Through Book Sneeze, Thomas Nelson gave me a copy of Eric Metaxas’s intriguing new biography Bonhoeffer (affiliate link) to review.
I found the book inspiring and enlightening, yet unsatisfying. I was impressed with the level of research, but I did not love the style.
In Speaking our Minds, social worker Lisa Snyder gives readers the opportunity to hear from seven people living with Alzheimer’s. I think the greatest value of the book comes as a reminder that people with Alzheimer’s are people; as I was reading, I repeatedly thought about the value of a person not being in what they do but in what they are.
One thing I became more aware of was how easy it is to misjudge the cause by noticing an effect. For example, one woman had difficulty shaking hands, not because she couldn’t remember what to do when someone extended a hand to shake, but because visual-spatial difficulties made it impossible for her to grasp someone’s hand in the air.
As I am reading, I occasionally come across a sentence that resonates in a way which makes me wish I had retained more of my college physics to allow me to come up with a good analogy. Some sentences are notable for vivid imagery or rhythmic intensity; others just say something simple. Here are a handful of sentences seen online that just stood out.
"I think maybe I will tell them again soon that the plaster layers were sloughing off like skin on an overcooked chicken during the last rain event." —James McCoy