I took a break from blogging during November to focus on Nanowrimo but I finished reading several books and got behind on my write-ups. I’m going to try to do these books justice despite having let them sit for too long before writing down my thoughts. I read January First by Michael Schofield in record time: I started it one evening and finished it the next morning before work. I am a SLOW READER so this is saying A LOT about how this book grabbed me and didn’t let me go. I don’t know if everyone’s experience of this book will be similar to mine but I was absolutely spellbound. This is a nonfiction account of a father whose daughter January has child-onset schizophrenia. There were many aspects of this book which rang painfully true, having experienced mental illness firsthand in several forms, in myself, close friends, and close family. This book demanded my attention; I had to know what was going to happen to this girl and the father fighting for her. So many aspects of this read were familiar, and it was affirming to see them expressed in print. I’m lucky to have a kid on the autistic spectrum high-functioning enough that we can easily communicate. But the way that January threw violent fits was very reminiscent of the way that a friend’s low-functioning autistic son acts out. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he just can’t communicate in a different way when he gets that upset. When January is hospitalized, I can see the facilities in my mind’s eye, because I know such places too well. And when January’s “bad memory” is recognized for the dissociation it actually is, I was dumbstruck. This book is heavy and somewhat dark without a picture perfect happy ending, although it does leave the reader with hope. If you are interested in mental illness and mental health, this is a Must Read. I haven’t turned this book back in to the library yet because I read through it so quickly I wanted to read it a second time through more slowly. An incredible tale offering a true human connection thanks to this dad’s ability to be so raw and honest about the frustration, fear, confusion, anger, and exhaustion that accompanies having a close family member with mental illness in crisis. If you read the book and still want more, here’s an interview with Michael Schofield; janisjourney.org is meant to be a progress blog for Jani and her family but I can’t get it to load so I’m not sure of its status.
Reading Challenges
Here we go for reading challenge updates:
- PopSugar 2017 reading challenge No. 34, a book with a month or day of the week in its title.
- Book Dragon’s Lair Audiobook challenge n/a
- Book Dragon’s Lair Pages Read challenge This 304 pgs brings me to 14,898 pgs.
- Read It Again, Sam n/a
- My Reader’s Block Mount To Be Read (TBR) and Rock My TBR challenge n/a, library book
- Diverse Reads challenge (here and here). Yes! This book is about mental illness.
- The Book Date Full House challenge n/a
- The Book Date Read the Books You Buy challenge n/a
- The Worm Hole’s What’s In A Name challenge n/a
- Anne Read Along n/a
Hashtags for the challenges that had them:
#popsugarreadingchallenge
#rockmytbr
#diversereads2017
#whatsinaname2017
#AnneReadAlong2017
November has come and gone! December is already half gone! Where did the year go???
Jobe
J. Jobe 