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I've been encouraged to mention a few books I've read lately, so  here goes...

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova. Many of you will recognize that name - she is the author of Left Neglected and Still Alice, among others. She not only has a degree in Biopsychology and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University – she is also an extremely talented novelist. In this book she tells the story of Anthony, a nonverbal boy with autism, through the stories of 2 women whose lives intersect in a moving and surprising way. One thing that I don’t recall from other books of hers I’ve read, is how easily she slips into spiritual and emotional concepts and conversations. I highly recommend this book and I expect to read her newest, Every Note Played, in the not too distant future. (If anyone has read or plans to read Love Anthony, I’d love to discuss the ending with you.)

I alternated reading Love Anthony with listening to Silent Child, by Sarah Denzil. It was Audible’s 2017 Thriller of the Year, due in no small part, I’m sure, to the fantastic narration by Joanne Froggatt (Mrs. Bates of ‘Downton Abbey’). In this book we meet Sarah, a single mom to Aiden, who disappeared at age 6 during a storm. She eventually had him declared legally dead and started to move on with her life, when he suddenly reappears 10 years later. He is nonverbal and traumatized after presumably being held captive during those lost years. I saw some parallels between characteristics/behaviors Aiden displayed and those of Anthony in the book mentioned above. As a psychological thriller, the book has several plausible candidates for ‘whodunit,’ and I liked the ending.

The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani. From the publisher: “From the bestselling author of Trail of Broken Wings comes an epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream.” Jaya, a New York journalist, leaves the safety and comfort of her middle- class life to go to India to uncover answers to her family’s past. Through Ravi, her grandmother’s former servant and trusted confidant, she learns of the resilience, struggles, secret love, and tragic fall of Jaya’s pioneering grandmother during the British occupation of the 1940s. The present (Jaya’s) and past (grandmother Amisha’s) love stories both ring true, and the supporting characters and the details of the physical setting of rural India, were also very descriptive and convincing. I loved this book!