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30 book recommendations in 30 days...

Day 7: I hold this one close to my heart. 14 years ago my husband fell off a roof and sustained a brain injury. This book was written by a woman who has been a caregiver to a spouse with an ABI, and it made me sob uncontrollably, but also feel understood/validated. I have recommended it to so many others to help understand my experiences, or to understand their own experiences as a spouse. #30recsin30days

Struggling to make sense of the sudden death of a friend, someone with children and so much good left to do in this world. A memory popped up from a book I read several years ago, and can't help but be drawn in to the struggle described in it as the "intolerable grief of being alive", and how true that must feel for my friend's family right now. The price of love is inevitably a broken heart, and yet it is worth the pain to love...

Probably going to gut me but I‘m going in anyway.

We‘re giving away three signed copies of this gorgeous book! Enter to win at bit.ly/FBCgiveaway32

If you love memoirs don't pass this one over. Maslin put a lot of time and love into this book just like she does with her family and it absolutely shows throughout this memoir.

For my full review visit: https://obsessedbookaholic.com/2019/06/29/love-you-hard-a-memoir-of-marriage-bra...

Ok, I‘m going in and I have tissues handy.

This one‘s hitting me right in the feels.

This one line sums up a lot about this book. Very well written and tear jerker at moments. This woman was the teacher of one of my friend's son. It was odd to hear of the life that so mirrors my friend in places and community but with this senseless act of violence.

Abby Maslin, author of the tagged book, is in the middle. She‘s in conversation with Adele Levine, who wrote Run, Don‘t Walk about her experience as a physical therapist at Walter Reed. And on the right is Michael Scadron who self-published Two Mountains: Kilimanjaro to Quadriplegic and Back. They have three perspectives on traumatic injury—caregiver, patient, and medical professional. All very inspiring! #gburgbookfest

I can't begin to explain how hard hitting this was. Highly recommended! Can't sum it up, so here's a quotation to help

"The years have been quick; the days have been long and messy. Dawn till dusk trying to find our way back to ordinary, wondering every day why our existence must be so much more effort than it was before. Our tragedy will not be our crutch. We will not let it keep us from having a fully lived life. And yet we are so damn tired."

Had a wonderful, and busy, day chasing the god-children around. Finally home & have a chance to ice my injured knee (well...frozen mango it. Lol) and dive back into this memoir. If only I was eating the magos instead, it would be the perfect day 😊

"It's all a mind-fuck - a roller coaster barreling from peaks of gratitude to valleys of seething anger and resentment...Eventually though, I must learn to quiet the anger that...leaves me screaming inside...If I don't...I know I will harden - losing my balance and everything else I'm trying to protect."

#abi #tbi #caregiver

Spending my morning crying as I continue this book. So many things were different in terms of the medical/situational details, yet those same feelings were all there. Even the quotations she includes almost tear my heart out, knowing how much I experienced them on a gut level after my husbands injury #gutpunch

There are few things I love more than lighting a new beeswax candle, and sitting down to a good book. Happy reading tonight everyone!

Just cried my way through the first 35 pages of this gem. Not sure that everyone would find it quite so emotional, but it took me back to my hours spent waiting for my husband to have a craniotomy done due to a head/brain injury. This is going to be a *tough* read, but I love everything she writes on her blog, so it will be totally worth it! #abi #tbi #hardlove #loveeverysecond ❤

Need to wait until March 15th for it to arrive, but I absolutely could not be more excited for this memoir! For several years I have been following Abby Maslin's blog/articles for brainine.org - I cry every time. If you are interested in caregiving perspective, acquired (traumatic) brain injury, or just plain how does love survive ongoing trauma/challenge, this will be something to read. Is it March yet?! #abi #tbi #caregiver #love #reinvention