Pick-a-Shelf discussion

October Shelf is mental-health

What did you read and what did you learn?

3+ stars

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

(FYI this has been shelved mental health and after reading it I know it has to do with PTSD)

On the one hand, I liked this much book better than I expected to and stayed up late reading it. On the other hand, I can't say that it is more than a good like for me, say 3+ stars.

What I liked was reading Eve's story because I can't remember if I've read a WWI story about female spies. I also liked some of the things Quinn did in this book. However, I can't say that there were any things that happened in it that were, for me, really new or insightful, etc. I can see why it has sold so well and has been well liked by many people.

I would have liked to see some math references beyond the simple stuff mentioned even if Quinn didn't go into a lot of detail. All I saw was basic arithmetic and one reference to the Pythagorean theory. Sure, she was fast, but that doesn't make a mathematician or a really math savvy individual.

Not about the book and this has nothing to do with my rating, but I am not a reviewer per se, but I am disappointed that I can't find anything of the author singing given that she has her master's degree in classical voice from Boston University, which is no slouch of a music school (and, obviously, is quite academic.) This was of far more interest to me than reading yet another book about the world wars.

I read I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy.

4 Stars

This is a heartbreaking memoir by Jennette McCurdy detailing her life as a child actor. Her life story has abuse, eating disorders, addiction and a love-hate relationship with her mother. I listened to the audiobook, which she also narrates. Most of the book is sad. but is told in a matter of fact way that is refreshing. Mix in some dry humor and it makes for a good listen.

I started to read Challenger Deep, by Neal Shusterman. Shusterman is an author whose works I enjoy, but this is different. It's important to Shusterman because he has a son who had problems supposedly similar to those of the first person narrator. But I simply couldn't get into it. I struggled through 72 pages, then gave up.

[THIS WAS ACCIDENTALLY FIRST POSTED IN THE SEPTEMBER THREAD. THIS IS A REPOST TO PUT IT IN THE RIGHT PLACE!]

I read The Dinner by Herman Koch
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book should be filed on the same shelf with We Need to Talk About Kevin, Defending Jacob, and maybe also with The Wasp Factory and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. In other words, books with very disturbing, grim themes and unlikeable characters from whom it's hard to look away.

Unlike some reviewers, I found the book compulsively readable and thought that the author managed to entrap me in just what his characters were describing--wanting to watch a horrible thing happen from a just safe enough distance. I felt where the book was going, hated it, but kept going anyway wanting to see it through to the unpleasant and decidedly non-uplifting end.

I don't know that I'll rush to recommend this because of the overall bleakness, but the writing was excellent and I found the pages flew by. Best to go into this one knowing little to nothing about the plot or details.

I nominate guilty-pleasures

I read Deacon King Kong by James McBride
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm anticipating that my bookclub will have hated this book. There's a whole host of characters, a sort of complicated interlaced story, and it takes about halfway through the book before things start to come together. My linear-minded bookclub folks are going to struggle with this. But by the end, I was really taken with this book and these characters. The storytelling was fabulous.

I loved the way that everyone knew everyone else's business, but sometimes not the whole story. The way that rumors traveled through the community felt very real and well-drawn. These characters understand that they are living in an unfair world, and they're existentially angry, but they are also living life fully and with faith in community and church and fate. In other words, these are complex individuals that this book allows the reader just a peek through a tiny window into their lives.

The narrator for the audiobook did a fantastic job managing this project and giving voice to all of these different characters. I think his narration moved this from a four-start to a five-star read for me. I'll definitely pay attention to see what else Mr. Hoffman has narrated.

I nominate guilty-pleasures

I read The Midnight Library before this shelf was selected. I enjoyed the book. The MC died and got to chose what type of life she wanted to lead until she found the one she liked. Sometimes she end up back in the library. Eventually she got sent back to her own time. In some lives she had depression and took meds and in some lives she didn't.

I read The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green and give it 4.5 stars.

John Green is an excellent wordsmith, and I would give five stars to many of these essays / reviews, especially the ones on the arts (mostly music), geography (places he's lived and visited), and 20th-21st century culture. The reviews on science topics (dinosaurs, diseases, and climate change) didn't interest me, however, and some of these essays in particular left me feeling hollow -- his agnosticism isn't a strong enough foundation to support the hope he expresses. It seems he's aware of that shortcoming, however, and he honestly explores his experiences with depression and anxiety.

As a side note, I experienced a "little moment of joy" when I found his signature on the front end page, and I was even more delighted when I read the note on the opposite page explaining how he signed pages to be bound into the books specifically to inspire that feeling. What a fun way to start a book!

I nominate historical fiction.

After giving up on Challenger Deep, I read We Are Ok. I gave it 4*. It definitely belongs on this shelf, as the main character is a young adult struggling to face her personal demons.

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
5 stars

Just great. Very moving story.
A teen boy and his mother are grieving the loss of their father and husband. He starts to hear the voices of objects around him, is diagnosed with a mental illness and admitted to a psychiatric hospital. This book covers so many issues; the role of material things in our lives, the importance of books and libraries, and it does a great job making you question what is real.

I nominate past-and-present

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
2.5 stars

This wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't for me. Just a bit slow and nicey nice. It's a slow burn small town romance between a famous pro-baseball player his recently widowed landlord. The mental health aspect relates to him having a mental block stopping him from playing baseball.

I nominate unreliable narrator

I read The Vegetarian by Han Kang. 3*

I found it a bit depressing and sad. It is the story of two sisters and their husbands. The younger sister has anorexia and schizophrenia which both developed after her marriage. The first part centers around how this illness began to be expressed in her life and the impact it had on her family and marriage. The other two parts are devoted separately to the brother-in-law and the older sister.

I nominate Literary Fiction.

Building a Life Worth Living: A Memoir by Marsha M. Linehan, 3,5 stars

I didn't know that much about DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) except for the key points, but I was interested in it and especially in its creator's story. This therapy was developed to help severely suicidal people and it went on to be especially used for people suffering from BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder). In 2011 Marsha Linehan came out as one of them. She was hospitalized for 2 years as a very young woman and had suicidal ideation and self-harm behavior. She actually got worse in the hospital.

In this book she recounts her journey from a girl who was suffering from BPD (although this diagnosis didn't even exist at the time) to one of the greatest clinicians/psychologists of our time. When in the hospital she vowed to get out of hell so that she could help others get out of hell, too. And she did, by developing DBT.

It's an impressive journey and she's awesome, but I wasn't "wowed" by this book. I simply didn't find it life-changing. Still, it's a very interesting book.

*

I used this book for Trim.

I nominate supernatural.