Review: You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health

You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health
You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health by Ken Duckworth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don’t like to give poor ratings to books. Let alone books on the subject of mental health. Each book is a lot of sweat and effort from the writer and I don’t want to discourage or criticize something that is so much work. I also believe we need more books in the world around the issue of mental health. I am grateful that organizations like NAMI exist and I am grateful that they provide resources for people who are struggling. We need these resources so badly.

And yet this book was really hard to read. I felt like it didn’t follow a clear organized flow of information or arc. There were bits and pieces of stories interspersed with bits and pieces of information, creating a very disjointed book.

Also while the book is a good resource for raising awareness of NAMI and its services, I felt that the organization was mentioned too often in ways that felt like an ad vs natural explanations of where the organization could be helpful. It felt awkward and disruptive to the flow of the book that was already struggling so much.

I am grateful that NAMI exists and I am grateful that we can talk about mental health more openly, I wish this particular book was easier to follow.

with gratitude to edelweiss and Ingram for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Horse

Horse
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

Another book that I thought would likely be boring so I kept putting off reading it but I should have trusted the excellent writer that is Geraldine Brooks. I don’t know nor care about horses. And yet, this book is excellent. The deep dives into horse racing and the Smithsonian were excellent. The characters were each deeply memorable. Loved it.

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Review: Thank You for Listening

Thank You for Listening
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the time I spent with this story. Julia Whelan is a great writer and a great narrator. Her dialogue was a joy to listen to. Lovely.

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Review: Things We Never Got Over

Things We Never Got Over
Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quick, easy read. Enjoyable but also forgettable, at least for me.

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Review: The Last Housewife

The Last Housewife
The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this one. I thought the first half was a lot stronger than the second half. Lots of trigger warnings on this one and it was hard for me to tell if it felt just a bit too gimmicky in parts.

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Review: The Lioness

The Lioness
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Several people said this was their favorite Bohjalian novel so it must be me. I thought it was okay, I enjoyed reading it and I liked the wilderness bits and i liked the hollywood bits but overall, it’s not a story that will stay with me as much as some of his others have.

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Review: Hamnet

Hamnet
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not sure why I resisted reading this one for as long as I did. I think I thought it was going to be far more boring than it was. It was more about being a mother than it was about anything else. I loved it. Maggie O’Farrell is a fantastic writer.

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Review: The Ferryman

The Ferryman
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

“The mind works wondrously; it is capable of astonishing feats. It is the only machine in nature capable of thinking one thing while knowing its opposite. The bright, busy surface of life—that is the key. How easily it distracts us, like a magician who waves a wand with one hand while, with the other, he plucks a rabbit from his vest.”

What a wild ride this book was! It starts in what looks to be a utopian world of people who live in a beautiful and secluded island where life is perfect but it quickly becomes clear that there are issues brewing just below the surface. Class issues, political unrest, and more hidden secrets.

Proctor lives in this beautiful world, married to a stunning woman and has a respected job as a Ferrryman who escorts people who are at the end of their lives to the ferry so they can be retired. Proctor’s dad gets belligerent and utters what seems like nonsense words on the day he is retiring and that starts Proctor’s journey towards unraveling the spool of lies.

“Here is the golden morning, we say; here is the beautiful sea. Here is my beautiful home, my adoring wife, my morning cup of coffee, and my refreshing daybreak swim. We look no deeper into things because we do not desire this; neither are we meant to. That is the design of the world, to trick us into believing it is one thing, when it’s entirely another.”

Unlike the whole world, I have not read The Passage before so this was my first Cronin book and I could not put it down from the moment I picked it up. The world was so vividly portrayed, the characters were so well constructed and it was so clear that something was deeply wrong that it was hard to not want to stay up all night to find out what was behind Prospera.

“It’s all very complex, and it seems to him that within this complexity lies the true essence of loving a child: a joy so intense that it can feel like sadness.”

And when I got to the 70% mark and bits and pieces of the story started unwinding and I started putting together the truth, for some reason, it felt like a bit of a let down. I really enjoyed the author’s creativity and the plot was really one I could not have come up with so it was a pleasant surprise to have it be so unique and wild. I enjoyed every moment I spent with this book.

with gratitude to netgalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: The Violin Conspiracy

The Violin Conspiracy
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

Excellent, well-written story about a Black Violin player whose family heirloom ends up being an incredibly expensive violin. There’s a lot in this story about family, racism, music, fame, and a mystery at its root since the story starts with the violin having been stolen. Loved this one.

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Review: Jar of Hearts

Jar of Hearts
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I tackled this after “little secrets” by the same author which I loved and many people seemed to like this book more. I sort of guessed the twist so I thought this one wasn’t as good but it was still pretty excellent and fast paced and hard to put down. Hillier is an excellent writer.

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Review: Little Secrets

Little Secrets
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this excellent, excellent mystery in one swallow. Fast-paced, well-written and just fantastic. highly recommended.

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Review: Little Secrets

Little Secrets
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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