The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Book Length: 337 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

I tend to stay away from young adult novels. When it is a young adult romance novel I really want to run far away. What do teenagers truly know about love? They think they know a lot. Yet, what I have learned in my age is that no one really knows anything about love.

This is my excuse for why it took me so long to read The Fault in Our Stars despite everyone talking about the book. Although, maybe everyone talking about the book is another reason that I stayed far away. I regret taking so long to read it.

This is a young adult novel. It is a romance. Yet it is not a traditional young adult romance novel. One reason is that the main characters are both dying. When you have already had to face your own mortality then you have a maturity that goes beyond traditional young adulthood. This is cliche because it is true.

What I love most about this book are the characters. They are quirky. They are obsessed about a book that has no ending written by a complete jerk. They intertwine cancer with teenage rebellion. Then they dash off to Austria and kiss in the house of Anne Frank.

The entire novel is a bit quirky. Yet the ending is heartbreaking. The story was powerfully told. I have come to respect John Green's writing and will continue to read his books, even though they continue to be young adult fiction.

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Things Fall Apart by China Achebe

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Book Length: 181 pages

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, African Fiction

I do not have the appropriate historical knowledge to critique this book on African culture or the accuracy of the British invasion into Africa. Although I am certain that how it was presented in the book is very much how it happened. One culture came to the country of another and decided that it's way of seeing the world was correct and everyone else was ignorant. As such people needed to be reeducated and punished.

The story is about Okonkwo who wants to overcome the disgrace of having a lazy father by becoming a strong warrior and a good provider. He is not the most lovable of characters. He does not speak much and he is very concrete in his own views. He strives to be a strong leader in his community and he works very hard to get there.

Even within his own culture, Okonkwo is not a flexible character. He has little love for his oldest son. He helps with the killing of his adopted son because he needs to be strong. He works hard and expects everyone in his family to do the same. He even expected his four-year-old son to understand a conversation about being a man.

Yet he is also a very real character. When his only daughter of his second wife is taken he circles the village looking for her and then stands outside the cave waiting for her exit. Although, I still have no idea what that was about, except to help show his devotion to his tradition that he would allow his favorite child to be taken and just stand and wait for the outcome. When he helps kill his adopted son he is sick by the action. When he goes to his mother's tribe he is grateful for their aid even while he regrets the necessity of being there. He is not exactly a likable character, but he is a very real character.

It is because he is so strong in the tradition of his ancestors that it is guaranteed that there would be conflict with the invaders. Okonkwo can do nothing except continue to fight for the ways of Africa. When he fights and kills one of the white men his people do not back him up. He knows that he is fighting alone, and as his uncle had said prior, a man is nothing without his kin. He has no choice but to keep to his tradition and hang himself. By keeping with his tradition he also kills his tradition.

Things Fall Apart is a very moving book. It is well written and seems a bit simplistic, yet the story that it tells is extremely powerful. It is not something that I would normally have read, which is something that I need to remedy in my own reading habits. I am extremely glad that I picked up this book.

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Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar - Your Brain's Silent Killers by David Perlmutter

Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar - Your Brain's Silent Killers

by David Perlmutter, MD

Rating: **** 1/2 (4 1/2 stars)

Book Length: 336 pages

Genre: Health, Nutrition, Neuroscience, Science

I loved this book! I really wanted to give it a five-star rating, however, there were two things that held me back. I will get to that in a bit. First, why do I love this book? Grain Brain combines all the research on the impact of gluten and carbs and presents it from a neurological perspective. While the main topic of the book seems to be about preventing dementia and Alzheimer's he also provides examples about Tourette's and ADHD. There is even a small section about autism and mood disorders (bipolar).

When I was in graduate school the general consensus was that there is no research to support the gluten-free diet for children on the autism spectrum. While Dr. Perimutter provides anecdotal evidence from his neurology practice to support the claims he is making, he thankfully continues to back up his claims with peer-reviewed journal articles. While the research specifically on autism spectrum disorders and the effects of gluten may be sparse, there is research showing the effects of gluten on the brain in general. Dr. Perimutter claims that everyone will be better served by adopting a low carb, gluten free diet. However, there are people who are unknowingly more susceptible to gluten, and many of these individuals have conditions such as diabetes, ASD, mood disorders, schizophrenia, or ADHD, to name a few.

The book also contains great information on the impact of fasting. He also explores how sleep, or the lack of sleep, affects our cognitive abilities. There are also a few easy recipes in the back of the book mostly geared towards individuals who have never eaten gluten free before.

Why did I take off half a star?

The first reason is that I do not think that Dr. Perimutter made his claim on the harm of sugar to the brain. He continually mentions the impact of sugar, lumping all sugar including fruit together. Then he shortly says well if you are going to eat sugar then fruit is a lot better than processed sugar. However, even then he does not really provide the evidence to back up his claims. From my own experience I completely agree with him - however, that is not much good without the evidence to back it up. Then when he creates his list of what to eat and what not to eat he never mentions the acceptability of honey and completely outlaws agave. I admit that agave is pretty controversial, specifically for individuals eating Paleo. What I want is evidence about why it is bad for you, or good for you. And why no honey but you are allowed to occasionally put cow's milk in your tea or coffee? That makes no sense to me.

Which brings me to the second problem that I had with the book. He turned it into a fad diet book. I would say that 80% of the book is evidence from a neurological perspective. Then in the last 10% he adds a pretty lamb and skimpy diet outline and points you to his website to buy supplements and tests. It is hard to ignore the sale out factor of this. My advice - ignore this section of the book and focus on everything that came before. After all combined it is really only worth a half a star drop in rating.

If you read no other non-fiction book this year then make it Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers. It is a great way to start of your new year for a new you.

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