"Goodbye, Vitamin" by Rachel Khong

This book is written in the form of journal entries, a year worth of entries to be exact. The main protagonist is a 30-year old woman named Ruth. Her fiance recently left her for another woman, and now she is faced with the fact that her father is suffering from the onset of memory loss. Ruth's mother asks her to stay with them for a year and help take care of her dad. Ruth quits her job in San Francisco, gets rid of her possessions and moves in with her parents in Los Angeles. Her dad was a history professor and adored Ruth when she was a baby. At different times throughout the book, he shares his own journal entries with Ruth that recount adorable things she did or said when she was little. Love is palpable in every entry.

Despite the fact that Ruth has great childhood memories of her father, not everyone in the family shares the rosy picture of her dad. Once Ruth moved away to go to college, her father took up drinking and had an affair with a colleague at the university. Ruth's brother Linus feels resentful towards their dad and her mother is still reeling from betrayal and pain that her husband had caused her.

This novel is about coming to terms with the past, forgiving and coming together as a family to support each other through a difficult time. For Ruth, it also means coming the full circle: now she like her father did when she was little, writes down details about their days together. Some days he is amazingly lucid, enough so to be able to teach history lessons. On other days, he seems disoriented and lost. Ruth is there right beside him no matter what. Her love is patient and selfless, and truly unconditional. The book is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. 4 out of 5 stars.