March's Challenge

[Brittany]

March's theme is to read a book where the main character has a mental illness.

What are you going to choose?
Are you going to go for fiction or nonfiction?
Happy reading!

[Brittany]

Currently I'm reading Shade Me, a book where the main character is a synesthete, but I'm not actually sure if synesthesia qualifies as a mental illness so I'm not sure if I'll count it. If I decide not to I may reread It's Kind of a Funny Story, a personal favorite of mine, which is about a teen with depression.

[Chessa]

I read Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me last month, a graphic novel by Ellen Forney, and I highly recommend it if anyone is looking for a great read! I think I finished it in like two sittings. Good times.

This month, if I ever get off the holds list for Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, I'll use that. Or I might pick up Skim.

[Jennifer]

My choice for the month is Nothing Bad Is Going to Happen, as soon as it's delivered. I loved the first book, and the portrayal of Kippy, who may or may not have some psychological problems or may just be strange resounded with me.

I can't wait to add everyone else's to my never ending "to read" list. I'm going back to school in the fall when my son starts first grade and I'm going into psychology so these books that delve into the minds of mental illness are fascinating to me both as a reader and a student.

[Jennifer]

Brittany wrote: "Currently I'm reading Shade Me, a book where the main character is a synesthete, but I'm not actually sure if synesthesia qualifies as a mental illness so I'm not sure if I'll count..."

First off, that book sounds great. Can't wait to read it myself. Second, I have synesthesia from my epilepsy. Mine isn't colors, it's smells and sounds mostly. It's a strange disorder but it's fascinating, isn't it?

[Brittany]

Ahhh I'm jealous, I've been waiting around for my library to get Nothing Bad is Going to Happen, I loved the first one.

I've always been fascinated with synesthesia, ever since I read a book called Senses Working Overtime. I would do the linky thing but I'm on mobile.

[Brittany]

So I finished Shade Me and... it was certainly a book. The main character's synesthesia was almost more like a superpower than anything, with the way it practically gave her Sherlock Holmes' observation skills. But idk, maybe that's really how that kind of synesthesia works. But besides that the book had some issues, the main character is basically too stupid to live, which is irritating because she isn't actually written that way, she just makes the dumbest decisions possible for most of the book. That said, it is an entertaining book, and the last third makes up for some of the middle's suck, but honestly the middle was so hard to get through that I almost gave it up more than 200 pages in due to the ridiculous situation the girl had gotten into. So it was not wonderful.

[Jennifer]

Brittany wrote: "So I finished Shade Me and... it was certainly a book. The main character's synesthesia was almost more like a superpower than anything, with the way it practically gave her Sherloc..."

That's disappointing. Synesthesia is not very well known and it would be nice to have some fictional characters with the condition in one of the ways people experience it. It's nice to take the stigma off of brain disorders and mental illnesses, but I would definitely like to see it along with other not well known conditions be written about in a... I guess life like and respectful way? Like, not a quirky cute thing? I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here lol.

[Brittany]

March is almost over! Have you read a book about someone with a mental illness?

[Anita]

I was supposed to read It's Kind of a Funny Story, but seriously it disappeared from my shelves? So, I'll be making up March sometime soon in April, and I might read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; which I've also heard good things about. Both of these books are somewhere in my house, so I'll be reading whichever I find first!

[Teleseparatist]

I read a novel with mental illness by accident: it was Bone Gap, but I'm not sure if the portrayal of the mental illness was all that great (including the fact that it was a major plot twist). I do know the portrayal of Polish characters and Polish culture was awfully inaccurate, though, and I was terribly frustrated throughout.