And Now For Something Completely Different

[Lip Service]

Mysteries, biographies, romance stories you know all the traditional types of books.

This thread is for you to nominate a great book that you be sure that none of the readers of this forum would have read. Please also say why you think the book is worth reading.

[Carci]

I nominate A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash. From the Amazon website:

"In his phenomenal debut novel—a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small North Carolina town—author Wiley Cash displays a remarkable talent for lyrical, powerfully emotional storytelling. A Land More Kind than Home is a modern masterwork of Southern fiction, reminiscent of the writings of John Hart (Down River), Tom Franklin (Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter), Ron Rash (Serena), and Pete Dexter (Paris Trout)—one that is likely to be held in the same enduring esteem as such American classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and A Separate Peace. A brilliant evocation of a place, a heart-rending family story, a gripping and suspenseful mystery—with A Land More Kind than Home, a major American novelist enthusiastically announces his arrival."

[rapa]

I'm nominating a book that I'll pick up next week.  Lee Smith has written a historical novel revealing the attitude toward mental illness in the early 20th century. The book appeals to me as I spent quite a few years nursing in up-scale psychiatric hospitals.  The book:  GUESTS ON EARTH: A Novel  by Lee Smith. Apparently the story is told by a narrator. Here is a brief description of the book. 

"It’s 1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, a mental institution known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital’s most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses the cascading events leading up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them.

Author Lee Smith has created, through her artful blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart--a time and a place where creativity and passion, theory and medicine, tragedy and transformation, are luminously intertwined."

[Mandy Muffin]

I am only going back this year as my mind slips a lot lately, but I came across a "vision quest" story of a young woman who took on the Appalachian Trail.  http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Odyssa-Adventures-Appalachian-Trail/...  I hiked the trail myself many, many moons ago, doing it in segments over nearly 10 years.  The Classic Book on the Trail is "A Walk in the Woods," but this one is inspiring.  I also wrote my own novel on the subject but it remains unedited and unpublished.  It is called "Appalachian Tarot."  Hey, maybe I'll get around to self-publishing it on Amazon this year...or maybe not. 

[Flowergram]

I nominate  Night Comes to the Cumberlands by Henry M. Caudill.  It tells the harsh story of the destruction of lives and the environment by coal mines in the Cumberland Mountains.  It is told by the author who lived there and he tells of real people stories and what cruelty was done to the area.  It is an interesting and different book and well told.  It is an area near where my family was from.  Well worth reading.

[Lip Service]

I will nominate Jill Bolte Taylor "My Stroke of Insight" she is a brain researcher who had a stroke in her left brain where she lost the ability to speak, read but her right brain was intact as a result she had an amazing psychic experience.

She explains how difficult it was just to dial a number for help

A TED talk she gave describing her stroke (guaranteed to be the most amazing videos you see this year)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTrJqmKoveU

A radio interview about the same event (it took her eight years to fully get back her abilities)

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&... 

[rapa]

Thanks, Lip Service.  This one's going on my TBR list!

[rapa]

BTW, the youtube presentation was sensational!!!

[Lip Service]

Glad you liked it

Another strange thing is that before the stroke she could not hold a tune but after she became more musical and plays the guitar

[Flowergram]

Just saw a man, on a.m. tv,  who had a head injury who could play the piano afterwards and he said he could not play a note before that.  He has severe headaches and some lapses of memory but played beautifully.  Really interesting what the brain is capable of.