After her mom’s suicide, JJ Landis wanders through loneliness and pain. She knows grieving is necessary, but all she can do as a twelve-year-old is keep her sadness locked inside. She walks forward facing rejection, fear, addiction, and depression. Despite her circumstances, she collects pieces of goodness, trinkets of hope, and fragments of redemption along her path. With healing, she is eventually able to recognize these as gifts. Growth comes from letting go of the past and pain and stepping forward each day. And with growth comes the wisdom to know what to hold close and what to keep. We’ve all suffered; we’ve all rejoiced. Every one of us has been on a pilgrimage, and we are all still hiking.
JJ Landis’s first book, Some Things You Keep, was a memoir about growing up after the suicide of her mom. She’s published several articles about suicide and grieving. JJ has also written three picture books: Mia’s Wish, Marshall Mellow, and Pajama Promise. JJ is a librarian and educator in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and three kids, an occasional exchange student, the calmest dog in the world, and an irrational cat.
What a beautifully heartbreaking story of love and loss, and growth and overcoming incredible odds. This story is poignant and brought me to tears, not only for the sadness the author had to endure but the strength of character she had in fighting to become someone who is able to live and learn and value the truly important things in life. I loved it!
Reviewed by Katherine Williams for Readers' Favorite
Some Things You Keep is a poignant yet inspirational memoir about the life of the author, JJ Landis. When JJ was around twelve years old, her mother committed suicide and her life soon changed forever. The night her mother died, she immediately had to move in with her father, stepmother and stepsister, which made her feel guilty. She understood herself to be an outsider, a person forced to move in with a new family that she didn’t feel a part of. Guilt and even deeper feelings of sadness end up haunting her through most of her life. In each chapter, her age advances, and her years as a teenager and young adult are filled with unhealthy coping mechanisms of dealing with pain. These coping mechanisms include constant partying, drinking, drugs, and sex. While doing these things, JJ believes that she will always feel empty inside. But her belief slowly changes as an adult when she finds Christianity, accepts Jesus’ love for her, and comes to terms with her depression. This story is a story of struggle, but it is also an amazing testimony of faith and courage.
When I finished Some Things You Keep, I was speechless. All I could think was, “Wow, why is this book not a best seller?” Sometimes when reading a memoir, it is easy to get the sense that the author is not being genuine about their story. But JJ Landis’ writing style is raw, compelling, genuine, and honest all at the same time. Through her writing you discover that she is a compassionate, bright and wonderful woman. The way she tells it all and bares her soul in the written word is amazing and inspiring. It is written in a bit of a slower pace in order to highlight the intensity of her emotions, which I thought was done beautifully. She also manages to include an incredible amount of detail which made the book feel so real to me.
Reading of her struggles was not easy, but being able to discover her major victory made this book so memorable. Despite her hardships, she has such an amazing and radiant view of life that embraces growth. She states that “growth comes from letting go of past and pain and stepping forward each day. And with growth, the wisdom to know what to hold close and what to keep. And what to let go.” No matter what stage of life you are currently in or what you are doing at this moment, I suggest that you read this book right away. It will definitely make you cry and feel sad, but in the end it will make you contemplate life and inspire you to become a better person.
I am often nervous about reading/reviewing my friends' work because I'm afraid it a) won't live up to my expectations and I won't be able to figure out how to tell them without hurting them or b) it will far exceed my expectations and I'll be so jealous that I'm friends with amazing writers who have PUBLISHED A BOOK that I won't be able to think straight. A third fear is that no one will believe me when I say it's good because the author is my friend. That, I can't control.
Let me be clear: J.J.'s book falls in the "b" category of those fears. Her memoir holds up to the standards set by memoirs of far more famous bloggers that I've read. As I turned the pages, I sometimes forgot that I was reading the story of someone I actually know. Her story, which includes family tragedies, drug and alcohol abuse, abortion and redemption is dramatic but never seems overly dramatized, if that makes sense. J.J. conveys her feelings about the life she lived in a way that acknowledges the truth without sanitizing it but doesn't leave readers stuck in the mire. Each chapter of the book leads you to the next chapter of her life, and even though I know the person on the other side of these events, I kept turning the pages, reading one more chapter, to find out what happened next.
JJ Landis is a gifted writer with quite a story to tell. I read Some Things You Keep in just one sitting. In this poignant memoir, JJ deftly retraces her path from anxious child to troubled teen to the strong and humble woman she is today. The losses she endures along the way are staggering, as are the emotional tolls she pays. This book should be required reading for anyone trying to get through to a child who has lost a parent to suicide.
JJ never makes an attempt to paint herself as a victim or a hero. And although her redemption comes through faith and love, her story doesn’t end there. Instead, she takes the brave position that simply becoming a Christian or having a devoted family cannot cure depression. Her candor on this subject is not only refreshing, it’s a gift.
Great book. She struggles through life's events, makes poor choices all the while wanting help. Challenging to think about how we can help others in her situation and similar.
It made me laugh, it made me cry (well, tear anyway :) ) I love the writing style and the entire book as a whole was such an inspiration. Thank you for writing this book & sharing your story. ❤
A raw and honest portrayal of a life of loss and recovery written without sentimentality that inspires the reader to feel deeply. Beautifully constructed and written.
I loved this book for its honesty, wit, bravery, humility and faith. It's the same reason this author is so amazing. My life is so much better for having JJ be a part of it. Keep writing JJ!!
I really appreciated J.J.'s transparent and humble approach to telling her life story. The big take-way from this book is that your past, whether it is a result of your things out of your control or from your own choices, does not dictate your future.
JJ Landis tells this heartwrenching story with honesty and grace. I was very uncomfortable in a couple of spots, but this is THE book that pushed me to write my own story. Don't miss it.