The line between sanity and insanity

I just finished The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan and IT WAS SO GOOD. I don't know why I am surprised by how much I truly enjoy reading an excellent nonfiction book but it's always such a delight especially when they're as engrossing as this one. You might recognize Susannah Cahalan as the author of Brain On Fire about her experiences being misdiagnosed with psychosis (for a MONTH) before a doctor determined it was actually autoimmune encephalitis. From that experience, Cahalan became a kind of spokesperson for this disease as well as an advocate for a more nuanced and structured diagnostic process. She learns about a well-known study conducted in the early 70s by David Rosenhan which explored the (pseudo)science of psychiatric diagnosis and the environment of psychiatric hospitals. And thus her passion was truly ignited as she worked to track down as much information about this study as possible. The explosive (and controversial) results of this landmark study had a profound effect on the field of psychiatry and how we view and treat mental illness in the United States. Cahalan gives a comprehensive overview of psychiatry and her journey to uncover the identities of those that participated in the original study. The end result was this book which I frankly keep raving about to anyone who will stop long enough to listen to me. Go forth, dear reader! 10/10

Source: Amazon

What I'm currently reading: The Poisoned City by Anna Clark

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Being Human

Each of the books in Smith's Seasonal Quartet focus on a few major subjects/social justice issues/moral imperatives. Spring explores the detainment of refugees and migrants as well as the dehumanization of the people who we place in these centers (as well as the general disregard and/or derision that our society has for people labeled 'other' or 'foreign') . She looks at this topic through a few different lenses so that the reader can get a full view of the situation. We see the inside of a detainment facility in the UK through the eyes of a Detainment Officer named Brittany who has lost all compassion for the people under her 'care'. [A/N: The care aspect is dubious at best if the person doing the caring sees the people as inconveniences instead of humans which is pretty much the main point that Smith is making.] When Brittany meets a young girl at the train station who seems to have an almost hypnotic effect on everyone that she meets (including Brittany) the story takes a turn because Brittany (as well as the reader) is confronted with serious questions about otherness, belonging, and moral responsibility on a macro scale.

The same time that this storyline is unfolding there is a parallel storyline following a director named Richard who has lost someone very close to him and has decided that life has lost all meaning as a result. His story is told very descriptively through literature and film references and without any visuals still manages to evoke clear pictures in the mind of the reader. (If you couldn't tell I really loved it.) Rainer Maria Rilke and Katherine Mansfield's stories are told alongside his as he wrestles with adapting a book about them into a film. I feel that Smith's writing is valuable and poignant as well as incredibly relevant (purposely so which is why I somewhat regret not reading these as they came out). I'm very much looking forward to the last in the series but I'm also sad to be finishing the journey. Spring is a definite 10/10.

[A/N: As a slight spoiler, there are mentions of suicidal ideation so be aware if that might be triggering to you.]

Source: Amazon (this is the UK cover which I prefer)

A/N: It might seem a bit like I've jumped into the middle of a series with today's review but actually I read Ali Smith's Autumn and Winter at the end of last year before I got back into the swing of blogging. For my thoughts on those two books you can head over to my Goodreads page.

What I'm currently reading: The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan & Avengers: Vision and the Scarlet Witch: A Year in the Life by Steve Engelhart

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

Makes me long for the days of Costco's free samples

I often don't pay much mind to the authors of the books that I read which is something I'm working on in 2021. I want to be more purposeful and try to read more diversely not just in gender representation but also by picking up more own voices books that speak to the experiences of marginalized people. So to begin this quest I picked up Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's by Tiffany Midge. Tiffany writes about social justice issues through the lens of satire exploring the experiences of Indigenous peoples in the United States. She covers the gamut of topics from culturally insensitive (i.e. racist) costumes at Halloween to people claiming to be "2/10th Cherokee, I swear" to the atrocities that occurred during the peaceful protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline. My personal favorite essays were the ones she framed as 'open letters' to white girls which were so hysterical that I read them through twice. I also appreciated her tricking her family into going to Costco to try free samples by saying it was the Country Buffet. (I'm taking notes, mom!) The collection gets off to a bit of a slow start (it felt a bit flat especially after the rib tickling introduction by Geary Hobson) but the great thing about an essay collection is that you can always dip in and out without missing any crucial plot points. I definitely think that I'll be picking up more writing from her in the future because I really appreciated her perspective on the sociopolitical climate in the U.S. as well as her A+ dining suggestions. 😉😜 6/10

Source: Amazon

What I'm currently reading: Spring by Ali Smith and Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) ** 

Like sand through the hourglass

Today I'm talking about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. It took far longer to finish than I had anticipated and that was mostly because I expected it to be one thing and it was decidedly another. I had thought (and hoped) it would be heavier on the historical fiction side of things and while it did start out that way it ended up leaning more towards romance (not my fave genre as you know). The reader follows a young woman named Addie LaRue (as the title suggests) who in a moment of desperation cries out to the universe for help and the answer she receives is not at all what she expected. In order to truly be free and live a life of her own choosing she is sentenced to be forgotten by everyone she meets. The story bounces between time periods beginning in the early 1700s and ending up in 2014/present day. Schwab's descriptive writing is truly beautiful and there were many passages that gave me Hamnet vibes (i.e. they were deliciously written) but these sections were brief and generally devolved into Addie's relationship with the god who cursed her. I also appreciated the chill LGBTQ+ vibes that were threaded throughout. However, if I have to distill all my feelings about this book into one word it would have to be: lukewarm. 4/10

[A/N: If you've read this book and want to discuss the ending hit me up in the comments but make sure to tag it as SPOILERS just in case anyone else happens upon it.]

Source: StoryGraph

What I'm currently reading: Spring by Ali Smith and Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) ** 

Laughter is certainly a medicine

As long-time readers of the blog may know I'm a huge fan of Jenny Lawson (go here and here for my thoughts on her other books) so it was pretty much a no-brainer to pick up an early review copy of her newest book Broken (In the Best Possible Way). Like her other two books, Lawson tells stories from her past (growing up, her relationship with her husband, hiding from delivery people, etc) with a heavy dose of gallows humor. (If you're squeamish or unable to play Cards Against Humanity then you're not going to vibe with Jenny which is a daggum shame.) There are a lot of reasons why I absolutely adore Jenny but probably the biggest is that she tackles the tough topics of mental health while cracking these macabre jokes which are 100% up my alley. (You already know I'm death positive so of course jokes about death are my life blood.) She doesn't shy away from delving into those dark places that people who suffer from depression and anxiety dwell and she doesn't sugarcoat her continuing struggles.

I do want to sound a note of caution that if you suffer from any mental health issues and are easily triggered by talk on this subject (or on the subject of suicide) then you might want to sip Jenny's book instead of gulping it down. (No idea why I turned this into a drinking metaphor.) But I do think it is worth your time because it is always so comforting to read about someone else fighting the same demons as yourself. (And you don't want to miss out on the laugh-out-loud moments that this book is saturated with because they are comedy gold.) Another hole-in-one homerun through the goal posts.

Source: Amazon

If you or someone you love are in distress and contemplating self-harm or suicide please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline either by their website or by calling 800-273-8255. There's only one you on this planet and we want to keep you here. <3

What I'm currently reading: Bury my Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's by Tiffany Midge

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) ** 

A breath of fresh air

Just as good as I thought it would be based off of the blurb. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett explores the joys of reading and its ability to take the reader on a journey unlike any other. And the reader featured in this little novella has been on a great many journeys but when she falls in love with reading she is still fundamentally changed...like all of us book junkies. 

Bennett tells the story of what happens when Queen Elizabeth chances upon a mobile library at the back of the palace. For someone who's entire life has been about duty and impartiality the world of books (which naturally cultivates favoritism for authors) has been anathema. But once she sets off down the bookish path there's no stopping her insatiable appetite for the written word. But there's a bit of a hitch to her giddy up. Her staff aren't as jazzed about her newfound hobby as she is and the machinations to which they'll go to wrest her from the grip of her obsession border on the absurd (which is why it's so much fun).

This little book manages not only to explore what it means to fall in love with literature and how it makes your entire view of the world expand but it also manages to cultivate a picture of the monarchy that feels believable (and hysterical). This isn't dry or abstracted but a spoofy and insightfully delightful little romp. So much fun!! 10/10

Source: Goodreads

What I'm currently reading: Broken (In the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) ** 

Dashed expectations and a DNF

I started Single. On Purpose. thinking that it would be a celebration of being single and that it would talk about societal pressures to be in a relationship. I thought (and hoped) it would explore the joys of being on your own and how you can be a complete and happy person without being tied to someone else. I was wrong. While the author does say that being on your own is valuable and meaningful his overall message is that this is only a step toward the ultimate happiness of being in a relationship. And he harps a lot on exercise and weight loss. As someone who has little intention of dating and who is super happy on their own this book felt insulting. Where's the book about being a kick-ass single that doesn't fret about their weight or wearing makeup or having sex? I'm clearly the wrong audience for this book but I'm also super bummed that it wasn't what I thought it would be because that's the book I really wanted to read. 2/10 

[Possible Spoiler: I felt like every bit of advice offered was either something glaringly obvious like 'get more sleep' or 'be happy doing things on your own' or it was bizarrely dangerous like 'go out and have one night stands if you've never done that before' and 'if you encourage your partner to go to therapy there's a better than average chance they will get better and leave you'.]

Source: HarperCollins Publishers

And then there was a wildcard that I picked up at work. The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis (the dream team behind The Wildwood Chronicles which I enjoyed so much) purported to be a wild romp through Marseille following the adventures of a group of thieving youths. But this book falls short. I got nearly halfway through the book before calling it quits because there was entirely too much focus on the buzzwords of thievery to the detriment of a smoothly flowing story. For instance, when our main character meets the whiz mob he is inundated with a long list of jargon to denote where on a person there might be loot (not the word they use by the way) as well as all of the complicated terminology for their roles in the group. And they kept bandying these words around and I kept being pulled from the story because I was trying to puzzle out what the heck they were referencing. (By the way, this is a middle grade book which either makes me a very slow-witted adult or the kids these days really have surpassed me with their slang.) So that's one I didn't finish and don't intend to continue. 2/10 because at least there's a few illustrations.

Source: Amazon

What I'm currently reading: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

**If you're interested in buying any of these books or any books really, you can click here. This will re-direct you to AbeBooks which is a site I use all of the time to find used books at an excellent price. A lot of the time I don't even pay for shipping! Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made through this link. You will not be charged anything additional for my commission. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **