Two good books

Since last year, I've been trying to read these two books, but because I was preoccupied with YLP and couldn't keep the library books since it would get overdue, I had to return them without finishing which is a first.

The "brain" book that I have been tweeting about is called "My stroke of insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor who is a brain scientist who survived a stroke to the left hemisphere of her brain. Talk about irony!

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When I first started this book, it was partly because the title was very intriguing, and I didn't really know what it was about. I am not an aficionado of science, even though I do admire people who does the "scientific stuff"; so at the start it was pretty boring. However, as I read more and more about her stroke, I realized that my Thitha, mother of my favorite relative Thutha went through one two years ago and still is suffering from it. The past two years, I have been under the assumption that she was just sick, and I feel ashamed that I didn't even try to find out what was going on. Reading this was a paradigm shift, and I feel miserable that I didn't try to help her in the one year that she lived with us, and treated her like sick person with fear when I should have been more understanding and compassionate. I am now more aware of my brain, its functions and Jill's insight to life and her methods of making our self better by focusing on the right hemisphere of our brain which creatives the positive feelings and compassion and treats everyone as wonderful beings makes me appreciate the neurons in my brain and the circuits and the brain itself which is a miracle. I am fascinated by the abilities of the brain and the wonders of it, and my faith in god has become stronger and I feel that this book has helped me come closer to god by appreciating the brain that was given to us. Never did I ever think that a book about brains would make my faith grow stronger. I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you know anyone who has gone through a stroke or not. I now know why my lecturer was so fascinated with this book. I am still however saddened that he hates Harry Potter even though he hasn't read any book in the series. -__-

The nest book, Unravelled by Maria Housden is also a very interesting book about the life of a mother who lost her daughter to cancer, who got a divorce, and who became the women she had dreamt to be.

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I have seen some bad reviews of this book, calling it a justification of a woman's affair with another man but reading it I realized that Maria's life was not easy. I would never know how it feels so see someone I love die, but Maria was strong, and she became what she wanted to become. She made me realize that despite some wrong decisions in life, there is always the chance of going after our dreams and how important it was to live life on my own terms rather than on someone else's terms. Sure, I didn't relate to her on a personal level, nevertheless this book is pretty interesting and written in a very light way. Perfect read on a cold day with a cup of hot chocolate.