Currently listening to: A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Look! I officially did not give up on this blog after one post! I finished a thing, and now I'm gonna write about it. As a side note, I feel a lot of pressure about this blog. I don't want to show it to anyone because right now it's JUST words. There's so much added stuff these days if you want your blog to go anywhere, which I guess I don't, really. At least not yet. Anyway.
My first finished read was actually a listen, which is a little bit cheating but not really. It was quite good. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, by Andrew Solomon.
I found Solomon while driving the 45 minute slog between Indianapolis and Crawfordsville after visiting my best friend. He was being interviewed on Fresh Air by the magnificent Terry Gross on a recent article he had written for the New York Times on pregnancy and depression, linked below:
http://andrewsolomon.com/articles/the-secret-sadness-of-pregnancy-with-depression/
Solomon, after experiencing a depressive breakdown himself, took it upon himself to write a useful guide to the affliction for those who are experiencing it or who wish to know more. He did an excellent, thorough job, covering everything from medication to politics. My favorite sections of the book were his explorations of depression in other cultural contexts. At one point he spends time in an Inuit village in Greenland, interviews victims of the Khmer Rouge, and even participates in a Senegalese therapeutic ritual and allows himself to be covered in goat blood. It was some crazy journalistic commitment.
I have experienced depression that negatively impacted my life in high school and in college, though most of the stories in this book make my experience seem a little silly (though he makes a point to say that that comparison is not healthy and even sufferers of mild depression are still suffering). It was great for me to learn about the medication that I use. I did read the first edition, which I wouldn't have done in hindsight. Apparently the new edition includes a new chapter on pregnancy and depression and updated information and statistics, which would've been especially helpful on the subject of the politics of depression. For example, he references military suicides as something that afflict Vietnam veterans, since he was writing prior to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm sure he has a lot to say on THAT particular subject.
Though it was slow at points (lots of technical talk), it was a worthy read for anyone wishing to learn more about depression with a more human element than just reading the Wikipedia article.
The Noon Day Demon fulfilled a category of a reading challenge that I'm currently working on. It was passed around on Facebook and looked intriguing, so I decided to try it. Here it is in full, with the completed categories in bold:
Reading Challenge 2015
A book with more than 500 pages: Drums in Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
A classic romance: Rebecca
A book that became a movie: Paper Towns by John Green
A book published this year: Girl on a Train by Paula Hawkins
A book with a number in the title: Fahrenheit 451
A book written by someone under 30: My Drunk Kitchen by Hannah Hart
A book with nonhuman characters: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A funny book: Grace’s Guide by Grace Helbig
A book by a female author: Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot
A mystery or a thriller: Doll Bones by Holly Black
A book with a one-word title: Scarlet - Marissa Meyer
A book of short stories: Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri
A book set in a different country: Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
A nonfiction book: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
A popular author’s first book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz? pickwick papers?
A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet: Fairest by Marissa Meyer
A book a friend recommended: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
A Pulitzer Prize-winning book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A book based on a true story: Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald
A book at the bottom of your to-read list:
A book your mom loves: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
A book that scares you: The Noon Day Demon: An Atlas of Depression
A book more than 100 years old:
A book based entirely on its cover: Playing for the Commandant by Suzy Zail
A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t:
A memoir: Yes, Please! by Amy Poehler
A book you can finish in a day: Hidden by Helen Frost
A book with antonyms in the title:
A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit: Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
A book that came out the year you were born:Good Omens!, Jurrassic Park, The Things They Carried
A book with bad reviews: Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde
A trilogy: Legend trilogy by Marie Lu
A book from your childhood: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
A book with a love triangle: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
A book set in the future: Cress by Marissa Meyer
A book set in high school:
A book with a color in the title: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
A book that made you cry: The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford
A book with magic: Wild Born by Brandon Mull
A graphic novel: Watchmen by Alan Moore
A book by an author you’ve never read before: Almost Super by Marion Jensen
A book you own but have never read:
A book that takes place in your hometown: All the Bright Places
A book that was originally written in a different language: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A book set during Christmas: Let it Snow
A book written by an author with your same initials:Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
A play: Raisin in the Sun
A banned book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
A book based on or turned into a TV show: Wolf Hall
A book you started but never finished:
I've filled in titles for the ones that I want to read for those categories, but I might start taking suggestions for a few others that I'm having trouble with. That antonyms one...jeez. I only have 15 left, though, and several months in the year yet. I decided to put the Solomon in the book that scares you category, since I did question whether or not it was a good idea for me to be reading it. Haha, notice I haven't filled in anything for "A book you own but have never read." Figure that one will be last. Whoops.
Welp, I'd call this entry a success. That's all she wrote.
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