Category: book review

Book review for Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

Harper Perennial, 2008, c1990

I first read this book in a University of Minnesota class for continuing education students and was happily surprised. This book helps you become a better person. Mihaly challenges you to get out of the lull that you droll through every day and to see the “moment” for what it really is: a poignant opportunity to improve. And on top of that, once we get into the habit of self-challenging and achieving goals, then the process becomes seamless and almost “Flow’s” naturally. This book gave some insights on how to cultivate the flow experience. It is not exactly a how-to book, but it does give some suggestions.

source: Ethan Banks via Pexels

Flow is talked about as a tool to enrich lives and make the most out of work-life, free time, or learning, which is why it was a necessary read for returning college students not used to the rigorous studies that lay ahead of them. This state of “flow,” or optimal experience—a state that is hard to describe but basically encompasses measured, precise concentration on an intellectually or physically satisfying task.

It is very comfortable to read and not too scientific and the author tries to stay objective. I laughed a few times in a kind of it’s funny because it’s true sort of way. The only downside of the book I would mention again is that it isn’t a how-to book, I got so excited by the notion of flow and optimal experience I wanted a formula but that is almost impossible because of the fluid nature of being in flow and everyone’s individual preferences, goals, and abilities.

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Book review: The Place Between Breaths by An Na

Atheneum, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2018

This little, cerebral thriller of a book packs a punch. However, there’s a few things to consider before you read it. It is a book about mental health and schizophrenia. It is not a fluffy cuddly book. This one bites, and confuses. The author has South Korean origins, meaning that the Eastern influences are heavy in the writing style of the book. And why do I say both things before I even review the book? Because if you’re expecting a perfectly “coherent” fluffy book, this book is not it and it definitely isn’t a Western view of the world even if it is set in the US.

Throughout the novel we get to know Grace, who saw her mother deteriorate in the grips of schizophrenia, and then ultimately disappear from her life. Her mother has never been found, which has led Grace’s father on a desperate quest to find a cure for this debilitating illness. Grace interns at the lab where her father works. He is a headhunter, bringing in the top scientists from around the world to join forces in search of the key that will unlock a cure for Grace’s mother—the love of his life—if only they could find her.

This is a non-linear novel that uses the seasons of the year to anchor you in the story. Na is a master of imagery and it felt to me that her arresting descriptions of the weather coincided with Grace’s moods and mental state. I could be reading too much into it, but nothing in this book felt accidental.

In addition to jumping back and forth between the seasons and around in the story, the reader is also left to parse between reality and delusion. This made for an intriguing and gut-wrenching, but unenjoyable read. Though, I would argue that “enjoyable” was not the goal, and for this I was glad.

Though a novel, this did not read like an attempt to make schizophrenia into entertainment. This felt like a deft effort to bring understanding to an illness that continues to be misunderstood, despite decades of research. The portrayal of this mental illness and how it breaks the mind apart from the inside out was honest and elegant. It does not glorify the disease but rather exposes it in all its gruesome tragedy.

It was definitely worth the read, and I believe an important work for helping people understand what schizophrenia looks like from the inside out. It’s a confusing illness, and to wrap up the story with a neat little bow would have been disingenuous. In the end, I appreciated the beauty and tragedy, and clarity and confusion Na wove together to create this novel. There are a lot of twists and intriguing bits in the story where at first you aren’t sure but as the story progresses you begin to realize how much Grace is fighting and what “enemy” she’s fighting. In my opinion it was a clever book with the way it sets things and how it leaves you guessing

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Book review: Haldol and Hyacinths by Melody Moezzi

A Bipolar Life

Avery, A member of Penguin Group, 2013

“People tend to look unfavorably upon the mentally ill, especially those of us who’ve been hospitalized. Losing your mind is indeed traumatizing but doing so in front of a supposedly sane audience is mortifying. It’s not like getting cancer. No one rallies around you or shaves her head in solidarity or brings you sweets. “Normals” (or “normies,” as some of us “crazies” affectionately refer to them) feel uneasy around those of us who’ve lost a grip on reality. Perhaps they’re afraid we might attack them or drool on them or, worse yet, suck them into our alternate universe where slitting your wrists and talking to phantoms seem perfectly rational.” ― Melody Moezzi

Haldol and Hyacinths, is a powerful, funny, and moving narrative that pays tribute to the healing power of hope and humor, by writer Melody Moezzi, an Iranian American and Muslim, who speaks out against the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder. She certainly doesn’t fit the highly inaccurate stereotype of someone with mental illness.

“A lot of ways, when you are labeled with something like manic depression or schizophrenia. That label carries so much weight and you take it on as part of your identity in a way that can be really harmful.” Moezzi said.

She isn’t disabled or violent or contagious. Melody is an attorney with a Master’s degree in Public Health. She is an award-winning author who has made many national and international media appearances. Many people who suffer from mental illnesses are highly educated, high functioning individuals.

For Moezzi, and only after years of mania and depression, was she successfully diagnosed in 2008 and subsequently, found access to the right treatment plan and medication.  Bipolar disorder can be wrought with hallucinations, delusions, extremes highs or lows in mood, and impulsivity. In her case, such impulses led to a suicide attempt. But after years of improper diagnoses, medications, and humiliating, dehumanizing inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations, medication, therapy, and having a partner that helped her focus on her full self she managed her illness and found her calling to tell her powerful story. It took a lot of bravery, and humor, for Melody to share her story.  She is quick to point out the importance of speaking, writing, and living authentically.

It was exciting, interesting, and excellent glimpse into the life and mind of an extraordinary young woman with an unfortunate mental disorder.

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Book review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This book is about a misfit trying to find her place in the world. For most of her life, Elise has been an outsider when it comes to making friends. So the summer before her sophomore year, Elise uses current trends and fashion in one last attempt to be accepted by her peers. However, it goes horribly wrong, and Elise attempts suicide but realizes that she isn’t serious about it. When Elise, an avid music lover, has trouble sleeping, she goes on long walks, and one night she happens upon a hidden dance club. Elise feels that she has finally found a place to fit in with the kids in the club in addition to the DJ playing the music.

Elise’s road to acceptance and freedom isn’t smooth, and through the bumps along the way she finally finds who she’s meant to be. Elise is smart and funny and very relatable. She is so real and suffers from such a painful combination of self-scrutiny, naivety about others, and deep convictions about what’s really important in life and who is really on her side, half of which are wrong. Most of her observations and sentiments are spot on, though some of her interactions with her family seem to be her pretending to be someone else. It does deal with tough subjects of suicide, fitting in and cyber bullying in a moving, insightful, inspiring and often comedic way.

Elise’s love of music is a huge part of her story, and there are many references to bands and songs throughout, so some teens or twenty-somethings will love it. Older readers might not be interested enough to follow Elise on her journey of self-acceptance. Others will see it as a brilliant story about a young woman trying to find where she fits in the world, discovering her talents & joy through music and finding her own sense of community which will make it a fun, inspiring read.

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Book review: All the Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman

Hot Key, 2019

As soon as I read the subject matter of this boldly designed book, I knew that I had to devour it. It’s a character driven; UK Young Adult contemporary novel based on mental health. Not to be disappointed when I began reading, I was drawn into the stories of the three girls. I loved the author’s note at the beginning which really set the tone for the book.

The book tells the story of 3 young girls from 3 very different lives, but they all have one sad fact in common, the want to die.  As a result the girls each sign up to a website that is designed to pair people with other people who want to die. But it is this pack that brings the 3 girls together and allows them to find the support that they each needed. 

As I learnt more about why Mehreen, Olivia and Cara had joined MementoMori. I really began to connect and empathize with the diverse characters which weren’t the sole focus of the story and didn’t define the characters entirely. Mehreen’s religion was an important factor, but she was so much more than just that and was such a real character that, despite me being from a totally different background, I could relate. I found it to be the same with all the characters and that was something that I think Yasmin really excelled at with this novel and its unusual typeface

So, the website sets a time place and course of death for the girls, and as the date of termination (as it is referred to) approaches the girls have to complete a task that is set and send photographic proof. The first 2 tasks the girls do with easy, but it is when the 3rd task arrives that the girls admit that they have changed their minds. 

The problem is the website doesn’t want to let the girls out. After all, they signed up and agreed to the terms and conditions. Pushing the girls to their breaking point the girls begin to crumble and turn on each other.  

This is an interesting book, but as I first mentioned you need to be careful when reading this story as it is an emotional and mental journey. It has to be noted that this book contains many triggers, for those that vulnerable to such material. Topics touched upon, besides suicide, include self-harm, rape and severe anxiety and depression. I personally was okay with all of these and found that they were handled very sensitively and not in a way that made for uncomfortable reading.

All the Things We Never Said is not a typical YA book. I believe that it is a book that can help to open dialogue and get people talking about their feelings and issues, instead of hiding behind a mask that so many people use today to hide how they are truly feeling.

This book highlights the importance of speaking, talking about your problems, and how you are feeling. As it is through these actions, the characters realize that they are not alone and that the simple act of talking to someone openly and honestly can change your perspective.

An audiobook is also available for those that may have issues with the typeface.

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Book review: Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2013

Seventeen-year-old Vancouver rocker and classically trained pianist Kiri Byrd is home practicing her art while alone for the summer since her parents are off on a cruise. Pretty early into her stay at home, Kiri’s plans go awry when she receives a mysterious call to pick up some of her deceased older sister’s belongings in a sketchy part of town. Kiri forms a bond with sister Sukey’s troubled neighbor and with a boy named Skunk that alter her views of many things.

At first it seems that Kiri is simply coming into her own, gaining wisdom, and accepting life’s unpredictability, but soon it becomes clear that Kiri (manic) is also losing control because the experience of dealing with the shocking truth causes her to tumble into a downward spiral, so Kiri’s mental state is alarmingly called into question. Reader will sense the narrative becoming less lucid, more frantic, and questionably mentally ill as is that of her new romance who is paranoid.

Kiri is a musician, preparing for the Young Pianists’ Showcase, which means dedicated practice and now she’s not sleeping and manically playing at 5 a.m., while her thoughts go wild and then subdued again. Due in most part to the author’s convincing dialogue and moving characterizations this young adult, coming-of-age novel blurs the lines between genius and madness, love and loss, demands and freedom, perception and reality, peace and turmoil. The debut author’s embracing of the complexities of grief, family dynamics, creativity, mental illness, and love pens them with a thoughtful, subtle hand. Despite how we as readers may fear for Kiri, she’s unabashed in how she lives her life, and it’s both exhausting and exhilarating to watch.

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Book review: Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2014

When Laurel starts writing letters to dead people for a school assignment, she begins to spill about her sister’s mysterious death, her mother’s departure from the family, her new friends, and her first love. —adapted from cover

Clever approach used in telling this compelling and well-written story. This book was beautiful with a wonderful protagonist, and an amazingly intricate and complex cast of supporting characters. Laurel starts a school assignment by writing a letter to a person who has died. So, it’s told solely through letters to different famous dead people, (such as Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Heath Ledger, and Amelia Earhart Laurel) as it explains her life after her older sister dies. She keeps writing more stories to work out her feelings of all the events she has had in her life like the “fairy” moments and witchcraft that she and her sister shared.

The story reminds me of Speak at some points. The events slowly reveal what happened to her and she learns how to help herself. After the accident Laurel wants to start fresh so she starts at a new high school, meets new friends and starts to act like her sister to feel like she’s still there. And it’s through these letters she begins to be able to talk about what happened and Laurel finds out who she really is.

This book was heartbreaking and stunning in every aspect and reminiscent of Perks of Being a Wallflower and 13 Reasons Why. Its honesty as it deals with grief and growth struck me as wholeheartedly beautiful. The story was dark at times, anxiety-inducing as you watch the main character deal with her issues in not-so-healthy ways but empowering in the end. Not only that, but this book gives some really great music suggestions. Fans of any John Green novel should definitely give this book a try. And the author is currently writing a screenplay—this would make an excellent film!

Book review: (Don’t) Call Me Crazy

33 Voices Start the Conversation About Mental Health

Algonquin Young Readers, 2018

To understand mental health, we need to talk open about it. This (Don’t) Call Me Crazy collection explores a wide range of topics, from the authors’ personal experiences with mental illness and understanding how our brains are wired, to exploring the do’s and don’ts of talking about mental health.—adapted from back cover

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is a gathering of short stories, essays, poetry, and art published by American author and former librarian Kelly Jensen. Formatted like a scrapbook, the collection contains 33 works written by different authors who have in some way grappled with mental illness. They explore the personal and public dimensions of illness, including rhetoric about mental health, the science of the brain, and misconceptions and stereotypes. Taken as a whole, the works seek to normalize discourse about mental health, making clear that no one suffers in solitude.

This anthology comprises a diverse range of authors and genres. In one, formatted as a comic strip, author Gemma Correll brings an illustrative depth to an anxiety disorder, inviting readers into her stylistic universe while suggesting that anxiety’s emotional universe is open to everybody. Another comic, by Yumi Sakugawa, uses calm imagery to transmit her journey from despising to loving her body and mind. Hannah Bae writes about growing up in a Korean American family with a paranoid mother and emotionally abusive father, and how she struggled to form an identity while constantly worrying about them. Bae ultimately left her parents to forge her own path, exchanging anxiety for guilt but soothing it through therapy.

Libba Bray personifies her obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety, while Stephanie Kuehn describes life with misophonia (selective sound sensitivity syndrome). Adam Silvera dispels the myth that successful or cheerful individuals don’t experience depression; Emery Lord seethes at the ignorant remarks about suicide she overhears at a Vincent van Gogh exhibit. Shaun David Hutchinson emphasizes that depression may live in your skin, but it does not control you. Monique Bedard offers a moving prose poem about the pernicious, lasting effects of the systemic abuse of Native women.

Jensen includes authors who are diverse along several spectra. Aside from a racially diverse cast, she includes LGBTQ voices and the voices of those who live with disabilities. In an essay by Shaun David Hutchinson, the author acknowledges that his depression is part of his identity, but not essential to it. He writes in response to the reductive language used by his boyfriend and employer that characterizes him as “depressed” first and foremost. Other authors, such as S. Jae-Jones, have similar problems with reductive language. Jae-Jones terminates a friendship after she finds that her friend has always seen her as a manic pixie dream girl. Having experienced a real manic episode, she knows exactly how damaging the stereotype can be. This anthology is a must read for those seeking to learn more about mental illness, families with loved ones that have disabilities, or as a reference or resource for any school library.