Wow. This is a stunning story of food and nourishment for the body, mind, and soul. I can't imagine the journey from nearly dying from a ruptured aneurysm to recovery through cooking and food.

This book has stayed with me months after finishing it. I strongly recommend it,

STIR: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home - Jessica Fechtor

FASCINATING LOOK AT LIFE AND HEALTH - 3.5 stars

Plot - 3.5 stars - Jessica's life is moving along smoothly as a young married graduate student who keeps herself fit with running. But an unexpected aneurysm changes her life completely. We follow along as she deals with the medical issues, plus we share memories of her life and philosophies of healing. She has always enjoyed cooking and baking, so her goal is to get back into the kitchen to "prove" to herself that she's well. What I liked is that she found it most helpful to her wellness when she could work on her food blog, focusing on other things rather than her health. In everyday life, the people around her would treat her with extra care, but blogging brought her out of herself and allowed her to feel whole again even as she struggled to get better.

Writing - 3.5 stars - Although Fechtor has had a terrifying medical experience, her life before that has been fairly quiet. She shares much of her history, and it's slow going as we watch the progression of her university life, getting together with her husband, building a life together until the point when she is struck down. The writing is smooth and easy to read, but there's just not enough content to keep the reader's interest for the first half of the book. It's when she is recovering and finding her new direction that the book really shone for me. Her hopeful outlook on life and thoughtful comments hit home to me many times and could apply to anyone, not just someone in her situation.

Characters - 3.5 stars - We hear the story in Jessica's voice, understanding her actions and motivations through her thoughts and philosophies of life. She has a healthy lifestyle of good eating and exercise, which is why it's so ironic that she ends up with this major medical issue. She spends a lot of time reflecting on choices, thinking about how those options led her life in a different direction.

Title - 4 stars - When Jess is healing, she continues to mark her progress and often uses cooking as a measure. At one point she was feeling her life getting back to normal, not quite a major life change but subtler. Not a shift, but a stir.

Cover - 4 stars - The cover is bright and colorful, with the intriguing look at the dripping spoon. It definitely caught my attention.

Overview - 3.5 stars - This book would be more enjoyable for someone who is a cook or a baker or who is particularly interested in food. Although I am none of these things, I still found it very pleasant because Jessica has a fascinating outlook on life and I enjoyed reading about it. She is a quiet, insightful person, and there's a great sense of peace and acceptance throughout the book. The recipes included relate directly to the chapters and are clear and fairly easily decipherable, even by someone who is totally unfamiliar with the kitchen.

I could take this one or leave it. Mildly entertaining, a tad interesting, but overall i wasn't too impressed. I appreciate what Jessic endured. I guess I'm just not a person who understands passionate cooking in a certain sense, so don't really get it. But it wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea.