REVIEW • (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health edited by Kelly Jensen » The Novel Hermit

REVIEW • (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health edited by Kelly Jensen

November 5, 2018 Leave a Comment

Who’s Crazy?

What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when such a label gets attached to your everyday experiences?

In order to understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people.

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is a conversation starter and guide to better understanding how our mental health affects us every day. Thirty-three writers, athletes, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and do not talk about mental health, help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy.

If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages, and let’s get talking.[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Algonquin Young Readers for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “We all have thoughts, feelings, and internal struggles.”

I needed a book like (Don’t) Call Me Crazy when I was a teenager.

Reviews

REVIEW • Curfew Is A Lie (A Room Away From the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma)

October 13, 2018 Comment : 1

Bina has never forgotten the time she and her mother ran away from home. Her mother promised they would hitchhike to the city to escape Bina’s cruel father and start over. But before they could even leave town, Bina had a new stepfather and two new stepsisters, and a humming sense of betrayal pulling apart the bond with her mother—a bond Bina thought was unbreakable.

Eight years later, after too many lies and with trouble on her heels, Bina finds herself on the side of the road again, the city of her dreams calling for her. She has an old suitcase, a fresh black eye, and a room waiting for her at Catherine House, a young women’s residence in Greenwich Village with a tragic history, a vow of confidentiality, and dark, magical secrets. There, Bina is drawn to her enigmatic downstairs neighbor Monet, a girl who is equal parts intriguing and dangerous. As Bina’s lease begins to run out, and nightmare and memory get tangled, she will be forced to face the terrible truth of why she’s come to Catherine House and what it will cost for her to leave . . .[/note]

myreview

First sentence: “When the girl who lived in the room below mine disappeared into the darkness, she gave no warning, she showed no twitch of fear. “

When Bina is forced out of the home because of her new stepfather and two new stepsisters, she turns to the only place that she knows she’ll be safe at—the Catherine House in New York City. This place served as a safe haven for her mother once upon a time ago, so why not of her as well? Bina enters the mysterious Catherine House where she’s met with a tragic history of the founder, girls with secrets hidden in their sleeves, and possibly magic.

Discussion

BOOKS IN HAND • What Customers Bought in September 2018

October 11, 2018 Comment : 1

You ever want to know what people are buying in bookstores? Well, it so happens that I work at one!

During the last week of February, I pondered about what type of post to make for “Books in Hand.” At first, I planned to discuss all the books customers came in asking for or buying, but that’s a bit too much because everybody came in asking for different books, and I didn’t remember all of them. My boss showed me a way to check our store’s best selling books, and I found out what we sold a lot of!

And that’s what this post is—seeing the top ten selling books of May. Let’s take a look.

FICTION

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan | China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan | Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan | There There by Tommy Orange | The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Comics

REVIEW • Sisters Are Forever (The Cobalt Prince: 5 Worlds #2)

September 26, 2018 Leave a Comment

Oona Lee surprised everyone–including herself–when she lit the first beacon to save the Five Worlds from extinction. Can she light the other four beacons in time? Next stop, Toki! On the blue planet, Oona must face the sister who left her, and bring to light the Cobalt Prince’s dark secrets.

Meanwhile, An Tzu is fading away as his mysterious illness gets worse. Will it stop him from joining the fight? Or will his unique magic be just what the team needs?

And Jax Amboy is a hero on the starball field, but in a moment of real danger, will he risk everything to save his friends?[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Random House for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First, you must read The Sand Warrior, the first book for the wonderful 5 Worlds series.

Discussion

CURRENTLY READING • A Room Away from the Wolves, The Girl at the Grave, & The Soul Keepers

September 18, 2018 Comment : 1

Oh hello, folks. It feels like it’s been ages since I last talked about books that wasn’t what my customers bought. I haven’t been in a reading mood, outside of fanfiction (LOL), but I did start (or forever reading) some Young Adult books!

Currently Reading will act as my check-in, letting you guys know what I’m forever reading at the moment, and what I’m enjoying about it. I’m not gonna discuss books that are on my priority October TBR list. Instead, I’m gonna talk about the books I picked up on a whim this month.

A Room Away from the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma

Why did I want to read A Room Away from the Wolves? I see “magical” in a synopsis, and my interest in a book shoots 110%. It gives me gothic vibes, especially with this women’s residence that is full of history—maybe good and definitely bad. I want to see what secrets the Catherine House holds.

What do I like about it so far? I may not know what the heck is going on, but it does exude that gothic creepiness that I looooove reading in book. I gotta know why these young women are at this House, and why Bina’s mother never wanted Bina to go there. Lots of mysteries I want to uncover.

Discussion