Non-F A HEART that WORKS by Ron Delaney-Comedian's Irreparable Loss of His Son

I need to remind myself why I chose to read Rob Delaney's book memorializing his son's two and a half years of life, the inconsolable pain and torment watching his son suffer and die.  Rob Delaney made it clear why he chose to write about the worst thing imaginable for any parent to experience.  I'm a fan of Rob Delaney's standup and of his popular show CATASTROPHE which he stars and co-writes.  The comical and oftentimes jarringly serious and sobering series airs on Apple TV.  The series overlapped with the year and half their youngest son was treated for a fatal brain tumor.   Delaney wrote "Our baby boy got sick.  We went to a lot of doctors, trying to find out what was wrong with him.  We found out what it was. It was very, very bad.  It got worse.  And then he died.  And now he's dead.  I still have to remind myself."  Delaney is clear as to his reasoning for writing about this. "Why do I feel compelled to talk about it, to write about it, to disseminate information designed to make people feel something like what I feel?  What my wife feels?  What my other sons feel?  Done properly, it will hurt them.  Why do I want to hurt people?"  Delaney goes on to say, "I genuinely believe, whether it's true or not, that if people felt a fraction of what my family felt and still feels, they would know what this life and this world are really about."  I have to admit that my motive for reading was anything but altruistic.  I wanted to put my problems in a perspective that would make me feel humble and grateful.  Delaney's unfiltered depictions are so heart wrenching that I feel the hurt.  I also felt shamed.  Ashamed for expecting someone else's pain to suffice for agony I've been spared.  For this I feel horrible.  I feel fortunate for not having suffered this inconsolable grief loss but I do share the deep sorrow others carry.  I realize life is to be savored and the joys of having loved ones and the miraculous gift for loving is to be cherished.   I did gain a wisdom from having read Delaney's  piercing account in "A Heart that Works".  From this wisdom came sorrow. "Name an emotion:  I can still feel it, and often do.  Leah and our boys and I laugh everyday.  But now there's a band of black in my rainbow, too, that wasn't there before.  Or if it was there, I couldn't see it before Henry died.  It's a part of me now.  And it should be.  Grief colors the happy moments now."  (Rob Delaney). "A Heart that WORKS" should be read.  It will imprint its grip upon your heart.  

Sci-Fi LIGHT from UNCOMMON STARS-Hugo Winner by R. Aoki Uncommonly Spectacular

The author for the sci-fi fantasy novel "Light from Uncommon Stars" by Ryka Aoki, shares several things in common with her protagonist, Katrina.  Both are of Japanese heritage and transgender women.  In this surprisingly tender and other worldly novel, Aoki has combined several far-flung genres and styles that expand the conceptions of what constitutes some preconceived ideas of elements of science fiction.  Aoki is an award winning poet.  This is apparent in her elegiac descriptions and confluence of the arts and theology.   The plot circumnavigates the intergalactic space travel of a family fleeing the demise of their planet.  The crew is captained by Lan.  Lan shepherds them safely across the galaxy to inhabit Earth in California's San Gabriel Valley.  Lan's natural plum colored skin and double-elbowed joints are camouflaged to blend in with Earth's species.  Specifically, the Asian communication in CA in which Lan and her clan set up shop in a donut cafe where they create crawlers, muffins, and baked goods in order to have enough dough to pay their bills.  Lan escaped with her three children, eldest Sylvia, her devoted and brilliant daughter, Marcus, an assimilated, disgruntled teen, and twins, Eddie and Wendy.  Also in the mix is the doting aunt learning to bake delectable, edible sweets.  The story delightfully describes mouth watering meals and provides a sounding board for musical riffs, compositions and joys inherent with the gifts music sustains.  The plot and its many twists flow from Katrina.  Katrina is brutalized and scorned by her parents, tormented, sexually abused and struggling to survive.  Despite these dehumanizing conditions, Katrina maintains a perseverance, grace and manifests a preternatural talent for playing the violin.  This is where the demon comes in, in the form of Satomi, a.k.a. Hell Queen, a pseudonym earned for the six aspiring violinists she consigned to sell their souls for the taste of fame and fortune.  Satomi needs to obtain one more willing to sell their soul within the year to fulfill her pact with the devil. The devil will retract his claim on her soul and bestow Satomi back her prodigious musical talents.  There's several love stories sifted into this caldron; Lan and Satomi have a fiery attraction, Katrina and Sylvia a strong sisterly connection and there's familial love that arises within households.  This  charming, clever and oftentimes humorous novel, "Light" is stuffed with delights.  It's a tale as old as time about mortality, vanity and a clarion wake up call to smell the coffee.  For sci-fi lovers this is a sure fire winner.  For those who claim not to care for the science fiction genre, all I can say is, you don't know what you're missing till you try it.  "Light from Uncommon Stars" is an uncommonly spectacular read that is sure to lead to future series.