2012 ► Still Alice by Lisa Genova

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In conjunction with the 2012 book Still Alice,  Galveston Reads and the Rosenberg Library Museum are presenting a photo exhibit entitled Embracing Aging in the Harris Gallery of the Rosenberg Library (3rd floor) through March 2012.  Visit the Museum's website for details and a sampling of the exhibit. 

Other Still Alice events
Official Poster

 

The Galveston Reads book choice for 2012 is Still Alice by Lisa Genova. 

Still Alice is a story of a fifty year-old professor of neuropsychology at Harvard University who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The book was on the New York Times bestseller list and has garnered many other awards for stimulating group discussions, and it has been selected to be the Galveston Reads book for 2012. In January and February of 2012 a variety of free activities will take place in Galveston for readers to get a chance to compare ideas, insights and opinions.

Lisa Genova is particularly well-qualified to write this book, having not only earned the honor of valedictorian for her undergraduate degree in Biopsychology, but also a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. Genova is a skilled writer who portrays scenes that are ever-so-believable. The reader soon comes to understand how this disease differs from everyday forgetfulness.

Alice Howland is in her prime. She is a fifty year old college professor, has a successful career, a loving family, and she takes care of herself. One day she is running a familiar route she has jogged many times before, and suddenly she is lost, unable to determine which turn to take that will return her to her home. She is conscious of her surroundings, she recognizes buildings and signs, but she can’t put them together to get her to her house. Then, just as suddenly everything fits together and she is back on track as though nothing had happened.

The jogging episode is merely the first of a series of unnerving occurrences that inevitably results in the devastating diagnosis. Woven throughout her spiraling decline is how her husband, her grown children and her peers respond to first the diagnosis, and as time goes on, the inevitable deterioration of her cognitive abilities.

How long will she continue her work as a professor? What happens when she can’t remember her and her family’s favorite Christmas recipes? How do she and others deal with her frustration and confusion? Will she retain the will and ability to choose how to live out her life as she descends to the land of the lost?

You can find copies of this novel, and audio-book at the Rosenberg Library, area bookstores and Galveston County libraries.

Galveston Reads is a voluntary organization composed of community representatives. It’s modeled after ‘One City, One Book’ projects around the country that are designed to promote the reading of the same book at the same time by their residents of high school age through senior citizens. The committee endeavors to choose a book of interest to this community and to use accompanying events to bring together the Galveston citizens by encouraging reading and thoughtful discussions.

Galveston Reads, in conjunction with UTMB, Texas A&M Galveston, and the Rosenberg Library, is excited to be able to bring many special events this year including a visit from Still Alice author, Lisa Genova, programming with the Sealy Center on Aging, UTMB, an art exhibit and book signing with area artists and authors, and more.

Questions, please call the Rosenberg Library 409-763-8854 ext. 119.

2011 Book

Galveston Reads encourages reading by offering programs held at various locations throughout Galveston County that revolve around the selection. The 2011 selection was Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea. Other past selections include Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyles; Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team , and a Dream, by H. G. Bissinger; A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, by Mark Haddon; Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehreinreich, A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls, and Rocket Boys, by Homer H. Hickam.

Galveston Reads 2011 book was Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea.

Into the Beautiful North follows a spirited band of young women from a coastal Mexican town as they head north across the border to retrieve some of the men who have left home to live in America. The tale of their road trip, as they discover both wonders and disappointments, has charmed readers with its funny, sad but always compassionate look at two cultures. “Into the Beautiful North” was written by Luis Alberto Urrea, a Pulitzer Prize finalist who draws on his Mexican-American heritage for many of his insights.

Galveston Reads is a voluntary organization composed of community representatives. It’s modeled after ‘one city, one book’ projects around the country that are designed to promote the reading of the same book at the same time by their residents of high school age through senior citizens. The committee endeavors to choose a book of interest to this community and to use the accompanying events to unify the community of Galveston County by encouraging reading and thoughtful discussions.

Page last updated:  01/05/2012