Betty Recommends...

What would it feel like to have reached the height of academis - Harvard professor of cognition - and suddenly at age 50, start to lose your faculties. This touching, personal account of early onset Alzheimers is unique because it is told from the perspective of the victim. I saw the world a little differently after I finished it.

Just after WWII a writer is contacted by a fan on the island of Guernsey. As events unfold and she goes to Guernsey, she learns of the misery, bravery and ingenuity of the locals when Guernsey was abandoned by the British to be captured by the Germans. Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is just a gem!

Of the five days I was gone, I spent three completely under the spell of Her Fearful Symmetry. It is the most wonderful ghost story I have ever read. I loved the characters, each more quirky than the next. I was mesmerized by all the twinness. The English setting added to the charm, and the story line was just fantastic enough to keep me levitated without dropping me. To those adventurous readers willing to trust me, I beg you to give this new entry by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife a try. You will be rewarded with a kooky but contemporary tale of what happens when you mess with the fates. And you'll learn some interesting historic facts about cemeteries while you're at it. And, its not creepy at all. Reading Her Fearful Symmetry is time well spent.

Tracing the interwoven lives of four Smith College friends during and after college, Commencement is a (less edgy), more appealing updated version of The Group. It is especially delicious to read about the college rituals and Sullivan gets the atmospheric details just right. Commencement has a great narrative thrust and wonderful characters. You will find it a great way to spend a few days caught up in the lives of others.