Friday, June 27, 2008

Upcoming books

Well, it's late, I've been at an Asperger's/ASD workshop all day, and I'm having trouble thinking of answers for some of the FF questions. However, I just placed a big book order yesterday (went on line to order one book...30 minutes and many dollars later, I had ordered six...you know how that goes), so let me share what I will be reading this summer. I'll report back later.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. My supervisor (another dog person) came into my office yesterday to tell me I HAD TO read this book. I read the first chapter online and was hooked. More later.

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor. A neuroscientist's account of her recovery from a debilitating stroke. This one's had a lot of good press and interests me for professional reasons as well as personal, as does the next one:

Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. Life as a person with Asperger's Syndrome.

Three Junes by Julia Glass. Some people whose literary opinions I respect have had good things to say about this one.

Getting On Message: Challenging the Christian Right from the Heart of the Gospel, Rev. Peter Laarman (ed.). I don't know much about this, but it sounded interesting. I bought it for $0.01 plus shipping, which is kind of sad.

Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal Care
by Andrew Linzey. Linzey has written several books about animal rights from a Christian viewpoint. This one is just what it says, prayers and liturgies for various occasions and situations related to animals and human responsibility for them.

Have you read any of these books?

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Zorra, you may also want to read "The Art of Racing in the Rain," which has a dog narrator. I loved it. And Edgar Sawtelle is on my list now.

Mary Beth said...

I read the Robison book...it's interesting but weird, I can't explain it exactly. He seems to be an extremely high-functioning Asperger's person. Most AP's (from what I know) would have a hard time working at KISS concerts, for instance. Too loud, too many people....

Have you read _The Curious Indicident of the Dog in the Night Time_ or any of Temple Grandin's work? I liked those better.

I've heard the Jill Bolte Taylor interview on Fresh Air twice now and very interested to read that.

Thanks for this list! Hugs.

DogBlogger said...

Sounds like a really intriguing list!

Jan said...

"Stroke of Insight" was really good. Unfortunately, I loaned it out and may never get it back. I'll have to check out your other books.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

The only one on this list I've read was Three Junes. It wasn't an all-time fave, but I like it well enough not to give it away when I was done. That always means I might possibly reread it, which is a good sign. I hope you enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

i'm curious about the animal rites book - please post your opinion!!

Anonymous said...

just ordered My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey for Mr Incredible who also had a debilitating stroke at age 37 - thanks for the recommendation

crosswick said...

Hi ZGirl, I have both Look Me In the Eye and The Three Junes. Have partially read the first and not started the latter. I want the son to eventually read the first. It is nitty gritty and not necesarily uplifting, much like his life. Enjoy the reading! Hope you learned good strategies at the conf., too. Bohemia!!!

Becky Ardell Downs said...

I'd love to read the Animal Rites book too. Might have to look that one up. I've occasionally thought that I could be an animal hospital chaplain. If anyone actually got paid to do such a thing. But wouldn't that be cool to have a chaplain there when you have to have your pet euthanized?
On a different note, I just read another book called "Born on a Blue Day", by Daniel Hammet. It's a memoir of an autistic/Aspergers Syndrome savant. Pretty good. It's in my office if you want to read it, but it looks like you have a pile to get through!

RevHRod said...

I read the Robison book and received tremendous insight into our daughter's teenage friend. It's definitely a pg-13 or R rated read. (So I haven't given it to my kid to read.) Very interesting and especially so when you realize that he is the older brother of the guy who wrote, "Running with Scissors."

Stratoz said...

have not read any of them. Many of the folk I teach have Asperger's Syndrome. They have stories to tell, as do we all.

mid-life rookie said...

Just heard a story about the Edgar Sawtelle book on NPR. Sounds good. Was going to recommend it to DogBlogger, but I see you have!

billscottranch said...

Howdy! My name is Scooter Scott and I am Mary Beth Butler's (Terrapin Station)brother-in-law. Mary Beth had told us about your blog site and I just had a chance to visit. It is wonderful! It would appear from your bio that we share some interesting similarities. We life on a ranch out in far west Texas, my oldest son has Asperger's, and our spoiled 4th kid is our red heeler named Rudy. Again, enjoyed your blog and look forward to dropping by again soon.