#15

Take Control of Your IBS: The Step-by-Step Guide That Acutally Works by Kirsten Jackson. Green Tree, 2024. 9781399410922.

Which means...

#14

I just read an entire book from my list in the last three hours, and I'm crying.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi [New York: Random House, 2016. ISBN: 978-0-/129-8840-6] chronicles the abrupt change in his life as a senior neurosurgical resident who is diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. It was very meaningful and well-written. Paul died in 2015, and the book was published posthumously. In it, he examines both questions of what it is to be alive and to be dying and his own experiences with both. It was very moving.

#13

Neurodiversity for Dummies by John Marble, Khushboo Chabria, and Ranga Jayaraman. Wiley, 2024. 324 pp.

I really liked this because it provided a great overview from a neurodivergent-friendly angle (at least one, and possibly two, of the authors have neurodivergent differences) of a group of conditions that included not only autism and ADHD, but also dyslexia, dyspraxia, and dyscalculia, as well as some comorbidities. It is for those with neurodifferences, as well as parents/caregivers, teachers, managers, human resources, and anyone trying to understand and interact, making things better for people who live in a world that wasn't designed for them but who have valuable abilities to bring to the table. It is very readable, like most of the 'for Dummies' books (I hate the titles, but the series is great), and covers a lot, but isn't an onerous read [which is great if you have ADHD]. It covers a lot of misconceptions, and also a lot of coping skills that neurodivergent people have used that then cause them problems later in life. It covers issues with relationships, whether platonic, romantic, or familial, workplace issues, school challenges at all levels, and becoming your own advocate. It covers building communities and finding others who 'get' you. And it covers learning to figure out how other people think and how the things you find tedious, like small talk, or don't understand, like innuendo or implication, play an important part in social interaction. (For example, autistic people often will not socialise with others unless explicitly invited, even though the others thought their implication was sufficient. Or, they may not realise that the nice person who picks up the tab for dinner thinks they are dating. One of the authors had this experience. I feel so much better about myself for doing this, not once but twice.)

Anyway, since I have 13 out of a goal of 15, I'm ahead for the year, which is good, as I go back to work Thursday and I won't have as much time to read. Even with the time I've had, I haven't gotten through all the other library books I've checked out.  Here's what I have out right now:

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Action Plans: 4-week meal plans to heal the immune system and restore overall health by Dorothy Calimeris 

Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Dummies by Artemis Morris 

Anti-Inflammatory eating made easy: nutrition plan and 75 recipes for a healthier body by Michelle Babb 

Autism Adulthood: insights and creative strategies for a fulfilling life by Susan Senator 

Confident Coding: learn how to code and master the essentials by Rob Percival 

DASH Diet for Dummies by Sarah Samaan 

E-Z Spanish by Ruth J. Silverstein 

The Electricity of Every Living Thing: a woman's walk in the wild to find her way home by Katherine May 

Enjoy German by Heiner Schenke 

German for Dummies by Wendy Foster 

Gut Feelings: healing the shame-fueled relationship between what you eat and how you feel by Will Cole 

Hebrew for the Rest of us: using Hebrew tools to study the Old Testament by Lee M. Fields 

How to be Human: an autistic man's guide to life by Jory Fleming 

A Little Less Broken: how an autism diagnosis finally made me whole by Marian Schembari 

Mind Your Gut: the science-based, whole-body guide to living well with IBS by Kate Scarlata 

Off the Spectrum: why the science of autism has failed women and girls by Gina Rippon 

On Book Banning: or, how the new censorship consensus trivializes art and undermines democracy by Ira Wells 

The Pattern Seekers: how autism drives human invention by Simon Baron-Cohen 

Take Control of Your IBS: everything you need to know to feel better by Kirsten Jackson 

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 

The White Storm: how racism poisoned American democracy by Martin Gelin 

Plus, I have two on hold: 

The trouble of color: an American family memoir by Martha S. Jones 

Unmasked: the ultimate guide to ADHD, autism and neurodivergence by Ellie Middleton

My roommate says I'm hoarding books, and he's right. I've had some of these out for a while. So I'm going to go through a lot, especially the diet books, and see what I can do to take some back before Thursday. Most of those are recipes, anyway.

But, hey, I'm up to 13; that's better than a book a month. Since I struggle to read these days, that's good. And while my roommate came up with the answer a long time ago, this puts it succinctly. It's probably why I do mostly non-fiction now. I spent my entire childhood wrapped up in fantasy books and a fantasy world. I got pulled out kicking and screaming from that world in my 20s, and I needed to be, but I've never quite recaptured that immersive story, the magic, while being firmly grounded in reality again, at least not like it was.

#12

The DASH Diet Mediterranean Solution: The Best Eating Plan to Control Your Weight and Improve Your Health for Life by Marla Heller. Grand Central Publishing, 2018. 272 pp. ISBN: 9781538715253.

I liked this so much that while I checked it out as an e-book from the library, I've ordered a copy from Better World Books to have for myself. Although it does have some intriguing recipes, it is mainly a discussion of the basics of both eating philosophies (I hate using the word diet, as it's so loaded, but yes, diets), but as a mashup of both, including meal planning suggestions that are not just here's what to eat but what type of food to plug into in a way that I haven't seen done as well in other books.

Despite my weight loss to be honest, I haven't learned to eat as well as I should. These two plans are considered among the healthiest of all diet plans and are good for lifelong health. Also, they're good for pescetarians, actually founded in that type of eating primarily, although people can eat lean meats as well. I'm looking forward to getting my copy, plus, unlike Amazon, BWB donates a book each time you buy one, plus I donated $1 to their literacy programme and another to another book-related charity.

Since I had revised my goal to a more realistic 15 books for this year, I may very well reach that goal. Yay!

Going along nicely and finally reading fiction again

#11: I've been meaning to read this forever. My roommate has read all of the October Daye books, I believe, except the one that just came out last month (the 20th in the series). This is the first, 'Rosemary and Rue'. It's wonderful; I've put it off only because I've been in such a rut with fiction. But I made it through all 27 chapters and enjoyed every one. According to him, there's a huge story arc that hits you hard as you go along, which she plots out well from start to finish throughout the series. On to the next one.

#10

Divergent Mind: Thriving in A World that Wasn't Designed for You, by Jenara Nerenberg. New York: HarperCollins, 2021.

The book itself isn't bad, it's actually pretty decent. I hate how it's exclusively geared towards women but you don't get that until you start reading it--there's nothing in the title or subtitle indicating that, and I think if I were a guy I'd feel like there was a bait and switch, because 1) male experiences matter, too, and 2) with the exception of a few cases, most of what she wrote would also apply to men, but it is written through a feminist, women-only lens. I'm saying this as a woman myself. I'm not saying we can't focus on our issues, but just be up front about it and don't alienate half the population, especially in a group that's already been alienated for being different from neurotypicals.

#9

The Mindful Guide for Adults Living with Autism: Empowering Adults with Autism, Thrive in Work, Love, and Self-Discovery by Steven Fain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a good overview of what an autistic person needs to know about dealing with adult life, and while helpful for anyone, it would make a good gift for a young adult going into the world or someone who struggles to find mindful balance in life. It doesn't overwhelm with detail, but rather gives practical advice for a wide-range of areas of life in terms of balancing relationships, learning, work, personal interests, and online life in a way that is meaningful while drawing boundaries and being assertive, advocating for oneself, and looking out for one's own mental and physical wellbeing. It is a worthwhile look at all ways to improve all aspects of life that can be challenging to those on the spectrum, without being preachy or pedantic.

View all my reviews

*Note I did receive this book free in return for the request to review it.

#8

Finished my eighth book for the year...

The Lifelong Gardener: Garden with Ease and Joy at Any Age by Toni Gattoni. Timber Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-1604698534.

This one is print, but I'm working through an audiobook, and I'm about 4/5 through. I changed my goal to 15 books to be more reasonable, so I think I'll make it, hopefully, given that I have time to do so. When I went to Amazon, I found out that this book, which I have out from the library, is actually one I own on Kindle, too, which is nice because it's all about doing things to make gardening more accessible to you, and I need that. I'd all but given up on that, and I love gardening. Of course, the knee surgeries should help a lot, I would think.

Two more books

I finished book #6 for the year the other day, which I re-read in honour of the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs, Sadako and the Thousand Cranes by Eleanor Coerr, in one session, Today I decided to look through my Audible collection (I am not currently a member, having disentangled myself from Amazon for the most part for now at least, but I have 80 titles in my library, most of which haven't been listened to yet, so I decided that might be a good use of downtime, and today is the first day I actually had a couple of hours where I wasn't otherwise occupied.

I finished one I'd started called Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions From Tiny Mortals About Death, where mortician Caitlin Doughty answers questions submitted to her by children about death and what happens afterwards. She has a popular YouTube channel, which is very entertaining and informative. I'm happy she has narrated her own book. It's quite delightful, and I learned a lot. So it's #7 for the year. I did revise my goal from 36 to 15. I just don't think I have 36 in me. We'll see. Maybe I'll exceed 15, though, especially since I'll be counting audiobooks. Despite having trouble with audio processing, I sometimes have an easier time getting into an audiobook than a written book these days. I'm sorry to say, it's sad for a librarian to be challenged in reading books. I don't know why. I blame my ADHD.

I am so behind

but here goes...

Number five...

A Total Knee Replacement Handbook: How to Self-Advocate for Your Own Health Care and Well-Being, Before and After Surgery by Carolyn Fortuna

This is from a patient's perspective, as opposed to the previous text, which was written by an orthopaedic surgeon and was well-prepared. I'm glad I got one from each viewpoint.  Incidentally, both had very similar recommendations, which I found interesting.

It's sad that I've only read five books in six months. My goal this year is 36. Maybe I can catch up while I'm laid up. I don't know. In the past, I've generally been unable to read in recovery from surgeries, and mostly it's been listening to music in terms of entertainment for me. We'll see. I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to read this year, I think. Stay tuned to see if that ever comes to fruition. I have several books out from the library that sound very interesting, and the librarian said they wouldn't come after me even if I couldn't return them. (I'll have Brenda do it sometime when she comes over to play the game or maybe if she takes me to the doctor). But I feel like a dragon sitting on a hoard of treasure, anyway. :) Oh, and I have an app on my phone counting down to the big event...I'm now 41 days out from surgery. When it's within 30 I can file for FMLA/short-term disability. It's close. It's starting to get real.

I just have to share what my psychiatrist, who is Brazilian, so his first language is Portuguese, not English, said. I told him I was nervous about the procedure and he said, and I quote:

Oh, there's nothing to worry about. We just cut off your knees and put in the prosthesis!

To which I replied:

Dr. X, that does not make me feel better!

At this point he realised, after 40 years of practice, that perhaps he'd said the wrong thing, and went into a personal story meant to soothe where his wife had each knee done and the surgeries had gone very well. I was just glad he had gone from medical school into psychiatry rather than orthopaedics. I do not think that sort of bedside manner would fly. Don't get me wrong, I love my psychiatrist. He manages my meds well and I've gone to him for a long time. But, still...

I told my therapist (who had been very good about telling me, 'oh, there are so many of these done, I'd much rather have a surgery where so many were done a year rather than one every once in awhile') what he said and she was flummoxed. Mind you, they're in the same practice. I'm not sure if she's allowed to share that so long as no personal information of mine gets shared, but I suspect it will get around the office, as these things do. :) 

I really need to get to reading

 I've only read four books this year. The last one was Your Knee Replacement: A Patient's Guide to Understanding Knee Arthritis, Preparing for Surgery, Maximizing Your Outcome, by Ryan C. Koonce, MD. OrthoSkool Publishimg, 2019. ISBN: 9781733135849 (that's the eBook ISBN).

I have had a lot on my plate these days and just have had no time for reading. With the surgeries coming up, I will. I did ask a librarian at Lexington Public the other day about any issues in terms of trouble getting them back to the library as I am the only driver in the house. If I can't return them, that's fine, even if I don't tell them. Most books have multiple copies, and even if not...they don't do fines. I can probably get a friend to get hold or take them back on Sundays when she comes in to play in the game when I'm feeling well, but still, that's reassuring.

In the meantime, I have a VERY large to-be-read pile.

Here are the books I have out from two different libraries to read:

LEXINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

1. Allegiance - Stories by Gurney Norman. Old Cove Press, 2022. ISBN: 9781956855029 [Gurney Norman taught me creative writing when I was at the University of Kentucky and is a well-known local author. He was the 2009-2010 Poet Laureate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky].
2. Autism Adulthood: Insights and Creative Strategies for a Fulfilling Life, 2nd. edition by Susan Senator. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2018. ISBN: 9781510732711
3. Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World that Wasn't Designed for You by Jenara Nerenberg. New York: HarperCollins, 2021. ISBN: 9780062876805
4. The Electricity of Every Living Thing: a Woman's Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home by Katherine May. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House Publishing, 2021. ISBN: 9781612199603
5.  Information Desk: An Epic by Robyn Schiff; New York: Penguin Books, 2023. ISBN: 9780143136804
6. The Jewish Way to a Good Life: Find Happiness, Build Community, and Embrace Lovingkindness by Rabbi Shira Stutman, The Experiment, LLC, 2025. ISBN: 9798893030174
7. The Lifelong Gardener: Garden with Ease & Joy at Any Age by Toni Gattone. Portland, OR, 2019. ISBN: 9781604698534
8. Neurodiversity for Dummies by John Marble, Khushboo Chabria, and Ranga Jayaraman.  Hoboken, NJ.: Wiley & Sons, 2024. ISBN: 9781394216178
9. NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman. New York: Avery Books, 2016. ISBN: 9781583334676
10. Nurturing Nature: A Guide to Gardening for Special Needs by Jill Mays. Future Horizons, 2024. ISBN: 9781963367058. (this is aimed at helping autistic children, but I figure a lot still applies)
11. Off the Spectrum: Why the Science of Autism has Failed Women and Girls by Gina Rippon. New York: Seal Press, 2025. ISBN: 978-154160-502-2
12. Part of Our Lives: A People's History of the American Public Library by Wayne A. Wiegand. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780190248000
13. The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention, a 70,000-year History by Simon Baron-Cohen. New York: Hachette Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781541647145
14. A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD: Embrace Neurodiversity, Live Boldly, and Break Barriers, by Sari Solden and Michelle Frank. Oakland, CA.: New Harbinger Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-168403-261-7 [which, when I went to grab the ISBN on Amazon (because the book unhelpfully just says Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data on File and doesn't even include the ISBN) I bought on Kindle 5 years ago, so I might as well give that one back for someone else to read. :)]
15. Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, New York: Harmony Books, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-593-23524-9
16. The White Storm: How Racism Poisoned American Democracy by Martin Gelin. Essex, CT: Prometheus Books, 2025. ISBN: 978149308351

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY LIBRARY

1. Julian's Gods: Religion and Philosophy in the Thought and Action of Julian the Apostate by Rowland Smith. London: Routledge, 1995.ISBN: 0415034876

So 17 on the TBR pile. Whew. Let's see if I can get through them all. That would put me at 21 if I can get through them all, so still 15 more after that (the goal is 36). I also need to look at a book on shoulder surgery that I've already read, which I own, that has exercises for my right rotator cuff. I'd hurt it picking up a box of kitty litter back in March, but we'd decided to just do home exercises like I did with the left after that surgery, rather than do surgery on the biceps and rotator cuff on this one, both of which are torn. I need to get it strengthened before I go into my knee surgery as I'll need better upper body strength.

I did cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription because 1) DEI and 2) I'm tired of giving money to billionaires and instead have been buying locally or from other companies such as Better World Books. alibris is another one. But for Kindle books, I'm stuck with Amazon. :(

Okay, that's a long post. I've got to wrap this up. I think it's been an hour or more!

#3: Re-reading a book I adored as a child

 And it didn't disappoint.

3. The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key. Scholastic Books, 1965, 140 pp. ISBN: 978-0590085342.

#2

I just read The Art of Living by Thích Nhất Hạnh, a revered Buddhist monk and spiritual teacher. I'm really intrigued by it, and a lot of it makes sense to both head and heart. In chapter five, he writes:

True happiness depends on our capacity to cultivate compassion and understanding and bring nourishment and healing to ourselves and our loved ones.

I have highlighted a lot of his words in my Kindle book. I borrowed it from Kindle Unlimited but decided to go ahead and use my gift balance to buy it so that I could read and re-read it, as I suspect each time gives further insight.

I highly recommend it.

Here's the citation: 2. The Art of Living: A Guide to Mindfulness, Personal Growth, and Peace with Transformative Meditations for Understanding Life's Deepest Questions and Experiencing Happiness and Freedom byThích Nhất Hạnh, HarperOne, 2023, 224 pp. ISBN: 978-0063276482.

Well, I didn't quite make 36 books in 2024, but I read 27

I'm going to go for 36 again this year, and really work on making it.

I've already started and completed the first book for 2025:

1. The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene. Grossett & Dunlap, 1930 [2014 edition], 192 pp. ISBN: 978-0448479699