Heartbreaking and broken

Still Alice

By Lisa Genova

Did she pass Memorial Drive? And right before that the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Park? Alice triple checked her surroundings but she could not recall where she was or how she got to the stage of confusion that she was in.  Mrs. Alice Howland is a phenomenal psychology professor who associates herself with multiple universities and institutions around Boston. Along with the troubles she finds with her daughter Lydia who has not chosen the path Alice expected of her after high school, and her workaholic husband who seems to have little time for her, Alice is realizing there is something unfortunately wrong with her health. Her diagnosis of Alzheimer's will begin to impact her strongly and quickly, long term.

Still Alice was recommended to me by multiple classmates & I am glad that this was the choice I made. What I really enjoy so far about this novel is that Alice faces more than one obstacle.  Author, Lisa Genova, did not just focus on Alice being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  In addition to Alice’s health, she created a feeling of slight distance and abandonment with her husband who often sided with Lydia, who was nowhere near the perfect example child. In fact, Lydia is the exact opposite of what her mother had wants for her. Genova allows Alice’s character to appear realistic because she is facing multiple impacting situations. This novel is a great representation of expressing that life doesn't just hit you with one obstacle at a time, life is constantly challenging you. It also reiterates the cliche that we take a lot for granted. Our memory is something with give such little thought to but it plays such a big purpose in our life, and it takes us until our memory skills have been compromised to realize that we take advantage of it.

Any readers who are looking for a book that can highlight an average women facing a real life situation would enjoy this book. There is little to no added drama, not much action but a heart touching and eye opening story. From the beginning of the book Genova illustrates Alice as headstrong, confident, determined and relentless. From a dinner argument with Lydia making Alice feel as forceful as " trying to knock down a concrete wall with their heads"( Genova 17) to when she felt disoriented in Harvard square knowing " She wanted to continue walking...she tried again...she willed herself..she told herself she could still read and recognize." ( Genova 22), Alice never gave up, on anything. With such strong character traits, it makes the readers want to root for Alice throughout the whole book and fight with her.

I wholeheartedly recommend Still Alice to any reader looking for a beautiful and well written novel with touches of fear and surprises.  I am looking forward to continuing this book as well.  

True Love

Happily Ever After

By: Kiera Cass

 
      How could one define happy ever after?

Prince Clarkson has been very affected by his parents abusive but yet oddly loving marriage. When the time comes for him to pick a wife from the selection, he must get passed the belief that love doesn't exist. But that changes once he meets Emberly. Although he felt a deep connection with her, he wanted to test all the girls first. So he asked all the remaining girls in the selection to cut their hair. But only Emberly gave him more than an inch. Which pleased him very much. He then chooses her to be his wife regardless of her illness. But Emberly receives some news from the doctor that changes her life, the prince's life, and the kingdom forever.

This book is a very well written book that captures the readers attention. The author uses scenarios that are imaginable to allow the readers to connect to the characters and their sentiments. She mainly focuses on the fact that anyone can find true love. Whether it means finding love with someone totally different from yourself; or loving/accepting yourself and finding happiness that way. One of the characters in the book thought that she had to be married to be happy but found out that she is, "...much happier on her own" (Cass 383). The book also portrays the idea that everyone is in fact different, have different faiths and different perspectives. This is definetely a book that can cheer you up if you're feeling down. Although life isn't filled with happy ever afters nor peace, it can make you believe that it exists and is possible. It could even inspire you to take a step in changing the world or just your country or town/city for the better. It's believed by most that dreams can't come true but the author makes the reader believe that they can. Emberly once said, "The dreams I'd stored in my heart were actually coming true"(Cass 86). I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone. Even if you hate romance and love stories, this book can and will change your mind.  

Pablo

Joey Dalicandro

Killing Pablo
by Mark Bowden

" We love you,Pablo" and "long live El Doctor"  echoed through the busy streets of Medellin as the casket carrying Pablo Escobar was brought to the cemetery. A mob of thousands of angry mourners attended his funeral, where they would shout anti-government rhetoric and promise acts of violence as revenge for what they did to their cities savior. This is both a story of victory and defeat, the rise and fall of one of the most notoriously wealthy men to ever live. Escobar's reign of terror would last well over 20 years and earn him a yearly revenue of well over 21.9 billion dollars. At the peak of his reign, Forbes magazine even listed him as the seventh richest man in the world.

Despite his riches, the head of the Medellin cartel got his start exporting oil, vegetables and even coffee. He then graduated to stealing and trading tombstones and then to stealing cars. The rest  happens to be history. He became known for being a daring and ruthless operator. No one in Medellin challenged his authority, he owned the police and the politicians, and everyone who did question him wound up missing or worse. An associate of Don Pablo is quoted for famously saying "He wasn't even an entrepreneur, and he wasn't even an especially talented businessman. He was just ruthless"

This is an enthralling story of greed, corruption, idealism and one mans decent into hell. Moreover it's a relentless quest for justice.

Within this novel author Mark Bowden exposes the once classified account of the 16 month U.S.-led covert man hunt to catch none other than Pablo himself . Including access to the many key players involved in this operation such as incorruptible head of the special police unit that chased Escobar and Colombian president Cesar Gaviria. Author Mark Bowden in his own words describes Escobar in the late 80's and early 90's  as "Public enemy number one in the world".

If you're like me and enjoy both history and biographies than I highly recommend this book for you. My opinion of this novel is high, for which it has a vast amount important history and information within its pages.  I found that the author uses certain imagery and vivid word description to keep the readers attention. Though there is indeed many pages and chapters in this book, the author has kept my attention from start to finish. I highly regard this book for which it has taught me many things about our own government. The story of Pablo's life is edgy and a truly sobering view on moral dilemmas.

I have enjoyed reading the few pages I have read and hope to continue reading. I hope you to will find it as good as I did.