was just drinking too much. I think that was a case of the doctor making assumptions about her and not actually looking at the evidence that was right in front of him. How often do you think this happens with doctors? Scary stuff.

From this page: http://www.susannahcahalan.com/the-bo...

Some of the questions that stood out for me:

1.) Consider and discuss the various reactions to Cahalan’s illness as chronicled in her book. Are the responses uniform or varied? Are they expected or unexpected? What about Cahalan’s own responses to her illness and what she endures? Consider the response she recalls having while she was suffering versus her response after her treatment and recovery. What does consideration of these responses reveal about our responses to the mysterious and the unknown?

2.) The characters in Brain on Fire—friends, family, medical personnel, and even Cahalan herself—frequently
consider if she may be suffering from some form of mental illness. What does the book reveal, then, about our way of thinking about mental illness? For instance, what does Cahalan’s story suggest about the relationship between
psychology and neurology? What preconceptions does it reveal about our understanding of mental illness as a
society? How does this story help to highlight the necessity of compassionate responses to those who are ill?

3.) What are some of the reasons that Cahalan may have chosen to share her story with the public? What lessons can we ultimately learn from her unique story?

Here's the companion website: http://www.susannahcahalan.com/

This page has a video of the author explaining some of what happened to her:
http://www.susannahcahalan.com/the-bo...

Discuss here!https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Hey everyone!

Time to choose a nonfiction book to read for July.

Let's choose from:

The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England's Most Notorious Doctor by Stephen Bates https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The Dog Lived (and So will I) by Teresa Rhyne
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Struck by Genius: How a Brain Injury Made Me a Mathematical Marvel by Jason Padgett
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Please vote in the poll, and thanks for participating!

A couple of the questions from the above link that stood out for me:

Q: Do you support Jess’s decision to go into debt to pay for Norman’s hospital bills rather than put him to sleep?

I strongly do. Not just because I like animals, but because that dog was Tanzie's lifeline. Their relationship was so close that if she had lost him after all the other disappointments she'd experienced in such a short time, she might not have recovered. Economically maybe it wasn't the smartest choice, but emotionally it really was.


Q: Even though Marty himself is reluctant, Jess opens her home to Nicky, Marty’s son by “a woman he’d dated briefly in his teens” (p. 9), after his birth mother essentially abandons him. If you were Jess, would you be willing to raise Nicky as your own child?

I would have, because the poor kid had literally no one to care about him. The genetic tie to Marty was the reason he came to live with them, but the emotional connection to Jess and Tanzie is why he wanted to stay there. As a stepparent myself, I know that it doesn't really matter who the biological parents are if you care deeply about a kid's well being and have the ability to support him or her.

What do you guys think?

*spoiler alert* it does have a happy ending. :)

Wow, I'm approaching the end and it's really taken a turn. I'm quite sure it will have a happy ending though...

I'm about half through it right now and it's very funny! I've never read any of her other books, are they all standalones or does she have recurring characters?

Someone said it reminded them of the movie Little Miss Sunshine, and I can definitely see some parallels. This is a good summer read, I think.

Here's a link to some discussion questions from LitLovers:

http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guid...

Share your thoughts here if you like!

Nice to meet all of you, thanks for telling us a little about yourselves!

Talk about it here!

We got a late start on May's book, and it's June already! Let's choose one of these lighter, chick-lit, sort of summer-ish books:

Lookaway, Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Driving With the Top Down by Beth Harbison: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Vote in the poll, thanks!

Summer Reading starts today, and it's not just for kids! All through June and July if you sign up for Summer Reading and track how much time you read, you can earn incentives and be entered into drawings for some really cool stuff.

To kick off Summer Reading, we're having another Book Tasting program this Thursday, June 4, from 6:30-730 pm. During this fun and fast-paced event, you'll have a chance to sample the newest literary delicacies the library has to offer, as well as some unique goodies you may have overlooked.

How it works is we have a table full of books--I'm going to choose a lot of really good ones! In 2 minute increments, you'll get to look over a book to see if you'd like to give it try. The goal is for you to explore a lot of different kinds of books, and check out something new or new to you! For example, if you only read mysteries, maybe you'll discover a science fiction title that seems appealing! At the end of the program, you can check out anything that grabbed your interest.

If this sounds fun to you, please register and join us! http://metrolibrary.evanced.info/sign...

The last time I did this, it was really fun, and people left with books that were a little out of the ordinary for them!

Since our membership has exploded, I thought I'd make a topic for introductions/ice breakers.

Introduce yourself, and share your thoughts on any/all of the following book-related questions:

1.) What's the best book to read after a relationship break-up?

2.) What book to re-read again and again?

3.) You can only take one book with you, which is it?

4.) What's your favorite childhood book?



I'll go first! I'm Alexis, I've been a librarian at the Almonte library since it opened 2 1/2 years ago and I love my job!

If I could only take one book with me, it would be The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

My favorite childhood book is probably Winnie the Pooh: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

or maybe the Wind in the Willows:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

I found it a little icky that when they were advertising for teachers, they made the applicants include a photo and the local cowboys voted on who they thought should be hired based on prettiness. (p77-78)

And, I realized that Ros and Dorothy must have been around 28 years old (they had been out of college for 7 years) and still had to get their parent's approval to go on their adventure out west!

These things make me glad that times have changed for women.

Glad you liked it!

It seems like the beginning is a lot of extraneous stuff that doesn't have much bearing on the main story of Dorothy and Rosamond. I've just gotten to the part about their trip to Europe and now it's more entertaining. They seem like very sweet girls and I'm curious about how they'll fare in the wild west.

Hello!

Summer Reading isn't just for kids, adults can participate and win incentives too. See http://www.metrolibrary.org/summerrea... for more information. Read 20 minutes a day in June and July, and you can be entered into drawings. There are a lot of cool programs going on at OKC libraries this summer, so check it out!

One program that might be of particular interest to this group is the Summer Book Tasting at Almonte Library on Thursday, June 04, 2015 from 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM: During this fun and fast-paced event, you'll have a chance to sample the newest literary delicacies the library has to offer, as well as some unique goodies you may have overlooked. (p.s. You will not be required to actually eat a book.)

I also wanted to let you know about a couple of databases you can use to find what to read next. You can access these from home with your library card.

1.) NoveList Plus: it provides suggested reads and listens across many genres for all ages.

2.) Booklist Online: contains over 100,000 reviews of books and digital media.

Access these and many other databases at http://www.metrolibrary.org/research
(Some are in-library use only, but most of them can be accessed from anywhere with your library card.)

Another really cool thing we're doing is Tailored Titles. Every month, we prepare and email newsletters full of titles from over 2 dozen areas of reading interest. See: http://www.metrolibrary.org/dog-eared... to subscribe to the newsletter of your choice.

Come on down! It's happening right now! Free snacks, pens and whatnot! :)