Book reviews and more!

Posts tagged with ‘Mental Health and Illness’

BAD PHARMA, by Ben Goldacre

May 8, 2013

“MEDICINE IS BROKEN” argues Dr. Ben Goldacre in an expose of drug testing and marketing as parts of the issue.

Grade: B PLUS

BAD PHARMA: HOW DRUG COMPANIES MISLEAD DOCTORS AND HARM PATIENTS
Faber & Faber
2013

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GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, by James Lasdun

May 3, 2013

CANDID, UNSETTLING, ELOQUENT memoir from a writer who was the target of a former student’s obsession.

Grade: B PLUS

GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE: ON BEING STALKED
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2013

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THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS, by Sonja Lyubomirsky

April 24, 2013

UPDATES FROM THE HAPPINESS psychology front, with a fresh take on conventional wisdom about joy, satisfaction.

Grade: B PLUS

THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS: WHAT SHOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY, BUT DOESN'T; WHAT SHOULDN'T MAKE YOU HAPPY, BUT DOES
Penguin
2013

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HOW TO STAY SANE, by Philippa Perry

March 29, 2013

CHARMING LITTLE BOOK boils down psychology, self-help, and common sense into a cheerful guide to sanity.

Grade: A MINUS

HOW TO STAY SANE
Picador
2012

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WITH OR WITHOUT YOU, by Domenica Ruta

March 20, 2013

VIVIDLY DRAWN PORTRAIT of a writer’s hardscrabble childhood and her charismatic, deeply troubled mother.

Grade: B PLUS

WITH OR WITHOUT YOU: A MEMOIR
Spiegel & Grau
2013

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HALLUCINATIONS, by Oliver Sacks

March 12, 2013

INSIDE THE WORLD OF hallucinations with Oliver Sacks, the Willy Wonka of the human brain. Fun, informative.

Grade: B PLUS

HALLUCINATIONS
Knopf
2012

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BAD ANIMALS, by Joel Yanofsky

March 9, 2013

A FATHER’S MEMOIR of his son’s experience of autism reflects their shared humor and bookish quirkiness.

Grade: SOLID B

BAD ANIMALS: A FATHER'S ACCIDENTAL EDUCATION IN AUTISM
Skyhorse Publishing
2012

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SMOKE SIGNALS, by Martin A. Lee

January 11, 2013

ADMIRABLY COMPREHENSIVE, ENTERTAINING social history of marijuana makes some solid points about public policy.

Grade: SOLID B

SMOKE SIGNALS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF MARIJUANA
Scribner
2012

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MONKEY MIND, by Daniel Smith

December 25, 2012

SURPRISINGLY ENTERTAINING MEMOIR details a writer’s multi-decade struggle with a serious anxiety disorder.

Grade: SOLID B

MONKEY MIND: A MEMOIR OF ANXIETY
Simon & Schuster
2012

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RIDING FURY HOME, by Chana Wilson

December 23, 2012

A MOTHER/DAUGHTER relationship, fractured by addiction and depression, is healed by feminism and by coming out.

Grade: SOLID B

RIDING FURY HOME: A MEMOIR
Seal Press
2012

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