la_sadie's review against another edition
4.0
Extraordinary story. Great read for anyone fascinated by right-brain, left-brain dynamics. Excellent resource for caretakers and family members of stroke victims.
bookitalum's review against another edition
2.0
This book will interest it’s target audience, but it’s not something I would widely recommend. It goes in a lot of different directions, resulting in a lack of general cohesion. It begins with a neuroscience primer, includes her first hand account of a hemorrhagic stroke, and then strays into the metaphysical. Personally, I feel like she could have skipped the neuroscience primer. I suspect the primary audience for this book will be medical professionals who already know the info (and the “basics” she gives are far too complex for the average non-academic reader).
statman's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty quick read, fascinating story of how she recovered from a stroke. But the last half becomes this soapbox of how to find joy and happiness was in life by listening to your inner self, by tuning out your rational, left brain so that you can find an internal peace.
bibliotequeish's review
5.0
The human brain is amazing.
To me, the human brain is a mystery, a complete mystery that I will never understand.
All I know is it works, and I want it to keep working.
If something were to go wrong, it would be scary, because I wouldn't understand what was happening.
Now, If something were to go wrong, and I knew exactly what was happening, well that, would be terrifying.
That is what happened to Jill Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist.
To me, the human brain is a mystery, a complete mystery that I will never understand.
All I know is it works, and I want it to keep working.
If something were to go wrong, it would be scary, because I wouldn't understand what was happening.
Now, If something were to go wrong, and I knew exactly what was happening, well that, would be terrifying.
That is what happened to Jill Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist.
kjersten's review against another edition
4.0
“my stroke of insight” is about a neuroanatomist’s experience having a rare form of a left hemisphere hemorrhagic stroke and her subsequent eight year recovery journey. I found her perspective very interesting. some of the content was a bit dated (2006), but I enjoyed the recap of the brain at the beginning of the book, depiction of her experience having the actual stroke, and advice for caregivers/medical professionals woven throughout.
that being said, the first 1/2 was more engaging than the second half in my opinion. the tone was very peppy - possibly overly so for some but not for me. it reads kind of like something you might have to read for school, but I still enjoyed it :) interestingly, she just wrote another book on the brain in 2021!
that being said, the first 1/2 was more engaging than the second half in my opinion. the tone was very peppy - possibly overly so for some but not for me. it reads kind of like something you might have to read for school, but I still enjoyed it :) interestingly, she just wrote another book on the brain in 2021!
faithdixon's review against another edition
5.0
I will probably reread this book many times. Amazingly interesting subject and I only wish I could apply some of the techniques of "stepping to the right".
lilygellman's review against another edition
4.0
This was really fantastic - a completely inspiring account of willpower and a description of right- and left-brainedness possessing more clarity than I'll probably get anywhere else.