My Thoughts On - Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Crown | 342 pages | 2016

This is a fast pace Sci-Fi thriller that gripped me from page one.

Jason is a physics professor and his wife Danielle is a stay-at-home mom. They both could have been much more but they decided to have a life and a son together.

What happens when Jason is kidnapped and then given a shot at being the researcher he dreamt to be? Will he take it? Or will he fight to get back to his family? With unusual twists and mind bending science, this novel keeps you at the edge of your seat.

This Sci-Fi is very well written with a smooth plot, believable characters and an accurate use of science and scientific theories.

While I was reading it, it reminded me of The Martian simply because Jason has a scientific approach to his problems and solves each obstacles before going to the next. Unlike The Martian, it isn't a comedy, although there is some comical relief moments in the plot.  

I would love to see this novel as a movie since it has a fast pace and the potential for amazing visuals.

My Thoughts On, Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Delacorte Books | 310 pages | 2015

This book is my first contact with Nicola Yoon. I read it because it had an interesting premise. A girl on house arrest for medical reasons. Her new neighbors are kind but a boy specifically catches her eyes. How can a romance bloom between the two when she is in danger from everything? I love how this medical aspect is an essential part of the story without making the plot heavy or gloomy. This novel still have the lightness of a usual YA story of a girl meet boy and they have obstacles to overcome to be together.  Yet it is original in its writing and in the interwoven details that make the characters three dimensional. 

It was a fast read and I enjoyed every page of it. 

My Thoughts On - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

HarperCollins | 256 pages | 1939

Ten little soldiers boys went out to dine,

One choked his little self and then they were nine.

This novel holds its mystery until the very end. Ten people are invited to an island where they start to die mysteriously one by one. Who is the killer? How does he/she murder without being caught? 

These questions puts the guests on edge and each become suspicious of the other. The mystery is well wrapped. It is hard to guess the killer when every guest is weird in a way or another and they might as well be the killer which did not make me feel sympathetic to any of them. Overall, it was an entertaining read that made me want to discover the who and how.

My Thoughts On - Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann

Drawn and Quarterly | 94 pages | 2014

This is a messed up twisted mind boggling comic. It follows the story of groups of little people whose life has changed when the girl they were living in dies in the woods. The dynamic between them shifts, alliances are forged and loyalties tested and disturbingly broken very easily. This comic brings to light the worst behaviors of humans as individuals and as a society. It makes me shudder that this is a possible outcome of our society if everyone became selfish and discarded any moral boundaries. 

This type of social behavior remind me of the movie The Lobster. It is just as twisted and shudder causing as this comic by its disregard to morals and human decency. 

I did not enjoy this read nor the place it took me to. 

My Thoughts On - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Penguin | 376 pages | 2012

Yet another book I read because the movie is coming out soon.

This novel follows the character of Lou Clark as she becomes the carer of Will, a quadriplegic. Will became paralyzed after an unfortunate motorcycle accident.

Despite the heavy subjects of the novel, paralysis, spinal cord injury associated pain and the right to end ones suffering; it is a quick read that brings joy and a tremendous amount of tears to the reader. All the characters have depth and are well developed without getting into lengthy details. I imagined the characters as the actors in the film which helped me see the story more vividly. This was possible since there wasn’t any specific character description, physically speaking, which allows for a greater space for imagination. The plot moves with ease, gripping every inch of your attention. I spent hours a day reading the book staying awake late at night just to finish a chapter, wanting to know what will happen next.

A great read that makes you ask yourself some big questions.

Now it is impossible for me to imaging the amount of pain quadriplegics go through and how the sudden change alters their lives tremendously and I have no right to tell anyone how to live their lives but I want to say this.

Even though research is slow, there is hope. I recently came past a research group that developed an implant that stimulates the spine in order to regain limb function. They did the animal studies and the human ones are on their way. Link to the video. There is also stem cell research in order to regenerate the damaged spine in the first phase of clinical trials. A recent article in Nature News, talked about the first paralyzed person to be able to move their hands.

I just want to show that many people are working hard to find a treatment.

My Thoughts On - Fellside by M.R. Carey

Orbit | 496 pages | 2016

The new novel from the author of The Girl With All The Gifts!
If you read The Girl With All The Gifts, you know not to expect a typical plot even if the story summary seems straight forward. A woman kills a child and goes to prison for it. The kid's ghost hunts her but he tells her she was not the one who hurt him. She then tries to find out who did. Simple, right? But don't be fooled. M. R. Carey has a world of dreams waiting intertwined with brutally realistic depiction of the life of inmates and prison. All important characters have their own back story integrated so well into the story they seems as a continuous stream of narration making this novel a fluid read. 
The great thing is the plot twist is well hidden until it creeps on you at the very end. 
Although this is a good novel, when you compare it to The Girl With All The Gifts it seems lacking in someway. The gripping narrative of The Girl With All The Gifts is unique and tough to top. None the less, Fellside is a great book by itself and definitely worth the read. 

My Thoughts On - Complications by Atul Gawande

Picador | 270 pages | 2003

I came across this book when I was looking for an insight into the surgical world since I was starting my master's in a program popular with surgeons. 
This book was great at showing how human the healthcare system is and specially its surgeons who have the reputation of being gods or machines. Of course it is only a reputation. This book helps see them under a different light where like every human they make mistakes they learn from it and some don't but the consequences of their actions have a big impact on their patients' lives and their own as well. 
I like how this book doesn't profess surgery as the ultimate great branch of medicine. Sure it is a very hard one but the book shows how other branches improved and how their technology and methods can help surgery become more refined and less risky. The one example I remember is anesthesiology. They reduced their human errors by introducing machines that help the anesthesiologist make sure the tubes are in the airways and that the patient's is still breathing. 
This book is worth reading since not only it is informative but the writing style of the author is fluid and has the ability to keep your attention by using personal anecdotes. I remember reading about the author's first emergency tracheotomy and I remember feeling anxious about the woman's outcome. These stories adds yet another human touch to the sterile and stoic world of surgery.
Recommended read for curious souls and upcoming surgeons. 

My thoughts On - Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephanie Meyer

Little, Brown | 752 pages | 2015

Twilight is one book you either love or hate. I happen to be on the love side and I enjoyed this fantasy book with all it twists and kinks along the way. So when I knew Stephanie Meyer is presenting a reimagined version of Twilight for its 10 years anniversary I couldn't be happier.