The Goldfinch

This is a book I had been wanting to read since my undergraduate days. I will always remember seeing it on my kindle first options and NOT picking it. Shortly thereafter, the book gained in popularity. Even a peer in a biochemistry class of mine carried it around for several weeks causing me to have…

Origin

Dan Brown released a new book not too long ago and like many of you I was quite excited to read it. I am usually not an avid follower of any one author, I am always more interested in the story than the author’s specific style. But Dan Brown is an exception. He had me…

A Tale for Time Being

A Tale for Time Being by Ruth Ozeki Time is defined as “the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.” But a definition cannot begin to capture what time feels when you have to live through it. Through this PhD program I have wrestled with…

The Road of Lost Innocence

The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam What a beautiful, heart-wrenching story on a topic that is only recently gaining more steam with the #MeToo movement. Sexual violence against women and children, including sex-trafficking, as Somaly describes, is changing face with more and more younger children being sold into prostitution to ensure their virgin…

Happiness, Like Water

“Happiness is like water,’ she says. ‘We’re always trying to grab onto it, but it’s always slipping between our fingers.” ― Chinelo Okparanta This is one of the few books where I found myself wondering why the author had chosen this title and what it meant. In my mind I had imagined water in its river…

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

This is the debut novel of Heidi W. Durrow and highlights characters who all struggle to make sense of a world they don’t belong in, racially or economically. The topic of this novel is extremely pertinent to our times, particularly with Rachel’s struggles with negotiating race as a biracial person and having to categorize life…

When Breath Becomes Air

This book was chosen by a steering committee at my university and I volunteered to be a book discussion facilitator for it. I’m always looking for opportunities to interact with other people and be able to discuss books, particularly since reading is an independent activity. Book clubs and book discussion groups are always helpful to…