Still Alice (book review)

I just read this book for my book club.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish this book in time for our next meeting, but I stayed up late reading every night and finished it in 3 days.  I don't remember the last time a book sucked me in like that.  If my children didn't require so much attention during the day, I probably would have finished sooner, but my reading time is generally limited to after 10PM when I get in bed.  Since the baby still isn't sleeping through the night, it's rare that I'll stay up super late to read.

Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of Alice, a 50-year old professor at Harvard, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.  The story is told from Alice's perspective, and that is what drew me in.  I felt completely connected to Alice, and I was frustrated right along with her when she struggled to find the right words, or follow a conversation, or remember what she was supposed to be doing.  The story was heart-wrenching and heartwarming at the same time.  I could. not. put. it. down.  I cried through a good portion of this book, and when I finished it (at 1AM), I cried myself to sleep.  There was so much tragedy and beauty in the way her relationships with her family members evolved throughout the course of her disease.  The book was also educational for me, as I previously didn't know a lot about Alzheimer's.  The progression of the disease, especially in an early-onset case, is frightening.  Put this at the top of your "to-read" list.