Tag Archive: mental-health
Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Many reviews about this book are high, some are low ratings. It’s her life. I don’t think it is up to me to judge it. Her life is far different than mine. Yet, I found a deep dive into another life, another memoir gave me insight into writing my own.
Until I saw Selma Blair on the View, I think it was, I had only heard the name and couldn’t put a face with the name. Not too uncommon for me with anyone. Her movies weren’t my type of movie. But I have known friends and loved ones that had MS. It is such a horrifying disease. I was curious to see how this person handled it.
If you like autobiographies, memoirs, this is for you. If you don’t, you might move forward to another read. Ms. Blair gets personal and honest about many aspects of her life. I found the writing well done. And her voice is actively involved; honest tears are felt when she reads the parts most vulnerable.
Since her life always included pain and depression, it is spelled out quite often. If that is triggering for you, this might not be the read for you. It does help to see how someone else worked through her own darkness. I think it was worth the read.
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don’t know who recommended this book for me. Whoever, thank you! This was so interesting!
Having borrowed the Libby audio narrated by the author, I now hope to buy the book someday.
The thing is, this is more than a book about depression, or even one person’s account of his own journey. This book includes a bit of history of the diagnosis and treatment for centuries. It also includes how the disorder affects different socioeconomic sets of people.
I highly recommend this for anyone who has gone through depression or know of others who might be suffering. It leads to not only a deeper understanding, but medical issues and ways to find health.
On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety by Andrea Petersen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Boy, am I glad I did! It was well-written and well-researched.
Do you suffer from anxiety/depression like I do? Have you taken every drug the doctor prescribed and not have it work at all? Here is someone who has. I personally related to this book. Andrea Petersen tells her story while relating it to the science in history and current treatments for these ailments. She tells about her experiences helping us to see all the things in her life that could have or didn’t cause her own problems. She owns what she can but it isn’t a blame game for her. It is trying to understand how it was she thought she was going to die during anxiety episodes.
I am going to put a bit of a spoiler here as it is the one takeaway I want to remember. And I’ll tell you why. Have you had a panic attack? I have. But I’ve also had stage fright. I used to sing solos at churches. I found this to be true: If I could get excited about singing the song in front of people I rarely made mistakes and the song sounded pretty good. I never could have said that about giving a speech or playing solos on the piano. TERRIFIED FROZEN POOL OF SWEAT. The same applies to talking to people on the phone, even people I love. If I had the performance memorized and I was excited (which can also cause shaking hands) I did fine. If I can work on making sure to build the excitement, I might be able to overcome the phone issues. It’s an idea I plan to try as I think of it. You see, you can’t memorize what you are going to say on the phone. I tried when I did phone sales. My stuff was memorized for the person if they followed their lines, they never did. But maybe when I plan to talk to someone I love, friends, and the family I can start applying this excitement over anxiety. Have you tried it? Did it work for you?
You may find a ton of things to help you in Ms. Petersen’s story. As a journalist she gets personal yet she hangs onto that ability to step back and remain ‘just the facts, M’am’ research writer. I loved reading this book! I hope others who have had to endure mental illness either personally or someone you love, will take the time to read it. Maybe you’ll find some answers.
You’re Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have always admired Felicia Day. It was great to see a smart female actress playing smart female characters on the shows I’ve seen her on.
This book gave me insight to the person and her history. It was fun to know that we shared a similar history. No, I’m old enough to be her mother. But my children shared her history and I through them. We learned the computer from way back with CompuServe, Prodigy (where I met my husband) and various video games and bulletin boards. Her ultimate game was WoW whereas my kids got into EQ. It was fun reading about how it was physically meeting the friends she made online. That experience the kids and I shared. But it was fun to watch the computer evolving with the generation who came of age at the same time.
My children were homeschooled, too. It was interesting to see her thoughts on it. I find that we who were schooled who wasted so many years with more time dedicated to kids with bad behaviors or teachers who bored us to sleep and were still quite socially shy and experienced depression tried to save our children of that. Instead, they blame their very anxiety on not having to school. They don’t realize the opportunity they had without all the wasted time. Felicia became a professional violinist. And all these skills she acquired that makes her unique are a direct result from not being squeezed into a mold that schools force children into.
Anyway, I loved being able to listen to Felicia read her own story. It gave, even more, credence to autobiography. I knew I wanted to listen to her read it. But I found that there was no Text-to-Speech. That made me sad because had I not been able to afford the Audible version to whispersynch I would have had no way to enjoy this book. Still, it was delightful to listen to her voice. I wish her the very best in life. She deserves it!
The Nature of Denial by Madelyn March
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Disclaimer: I was given this ebook for an honest review.
Oh. My. Goodness! For me, this was an amazing book! To some, those who have never experienced mental illness in their birth families or within themselves, it might seem extreme. But if you have been blessed not to have depression or bipolar issues in your personal life if you were lucky enough to never have had post-partum depression, please read this book. Madelyn March, the author, climbs in deep and dirty to let the reader experience the confusion of being a child in an unhealthy family, and dives deeper as that grown child now has a child of her own. If Ms. March hasn’t experienced all this herself, she has done an enormous amount of research, speaking with those who have been through it.
This was a longer than the usual ebook, 250 pages. I loved the length as it gave me a chance to get to know all the characters. They were all well developed. The main character, Anna, brings you through her life to the moment of her breakdown and her struggles to come back to life. Other characters get their chance to show their own points of view which helps the reads see how these things happen in real life.
But this book doesn’t get bogged down in peoples’ heads. Life continues happening. Beauty still exists. Nature refuses to be upstaged by the minds of humans. I loved that aspect of this book. I got to travel to Michigan, hike in the woods, see the great lake, Superior. Never been there. Not sure I could handle the cold. But traveling by book never makes my fibromyalgia flare up. 🙂
Now that I know all these characters so deeply, I hate to let this group go. Though it was a nice ending with all threads tied up and hope for the future established, I want more. I want to see what happens next. I think that is a sign of a great book. And for those who might want to try it, it is free on Kindle Unlimited, only $2.99 for Kindle (I think it is well worth that) and there is a giveaway going right now on GoodReads. Oh, and the title is perfect! Try it!
Taxi – Timing by Sophia DeLuna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The trauma that started in book/section three continues. It is so bad that it could be the end of the relationship between Carmen and her lover and even plays a part in her relationships with family and friends. But is time on her side? Is there a point where your trauma can isolate you to a point of starvation. Can she find her inner strength before everyone gives up on her?
This may be the most personal of all. If you haven’t lived with trauma that is that debilitating you might not understand what Carmen is going through. But I felt the author, Sophia Deluna, did a marvelous job getting inside the heads of characters of this section. And something I haven’t written about in my reviews of the previous Taxi installments is her writing. I love it! Her descriptions and ability to tell a story, reeling in this reader, hook, line and sinker. All the relationships seem real. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this story.
As with the other few bits of this story, I am most upset by the price per bit. I am now at the end of my budget for the month so I won’t be able to read part five for a month. It is this that is causing the less than five stars for me. At least with Kindle Unlimited I can still read a book when the money runs out. Oh well. I still have a few of Ms. DeLuna’s other stories downloaded to peruse over the next few weeks.
Darswords 
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