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The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting
by Lisa Genova
A fascinating exploration of the intricacies of how we remember, why we forget, and what we can do to protect our memories, from the Harvard-trained neuroscientist and bestselling author of Still Alice.
Have you ever felt a crushing wave of panic when you can't for the life of you remember the name of that actor in the movie you saw last week, or you walk into a room only to forget why you went there in the first place? If you're over forty, you're probably not laughing. You might even be worried that these lapses in memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's or dementia. In reality, for the vast majority of us, these examples of forgetting are completely normal. Why? Because while memory is amazing, it is far from perfect. Our brains aren't designed to remember every name we hear, plan we make, or day we experience. Just because your memory sometimes fails doesn't mean it's broken or succumbing to disease. Forgetting is actually part of being human.
In Remember, neuroscientist and acclaimed novelist Lisa Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. You'll learn whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds (like a passcode) while others can last a lifetime (your wedding day). You'll come to appreciate the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimer's (that you own a car). And you'll see how memory is profoundly impacted by meaning, emotion, sleep, stress, and context. Once you understand the language of memory and how it functions, its incredible strengths and maddening weaknesses, its natural vulnerabilities and potential superpowers, you can both vastly improve your ability to remember and feel less rattled when you inevitably forget. You can set educated expectations for your memory, and in doing so, create a better relationship with it. You don't have to fear it anymore. And that can be life-changing.
What are you reading this week? (9/04/2025)
Remember by Lisa Genova. I am finding this so readable and fascinating. and I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue. Quirky, funny, sad.
-Barbara_B1
What are you reading this week? (8/28/2025)
The Correspondent… I can't read it fast enough. Also The Searcher by Tana French and Remember by Lisa Genova.
-Barbara_B1
What are you reading this week? (8/21/2025)
...Hitchcock. Set in high society NY adjacent to the working art world. Great characters! Intriguing plot. Evidently things are not as they seem. Also, Remember by Lisa Genova An accessible look at the ability for our brains to hold memory. Listening to The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop. A fun, but authentic look at th...
-Barbara_B1
"Genova's plentiful anecdotes from her personal and professional lives make it easy for readers to relate, and her obvious expertise in memory and the brain results in a book that is more insightful than many others on the subject. Sharp writing and accessible storytelling make for a compelling read." —Kirkus Reviews
"This user-friendly account is very informative and should encourage and comfort concerned readers." —Booklist
"A solid primer on the way memory works and fails to work.…Genova blends popular science and self-help, providing lay reader-friendly descriptions of the function of memory and sharing tips for better memory in a helpful appendix... . This accessible survey is an easy entry point for anyone wondering how and why they keep forgetting where they left their car keys." —Publishers Weekly
"No one writes more brilliantly about the connections between the brain, the mind, and the heart. Remember is a beautiful, fascinating, and important book about the mysteries of human memory—what it is, how it works, and what happens when it is stolen from us. A scientific and literary treat that you will not soon forget." —Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, New YorkTimes bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness
"As with her previous books, this is an engaging and edifying read." —Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of How the Mind Works
This information about Remember was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O'Briens, and Every Note Played. Still Alice was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, and Kristen Stewart. Lisa graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University. She travels worldwide speaking about the neurological diseases she writes about and has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, Today, PBS NewsHour, CNN, and NPR. Her TED talk, "What You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's," has been viewed more than five million times.
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by Lara Avery
Published 2017
They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I'll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I'm writing to remember.
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